Stay updated with the best lobangs in town with LOBANGSIAH.SG

 Hey peeps, have you heard of Lobangsiah? 

Founded in 2013 by two buddies with their passion in sharing good lobangs (deals) with each other and their loved ones, Lobangsiah started off as a Facebook page that primarily shares Lobangs and Memes that Singaporeans enjoying seeing and laughing at. Moving to 7 years later, in 2020, they developed their vision to start a lifestyle-focused community as they love sharing local deals and lifestyle content. And that kickstarted an amazing website chock full of interesting deals and insights, and a series of their telegram groups that covers literally anything under the sun. 

From the latest trends/hypes in town, to the best lobangs on literally anything, to lifehacks and advices for your adulting woes, Lobangsiah got you covered. 

In short, lobangsiah.sg is simply your one-stop station for everything. 

And not only that, back then during the Covid pandemic when many of our local F&B businesses were having a hard time, Lobangsiah has, together with their partners, offered their platforms and resources to do voluntary sharing of promotional deals for the local F&B owners. They've also helped to spread awareness of various blessing groups and organisations offering help to those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, helping them to pull through during the tough times. 

And did I mention about how many telegram channels they have (at least NINE!), to cover all sorts of lobangs?

Can't possible list them all here, but my top 3 recommendations will definitely be:

SG Lifehacks & Lobangs

Their main telegram channel with over 1.7k subscribers till date, sharing all sorts of lifehacks and lobangs you can find in our little sunny island.

SG Foodlover

Definitely the telegram channel you need to join if you're a foodie at heart! Get all your up-to-date cafe/food lobangs here! 

SG Pets Group

The telegram channel for all you fellow pawrents out there! Not just sharing everything pets related, Lobangsiah also helps pet owners to post lost pets poster for free. 

So, what are you waiting for? Go check them out for all your best lobangs right now!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Fresh Durian From The Mountains with Durian SG Prime [sponsored]

Fresh durians from the mountain, anyone?

 With a grand vision of "bringing durian's price in Singapore back to 1980" (WOW!), Durian SG Prime strives to be the cheapest durian provider in Singapore through a business model of direct collaboration with plantations.

Our business model works by bringing large quantities of durians to Singapore and securing the supply of our favourite durians from Pahang, by having leverage of large quantities to outbid other countries.

We need to have the leverage to negotiate and get plantation owners to only supply their limited durian stocks to us, Singaporeans. Ultimately, flooding Singapore’s market with fresh quality durians at affordable price for you and your family to enjoy

-durian.com.sg-

Through their direct collaboration with 3 mountains (Famous Tiger, Indigo Hill & Cold White Leaf) in Pahang, Malaysia, Durian SG Prime is able to bring to us freshly picked durians at extremely affordable prices, which are at least 20% cheaper than most reputable local durian sellers. 

And depending on seasonal supply, you can expect to find a variety of durians, ranging from the inexpensive Kampung Durian at $9/kg to the premium Black Gold Durian at $29/kg from all 3 different mountains. 

And I'm really glad to receive a box of Old Tree MSW from the Cold White Leaf Mountain and Black Gold from Famous Tiger Mountain for my family to enjoy! 

The family has nothing but praises for the durians. I'm not a durian-eater, but I reckon you can't go wrong with (Old Tree) Musang King and Black Gold, right? 

And while I, as a durian noob, thought that BG will be better received than OT (because more expensive means better, yes?), the family preferred OT instead, claiming that it is sweeter. The HB even said that it has a "alcoholic" aftertaste. 

Both variations are equally creamy and with ridiculously tiny seeds, such that you can be assured that you're really paying for what you get (to eat). However, it was also noted that the taste is not that consistent, which is probably because it usually take them 1 to 1.5 durians to make up 1 box's worth. So we might have gotten the flesh from 1 sweet durian and half of another less sweet one. 

Durian SG Prime not only offers islandwide delivery (free delivery with minimum purchase of $99!), but also has a brick & mortar shop at 456 Geylang Lorong 24A that offers a dine-in experience and to facilitate self collections. 

Moreover, they also offer free replacement of damaged/not up to standard durians for their delivery orders within 24 hours of receipt!

