Singapore Arts, Beauty and Inspirations Male Blogger

''The sea, once it cast its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.''

                                                                                                                    - Jacques Cousteau

So much for scanning through the Instagram's explore button which led me to notice a couple of beautifully taken pictures in Singapore Art Museum. Both exhibitions 'Odyssey' and 'Imagiarium' run concurrently in Singapore Art Museum, but in different buildings.

As usual, the highlights were the same usual paintings and art installations that the mainstream social media enthusiast would flood Instagram with. Society is all about attention grabbing and social media worthy I supposed. I know it is a sad thing for those 'others' being neglected, therefore the more I should find a reason to share their beauty as well.

Thankfully the crowd wasn't awfully packed that day at all, since it is a museum after all. People who visited that day as I noticed were mostly families with young children or people like me who do not want to spend too much on entertainment activities on a weekend.  

Ever since Homer's epic poem The Odyssey told the story of warrior Odysseus' ten-year journey home from Troy. Basically Odyssey meant any epic journey and all the art installations simply revolves around journey, travel and water bodies as the mode of travel.

Travelling and going on a journey has always been mysterious to me since I would never know what to expect throughout the journey. The spirit of exploration and discovery could be detected in all these art installations and probably similar abyss of thoughts must be something that intrigue these artists.

Luckily I looked like I had a slight sunburn that day (the redness on my face) since I had undergone Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment at Chrysalis Medical Aesthetics about an hour before. At least I could still post photos of myself with these inspirational arts...

P.s/ HDB Life and the picture below it is not part of Odyssey's exhibit.

It is rather obvious that my face was a aftermath of an acne outbreak during my puberty stage and it remained a warzone throughout my polytechnic days. Just imagine how a ruptured minefield would be like.

Unlike girls/ladies who could cake their face with powder and makeup without getting judged, male victims like me could only let-it-be or occasionally apply a teeny weeny amount of BB cream. I guess with Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment available, we guys need not worry about not able to revive back our youthful skin we once had.   

After a cup of warm tea and a consultation with Dr Ho who explained to me about Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment which I was obviously oblivious to. It is a safe and non-invasive treatment in which Radio Frequency (RF) technology is used to generate heat to initiate skin change, rebuilding collagen and fibroblast stimulation.

3 to 4 treatments are required for best results.

Below are some things Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment could achieve:

-Decrease visible pores for even skin textures

-Reduce signs of aging for a fresher, more youthful look

-Even out textural irregularities for refined looking skin

-Reduce acne scars for a clearer and healthier complexion

-Diminish deep lines and folds for younger looking skin

-Correct necklace lines to lessen the signs of aging

-Diminish and tighten lax skin for a more firm decollete

Since I have nothing to hide about unglamness and clear and unfiltered pictures are needed in order to justify that Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment really could lighten my acne scars. The whole process of my treatment is also documented step by step, picture by picture. I was hoping my experience might be useful for those who intend to undergo this treatment.

A basic cleanse is done before the treatment to remove any form of makeup.

The intensity of Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment is by percentage (%) and mine was 80%. Dr Ho explained that any higher than that might leave pigmentation on our skin. My pain threshold level is high since I often do facial treatments that involves painful extractions. I even requested not applying numbing cream throughout the whole process which lasted about half an hour. The most painful and tear-triggering part would probably be the area below my eyes and along my jawline closest to the ears. 

As you can see from the pictures, after Dr Ho has adjusted the percentage based on my skin condition (which is quite severe), he started working the machine on my face. Minor scarring requires one round while the deeper one required at least 2 to 3 rounds.

After the treatment has ended, I could instantly feel my skin tightened, restricting my facial expressions temporarily. That explains my stony look below with Dr Ho.  

Here is a photo with the team at Chrysalis Medical Aesthetics. Thankfully I looked like I had a pretty bad sunburn after the treatment and not anything worst or I would have to cancel my museum visit with my friend that day.

After treatment analysis:

Day 0 (on that day itself) - I rinsed my face with water only, not even daring to use any form of facial

                                           products. Face was quite sensitive and slightly reddish like having mild

                                           sunburn. That night I used a hydration mask.

Day 1 -  Dr Ho advice to put sunblock and tons of moisturiser. I stayed at home the entire day to let

              my skin rest.

Day 2 -  I was contemplating to even step out of my house to go to work. My face was redder than

              the previous 2 days. The sections where my face had undergone treatment was pretty

              obvious due to the redness. I started using facial foam, only lightly tapping on face. 

              Accidentally applied Vitamin C which was not supposed to that morning. (No acidic 

              substance to be applied.) Towards the evening, the area beside my eyebrow had a few lumps

              of swelling cysts. They went away after 2 days. At this point, need to bath with cool water

             and any attempt to squeeze white heads would cause bleeding. 

Day 3 - Skin still reddish and could feel a 'crust' forming on certain parts on my face. The crust wasn't

             formed on areas that undergone 2 - 3 layers of treatment.

Day 4 - The textured dots was rather obvious on my face now and the 2 - 3 layers has started to form

             crusts as well.

