Location: Sengkang

Get Your Marauder’s Map Ready – LEGO Launches A 6,000 Piece Hogwarts Castle Set That Costs $650

Do you like Harry Potter?

Do you like LEGO’s?

Do you happen to have $650 of expendable income lying around?

If you answered “yes” to all three questions, then brace your muggle heart, because everyone’s favourite toy brick company has come up with a stunning recreation of the one and only Hogwarts Castle.

You’re A Builder, Harry!

Okay, we’ll admit that this isn’t exactly *breaking* news — according to Brickipedia, LEGO have already released four versions of the iconic HP locale, but this one is so detailed that it’s probably the closest you’ll ever get to attending a Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

“How detailed can detailed be?”, you ask? Well, for starters, the set is comprised of a whopping 6,020 pieces, a significant upgrade over the previous iteration’s brick count of 1,290.

Everything from the Great Hall to the Chamber of Secrets is included, and you’ll have 27 microfigures of Harry and the gang to really make the place come alive.

We could go on, but you should just watch this video to get a proper sense of how grand this thing is:

Avada Kedavra, Wallet

As previously mentioned, however, this collector’s item will set you back $650 ($649.90, to be exact), but if you’re undeterred by the price tag you’ll be glad to know that you won’t have to wait too long before you can get your hands on one.

The set will be released this Saturday, the 1st of September, and it’s such a big deal that LEGO is currently holding a launch event for it at Compass One mall (sorry, west siders).

To sweeten the deal, early adopters will be treated to an exclusive “mosaic gift” that supposedly can’t be bought anywhere else.

For those who don’t have the cash but still want to join in the festivities, there’s still a host of Potter-themed activities to partake in, including the building of a 152cm x 152cm mosaic of the franchise’s titular character.

The event only ends on the 9th of September, so don’t feel too pressured to make an impulse buy — considering the price, we aren’t expecting these to fly off the shelves.

LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle Launch
Venue: Compass One
Date: 1 Sep 2018

Also Read Life’s A Beach: Sentosa Offers FREE Entry for S’poreans From 1 – 16 September

(Header Image Credit: Lego)

This New Tom Yum Ramen Brings Together The Best Of Both Thai And Japanese Cuisine

What do you get when you combine Thai and Japanese cuisine together?

This masterpiece.

Kop Khun Konnichiwa

Together with sister brand Soi Thai Soi Nice, Ramen Tenji has launched the Tom Yum Ramen ($17.90) which will be available for a limited time only.

You can expect your favourite springy ramen noodles bathed in an aromatic Tom Yum broth that is prepared from scratch daily by Soi Thai Soi Nice’s Head Chef Worawang Phairit.

This Tom Yum Ramen is packed with big succulent prawns, tender Charsiew meat, a side of black fungus and not forgetting the ingredient that every ramen must have – the Ajitama egg perched on top of a mound of noodles.

The best part? This Tom Yum Ramen is available for both dine-in and takeaways at Ramen Tenji and Soi Thai Soi Nice at The Seletar Mall.

Looking for a change from your usual Japanese Ramen? This cross-cultural mash up is right up the alley.

Ramen Tenji
Address: 33 Seng Kang West Avenue, The Seletar Mall, #01-28, Singapore 797653
Opening Hours: Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 3pm, 5pm – 9.30pm, Sat: 11:30am – 10pm
Contact No.: 6581 2189
Website

Soi Thai Soi Nice
Address: 33 Seng Kang West Ave, The Seletar Mall #01-29/30, Singapore 797653
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 11:30am – 10pm, Sat – Sun: 11am – 10pm
Contact No.: 6581 2190
Website

Also Read Get Some Pho-King Good Noodles At These 8 Vietnamese Restaurants

(Header Image Source: Ramen Tenji)

If You Like Blackball, This Dessert Shop Will Have You Questioning Your Loyalties

If you’ve been to Taiwan, you’ll know that one of the snacks the country is well-known for is its Jiu Fen Taro Balls.

Sold along the streets of bustling Jiu Fen, these coloured balls are chewy and are served alongside other ingredients such as sweet potato and green tea balls, in red bean, green bean or sweet potato soup.

A party of flavours and textures, if you’re a fan of these dessert bowls and are a strong believer that ‘the more the toppings, the better‘, you’ll love Nine Fresh‘s local spin on the Taiwanese classic.

Nine Fresh

If this is the first time you’re hearing of Nine Fresh, you’re missing out!