Oh, and did I say that they also have fruits other than durian available too? 

For more details, check out Durian SG Prime at their website HERE or just pop by their store at 456 Geylang Lorong 24A!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Healthy and Beautiful Skin with MEDICODE

 Hi lovely readers, it has been quite a while since my last update here. Well, can I say that I'm glad to be back! 

Life has been super busy these days, hence my disappearance here... And if you are following me on my IG you would know that I'm also a lot less active recently... because #adulting. T.T

Anyway, this time I'm back because I absolutely need to share my latest beauty find with y'all. 

MEDICODE!

MEDICODE seek to revolutionise the way we treat and care for our skin. They see the future of skincare as being interlinked with the development of modern technologies and treatments that enable key ingredients to penetrate deep into the epidermal layer of the skin. All products are made in Singapore (yay!) and backed by clinical research and development. Their airless bottle design helps to maintain the active ingredients' integrity and allows the formula to be free from unnecessary preservative, ensuring maximum efficacy of their products. 

-credits to medicode-skincare.com-

Currently with 6 products available in their line, I've decided to try out these 4: 

Comedones Essence, Ultra Hydrating Serum, Oil-Free Hydra Cream annd Intensive Rich Eye Cream

Comedones Essence - $150

A natural formulation with over 10 botanical extracts, anti-bacterial complex and nano-encapsulation technology to help reduce the appearance of our pores, blackheads and whiteheads. 

I NEED.

This essence is super lightweight and watery in texture, that literally gets absorbed by the skin immediately. Definitely a plus point when you're short of time for your daily morning skincare routine, yes? Who has got the time to wait for your essence to "set" before layering on the serum/moisturiser? Definitely not me! 

Ultra Hydrating Serum (30ml) - $130

Available in 30ml or 60ml, this ultra hydrating and anti-aging serum is able to penetrate deep into our skin. Based on smart-delivery nano technology, the active ingredients in the serum is highly compatible to our skin's natural composition. Not only that, this serum helps reflect UVA rays and protect our skin too! 

Just slightly more viscous as compared to the essence, this serum is still super lightweight and spreadable, gliding onto my skin effortlessly and gets absorbed readily in no time. 

Oil-Free Hydra Cream - $120

A calming and anti-inflammatory oil-free cream, this product has a unique lightweight formula that provides the skin with deep hydration. It contains 4 types of Hyaluronic acid and Polygutamic acid, which is then further enhanced with Ceramides, Collagen and Ice Plant Fermented Probiotic Lysate, giving us skin barrier repair and protection. 

Being an oily-skin girl, I always shun away from facial creams in general. But this oil-free formulation feels very lightweight and spreadable on my skin, leaving no sticky or oily feeling after the product gets absorbed. Two thumbs up! 

Intensive Rich Eye Cream - $150

Containing a high level of antioxidants, this helps to improve dark circles, brighten up skin tone and prevent collagen degradation. And thanks to the innovative gold-stabilisation process, the Vitamin C absorbs more effectively into our skin. 

Containing Beautieye as one of the active ingredients, which is clinically proven to decrease 61% of drooping surface of our upper eyelids, this eye cream helps to target our sagging upper eyelids and beautify our eye contour. 

With a similar creamy-yet-not-oily texture as the Hydra Cream, a little goes a long way for this eye cream. Just a pea-size is more than enough to get my eye contour area well moisturised throughout the day/night. 

For more information on Medicode Skincare, check out their website HERE

Till then,

Mia

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Yummy Cakes with Dig In Cakes [Sponsored]

Holding a surprise birthday party but missing the cake? Or are you just like me, who would very much prefer to have your cake delivered to your doorsteps? 

Taking the bus with an 8 inch whole cake in my hands, no thanks! 

Be glad to know that Dig In Cakes has got you covered!

Not only are their cakes reasonably priced and look absolutely beautiful, they're also freshly baked with the finest ingredients and even offer same day islandwide delivery, even an express one-hour delivery and midnight delivery! 

Last minute whole cake for a midnight birthday surprise, CHECKED! 

And after wrecking my brain over the huge selection of cakes they have, I finally decided to try out their 6" Blueberry Elderflower Cake! 

