Event : #forRMHC

YOURAPPLEPIE X RMHC 

What's RMHC ? 

 Hello.  My pleasure to be one of the few bloggers that join the McDonald's team earlier this week for dinner to understand more about RMHC and of course, a task to raise awareness for them. Remember the donation box shaped like a house at the McDonald's cashier where we all wondered there the money goes to? Here's your answer - To the Ronald McDonald's House Charity.

The charity organisation started in 1974, the initiative aims to keep families together, mainly for sick children to have their parents by their side. That brings to another point, YES THE FUNDS GOES TO CREATING "HOUSES" NEAR THE HOSPITAL. RMHC saw many struggles of parents with critically ill children - be it emotionally/physically/financial.

So what's happening locally ? 

We have a 4 bedroom Ronald McDonalds house within the premises of NUH and only 4 families get to stay in there at a time. There's a living room, kitchen, laundry area,reading room in the house. Meals were also provided to the families who stayed there. That really helped both children and parents a lot. Parents who stayed there are able to shorten the travelling time to and fro from the hospital and its cost while the children are able to access their parents any time or at any emergency.  

And that's the money you put into the house shaped box goes to. Each Happy Meal contributes 5 cents to the charity too! That may not a lot of money but it means a lot to them. I bet you didn't know about this right!!! Actually me too, but I'm glad I did now and even happier that I am tasked to spread the love to you who are reading this! 

We were listening to stories shared during the session about how it was ran to stories of how the families of patients felt. It was touching and heartbreaking to see the children struggling to stay alive and the parents' perseverance and strength. So we(the bloggers presented) thought that it was really a great initiative by the RMHC and it should be available at all hospitals. I'm not sure if the organization has this plan in mind, but one step at a time, we can all make it happen :) 

And we should make it happen la. 

But actually they are at planning stages for a Ronald McDonald Family Room at NUH for families with children who are receiving treatment in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.

You are welcome.

So your main point is ?

BUY A PAIR OF SOCKS!

Ya, together with RMHC, we want you to buy a pair of socks. Remember those Ronald smiles that McDonald's sold for the previous years at $2 each? Actually it was also to raise awareness for RMHC (you don't know right...) This year, the Ronald's smiles has been replaced by the socks. Coincidentally, Ronald wears the same socks too and also it is the 40th year anniversary of RMHC ! To commemorate the anniversary, many fun-packed activities has been lined up.

Here you go :

1. MAKE A DONATION AND SHOW YOUR STRIPES. 

From 15 October to 28 October, you can make a donation to purchase a pair of red and white socks via GROUPON at $10/ $20/ $50. The socks look like the following where you can also wear it Christmas and Chinese New Year. First sentence is official from my press release while the second line is my personal creativity. You may, not take me seriously.

Sporty bloggers wearing the socks to show their support! 

2. SHARE YOUR STRIPES AND RAISE AWARENESS THROUGH #for RMHC and #RMHCSG on INSTAGRAM

Well, as you can see, I wasn't sporty enough or affected by the peer pressure so I didn't wear the socks that day. A white lie would be that I wanna show you all the packaging. #coward

But here's what I did!

 An #ootd shot #forRMHC #RMHCSG that's on my instagram!
Actually you can do anything you want as long as it is red and white.
I suggest you buy the socks and think of something creative that you can do out of it !
You may also mention me (@yourapplepie) in your picture so that I can see hehe

3. JOIN THE MCHAPPY DAY 2014 - 16 NOV 2014.

Mark your date ! It's McHappy Day, we can all have a happy meal with the happy people.

Not really actually, the McHappy day, happening this 16 Nov, would be held at Tampines Mall from 1pm to 5pm. 600 volunteers will be there in a McHappy Day Walk where they will wear the red & white striped socks and selling them (new ones of course) across Singapore. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun where there will be balloon sculpting, face painting games and more fun activities!

P/s : if you want to be a volunteer for the event or future events at the Ronald McDonalds House, please do not hesitate to email them. Ask your friends along too !( The more the merrier )

Remember to donate and help spread a word!

See you at the McHappy Day!

Loves,
A.

