I think it's great to have a list of goals you set yourself yearly since it helps you improve on yourself! Not only that but goals means that you have something to look forward to and it gives you another reason to celebrate when you actually achieve them. This year, I decided to post my goals on my blog so that it motivates me to achieve them even more and makes me accountable to them. I decided to have 12 goals this year, not too little so there can be challenges this year and not too much that I don't complete most of them.
1. Write a blog post at least once a month
Yes, I always get super busy when uni starts and neglect my blog but I'm hoping to change it around this year!
2. Drop down to 48 kgs
I was never a fat kid, I do however have a lot of fats around my stomach/thighs/arms which I could and should lose. Last year around christmas time I was 48kg, and I haven't grown any taller since so that's all fat gains right there! I'm currently 56 kgs and 155 cm tall so I'm looking to trim down a bit to fit into my old size 8 clothes. Hopefully I succeed in achieving this year because toning down and losing weight seems to be my goal every year that never succeeds haha!
2. Do a 30 day fitness challenge
I love fitness challenges! There's so many out there and I love doing them, the only problem is.... I've never successfully finished one. I mean I've done the 30 day shred challenge and 30 day abs challenge but I lasted 28 days and 22 days respectfully. TWENTY EIGHT days, Jess why why why it was only two extra days. I'm going to account my next challenge here so that I *hopefully* won't back out!
4. Get 6 hours sleep a day
Uni life usually leads me to sleep under 6 hours a day, which is horrible, I know. So this year I'm hoping to be more organised and balance my social/work life so that I can get a decent sleep every night!
5. Be able to jog for 5km
This is going to be a big goal for me as I'm really really bad at running. I don't think I can run for two minutes straight without dying.
6. Start a hobby
Right now I'm not sure what it will be, but I'm looking for some sort of hobby that is fitness related like maybe rock climbing, aerials or who knows maybe even kick boxing.
7. Visit my little sister once a week
My little sister is moving to Perth in January! She won't be living with me as she's younger than 18 and I can't be her guardian since I'm not a resident or citizen of Australia :(
So I'm going to try to visit her at least once a week to take her around.
8. Travel Travel Travel!
I want to experience more of the world, so this year I aim to visit a country that I have never been before!
9. Lose my concert virginity
Yup, I've never been to a concert. I've always imagined that my first concert would be Taylor Swift (Swiffie fan woo) but let's see if she tours Perth this year!
10. Get vacation work for the summer break.
I'm going to graduate in two years so I'd like to get as much connections/experience as I can so I can make my mark in the industry. Oh, and money, I want to make the cha-ching in summer too haha.
11. Maintain a distinction average.
Grades are important to me, and I want to keep my grades where they are at despite my other goals of travelling, working to save, etc, etc.
12. Have $50,000
I'm aiming to save enough in the next two years so that I can pay for my little sister to go to university here in Australia. I'm ending 2016 with $30,000 in my savings account since I've been saving for my baby girl for three years already. So $20,000 with jobs this year should be attainable? I don't know, let's hope!
So those are all my goals this year, come at me 2017.
Hope everyone has a good celebration tonight, Happy New Year!
♥ Jess
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31.12.16
21.12.16
Fitbit charge HR review
So I've own my fitbit HR for a year, and I absolutely love it. For those who don't know, fitbit is a brand that sells a wearable motivating workout buddy. It helps you track your steps, heart rate, workout, calorie in and calorie out, how much water you consume, your sleep, weight and just so much more.
I admit I had my doubts of its worth initially and since at that time I had just quit my job and money was tight. Fortunately, I won an instagram competition and scored a $50 voucher to Harvey Norman. God must have been on my side that week because it also happened to be on sale so I got it for $126. Yay me! (Of course now with the new blaze and HR 2 fitbit the price have dropped to almost half of what I bought it for).
Design and Features
The fitbit charge HR is made out of a light-weight rubbery material that rests comfortably on my arm. Currently, you can get it in four colours (Black, Plum, Blue and Tangerine), the black one is the best selling one, because let's face it, black matches everything. It has a small LED strip that shows your features with the tap of a button. Alternatively, you can double tap anywhere on the strap and it should turn on. It automatically turns off in about 8 seconds to conserve battery.
