Christmas Crafts 2013 - Snow Globe

This year, I feel like doing some crafts for my friends. As I searched for ideas on the net, Snow Globe seemed simpler enough for my "less than creative" side. Its really not easy to source for supplies in Singapore.

Supplies
- Glitter $3.55 ( from Popular )
- Miniature Christmas trees $10 for 5 trees ( stumbled upon a booth in Tanglin Mall )
- Lacquer spray $5.95 ( Art Friend )
- Glass Jars $2 for the 3 coloured jars and $2 for another 2 slightly larger jars ( Daiso )
- Distilled water $1
- Glycerin $5.70 ( Watsons )
- Hot Glue gun
- Faux Snow

Disaster strikes when I realized my Christmas trees bleed green into the water. I bought new ones, spray it with lacquer ( to make it water-resistant ) and start again. Distilled water is preferred over tap water as I read that tap water will turn cloudy after some time. Glycerin is added to make the glitters settle more slowly to the bottom.
I made 2 versions - wet and dry, as I realized that some of the trees still bleed, turning the water to green. For the dry version, I made my own faux snow using soft Styrofoam type of material, that are commonly used to wrap your electronic gadgets.

This is the wet version.

(1) Using hot glue, secure the tree to the cap
(2) Pour glitter into the glass jar
(3) Pour distilled water
(4) Pour a few drops of glycerin into the jar
(5) Using hot glue around the cap, twist it tightly to secure the cap to the jar to prevent spillage
(6) Turn it upside down

You can decorate it with ribbons and glitter on the jar but I prefer it simple.
I just hot glue a pearl to the top of the tree to make it feel special.

This is the dry version.

(1) UHU glue is used on the base of the jar and spread it with a spatula
(2) Leave a gap in the center for the tree and do not taint it with the UHU glue
(3) Pour faux snow into the jar and let it get stuck to the base of the jar
(4) Use hot glue on the miniature tree and secure it to the base of the jar
(5) Pour in more faux snow ( this will be loose as there is no UHU glue )
(6) Sprinkle some glitters onto the faux snow
(7) Secure the cap

Do you like my DIY Snow Globe? How about yours? Share your crafts with me, in the comments below. 

Sushi Tei Matcha Nama Chocolate Ice Cream

I didn't like this one bit. The bitter matcha taste is too strong for my likes due to their intense tea powder. Perhaps its supposed to be the perfect matcha between the bitter matcha and the sweet ice-cream but I can't tell because the bitterness is just too much for me to bear.

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Green Tea Latte at McCafe

Frothy green tea latte that tastes like a very normal hot matcha with milk. Nothing spectacular.

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Matcha Kit Kat

9 minis for about $5.90 from our local NTUCs.  Creamy in texture, the matcha coated waffles is sweet with a subtle matcha taste.

(Update : 30th Nov 14)
12 minis for $4.95 spotted in ABC shop at Potong Pasir.


                                                      

Cheongdam-dong Alice

Plucky Han Se Kyung (Moon Geun-yeong) is a fledgling fashion designer with big dreams and an even bigger ambition to succeed. She enters every design contest possible, cheerily dusting off rejections and the accompanying hardships, but it all pays off. Or so she thinks. Her dream job ends up being a rude awakening when she realizes she's been hired as the go-to assistant of the company president's wife — the woman who was once her high school nemesis! The tide turns when Han resolves to move up the social echelon by marrying into a rich family and becoming a "cheongdam-dong" daughter-in-law (aka trophy wife). Han must confront her innermost desires: will she hang up her dreams to dry, or does money really mean everything?

Moon Geun-yeong has this perpetual sad look all the time and seemed almost inappropriate at times, in this show. Still, I like this Alice in Wonderland fairytale-like story.
The things that Park Shi Hoo will do to make her happy. His childish-like stances and his innocent sheer joy lit up the screen and make you marvel at this "being in love" feeling that everyone will have when they are in love.

If you are single, you are envious and long for it. If you are attached, you agreed with it. If you are married, you missed those days. Sometimes its not the person you missed, but the moments and feelings when you had with them.

Quoted from the show :
Immature love says " you love him because you need him"
Mature love says " you need him because you love him"

Master's Sun

Joo Joong Won (So Ji Sub) is a cold and ambitious CEO, who measures all human relationships through money. Tae Gong Sil (Gong Hyo Jin) is a sensitive assistant, who suffers from insomnia, due to her ability to see ghosts after an accident. Joong Won will learn to trust Gong Sil and falls in love with her. 

This is a recent drama which I was watching. When I first heard about the ghosts that are associated with the show, it actually deterred me from watching it until my friend highly recommended it. Naturally, the first episode had me hooked.

Trust the Hong Sisters to come up with something refreshing and different. Some of the ghost stories are pretty touching though some of them have scary faces.
Basically this drama has great writing, a great cast and believable and endearing chemistry.