A unique combination of elderflower and blueberry, perfect for those who enjoy a light, floral flavour.

A decent amount of not-too-sweet blueberry jam layered in between fluffy vanilla sponge cake that's a tad dry, and then slathered in an unbelievably thick layer of cream, which I reckon to be Elderflower infused but so subtly that I didn't really taste any hint of it. 

As you can see from the cut section, I really wasn't exaggerating when I said that the cream layer is overly thick. While I guess it's serves to complement the slightly dryness of the sponge cake, it also created a lot of heaviness and just make the cake too cloying and oily for my own preference. 

I ended up needing to scrap away most of the cream and only eating the sponge cake and blueberry jam in the middle. 

Well, if you're a huge fan of eating sweeten cream on its own, I guess this would be your jam.  

Can't deny that the cake looks super pretty though!

I've previously tried their Yuzu Osmanthus Cake (I guess you can tell my cake preferences) and it was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately, I have to say that this Blueberry Elderflower, albeit looking a lot prettier, didn't meet my expectation. I guess the Yuzu Osmanthus has set the bar a little too high, even my parents and my grandma loved that cake. 

And with Mother's Day coming up next month, Dig In Cakes also have some pocket-friendly cake and flower bundle for y'all to surprise your Moms! 

For more information on their cakes and bundle section, check out their store website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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[Guest Post] Incorporating Learning Objectives Into Games

 Over so many years in teaching, I have tried and tested different teaching strategies. One of the strategies I found to be immensely useful is to incorporate learning objectives into teaching.
Whether it is Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, or Physics, harnessing the appeal of popular games helps students to appreciate, understand and remember the concepts better.
The game characters, personality, abilities, and context in which they are being employed in conjunction with the lesson materials can serve as excellent attention and memory anchors for students.

You see, the most common complaint raised by students is that they do not see the point of learning certain topics, especially since they are not using them immediately or in the future.
While educators can explain how they are being used in real-life applications, not all students can accept them. For example, we could explain how solving minima and maxima optimization questions in differentiation is commonly seen in supply chain management. Or you explain why there is a need for them to understand pressure calculations which are needed to know how to transport gallons of crude oil through a complex network of pipelines with different diameters and elevations.

While the attempt is commendable, students may still not see the immediate use for it.

“I understand where you are coming from, but I can’t appreciate it,” they would tell you.

It’s akin to telling drug users not to consume drugs now, since they do not appreciate the gravity of their actions until many years later.
A more effective way may be to weave in learning objectives and contextualize them into the games students play. Most students are very willing to help their favorite game characters who are in a bind, even if it involves solving a mathematical equation. To a gamer, it is super exciting to discover that only the role-playing character possesses the special skill sets necessary to solve that particular Physics question.

Maybe he can control gravity? 
Or he could levitate.
Students appreciate the tiny details and that Wow factor!

A few very simple examples can be seen here, I found having such scenarios immensely useful in capturing the students’ attention, and they are also able to retain their memory for a longer period, as well as to recall them easily. However, it is important to do research well to know what the game entails. Ideally, an educator should play the game himself or risk losing credibility.

Using Genshin Impact to Teach H2 Math AP GP Sequences and Series Games have penetrated every aspect of our society on top of education. We can see examples of games being employed in health care education, higher education, training in business, military training.

Militaries use them for training exercises, with the use of smartphones to apply their principles to track fitness. Many of the sectors have adopted games, simulations, or gamification as a means to achieve training or learning goals or simply to attain improvement. Remixing games is also a powerful activity where tools are creatively repurposed to meet the needs of users in specific contexts.

In this case, the intent was to help students understand a game and then to engage the students by thinking of ways to modify one or more mechanics to incorporate lesson objectives so that the game could find an enhanced purpose, a new audience, a new level of complexity, or a new educational outcome. This design experience offers many insights to students from the perspective of playing the original game and making a remixed game with added benefits

Yes, it may not be Singapore Math but it works for my students.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if the cat is black, or white.

Ingel Soong is an educator and has taught multi-disciplinary subjects such as Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Finance, Economics, Statistics, and more. 
See his profile here.