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SP Masterchef by Singapore Polytechnic

Hello! *waves hands*

Yup, you are not seeing things. I went to participate in a master chef cooking session organised by Singapore Polytechnic. Next to me is my partner for the day, my new friend and the master chef in my heart- Reni. 

First of all, I would like to thanks Pamela for hooking me up with the organisers, even though I can't cook for nuts.(hahahaha) And also this is a super overdue post, that I am embarrassed to say. Oops

I was so happy because I always wanted to learn how to cook and you know like, have fun? So I told Fenny and Don and they were like, 不要害人家。#broken heart and I still went ahead and hours later, I found myself chatting with Reni and doing our homework for the cookout session. At 1am before the session, we were whatsapp-ing each other on what we should cook , how we should prepare. And we were really confident. #really. 

I met Reni at the train station before we went to the filming location together to meet the other student bloggers. p/s It was my third time to Singapore Poly! I remember my first time was the SP Open house secondary school tour, the second being a concert where I performed and the cook out session being the third. SP YOU , ARE HUGE. 

Reni & I and our little notebook

We were tasked to create three dishes (one appetizer, one main and one dessert ) and even though we already had what we want in mind. Reni and I, together with the rest, had to grab for ingredients. What we made were really easy to do, healthy and yummy, also we were to used the products created by SP Students. We focused a lot on simplicity but edible. #grin. It was a requirement for us to wear the robe in the cooking lab, so here's our look of the day. How did we fare?

I only knew Reni the night before and we quickly communicated as much as we could via whatsapp and do our research. Luckily we did not take much time to finalise and decide on what we should do.

Photo Credits to Reni

Horror one kicked in when we realised we had to snatch for the ingredient. #facecrack. Thanks to the witty us, we did not really require much and only had to beg for one shitake mushroom. Not forgetting our really reliable helper, HuiYi for all the help she rendered.

What we wanted to achieve was simple, easy to make and fast meals.
We weren't over confident, but we were confident that we could made something edible.
But who knows the rest of the teams came with like what, restaurant standard food.
Must be watch too much master chef la these people, some more most of them were younger than the two of us. That's horror number two.

For our appetiser, we did Hello Kitty Pizza with Mouse sausage #hellokittyeverything

Photo Credit to Reni

There's two parts to our appetiser, first being the Hello Kitty Pizza.

Finally I can put my boliao buys into good use!!!
Presenting to you, the recipe for Easy-to-make Hello Kitty Pizza.

1. Using my hello kitty face cutter to cut the bread.
2. Spread the pasta sauce & add topping and cheese. Tons of cheese.
3. Bake it for 20 seconds.

Done and ready to eat.

Secondly, the mouse sausage. CUTE RIGHT!!!!

We googled about cute sausage food and we found this !
And we thought we could score if we do that for the session, it was actually quick easy to make with the help of the toothpicks. Here's the video we referenced.



The sausage used were not normal sausages that we find in the supermarkets. It was the low fat & salt sausage that DFST SP Students were involved in creating. They are less than 10g/100g in fat and less than 450mg/100g in salt! Furthermore, they were awarded by the Health Promotion Board with the healthy choice label !

As for Main, it's Omelette Yamie rice with Sauteed Mushroom.

Photo Credit to Reni

We made use of the Yamie Chicken Rice for the omelette rice and Reni made super yummy Sauteed Mushroom. She said that she just fry everything together. Really master chef of my mind. We shaped the omu-rice into a heart shape with the help of the heart shape mould (another boliao item I got from Daiso) and the cling wrap.

What is Yamie Rice ?

It is a premix instant rice product that was created by Singapore Poly students and there's no preservatives, no trans-fat, no artificial colouring or MSG. Super yummy and healthy! When we were on our challenge, all we did is was too add water and put it in the microwave. More details can be found on their website : www.yamierice.com

and frozen banana bites for dessert.

Photo Credit to Reni

The dessert is a really simple 3-steps recipe. All you need is chocolate to be melted , banana and topping of your choice. We had coloful rice for our toppings because it made it look happier.

1. Melt the chocolate
2. Cut the banana to whatever size you want (we halved it)
3. Dip it in the chocolate and put in the freezer for 20 mins.

Really very nice eh! Perfect for the hot summer weather /Singapore weather.

Even though we did not win the top three prizes but I'm sure we had fun and also ate a lot.