Though initially, I did find Kong-Sil's actions pretty silly, the way she always touches Joong-Won like a silly school girl. It does not quite gel with how normal adults should behave.

With a mixture of laughter, sweetness and fleeting thru different stories in the perspective of ghosts, this is yet another must-watch drama.
The endearing touching moments between Joong-Won (So Ji-Sub) and Kong-Sil (Kong Hyo-Jin), the zany gestures and reactions from Joong-Won, the cute expressions of Ms Little Sun who's besotted with Kang Woo and a little mystery surrounding Joong-Won's ex girlfriend make this drama a must-watch. And of course the self -sacrificing love that will reduce me to tears.

I can literally feel the tears and the pain when Joong-Won forgets about Kong-Sil.
Korean dramas always have this effect on me. I can feel their happiness, their laughter and their sadness. I cried for them and I am happy for them. And sometimes, I can draw a parallel comparison of their stories with mine.

Matcha Pudding Crunch

Lovely matcha pudding crunch that is sweet and and crunchy like a dessert after a meal.

Green Tea Cream Brulee at Museo

Located at Sentosa Cove Village, Museo is a nice chill-out restaurant to visit on a lazy afternoon. This Green Tea Cream Brulee is simple and nothing pretentious. Nothing out of the ordinary but just a tad too sweet.

Tohato Chokofe Green Tea Galette

Bought this pack from Aeon supermarket in Johor Bahru. The picture looks enticing enough till you bite into it. Its a cookie that feels sugar-coated and abit too sweet for my taste. The matcha taste is hardly delectable. A disappointment!

Shizuoka Ocha Pie

Picked up this box for $8.80 from Nippon-Ya at Ion. It retails for $12.60 originally.

The name sounds like it is supposed to be a pie, with crusty flakes on the outside. Well, how wrong I was. It feels, tastes and looks like "Wife Biscuits"
Crusty on the outside with dry matcha paste in it.
Yucks! How un-Japanese it is.

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Werewolf Boy

Summoned by an unexpected phone call, an elderly woman visits a cottage the way she used to when she was a young girl. She remembers a boy she knew half a century before. Moving to a peaceful village when she was a girl she discovered a "wolf boy", hiding his large, contorted body in the darkness. The girl, now a woman, has never been able to purge the images of his wild eyes and animal-like behavior from her mind. She recalls teaching the boy how to wait patiently before a meal, how to wear clothes, how to speak, how to write and other human behaviors so that he could one day live like a normal man. She opened her heart to the innocent boy and he fell in love with the girl, the only person to ever show him affection. However when threatened, he let loose his bestial instincts and became the subject of the villagers' fears. In order to save the life of the boy who risked his to be by her side, she left him with a promise: "Wait for me. I'll come back for you".

I love this film. A bittersweet love story with a sad ending. It touches the deepest chord in my heart on how love can be so pure and strong. I just can't help crying for the male lead, pinning and waiting for her return for 47 years. A must-watch.

Secret Recipe Green Tea Cheese Cake

Just couldn't resist their cakes when I was in JB over the weekend. So much affordable than in Singapore.

I like the hint of the matcha taste, enveloped within the cheesecake, however my companion thinks its just too cheesy with a barely-there matcha taste.

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Nokchawon Green Tea Latte

Product Description
Enjoy pure Korean Green Tea mixed with a non-dairy cream powder. Green Tea Latte is a delicious sweet drink rich in all the benefits of Green Tea powder including Catechin. Served in convenient and easy to prepare satchets. Simply add one satchet to a cup, add hot water, stir and enjoy.

I picked up a box of this Green Tea Latte which costs $5.80 from Shine Supermarket, that comprises of all things Korea. You can check out the range of products from the brand Nokchawon here.

I was sorely disappointed with my first mug of the Green Tea Latte because its so diluted with a barely there matcha taste. However, I have learnt to tweak it, and added less water to my small mug, so its still alright.

This newly acquired taste is a lightweight matcha taste without the bitterness. Not the best fragrance or strong in flavour but I have learnt to enjoy drinking a mug in the morning.

Get it from Amazon :
Nokchawon Green Tea Latte 


                                                        



Source : Nokchawon

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Ochacha Rocks + Chasoba

I like visiting Ochacha (Paragon) when I am alone. It provides a comfortable place for me to enjoy my dinner and drink alone, away from the crowds.
I always order their signature drink, the Ochacha Rocks, a chilled matcha latte for $4.95. Basically, a green tea latte with milk.

A tad too expensive because 50% of the drink is filled with ice. But I love the drink. Just make sure to drink it before the ice melts because the drink tends to get too diluted thereafter.

I think they have probably change the packaging, I remembered there used to be their logos on their packaging. Cost cutting, maybe?

Chasoba, it was just so good. Served chilled, with sesame dressing. At $7.90 for a small portion.



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