Heart-rate monitor
So the charge monitors your heart-rate via green LED lights. I would say it's fairly accurate just like any other wrist heart-rate monitor. I think this is a neat feature as it lets you know your heart-rate while you are resting, working out, sleeping and basically any time you want. This helps to monitor your calorie count during the day more precisely. This feature for me is motivating especially when I'm jogging or biking I love to just quickly check my heart rate and it encourages me to put more effort if I think my heart's not pumping enough.
Battery life
The fitbit comes with a USB cable that you can connect to your laptop, the plug is a different one from the norm, which is a downside for me. I think that making it a universal plug-in would make it much better since if you lose it you have to buy a new one specifically for the fitbit (happened to me twice, so clumsy). It lasts up to 5 days, so it says. It only takes an hour or two tops to fully charge which is convenient. I usually charge it when I play dota, which is almost everyday so it never really died on me. Sometimes it likes to display cute messages when it is fully charged like "I like you" or "faster".
Tracking activity
The charge tracks daily steps, distance, stair flights and sleep activity. You can adjust the goals according to your lifestyle and it shows all your stats in the fitbit app. To track a workout, you simply just hold the button until the counter starts and it'll record the stats of that workout interval. The fitbit is quite accurate except when I workout. Tracking exercises like running is fine but once you do exercises that have a lot of hand movement like boxing or riding my bike I find it to be off... by quite a bit. This doesn't really bother me much since my usual form of exercise is jogging or strength workout that does not involve me to move my arms vigorously.
The sleep tracker is SO COOL. Like really, I'm so amazed that it can know when I'm sleeping. It tracks even my short naps automatically. This feature is rad, it also lets you know when you're restless or have woken up from your sleep. Another useful feature is its silent alarm, it sends vibrations to your wrist and it's rather hard to sleep through.
Challenges
This. Is. The. Best. Not only do you obtain badges that goes to your profile to show off to people but you get to challenge friends too. According to me, this is the most motivating thing about my fitbit! They have daily goal challenges, work week challenges, weekend challenges or a daily showdown. Every time I see someone above me in the leader board I pretty much walk to uni instead of taking a bus (I live 20 good minutes away from my campus) or go for a walk just to surpass them since I'm quite competitive when it comes to my steps. I love it. I love it. I love it.
Other features
There's other features that I don't really use which exist on the fitbit. You can monitor your weight and it will graph your progress, input your water consumption, see caller ID's from your phone and calorie intake. The food variety is well, not that broad and if you want to be counting calories you're better off downloading an app like MyFitnessPal.
Dislikes
There are a few downsides to the fitbit charge HR, for example it's not waterproof so you can't use it for tracking exercises like swimming. If you're clumsy like me, you will probably scratch the screen and it's so hard to get it replaced as hardly any electronic stores will fix a fitbit screen. Another thing I dislike is, the rubber material. It popped out when I played volleyball and now it looks deformed. I also have super sensitive skin so when the weather is very humid, my skin under the strap likes to form rashes due to the fitbit (usually I would just switch the fitbit to my other wrist if it gets bad).
Conclusion
I think the fitbit charge HR certainly made my life more active by ditching the bus and walking, climb stairs instead of using the lift and even just walking around the house to complete my daily goal. I'd recommend looking into the fitbit charge HR 2 since it has a bigger screen and the strap is interchangeable so if you deformed your strap like I did, you can easily fix it by getting a new strap.
Now that the fitbit HR 2 is out, many stores like office works and harvey norman stopped stocking up on the fitbit HR but JB Hi-Fi (Teal/Plum) has them listed at $98 for anyone interested in one.
♥ Jess
I admit I had my doubts of its worth initially and since at that time I had just quit my job and money was tight. Fortunately, I won an instagram competition and scored a $50 voucher to Harvey Norman. God must have been on my side that week because it also happened to be on sale so I got it for $126. Yay me! (Of course now with the new blaze and HR 2 fitbit the price have dropped to almost half of what I bought it for).
Design and Features
The fitbit charge HR is made out of a light-weight rubbery material that rests comfortably on my arm. Currently, you can get it in four colours (Black, Plum, Blue and Tangerine), the black one is the best selling one, because let's face it, black matches everything. It has a small LED strip that shows your features with the tap of a button. Alternatively, you can double tap anywhere on the strap and it should turn on. It automatically turns off in about 8 seconds to conserve battery.
