Ion Orchard

The next hot shopping destination that most Singaporeans are waiting for is Ion Orchard which will finally throw its doors open on 21 July. The scaffolding has finally come down and most stores are in the midst of completing their renovations.


Ion will boast several high end stores such as Prada, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana and Cartier in glamorous street front duplexes. It will also have the new Topshop flagship store, a Sephora and some clothing brands that are being introduced in Singapore for the first time, such as New Look from the UK.


The first to open is Louis Vuitton, which has commissioned a number of products exclusively for the opening of this store.


It is all too common a sight to see people queueing up to go into the LV stores in Singapore dressed casually in bermudas and sneakers, like how one sees women carrying LV bags in tank tops, shorts and flip flops.


I don't usually post food photos but just thought I'd share these pics of the excellent Thai food I had for lunch today :-) To start things off, a basket of keropok, which are a kind of fried crackers usually made from prawns and seafood.


The spicy mango salad had me sniffling and set my tongue on fire but it was well than worth it :-) The Thai milk tea was a tad sweet but still delish.


My favourite Thai dish, phad thai!


And to polish it all of, jelly chendol with red bean. This was super yummy thanks to the generous helping of coconut syrup.

Juicy Couture opens in Singapore!

I was at Ngee Ann City this afternoon to pick up my usual stash of Japanese beauty magazines and chanced across the new Juicy Couture store, which has just opened! It is on the third level near Kinokuniya. The decor of the store is impressive and unusual, with a striking contrast between the metal studded frame of the storefront and the pink interior.



Wonder if the knight armour is a signature display of JC stores like the skeleton in Kiehl's stores?





The stuff is extremely pricey though, and marked up considerably by over 30% more than the US retail price. This terry baby fluffy bag and baby fluffy velour bag are US$198 and US$178 in the US but costs about S$400 here. The larger rectangular velour tote bags were about S$500 each. You would probably save quite a bit by ordering from the US when Juicy Couture has a sale and having it shipped to Singapore by Borderlinx. I didn't have time to check out the prices of their other items but the accessories such as charms look incredibly cute.



Banner ads outside Ngee Ann City.

Kiehl's, Mango & Miss Selfridge haul

This week, it seemed like there were great clothing buys every where I turned with all the new spring collections arriving in stores such as Zara, Mango and Warehouse. I haven't been tempted by much at Mango in recent months but I fell in love with several pieces in its new spring collection, including suits, cute cardigans and casual tops. Judging from the collection, lime green is one of the key trend colours this season. I ended up getting this suit and casual cotton top.





At Miss Selfridge, I picked up this great little turquoise sling purse. It was S$33 originally but I got a 15% discount with my OCBC credit card so I paid only S$28 for it, just a few dollars more than the UK retail price of £12. Love the pleat details on it!





At Kiehl's, I also picked up the Over-Night Biological Peel (S$99) and the Acne Blemish Control Daily Skin-Clearing Treatment (S$50). I've been noticing quite a few acne scars and skin discolorations on my cheeks, probably from not using sunscreen religiously, so I'm trying out various peeling products to try to combat these. The prices are actually not that much more than the US retail price where the Peel is US$42 and the Acne Treatment is US$30. Once you've added in the US sales taxes and shipping costs to Singapore, it's not that much cheaper so it makes more sense to just buy it locally where I can get a 10% rebate with my Tangs Citibank card plus I can ask for various samples from the SAs.



With purchase of S$160, the Tangs Orchard counter is currently giving away a eco-bag and a deluxe skincare sample. The SA gave me a 40ml bottle of the Calendula Toner. I also received sample sachets of the Yerba Mate line, Brightening Botanical Mask and Line Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate from her.

Tokyo Day 5

Yesterday was the final day of my trip. And like any good makeup addict, it was filled with some last minute shopping. I had just read this glowing review of a Japanese mineral BB cream by Yumeko on her wonderful blog and it sounded like too good to pass up!

Luckily, the Estnation store at Roppongi Hills was just a stone's throw away from where I was staying so I hiked on down there first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, they did not have the 1890yen trial set so I ended up getting the full sized Powder Snow in Nude (5040yen), Snow Base (5775yen) and the Clear Snow Pressed (3150yen for refill, 1575yen for case and brush).








My new Agnes B. bag! This is available only at 3 stores in Japan, including the flagship store in Omotesando. This was 9500yen. The Agnes B store offers tax-free shopping for tourists if you spend 10,0001yen and above.



Interior of the bag.


Agnes B. bag charm which was about 3500yen.


Assorted Care Bears stuff :-)






I had CP'd several Kiss lucky bags for some friends a couple of years ago and they were the most amazing deals as they contained 8-9 Kiss products for only 1680yen. I'd given up on finding these already on my current trip only to discover 3 Kiss lucky bags at the It's Demo store in Narita Airport Terminal 1 :-) Too bad I had already checked in my luggage or I would probably have ended up buying at least one of these sets. Each had a Fairy Bright Powder, two lipsticks, 1 lipgloss and 4 nail polishes.




Ettusais blush with a free vinyl pouch.


Susie NY set that included one eyeshadow quad, 3 nail polishes and a makeup pouch for only 1470yen.


The It's Demo store is located in the public area of Terminal 1 and is great for shopping for accessories, makeup, snacks and clothes. Opposite it is a Tsutaya DVD and bookstore which is good for shopping for magazines. That's where I bought Steady magazine which came with a very roomy Stila pouch and a huge sheet of stickers meant for use with a schedule book as they have stickers titled "salon", "shopping", "meeting", "date", "birthday" (but all in Japanese) etc.




The Banana Republic Christmas tree at Roppongi Hills with shopping bags as decorations!

Tokyo Day 4

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts on my Tokyo trip as I spent the past couple of days with three female colleagues basically eating and sightseeing around Tokyo. Today, I was on my own again and did some shopping at Ikebukuro's Seibu department store. The store has many of the most popular young ladies' apparel brands in Japan so it's a great place to find everything in one place.

I came home with these...


Brownie Bee eco-bag (2100yen) in chocolate with mint green polka dots. Mint green seems to be a popular colour this winter in Japan as I saw many clothes shops selling mint green sweater sets and dresses along with the usual pink, brown and black. You can check out the Brownie Bee official website here.



I love how the service staff here wrap up everything nicely :-) I'm saving the sticker in my diary!



Paul & Joe Sister shopper bag (2625yen).



Inside of the P&J Sister shopping bag.


Rebecca Taylor dress.


My buys from Ainz Tulpe (some are CPs):



The new Canmake Cheek Gradation #5 Peach, which looks more pinkish than peach. I also picked up the new Canmake Loose Cheek #8 Peach Squash which is also more of a mauvey pink than peach.



More Charmy Kitty and Sugar Bunnies stickers for my cousins!





Hilarious mobile phone ad.


A window display outside LaFloret mall in Harajuku.


Autumn foliage in the park at Roppongi Hills.