Japanese Popin Cookin DIY sushi kit (Candy)

Hey guys!

So I always see these cute Japanese jelly things all over Singapore but never bought them because it never came in English instructions. I've started to notice the increase of these boxes in asian stores here in Perth as well so I decided to give it a go.

I bought a sushi one from Kong's in Victoria Park. As expected, all the instructions are in Japanese but there's a lot of diagrams in the back so I tried my luck anyhow!


The moment I opened the package I could smell the familiar lollies fragrance. It came with a mould that had letters and numbers to make it easier to follow the pictures in the back yay.

I poured the 'rice powder' in the tray marked 1 then poured water until it created a fluffy cloud looking shape.


I later realized that the dip meant that you should fill the water to the marked lines before adding the powder. Whoops.

The others pretty much followed the same procedure. You filled it up to the line with water and mix it with the powder. The instructions were actually quite easy to follow. Much easier than I expected.

The coolest part of the kit was making the fish balls. I had SO much fun doing this. You basically mix the two powders in the respective 'A' and 'B' mould and you transfer the orange solution into the blue solution with a pipette looking thing that was provided. The moment the orange liquid hit the blue liquid it instantly made tiny circular fish eggs!

There was a seaweed dough that you rolled out as well, and yup I did a horrible job at it. There was also soy sauce! It's awesome how they go into such details with this set.


Overall putting the set together was so much fun. I only tried the fish eggs and it was sweet and popped in my mouth just like a real fish egg! I didn't really try the rest because, well I don't know it was powder and I felt weird eating it for some reason.

Definitely going to go and make some other sets of these. ^^

♥ Jess

I tried crossfit for a month!

Morning lovelies,

I'm at the stage where I'm just trying everything out to see what works for me and what I like so I decided to give crossfit a go. When I was searching it up there was a lot of mixed vibes towards this sort of exercise so I didn't exactly know how I was going to like it but gave it a go anyways.

So the first session I attended I was OVERWHELMED. It was a small session of about 12 people and in the particular crossfit gym I joined the maximum amount of people there could be in a class is 16. The moment I got there I was sent to do a 100m sprint followed by 5 burpees, and if that was not bad enough I had to do three sets of them. T.H.R.E.E. After the three "warm-up" sets I had sweat trickling off my face and could hear my heart beat rapidly (Yes, I was huffing and puffing in the warm up).

We then proceeded to pick up weights and do a series of 30 reps of arm/shoulder work outs followed by 10 push ups. This again was done in three sets. I cannot do push ups. Even through the guidance of the coach, I had extreme difficulties in performing a proper one. I was not able to complete the full three sets but that's alright because I gave it my best. :)

When we entered the gym area, I was so confused with all the cross fit lingo. There was Rx, WOD, etc. and I was super duper lost. However, the coaches were really helpful and guided me through the workout and ensured I had proper form and technique. The problem came in the days proceeding my first session... My whole body ached like it never ached before. I couldn't open doors, climb stairs or even cup of water without my arms shaking. I did not except that to happen. Yes, I knew I would be sore but my body was incapable of doing normal daily activities and it was so bad that I didn't go to any sessions the next few days.

After four days, my body still did not recover and I was telling myself how all the articles about crossfit being bad for your limbs were true! I was so scared that my body would break in the next session that I wanted to quit but my friend kept pushing me to go and I am so glad that she did! Crossfit was a life changer for me. Did it suck the first week? Hell yeah. Every inch of my body was crying! But I pushed through, I attended three crossfit sessions a week for five weeks and the results were amazing!

In the beginning, I had to use the 8kg barbell as I could not lift the normal 20kg one. The 8kg kettle bell swing was heavy as hell for me and I could only do lunges with 5kg MAX. It has been just over a month since I decided to do crossfit and now I can squat 25kgs. TWENTY FIVE. That is 17kgs heavier than what I first started with!

Crossfit has made me so much stronger and I feel really good about myself. Everyone who is thinking of trying it, go for it! I'm really addicted to crossfit right now and I can't wait to see how much stronger I can be soon.

If anyone is in Perth, I'd recommend forfitness in CanningVale. The coaches are awesome and they have free trials, challenges and a 14 day pass to try it out for 2 weeks for just $14 :)

♥ Jess

Hawker's cuisine | Northbridge, Perth

This place is a saviour when I spend long nights doing assignments in uni since it opens till midnight. Treesha and I usually head out here when we need breaks during our all nighter sessions and it usually is busy, but the crowd comes in and out quite fast that we usually wait 20 minutes tops if it's a hectic night.

For drinks we had ribena and lemon ($4.50), ice lychee ($4.50) and kopi peng ($4.50).



We started off with what I always always order in every Asian restaurant that sells it, sambal kang kung ($15.80). I don't generally find kang kung very spicy in Australia so I asked them to kick it up a notch and double the chilli. This place makes delicious kang kung ♥



We order sizzling tofu ($13.80) as well which came out... not sizzling, but we got it exchanged pretty fast. It might be because they were extremely busy today but the sizzling tofu was not as I remembered it. It was super salty today. The service here is quick and all the staff had their own personal walkie-talkie which is rather cool.



I absolutely love their peking ribs and marmite chicken but since that was the only thing we ever really ordered here we decided to try something new, Bakar fish (price depends on season). The chilli was only placed on top of the fish so the back of the fish was quite bland. It was satisfying, but I think I'll stick with my ribs next time.



Overall, this place is wonderful for dinner. It's probably one of the better Asian cuisines I have had in Perth.

♥ Jess

Location: 40 Francis Street, Northbridge, Perth
Opening hours: 5pm-12am
Phone: (08) 9328 9668
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hawkerscuisine/

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

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

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

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

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:

To have no colour

No added flavours

Suited for vegetarians

Each 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

Edo Cafe | Al Safa, UAE

I traveled quite a bit to get to this place to have some mochi. For those who don't know mochi, it is a Japanese sweet made from glutinous flour with a creamy filling inside. I have been a huge fan of Edo cafe when I used to live in UAE, so I was utterly upset when the Mirdiff branch closed. I visited the one in Al Safa to satisfy my craving.

The place was certainly very cute and better decorated than the one in Mirdiff, it was chic with adorable Japanese decor. The place was very empty and we were the only customers there, that being said you would think the service is faster since there is nobody else but that was unfortunately not the case.





My mouth was watering while I stared at all the colourful mochi's. However, I was not too eager on the price. Since I left they have increased each mochi to 12dhs! I mean sure they taste amazing, but I could fit the whole thing in my mouth. It was quite a steep price to pay.

I ordered a lychee, green tea and chocolate mochi.



I was highly disappointed.. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating. The mochi's were ALRIGHT it's just not how I remembered how Edo's mochi's used to tasted like in the Mirdiff branch. If you've never tried a mochi before, you should. They taste unique and like fluffy flavoured clouds you can eat. For those who already know what they taste like, this place is too overpriced for an OKAY tasting mochi. Probably would not come back again unless the prices go down or a groupon deal is out.

Btw, for those who want to try click here for a mochi deal.

♥ Jess

Location: City Walk Avenue Mall, Al Safa
Opening hours: Everyday 10am - 12am
Phone: +971 4 3440833
Website: http://www.edosweets.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edo-Cafe-334600226659657/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edocafe/