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CallApp: Always Know Who's Calling [Advertorial]

Are you still getting bothered by spam calls on a daily basis. Yes, those spam-call syndicates have got nothing on us (come on, why would our SPF or DBS call us and then speak to us in Mandarin by default?) but I seriously do not appreciate even a precious second of my time lost picking up these annoying scam calls. 

Let's not even talk about how disrupting these scam calls are, especially if you're expecting an important (work) call from the new guy whose number is not in your contact list yet. 

So, do I answer this call from this unknown number or not? 

Wouldn't it be nice if we can stop these scam calls from coming in, once and for all? 

But now with CallApp, now you can!

Featured on Google Play, CallApp is a FREE android app that is trusted by more than 100 million users in over 200 countries. It has not only been chosen by Google as one of the top android apps, but also won several awards and is highly recommended by many top-rated tech magazines worldwide.

CallApp's Caller ID function can instantly identify any number that is calling us, even if its not on our contact list. Coupling this with their Call Blocker feature, we can now easily identify phonecalls from spammers and telemarketers, and block all these unwanted numbers to give us a piece of mind, once and for all. 

It also has a feature that automatically blocks numbers that's previously identified by other users as spam. Convenient, right?

Other than these two very important features, CallApp also has call recorder and video ringtone functions, with the latter allowing us to set any video we fancy as a "ringtone" to any/specific contact. 

But my favourite feature of the application has to be this. 

Don't you find it troublesome that you have to specially save a number as a new contact just so you can send over a WhatsApp message? 

Now with CallApp, you don't need to do that anymore! CallApp allows us to WhatsApp to non-contacts, saving us the hassle of needing to add various numbers as "XXX seller" just so to send out that screenshot for our proof of payment. 

These are just a few of the many awesome features CallApp provides, which also includes phone number search, car mode, and even incognito mode! 

As mentioned, the basic version of CallApp is free to download for all android phones, but premium packages can also be purchased on a monthly or lifetime basis from as low as just USD $1 per month for an ad0free experience, unlimited call recordings and access to CallApp plus (which allows you to identify messages from unsaved contacts), unlocks all your profile views & data insights, store items for free and even provides you with premium support and a faster response rate.

What are you waiting for, go download CallApp HERE and free yourselves from those pesky phonecalls! 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Thermage FLX at IDS Clinic [Sponsored]

 

After getting really good results from the IDS skincare line and Pico-Laser treatment during my #IDSTransformMe journey with IDS Skincare, I'm definitely more than happy to be able to return to IDS again to try out the Thermage FLX treatment!

Currently using their 4th generation machine at IDS, Thermage FLX is the global leader in non-invasive skin tightening technology, with 15 years of experience in non-invasive skin tightening, and more than 2 millions treatments performed worldwide! It is also the only FDS-approved non-invasive eye skin tightening treatment, which helps to smooth and tighten skin, decrease wrinkles and hooding in the eye area, for younger-looking, lifted eyes. 

If you're not familiar with Thermage FLX, it utilises a patented radiofrequency to deliver heat safely and uniformly into our deep skin layers to renew our collagen. The gentle heating tightens our existing collagen and stimulates the production of new collagen, resulting in an immediate skin tightening and well-defined 3D skin contour. Results are not meant to be immediate, but our skin will slowly improve after the treatment for up to 6 months, with the effects lasting up to 12 months! Thermage FLX treatment doesn't only work on our faces, but can also be done on our neck, knees and even buttocks! 

So after a quick consultation with Dr. Ben, I was brought to the treatment room to have my face cleansed and to apply the numbing cream. Unlike the previous Pico-Laser treament, which required a waiting time of 20 minutes for the numbing cream to take effects; the numbing cream was left on for an hour to ensure minimal discomfort during the treatment. 

After cleaning the numbing cream off my face, Dr Ben first marked out the area of my face that he wanted to focus on (mainly my smile lines, my cheeks and my jaw lines) then prepped my skin with alcohol wipes and we're good to go! The entire treatment took about 30 to 45 minutes to complete all 600 shots on my face (and jaw/neck).