Day 5 - Redness was gone. Skin start to dry up and started shedding like sand. (Below picture)

Day 6 - More shedding occurs on various areas. Started using scrub and gently rub against my face to

             remove dead skin.

Day 7 and 8 - Face remained slightly pink

Day 9 - Back to normal with visible improvement on skin.

I went back for a review almost 2 weeks after the treatment. My scars definitely have lightened slightly after a single session of Venus Viva Nano Fractional Treatment. Slight improvement might not seems much but for someone with bad acne scars, even a slightest improvement would mean a great deal to him/her. 

(Note that at least 3-4 sessions are minimally needed.)

My friend Shermaine also went for the similar treatment. Feel free to check out her post here! 

Thank you Janjee from Brand Cellar for the invite and Dr Ho, director of Chrysalis Medical Aesthetics for the treatment!

Chrysalis Medical Aesthetics

AMK Hub: 6481 1806

Bedok Mall: 6384 0552

Pacific Plaza: 6694 6522

enquiries@ChrysalisAesthetics.com.sg

http://chrysalisaesthetics.com.sg/

I was late. I wasn't expecting the walking distance from Paya Lebar MRT station. No matter how far the distance would be, as long as delicious food is served, all that walking would be worth the sweat.

I had some time getting familiar with the other bloggers whom I would be dining with that night before dinner was served. I felt that it was definitely important to be comfortable with who we are dining with or else it would not be a enjoyable session. I sure was glad to know the lively and chatty bunch of bloggers that day!

The bombardment of dishes left me disorientated in which I was spoilt for choice and not knowing which dish I should off with.

I supposed it sounds logical that I started off with the Fish Maw Crabmeat Abalone Soup in Coconut. The broth was thick and it triggered my allergy reaction since it contained crab meat but I just couldn't ignore the fact that the coconut was loaded with generous large slices of spongy fish maw. Yes, baby abalones were included. (Note: It was quite filling I would say.)

The spiciest dish of that day was Larb Moo Tok. In short, it was meatballs loaded with spices and we were taught to pair them with the raw long beans. There was a chemistry between these two that balanced the rawness and spiciness which could not be explained.

Uncomplicated and fresh was the BBQ Squid. Firm yet chewy was its flesh, enhanced by the savoury sauce.  

Hommok Thai Style Otak easily made its way to one of the top few dishes I enjoyed that day. Mildly spicy, fragrant and textures like grainy steamed eggs. I swear I could eat this alone with just plain rice!  

BBQ Pork belly was quite decent, not overly drenched with sweetness. I had to examine the photo closely to double check if I was really having pork belly instead of char siew. Since when pork belly became as tender as char siew??  

Looking like a work of art, Deep Fried Kangkong with Special Thai Sauce makes a rather good snack to munch on. It was so crispy and it reminded me of tempura.

Lala Bee Hoon tasted much better than it looks. The been hoon was soaking with the umami sweetness of the broth cooked with lalas. Perhaps we took a bit too long snapping pictures as more broth would be pleasurable.

Thai Style Curry Crab which I felt that it needed no introduction. Crabs lover would rejoice with having crabs cooked in a different style and sauce, unlike the usual few ones available elsewhere. 

Last but not least were the 2 fish dishes Thai Walking Cat Fish with Spicy Lemon Soup (not shown here) and Deep Fried Sea Bass with Mango Salad. Both fishes were HUGE! Soup or fried? I guess it would be up to your personal preference.   

Overall, the Northeastern Thai dishes served at Spicy Thai Thai Café is not the usual Thai food you get like Pineapple Rice and Pad Thai etc. They have unique and delicious dishes prepared by the skilful hands of chefs that would change your perception of what is Thai food.

Thank you Honey for extending the invite and Christina for the invite. 

Opens Daily from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m

Spicy Thai Thai Café

Blk 115 Aljunied Avenue 2

#01-35, Singapore 380115

There is just something I have always liked about Japanese art and design and that would be the term minimalist. Think of the brand Muji and you would get what I meant. It wasn't surprising that I had to make my way down to Esplanade to view these 8 artworks by individual Japanese artists whose works are modern interpretation of traditional art forms.

Check out their large panel board below!

As usual, I couldn't resist taking #artootd shots with installations such as this one. Tell me how often you get to pose with 9 identical umbrellas at once or even having unique art pieces that compliments well with your outfit (first image)?

Thankfully I dragged my friend along to visit this small scale yet insta/blog worthy art exhibition so that he could be my photographer for that day! He was so wrong when he thought that I would leave within 15 minutes! Sorry, that do not include photography time.

I had a great time immersing myself in the simplistic art concepts. From the cute katadori (miniature) to the fine detailing of nagame (diorama). From the precise positioning and echoes of shizuku (drop) to the abstract ku (vanity). From the unusual kodama (echo) to the story-telling shirushi (symbol). From the aesthetic figures of irou (decoration) to the inspirational sawari (texture).

These were the keywords that described my first impression while admiring these works.

How about yours?