Heart-rate monitor
So the charge monitors your heart-rate via green LED lights. I would say it's fairly accurate just like any other wrist heart-rate monitor. I think this is a neat feature as it lets you know your heart-rate while you are resting, working out, sleeping and basically any time you want. This helps to monitor your calorie count during the day more precisely. This feature for me is motivating especially when I'm jogging or biking I love to just quickly check my heart rate and it encourages me to put more effort if I think my heart's not pumping enough.
Battery life
The fitbit comes with a USB cable that you can connect to your laptop, the plug is a different one from the norm, which is a downside for me. I think that making it a universal plug-in would make it much better since if you lose it you have to buy a new one specifically for the fitbit (happened to me twice, so clumsy). It lasts up to 5 days, so it says. It only takes an hour or two tops to fully charge which is convenient. I usually charge it when I play dota, which is almost everyday so it never really died on me. Sometimes it likes to display cute messages when it is fully charged like "I like you" or "faster".
Tracking activity
The charge tracks daily steps, distance, stair flights and sleep activity. You can adjust the goals according to your lifestyle and it shows all your stats in the fitbit app. To track a workout, you simply just hold the button until the counter starts and it'll record the stats of that workout interval. The fitbit is quite accurate except when I workout. Tracking exercises like running is fine but once you do exercises that have a lot of hand movement like boxing or riding my bike I find it to be off... by quite a bit. This doesn't really bother me much since my usual form of exercise is jogging or strength workout that does not involve me to move my arms vigorously.
The sleep tracker is SO COOL. Like really, I'm so amazed that it can know when I'm sleeping. It tracks even my short naps automatically. This feature is rad, it also lets you know when you're restless or have woken up from your sleep. Another useful feature is its silent alarm, it sends vibrations to your wrist and it's rather hard to sleep through.
Challenges
This. Is. The. Best. Not only do you obtain badges that goes to your profile to show off to people but you get to challenge friends too. According to me, this is the most motivating thing about my fitbit! They have daily goal challenges, work week challenges, weekend challenges or a daily showdown. Every time I see someone above me in the leader board I pretty much walk to uni instead of taking a bus (I live 20 good minutes away from my campus) or go for a walk just to surpass them since I'm quite competitive when it comes to my steps. I love it. I love it. I love it.
Other features
There's other features that I don't really use which exist on the fitbit. You can monitor your weight and it will graph your progress, input your water consumption, see caller ID's from your phone and calorie intake. The food variety is well, not that broad and if you want to be counting calories you're better off downloading an app like MyFitnessPal.
Dislikes
There are a few downsides to the fitbit charge HR, for example it's not waterproof so you can't use it for tracking exercises like swimming. If you're clumsy like me, you will probably scratch the screen and it's so hard to get it replaced as hardly any electronic stores will fix a fitbit screen. Another thing I dislike is, the rubber material. It popped out when I played volleyball and now it looks deformed. I also have super sensitive skin so when the weather is very humid, my skin under the strap likes to form rashes due to the fitbit (usually I would just switch the fitbit to my other wrist if it gets bad).
Conclusion
I think the fitbit charge HR certainly made my life more active by ditching the bus and walking, climb stairs instead of using the lift and even just walking around the house to complete my daily goal. I'd recommend looking into the fitbit charge HR 2 since it has a bigger screen and the strap is interchangeable so if you deformed your strap like I did, you can easily fix it by getting a new strap.
Now that the fitbit HR 2 is out, many stores like office works and harvey norman stopped stocking up on the fitbit HR but JB Hi-Fi (Teal/Plum) has them listed at $98 for anyone interested in one.
♥ Jess
7.3.16
Medley Pullman City Centre Hotel | Deira, Dubai
My mom's currently obsessed with groupon deals. So it's no surprise that when she found a brunch buffet deal at 99aed per person (usually costs 220aed per person), all of us had to go.
The interior was very sophisticated with wooden décor and marble floors. The staff were friendly and some of them were in roller skates! Not sure if it was a one time thing or if they do it everyday. If you have kids, this place is amazing as they have a designated kids area with toys and they serve small finger foods like nuggets and fries.
The buffet served an international cuisine with free flow drinks. They has an enormous variety of bread and cheese and endless side dishes.