With the other three cutie pies!

Both Reni and I were exhausted too. We tried out the dishes that other contestants made with the products by SP Students and of course pretty amazed by the taste and also everyone's creations! Not forgetting the friendships that were fostered, which in my opinion is the most important thing during a competition. Good to know more friends who can cook, so just in case one day I have to make bento for my kids I know who to call up for. Hehe. Look below.

Photo taken for the after interview !

Congratulations to the two boys for getting the first, they are amazing. They made rosti and smoothie and all the atas restaurant standard food. Really is master chef wtf.

Later did I know, the cookout session was part of Singapore Polytechnic's 60th anniversary celebration.

Happy Birthday SP!!!!

You may watch the video now.

Loves,

A.

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Event Coverage : Mitju's Tick Tack shoes!

Last week at the Mitju's tick tack shoes launch! Thank you Vivian for bringing me along <3

Mitju is a Singapore based company focusing in affordable comfortable shoes since 2005.
Now this company have ranged out to bags and accessories and I am glad that I had the chance to see the launch of their newest shop collection this July - The Tick Tack Shoes!

As cheesy as it sounds, the tick tack shoes allows pretty ladies (like us) to have a pair of comfortable pumps shoes suitable for all occasions with any outfit. By that, I mean , just by changing the accessories on the shoes, Tick Tack like pressing the pins in and out Tick tack. I swear you will be so spoiled for choices by the end of the entry. Actually it is quite fun too.

Pick your basic shoe first. 

Mitju offers the tick tack shoes in three fabrics - Patent, leatherette and Synthetic suede , with various colors to choose from. From staple black to pop colors, up to you to choose. As for me, I decided on a pair of black leatherette. I am always wearing black outfits and a black pumps will definitely work out for all occasions for me, be it work or leisure, or leisure after work. Each pair of basic shoes cost $26.90.

Choose your accessories next.

THERE ARE SO MUCH. My goodness, the whole fixture filled with accessories for the tick tack shoes. And fret not, one design comes in different colors as well, totally no worries that you will not find something you like. p/s: Beware of the danger zone, you might accidentally buy home everything. Meanwhile each pair of accessories ranges from $6.90 to $14.90. I was really lucky, I had two complimentary accessories so I had to forgo the "Roger Vivier" inspired accessory. Anyway I really like my other two as well. I could wear the bows to work and change it to the flower after 6pm so I look a little not so formal. Heehee. #smartright

The new range of Mitju Tick Tack Shoes will be available at Mitju ION Orchard and Mitju Plaza Singapura from 25 July 2014. To make our shopping lives easier, customers are able to make purchase from the online site http://www.mitsuonline.com later in August.

Enjoy shopping!

Loves,
A.

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Sponsored Review : Ramen Champion Bugis +

Tell me what's good to do on a Wednesday evening.

To have dinner with the cool kids at Ramen Champion

Together with many blogger friends, we had dinner at Ramen Champion Bugis + and the main point for the day was the ramen from Mendokoro Aoi and Tonkotsu Itto.

HEHEHE, let's eat now.

1.  Prawn Dipping Sauce with Cracker from Mendojoro Aoi ( $4.00)

Certainly something onion lovers would like as the dipping sauce contains onions (alot sia) , mayonnaise based and Japanese shrimp flavoured topping.

2. Tonkotsu- Ramen Champion from Mendokoro Aoi ($16.50) 

The ramen has a saltier soup base but I prefer this to the one from Tonkotsu Itto! #yesyouwonmyheart

In terms of food presentation wise, the latter ramen looks better but the soup goes better with the noodles, just in my humble opinion.

3. Special Tonkutsu Ramen fromTonkotsu Itto ($16.50)

I think this ramen has a very manly meaty feel. The soup has this really meaty/ pork-y smell and taste , unfortunately for me I'm not someone who likes meat. However I think generally boys will like this.
 Well, Don preferred this.




p/s : the ramen looks and taste the same, so I believe only the broth was different.

I was really really hungry when I took this picture. And also this picture has no objective. Bye.