During the first couple of shots, there was absolutely no feeling of discomfort, just the vibration of the machine. But towards the end of the 300 shots (on each side of my face), the pain slowly escalated to a rather sharp stinging pain, but still bearable though. Overall, the pain factor would be about 5/10. Definitely a negligible price to pay for the sake of beauty. HAH! 

Here is now I look now. I see a slight lifting effect (my face to a tad smaller?) at the lower cheeks and jaw line, if you compare with how I look before, but do note that it would take at least a month for obvious improvement in the skin to show.

What I like most about Thermage FLX is that there is absolutely NO DOWNTIME for this treatment, the slight prickly sensation on my face after the numbing cream effects has wore off aside, there was no redness or any sort of skin peeling. Our skin will also not be exceptionally sensitive to the sun or any kind of active ingredients, so we can just go back to our usual routines after the treatment, and just wait for the skin improvement to show naturally.

Awesome, right?

To know more about Thermage FLX at IDS, check out their website HERE

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The Durian Bakery [Sponsored]

Noticing that Singapore lacked a bakery that specialises in baking delicious, rich durian goods, The Durian Bakery was born in 2020, guided by a passion for durian and a passion for greatness. And their response so far? 

Phenomenal.

Rated as one of the 17 best durian cakes in Singapore by bestinsingapore.com, The Durian Bakery is definitely one of the bakeries you ought to check out if you're an avid fan of durian baked goods.

From Durian Black Forest Cakes, to Durian-Oreo Ice Cream Cakes, all of The Durian Bakery innovations are coupled with their very own signature puree, SilkyGold™, which will introduce you to a world of new and rich durian flavours. 

And it's a good thing that they sent over these bundles of goodies during my birthday, so the calories shouldn't count, right? 

Black Forest Dark Cherry with MSW Core 6" - $78

Black Forest Cake made from the freshest finest black cherries and dark chocolate, infused with Mao Shan Wang puree. Made with our signature MSW SilkyGold™ Durian Puree – the creamiest, most delicious durian filling you’ve ever tasted, made of 100% Grade A MSW, blended through a special process to make it extra creamy, and just as tasty as the Durian itself!

Made with moist cherry chocolate chiffon sponge cake, layered with black cherry jam and 100% pure MSW puree, then frosted with dark chocolate charcoal butter cream and topped with Holland black cherries that are dusted with edible 24k gold dust. 

Talk about a luxurious birthday cake! 

While the chocolate base flavour of the cake complements the durian flavour pretty well, the tangy black cherry jam helps to further boost the durian taste of the MSW puree. A definite must try if you're not just a fan of durian and chocolate, but also appreciate tangy fruits. 

Other than the whole cake, there was also a Signature Pastries Taster Bundle ($51.90) that comes with the following yummies.

Dark Choco Musang King Mousse - $16

Savory dark chocolate mousse with fresh Musang king durian pureed and whipped into a thick creamy texture. With every mouth, you could taste the natural bitter-sweetness of our signature SilkyGold™ Durian Puree – the creamiest, most delicious durian filling you’ve ever tasted – topped with the sinfully rich dark chocolate.

With a hazelnut palette feuilletine base, filled with creamy MSW mousse and a 100% molten MSW core (picture taken while it was pretty chilled, hence not very molten) and covered with 100% dark chocolate and dusted with 24k gold dust, this is definitely the durian dessert you'd serve to impress. 

While it has been established that durian and chocolate makes a good taste-team, the addition of the feuilletine base added a nice crunch to the overall soft and creamy texture of the mousse cake, hence boosting up the overall mouthfeel of the dessert.

Snowy D24 Durian Cream Puff (12 pcs) - $25

Light airy choux puff pastry filled with a luscious and decadent durian filling thats made using our D24!

Extremely light, soft and airy choux puff pastry that is filled to the brim with creamy D24 durian cream; what's not to love about this? 

Snowy D24 Durian Mochi (6 pcs) - $15

“Poink-poink!” Our signature mochi with a soft core filled with purely just D24 Durians!

And last, but not least, everybody say MOCHI-MOCHI~~

These cute little chewy bite-sized balls of mochi are filled generously with a soft centre of D24 durian, a definitely must try for all you mochi lovers! 

For more durian baked goods, check out The Durian Bakery HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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