They had a live cooking counter where you can order Western food like burgers, onion rings, hot dogs, fries, etc. Outdoors, they had fresh barbeque which you can order and they would bring to your table (they never showed up with mine tho!).
I only noticed this area in the end when I was so full, but near the desserts they have a variety of sandwiches which I didn't get to try.
Ofcourse, I could not help getting my hands on anything chocolate! They have SO MANY desserts, loads of cakes, puddings, mousses you name it. Also, if you go around to the bar area they can whip you up a nice ice cream milk shake to enjoy.
Overall, it was delicious, the food was great and the service was amazing. On the groupon deal, it was really worth the money. I would probably even pay the full price on special occasions.
♥ Jess
Location: Level 1, Pullman Hotel, beside Deira City Centre, Dubai
Number: 04 6038201
Opening hours: 6:30am - 11:30pm
(Friday Brunch 12:30-4:00pm)
Website: http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-2022-pullman-dubai-creek-city-centre/restaurant.shtml
The interior was very sophisticated with wooden décor and marble floors. The staff were friendly and some of them were in roller skates! Not sure if it was a one time thing or if they do it everyday. If you have kids, this place is amazing as they have a designated kids area with toys and they serve small finger foods like nuggets and fries.
The buffet served an international cuisine with free flow drinks. They has an enormous variety of bread and cheese and endless side dishes.
They had a live cooking counter where you can order Western food like burgers, onion rings, hot dogs, fries, etc. Outdoors, they had fresh barbeque which you can order and they would bring to your table (they never showed up with mine tho!).
I only noticed this area in the end when I was so full, but near the desserts they have a variety of sandwiches which I didn't get to try.
Ofcourse, I could not help getting my hands on anything chocolate! They have SO MANY desserts, loads of cakes, puddings, mousses you name it. Also, if you go around to the bar area they can whip you up a nice ice cream milk shake to enjoy.
Overall, it was delicious, the food was great and the service was amazing. On the groupon deal, it was really worth the money. I would probably even pay the full price on special occasions.
♥ Jess
Location: Level 1, Pullman Hotel, beside Deira City Centre, Dubai
Number: 04 6038201
Opening hours: 6:30am - 11:30pm
(Friday Brunch 12:30-4:00pm)
Website: http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-2022-pullman-dubai-creek-city-centre/restaurant.shtml
2.3.16
Betawi Restaurant | Karama, Dubai
My parents attended an event in the Indonesian consulate not too long ago and they catered from Betawi. The food was so good that we decided to cater from them too for my niece's birthday (not before we have lunch there first tho!).
It's a small place with a lot of wooden designs, just like common restaurants in Indonesia itself. The view outside is quite saddening... An apartmentment covers the whole view from the window and you can see the laundry shops and small cafes in the bottom.
The staff were helpful and service was fast. Majority of the staff is Indonesian but there are some Philipinos, we found out by talking to them in Bahasa and having them look confused. I guess we Indo's really look like Kabayans and vise-versa sometimes. The restaurant received a few TimeOut awards, Two commends for great South-East Asia food and one for budget dining. So naturally, I kept my hopes high.
I ordered Nasi Padang (30dhs) and was super happy with my decision. An extremly large plate appeared in front of me for the price I paid. I picked the beef rendang option, I was a bit sad at first since there was only two pieces in my plate but in the end I only ate one because I was just too full! The rice was covered in the most mouth watering curry and the dish was complimented with some vegetables, peanuts, an egg and some prawn crackers.
My mother ordered Batagor (27 dhs) which is kind of like fried siomay with some tofu and fish which is also fried and then topped with peanut sauce similar to the ones you use for satay. This is usually an appetizer but since my mom's not a big eater this dish really filled her up.
As for my dad, he ordered Pecel Timbel (30 dhs) which was beautifully presented and just like the Nasi Padang, the plate was huge! It came with soup, chicken, prawn crackers and assorted vegs. The red chilli in this dish is less spicy than that of the Nasi Padang one. Overall, a great experience. If you're missing Indonesian food, this place serves very authentic Indonesian cuisine at affordable prices.
Note: When they catered to the party, the food was fantastic. We ordered a bit of everything and the guests were in love with the food!