4. Goyza from Tonkotsu Itto ($6.00)

5. Chashu Carpaccio from Mendokoro Aoi ($7.00)

This is cool! In english, this is sliced chashu salad.  Normally we see Salmon Carpaccio , scallop Carpaccio , and seldom we get to see carpaccio that is meat base. Okay maybe just for me, the chashu capraccio was a refreshing break for us after the ramen. It was light and  I liked it. This dish is a good dish to share among four.

6. Garlic Butter Potato from Mendokoro Aoi ($5.00)

Tip here is to mix before you eat.
We liked this, but I think it was because we didn't mix it (?) Don has a spoonful of salt.
Portion is good enough for two.

7. Deep-fried Tofu with Japanese Sauce from Mendokoro Aoi ($4.00)

8. Sukiyaki Bun from Buta God ($3.00 each)

DAYUMS! We ended our dinner with this sukiyaki bun from Buta God which was a little like the Chinese's kou-rou bao. Instead of braised pork , Buta God replaced it with sukiyaki pork slice which tasted heavenly.

My Say :

I would recommend this place for a quick dinner during peak hours or a nice snack place during non-peak hour. It would be nice to have just the side dishes itself during non-peak hours. During meal times, I suggest to have the ramen and gyoza and maybe the Sakiyaki Bun.

Have a great dinner at Ramen Champion. 

FYI Ramen Champion will be opening at Great World City soon!
Visit www.ramenchampion.com.sg to find out more!

Loves,
A.

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Timotei shampoo available in Singapore now!

Special thanks to Fenny, I got introduce to this not-really-new-to-the-market shampoo brand Timotei , about two weeks ago.

We are at Back Stage for the launch of Timotei shampoo and I was certainly impressed after the session!

Formulated with 100% Herbs extracts like avocado, almond, sesame seeds and coconut oil extract, the Timotei shampoo range protects, nourishes and enhance it with shine and strength. See the pretty pink shampoo above? That's the latest range of shampoo which features the active key ingredient - the extract of Jericho Rose.

With this extract, it comes breathe life and energy into the most difficult hair. I'm now using the range myself and I realised that my hair has better shine and more volume.Well, that's for me.

It is also said to help to comb easier, smoother, reduce dryness and less residual coating.

Timotei was first launched in Sweden in the 1970s and introduced to the UK & Ireland a decade later.
Their shampoo ranges are Paraben-free and they uses 100% PET recycable packaging.

Not to mention that their ranges are really affordable too.

Thank you TimoTei for arranging a terrarium session for us.

It was my first time doing so I was pretty excited about it too.

After which we were all given a session to pamper our hair with the Timotei shampoo and conditioner and blow dry our hair.

Here's a picture of Elaine and I , stylist who gave me such voluminous curls using only a comb and the dryer!
#superimpressed.

Each bottle are 400ml & sold at SGD $6.90 each.

The full range of Timotei Shampoo is available at selected Guardian Stores :

• ION Orchard, 
• Paragon,
• Plaza Singapura,
• 313 @ Somerest,
• Tanglin Mall,
• Suntec City, 
• Vivo City, 
• Serangoon NEX,
• JEM, 
• Jurong Point.

Beautiful Hair... Inspired by Nature!

Thank you Timotei for the comfy treat.

Loves,
A.

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Singapore NDP Preview !

Thanks to Zongying, his sister and his whole family , I get to go to NDP Preview 2013 with Fenny !
The last time I/we went to watch the NDP Preview Live was with I was Primary 5.

p/s: In Singapore, all primary 5 students get to attend a session of the NDP Preview as a National Education class or something like that.

Nonetheless, I was really looking forward to the fun pack. Dumb dumb me didn't bring my G12, therefore explains the less clear pictures & happily left the house without make up -.-

The theme this year is like carnival (?) They made the marching songs so fun and light-hearted. Not all the pomp and circumstance songs but more of the carnival festival marching songs, very different from previous years and make it more enjoyable to watch ! Side note, I really think that we are really cool to have a stadium that is floating wtf.



And the whole show was very young and filled with funny elements by the host. I like the drum-line section the best ( no need to say) and when the children do their Singapore stories. The kids are really good ! Watch the actual day show and you will know.

Fireworks after the new NDP 2013 Song, actually okay what, just that the MV is not that good. oops.

& to end, there's how I looked like wtf.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

Loves,
A.

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