Nine Fresh is a dessert stop that has been serving up quality cups of the delicious dessert for almost 5 years now.

That is, cups of grass jelly, beancurd, or ai-yu jelly (or a mixture of the three) heaped with beans (red bean, green bean, pinto bean, eight treasure bean), balls (mini taro ball, taro ball, durian ball), flavoured pearl jelly (aloe vera, mango, lychee, passionfruit), black pearls, and many more toppings.

At Nine Fresh, they’re all about keeping traditions fresh, and recently, they’ve done exactly that by rolling out 2 new series of desserts.

Nine Fresh Goes Local

The first is its Local Flavours series, which consist of dessert creations inspired by some of our favourite local desserts, including Chendol and Cheng Teng.

The Chendol Cup ($3.80) has a grass jelly base and is topped with green chendol jelly, attap seeds, red bean, and taro balls.

With (almost) all the ingredients you’d typically find in a chendol dessert, this is a far less sweet variant of the coconut milk-heavy dessert.

The Cheng Teng Cup ($3.80) also has all the good stuff you’d find in the traditional dessert: pong tai hai, lotus nut, barley, and sago. These are served over a wobbly ai-yu jelly base. And of course, you can’t forget the taro balls!

As durian lovers, our favourite is the Durian Yin-Yang, a half beancurd, half grass jelly base that’s topped with black sugar jelly dice, taro balls, and a generous scoop of rich durian puree – yes, actual durian flesh. The flavourful and creamy durian, combined with the array of chewy and QQ ingredients in the cup make it a winner – and all for just $3.90.

Singapore’s Favourites, According To Data

Another exciting addition to Nine Fresh’s offerings is the Fanspiration Series, a bunch of cups and flavours that are essentially customer-generated.

The best-selling flavour and ingredient combinations based on Nine Fresh’s data, gathered from its create-your-own-cup promo this year, you can’t go wrong with these flavours that are beloved by many, many Singaporeans.

Some of these items in this series include the all-black The Black Cup ($2.90), the all-white The White Cup ($2.60), and The Yin-Yang Cup ($2.90), which is half black and half white – at least when it comes to the base.

If you simply can’t decide between the bases (or love them all equally), the Aww In One Cup cup contains all three of them.

This cup comes piled with black pearls, taro balls, and mini taro balls on top. If you’re a first timer to Nine Fresh, we suggest you go for this so you can sample a little bit of everything and figure out which you prefer!

From there on, you can customise your own cup and create your own perfect combination of ingredients.

With so many decadent desserts out there, from rich chocolate treats to lava toasts, Nine Fresh is – literally – a refreshing change from the lot.

Priced very affordable from $2 to $3.90 for one of their pre-set cups, Nine Fresh’s desserts are a lighter option with so much to offer in the way of taste and flavour!

The next time you’re craving a refreshing dessert, make sure to pop by one of Nine Fresh’s 16 outlets – you won’t be disappointed!

Nine Fresh
Address: Find your nearest Nine Fresh Also read This Thai Bakery Is Baking Up A Storm Of Fluffy Loaves – And You Knead To Try It 

The Average Singaporean Lifestyle Automatically Ages Your Hair – Here’s How

Many of us are familiar with the term ‘skin age’, but did you know there is also such a thing as ‘hair age’?

Like our skin and the various parts of our body, our hair ages too. With age, it grows thin, turns grey, gets dry and brittle, and can lose its shine – these are all signs of ageing when it comes to the hair on our heads.

Maybe you’re touching your hair, wondering if you’re a 20-something with 30-year-old hair. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, many Singaporeans actually have hair older than they are! That’s simply because there are many factors about the average Singaporean’s lifestyle that can age your hair.

If you’re curious about what some of these factors are, here are 3 things you had no idea are ageing your crowning glory:

1. Sun Damage

Most of us Singaporeans are well familiar with how much sunshine this littler red dot sees (Read: LOTS of sun).

By being out in the sun for a long time, we subject our hair to UVA and UVB rays, which damages the outer covering of our hair strands (the ‘cuticle’), resulting in a dry, dull and brittle mane.

The next time you foresee yourself spending hours under the hot sun, try sporting a cap, or moisturise your tresses with oils, conditioners and treatments to keep them looking youthful and healthy!