♥ Jess
Location: 4B street, behind Park Regis hotel, Al Karama, Dubai
Opening hours: 12pm - 10pm
Phone: (04) 4542329/056 7598118
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betawifanclub
It's a small place with a lot of wooden designs, just like common restaurants in Indonesia itself. The view outside is quite saddening... An apartmentment covers the whole view from the window and you can see the laundry shops and small cafes in the bottom.
The staff were helpful and service was fast. Majority of the staff is Indonesian but there are some Philipinos, we found out by talking to them in Bahasa and having them look confused. I guess we Indo's really look like Kabayans and vise-versa sometimes. The restaurant received a few TimeOut awards, Two commends for great South-East Asia food and one for budget dining. So naturally, I kept my hopes high.
I ordered Nasi Padang (30dhs) and was super happy with my decision. An extremly large plate appeared in front of me for the price I paid. I picked the beef rendang option, I was a bit sad at first since there was only two pieces in my plate but in the end I only ate one because I was just too full! The rice was covered in the most mouth watering curry and the dish was complimented with some vegetables, peanuts, an egg and some prawn crackers.
My mother ordered Batagor (27 dhs) which is kind of like fried siomay with some tofu and fish which is also fried and then topped with peanut sauce similar to the ones you use for satay. This is usually an appetizer but since my mom's not a big eater this dish really filled her up.
As for my dad, he ordered Pecel Timbel (30 dhs) which was beautifully presented and just like the Nasi Padang, the plate was huge! It came with soup, chicken, prawn crackers and assorted vegs. The red chilli in this dish is less spicy than that of the Nasi Padang one. Overall, a great experience. If you're missing Indonesian food, this place serves very authentic Indonesian cuisine at affordable prices.
Note: When they catered to the party, the food was fantastic. We ordered a bit of everything and the guests were in love with the food!
♥ Jess
Location: 4B street, behind Park Regis hotel, Al Karama, Dubai
Opening hours: 12pm - 10pm
Phone: (04) 4542329/056 7598118
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betawifanclub
26.2.16
A visit to the Miracle Gardens | Dubai
So Dubai decided to open a flower garden for tourists after I left to Australia. Now that I am no longer a resident of United Arab Emirates, I thought of seeing what this place is all about.
It costs 30 dhs per person to enter and children under 3 enter for free. You can grab a good deal if you are planning to visit both the miracle garden and the butterfly garden that is located beside it. It is quite spacious place with a lot of various flower arrangement that is said to change every year.
Most of the statues (if not all the flower structures) seems to be made out of the same type of flowers. If you've seen one flower house there, all the other houses pretty much look the same. It is a lovely place to take pictures in, especially if you're a selfie whore like me! Also, they have adorable flowers beside the houses.
The food court is covered with upside down umbrellas which is taken from the concept in the village at Dubai mall, it is so cute and makes the day much more fun and brighter.
Oh, almost forgot to mention. If you want some super cheesy lovey dovey photos with your one and only, this is the perfect place. It has plenty of instagram-worthy backgrounds from heart archs and heart benches to a heart walk away. Let's face it, what's more romantic then getting a snap with a bunch full of flowers? My parents couldn't resist snapping a quick shot.
If you are coming here, I do suggest eating beforehand or bringing your own food since the food that is sold here is not exactly wallet friendly. I bought a cup of watermelon for 30dhs (the price of the ticket!) and it was not worth it.
Definitely come down for a look, it honestly would not take you a whole day so fit in more things in your agenda while going all the way up to visit this place like global village or the outlet mall for instance.
Enjoy your Saturday!
♥ Jess
It costs 30 dhs per person to enter and children under 3 enter for free. You can grab a good deal if you are planning to visit both the miracle garden and the butterfly garden that is located beside it. It is quite spacious place with a lot of various flower arrangement that is said to change every year.
Most of the statues (if not all the flower structures) seems to be made out of the same type of flowers. If you've seen one flower house there, all the other houses pretty much look the same. It is a lovely place to take pictures in, especially if you're a selfie whore like me! Also, they have adorable flowers beside the houses.
The food court is covered with upside down umbrellas which is taken from the concept in the village at Dubai mall, it is so cute and makes the day much more fun and brighter.
Oh, almost forgot to mention. If you want some super cheesy lovey dovey photos with your one and only, this is the perfect place. It has plenty of instagram-worthy backgrounds from heart archs and heart benches to a heart walk away. Let's face it, what's more romantic then getting a snap with a bunch full of flowers? My parents couldn't resist snapping a quick shot.
If you are coming here, I do suggest eating beforehand or bringing your own food since the food that is sold here is not exactly wallet friendly. I bought a cup of watermelon for 30dhs (the price of the ticket!) and it was not worth it.
Definitely come down for a look, it honestly would not take you a whole day so fit in more things in your agenda while going all the way up to visit this place like global village or the outlet mall for instance.
Enjoy your Saturday!
♥ Jess
11.2.16
Al Waha - Jood Palace Hotel | Al Rigga, Dubai
For my Aunt's birthday, we had a lovely Friday brunch buffet in Jood Palace Hotel (previously known as Taj hotel). I have dined here once before I left to Australia and I recalled not being that fond of their food, so my hopes were not that high.
Upon arriving to the venue, you could see the food buffet table along side of the walls as you make your way to the seating area. The seating area had a certain Arabic feel to it and the dimmed lights created a rather romantic atmosphere.
As I was exploring the buffet table, I was happily shocked to learn that the whole hallway was actually filled with food that we could take, even though it stretched passed their other two restaurants (this might be included in the groupon deal we bought so I'm not sure if everyone's experience is the same). It was certainly not how I remembered it to be when I visited last time.
The waiters/waitresses were very helpful and had great customer service skills, I felt like a princess. Every time I ordered from a station, they would kindly tell me that I need not wait for my food to be cooked as they will deliver it up to my table.
The best thing about the buffet were the stations, lots and lots of stations. They had a chocolate fountain station, sushi station, satay station, kebab station, shawarma station, pasta station, Mexican station, Indian station and so much more! I was overwhelmed by all the choices for this price we paid (79 dhs). It certainly had more than most buffets I have eaten in before!
In addition to the stations, they had a variety of dishes laid out in the usual buffet style. The stations, in my opinion are more worth it as it is cooked freshly when you order. It would be cool if they have a dessert station aside from the chocolate fountain, but hey the dessert table is good enough.
It's times like these where I wish I was a cow and had four stomachs. I visited the sushi station three times and probably ate seven plateful of yummy goodness, certainly happy that I don't live close enough to come here often or obesity would be around the corner.
Here's a picture of my Auntie with a purple cheesecake I made, you can find the recipe here.
Check out the groupon deal we purchased by clicking here.
♥ Jess
Location: Ground level, Jood Palace Hotel, Al Rigga, Dubai
Opening hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
7:00pm - 11:00pm
(Friday Brunch till 4:00pm)
Website: http://www.joodhospitality.com/Dine-detail/1/Al-Waha
3.2.16
Food discovery: Lotus Biscoff Biscuits Review
I'm not sure if anyone saw my instagram photo of the lotus biscoff minibons I had last month from cinnabon.. but those things were out of this world. When I was offered to try the new minibons I remember thinking "just what the hell are lotus biscoff's?" I've never heard of them.
Luckily for me, I tried it with a friend who explained that they are some sort of biscuit. After cinnabon discontinued the biscoff series, my sister and I searched for these biscuits everywhere.
For those who live in UAE, I got mine at Ajman city centre's carrefour (They don't sell it in every carrefour though, Deira city centre and Sharjah city centre for instance did not sell them). I got them at 8.50dhs a pack, I don't know what overcame me but I bought 4 packs in an instant.
So it is actually called biscoff and the company that sells it is called lotus (here I thought it was called lotus biscoff the whole time). Each pack consists of 25 individually packaged bicuits, good for portion control. It is a caramelised biscuit which claims:
It has a cute pattern border around the biscuit with the company's name in the middle.
It has a crispy texture to it. As for taste, it does remind me of digestive biscuits, perhaps gourmet digestive biscuits but with cinnamon and something extra I can't lay my finger on it. Also if you have tried the speculoos cookie butter, it's basically that in biscuit form. I heard they sold a lotus biscoff spread but unfortunately, I was not able to find any.
These are now my favourite biscuits (if cookies don't count), thank goodness I bought a lot because my sister and I are going through them like crazy!
The ingredients are : Wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oils (certified sustainable palm oil, rapeseed oil), candy sugar syrup, raising agent (sodium hydrogen carbonate) soya flour, salt and cinnamon.