2. Over-shampooing

The brand has won multiple beauty awards, including the Singapore Women’s Weekly Hair Awards 2017 (Best Volumising Treatment For Thinning Hair), Elle Beauty Treat List 2017 (Best Treatment For Hair Loss), Daily Vanity (Top 10 Trusted Hair Treatment Centre 2017), Her World Spa Awards 2016 and Harper’s Bazaar Hair Awards 2016. It also counts celebrities like Xiaxue, Jaynesh and Anand among its clients!

Whether you find out your hair is 5, 10, or 20 years older than you, TrichoKare’s got your hair needs covered with its new anti-ageing hair treatment.

Their Advanced Age Defying Hair Treatment helps to fight signs of ageing hair. It is specially developed to help both men and women counteract age-related changes in the density and diameter of their hair.

The treatment features the new Oxyjet Technology – a needleless jet infusion of oxygen and nutrients used to penetrate deeply into the scalp. It helps to detox the scalp, reactivate up to 80% of dormant hair follicles, accelerate cell regeneration to stimulate hair growth and reduce hair loss.

The key ingredients the hair care specialist uses to counteract ageing hair is:

Emu Oil

• Boost the diameter and thickness of each hair
• Reactivate 80% of dormant hair follicles

Gingko Biloba extract

• Counteract signs of scalp ageing
• Boost collagen to increase new hair growth

Beauty Blogger, Rae was sent down to TrichoKare to find out more about the treatment. She took the Advanced Tricho Hair Test conducted by the certified Trichologist. How old was her hair? It was revealed that her hair was 41 years old – a good 7 years older than she is!

(Before)

(After)

“After my session with Trichokare, my scalp feels healthier and visibly cleaner than I have ever felt before. With a customised hair treatment, the solution really identifies the root of my problem. In the before scan, you can see the sebum buildup and dry flakes. These were completely removed, I was impressed by the results! I’ve since observed less flakes and reduced hair fall even after 2 weeks. The session with Trichokare definitely taught me on better haircare techniques, what should and should not be done.” – Rae

After just 1 month of treatment, TrichoKare’s customers saw visible changes including a reduction of premature grey hair as well as an increase in hair growth.

If you’re keen to try TrichoKare’s anti-ageing hair treatment, there’s a special promotion going on right now. You can get the Advanced Age Defying Hair Treatment at just $40, and you’ll have a Hair Care Kit and HairGRO Serum (U.P. $758) thrown in for good measure!

To top off an already sweet deal, you also stand a chance to win a 2D1N staycation at Marina Bay Sands (worth $680) after the trial treatment!

TrichoKare has 5 outlets across Singapore, so whether you’re curious about the age of your hair, or have hair that is in dire need of saving, make a date with Trichokare Instagram

This article is written in collaboration with TK TrichoKare. 

Makan All Day Long! Singapore’s First Vending Machine Cafe Opens In SengKang

The vending machine culture in Japan has finally arrived in Singapore! With this 24-hour vending machine cafe by VendCafe, you will never have to worry about being hungry in the wee hours of the morning ever again!!

Newly opened in SengKang, VendCafe provides hot food, all readily available within 3 minutes. Think of piping hot seafood hor fun, curry rice or chicken carbonara, this place has it all! OMG, we totally wanna check it out now!

So Much Food & Drinks Available!

VendCafe’s menu changes periodically and boasts more than 30 different types of food. The variety of meals includes Western, Chinese, Malay, Indian and Japanese cuisines. They are all priced between $3.50 and $5. Not only does VendCafe serve food, but it also dispenses a whole variety of sandwiches, salads, snacks and cold drinks. Perfect to cool down during warm days!

Cash To Cashless Payments

Payment is as convenient and easy as getting food. All you need is cash, Nets FlashPay, or your credit card to pay for your almost-instant meal at the “cashier-less” cafe!

Stand-Up Dining Tables To Enjoy Your Meals

Meals are made even more convenient when consumers are able to dine at the cafe with stand-up dining tables. Do remember to dispose of your trash after you’re done as the VendCafe is an unmanned cafe without any staff.

VendCafe serves as a good example of how innovation and technology can reduce reliance on labour in Singapore. What a good idea! We address manpower shortage issues, and at the same time, meet the needs of hungry Singaporeans!

If you’re living in the vicinity, drop by VendCafe and have a taste of the food! You’ll be amazed at how delightful the dishes are!

Location: Block 320C Anchorvale Drive (open 24 hours)

(Header image by yahoo.com.sg, edited by writer)

Also, read An Unforgettable 2016 SG Race Experience You’ll Never Forget