I give these biscuits 8.5/10
♥ Jess
Luckily for me, I tried it with a friend who explained that they are some sort of biscuit. After cinnabon discontinued the biscoff series, my sister and I searched for these biscuits everywhere.
For those who live in UAE, I got mine at Ajman city centre's carrefour (They don't sell it in every carrefour though, Deira city centre and Sharjah city centre for instance did not sell them). I got them at 8.50dhs a pack, I don't know what overcame me but I bought 4 packs in an instant.
So it is actually called biscoff and the company that sells it is called lotus (here I thought it was called lotus biscoff the whole time). Each pack consists of 25 individually packaged bicuits, good for portion control. It is a caramelised biscuit which claims:
To have no colour
No added flavours
Suited for vegetariansEach biscuit is 30 calories.
It has a cute pattern border around the biscuit with the company's name in the middle.
It has a crispy texture to it. As for taste, it does remind me of digestive biscuits, perhaps gourmet digestive biscuits but with cinnamon and something extra I can't lay my finger on it. Also if you have tried the speculoos cookie butter, it's basically that in biscuit form. I heard they sold a lotus biscoff spread but unfortunately, I was not able to find any.
These are now my favourite biscuits (if cookies don't count), thank goodness I bought a lot because my sister and I are going through them like crazy!
The ingredients are : Wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oils (certified sustainable palm oil, rapeseed oil), candy sugar syrup, raising agent (sodium hydrogen carbonate) soya flour, salt and cinnamon.
I give these biscuits 8.5/10
♥ Jess
27.1.16
Purple Blueberry Cheesecake (no-bake)
For my dear Aunt's birthday I decided to make her a cheesecake, a purple one since it is her favourite colour. I wanted to use blackberries and blueberries to make a sort of ombre layer effect but since there were no blackberries in my local supermarket I used purple food coloring and blueberries instead. I used a 24" cake tin for this recipe.
Ingredients:
For colouring:
50g blueberries
Purple food colouring
For crust:
300g digestive biscuit
170g unsalted butter (melted)
For Filling:
600g cream cheese (room temperature)
2 tablespoon gelatin powder
350ml hot water
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
110g icing sugar
Directions:
1. Blend all the digestive biscuits into crumbs. If you don't have one, put them all in a large zip lock bag and hit it with a rolling pin.
2. Mix in the melted butter with the biscuits.
3. Flatten the mixture onto the cake tin and poke holes with a fork. Cling wrap it and leave it in the fridge while making the cheesecake filling.
4. Add gelatin powder with the hot water and set it aside to cool.
5. In a big bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar. Whisk it until it is soft and fluffy.
6. While whisking, add in the gelatin a bit at a time.
7. Split the cheesecake filling into two bowls and add the blueberries (I blended to make it a puree) in one and some food colouring in the other.
8. Pour in the bowl with the food colouring first, followed by the blueberries bowl. In the middle, I laid some fresh blueberries.
9. Leave in the fridge overnight.
* I accidentally erased the overall photo shots ( sorry! ) but I have one with my beautiful Aunt cutting it*
♥ Jess
Ingredients:
For colouring:
50g blueberries
Purple food colouring
For crust:
300g digestive biscuit
170g unsalted butter (melted)
For Filling:
600g cream cheese (room temperature)
2 tablespoon gelatin powder
350ml hot water
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
110g icing sugar
Directions:
1. Blend all the digestive biscuits into crumbs. If you don't have one, put them all in a large zip lock bag and hit it with a rolling pin.
2. Mix in the melted butter with the biscuits.
3. Flatten the mixture onto the cake tin and poke holes with a fork. Cling wrap it and leave it in the fridge while making the cheesecake filling.
4. Add gelatin powder with the hot water and set it aside to cool.
5. In a big bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar. Whisk it until it is soft and fluffy.
6. While whisking, add in the gelatin a bit at a time.
7. Split the cheesecake filling into two bowls and add the blueberries (I blended to make it a puree) in one and some food colouring in the other.
8. Pour in the bowl with the food colouring first, followed by the blueberries bowl. In the middle, I laid some fresh blueberries.
9. Leave in the fridge overnight.
* I accidentally erased the overall photo shots ( sorry! ) but I have one with my beautiful Aunt cutting it*
♥ Jess
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