Follow me on Facebook and you’ll realise I’m a huge fan of Prawning! For today’s blogpost, I catch up with the boss of a Prawning place I frequent. Here’s a video with awesome Prawning tips for a start:
Video & Photo Credit: Jiahe
After watching the video, you may be thinking “How small should the bait be?” Answer:
Expect to catch:
Prawns of all sizes (blogger not included!)
Pregnant prawns
Prawns with color tags – this one has a green tag (near its ‘feelers’) worth $5!
*Blue Tag = $10, Green Tag = $5, Orange Tag = $2 and valid only on Fri, Sat and Sun! Exchange the tag for CASH!
Is the bait and rod provided?
Yup! Take your pick:
And this is the ULTIMATE secret weapon:
Simply coat the bits of chicken with the powder (it’s simply called ‘xia fen’ in Mandarin -> loosely translated into “prawn powder”) My catch rate increased a lot after coating the bait with this stinky powder
Or you can just get the earthworms instead at $2 a box:
Cutting up wriggly worms isn’t something I fancy! (>_<)
The prawning rates:
Tagline Prawning is open daily 24/7. If you prefer, you can come by at night:
How about Prawning for FREE? Just come by on your birthday with a friend. For each hour your friend pays for, you get the same number of hours FREE.
The current school holiday promotion which ends tomorrow (31st Dec) -> Pay for 3 rods (same number of hours) and get the 4th rod free. Essentially that works out to $22.50 each for 4 friends Prawning for 3 hours.
If Prawning’s not really your thang, and you want to try something more exciting, go patin fishing (like I did in the video above) – $5 per rod.
You’ll have to battle it out with the fish… it’s lots of fun! Haul it out when it’s tired out (hopefully before YOU are!)
Want to visit Tagline Prawning?
It’s at Lot 35, 5 Pasir Ris Farmway 2, Singapore 519324.
*Update* On 1 Jan 2012, when I visited Tagline Prawning, I found that the Birthday Promotion is no longer available. BUT, the buy 3 rods and get the 4th free promo has been extended indefinitely.
Likely this year’s most meaningful concert! Watch the interview vid and head down to any of these outlets to buy your tickets now:
TOUCHE™ Elite 6221 6612
442 Orchard Rd #01-13 Orchard Hotel Shopping Arcade Singapore 238879 Orchard 6738 8441
390 Orchard Rd #04-02 Palais Renaissance Singapore 238871 (opposite Hilton Hotel) Bugis 6238 0500
No. 9 Tan Quee Lan Street #01-02/#02-07 TQL Suites Singapore 188098 (Opp. Bugis Junction) Eastpoint Mall 6789 6616
3 Simei Street 6, Eastpoint Mall #02-45/46, East Ave Wing Singapore 528833
(Next to Simei MRT Station)
Because of this interview, I got to know that Francis Yap (in the grey outfit) is a really good actor. He takes on a lot of ‘bad guy’ roles but is a soft-spoken and friendly gentleman in reality.
Lee Lian, Grace & Eileen. Lee Lian & Eileen are the founders of TOUCHE™ .
Whenever I ask image consultants or beauty queens for tips on how to look good, they tend to give the cryptic “There are no ugly women, only lazy ones” reply. I think the statement is flawed because a woman need not be lazy, just disappointed by the way some beauty places are run and thus not go for their facial (or other) treatments as often as they should. Case in point, spa and beauty centres which have folded and left customers stranded.
If you’ve been following my status updates on Facebook, you’d have noticed in July that I was extremely dissatisfied with my Groupon purchase of a $28 for 2 90-minute facial treatments plus facial kit package. I redeemed the Groupon voucher at the outlet in Vivocity (I shall not mention the company’s name). To cut a long story short, here’s what happened:
Groupon voucher costs $28 (which I paid), while walk-in customers paid $18 for the EXACT same package in the SAME promotion period. Very strange business practice, don’t you think?
Upsell pitch for $300 BEFORE treatment and upsell pitch for $2688 after treatment. I said I’d discuss this with my boyfriend when we got home. The consultant invited my boyfriend into the consultation room, told us she’d give us 5 minutes to decide whether to sign up for the $300 OR the $2688 package and left the room, shutting the door behind her. (Those of you familiar with NLP will know what an awesome double bind this was; used in the wrong way!)
She pulled out the records of my friend, whom I’d mentioned to her is a regular customer of theirs. She pulled out all his records (last transaction, last visit, total amount spent, packages paid for, credit card used, etc) just to convince me that $2688 is a small amount as my friend had spent over $7K! And I didn’t even show her proof that I knew this guy; just mentioned his name.
So when I received a card via post, which included a Gift Certificate for a Grape Wine facial treatment, I was unimpressed. Not again! But now I have to admit – these Gift Certs are awesome birthday gifts! I redeemed the treatment at TOUCHE™ in Simei Eastpoint and TOUCHE™ managed to salvage the reputation of these facial places. I was impressed enough to later ask the founders for an interview, and I’m glad I did.
What I loved about the experience:
(No, they didn’t offer me any red wine to drink)
*Very polite and welcoming staff even though I came with a Gift Cert and didn’t fork out any cash
*A very plush comforter, made me feel right at home and ready to snooze
*The pre-treatment massage was awesome. Too much blogging makes my back and shoulders stiff but that massage really hit the right spots
*I was adequately briefed about the procedure, what to expect, and what to do and not do after treatment – e.g. no swimming or other activities requiring prolonged sun exposure
*No hardselling involved. After the treatment, the sales consultant told me about the packages she had to offer, heard my need to think about the commitment first before signing, and bade me a cheery farewell. I guess that’s why they got their CaseTrust accreditation (when the company in Vivocity did not) and certification for Good Business Practices
What could have been better: better soundproofing (so I don’t hear any noises from outside the room), massage after instead of before the facial treatment (as the lymphatic drainage was so good; it gave me the sudden urge to visit the washroom AGAIN), briefing about the treatment process before instead of during the treatment (so I can sleep in peace)
The treatment itself was relaxing and rejuvenating. But of course, that is to be expected from all facial treatments. What impressed me was the afterglow, and the improvement in my complexion. It was even possible for me to go out shopping without any makeup – this has always been a dream of mine! Having said that, we need to go for these treatments regularly because our skin still gets affected by our environment, diet, hormonal changes, stress levels, etc.
My recommendation to my lady (and sometimes, guy) friends would be TOUCHE™ , which has 4 outlets: Orchard Hotel, Palais Renaissance, Bugis and Simei. In all my 25 years, I’ve gone for only 2 facial treatments: the first left me deeply disappointed, the second impressed me.
So here’s the interview with the TOUCHE™ founders, Lee Lian & Eileen, conducted at their TOUCHE™ Elite outlet at Orchard Hotel. I like that outlet a lot and can’t wait to visit again! You’ll see why in the video:
Credit: Adrian Lee and Rai Suraj from VideoLane.com for the lovely video
Some things I learned:
I have to use makeup removers as part of my skin cleansing regime. I used to just use a facial cleanser to get rid of my makeup; obviously it’s not good enough.
Sunblock is essential! I went to TOUCHE™ with a bare face, expecting it’d be much easier for them since they wouldn’t have to remove my makeup for me. The consultant said I shouldn’t have worried about that, and at least put on sunblock to prevent any damage to my skin. Oops!
Toners act as cleansers too.
I asked TOUCHE™ for a special promotion for my blog readers, and I’m glad they agreed!
*This is only for Singapore residents aged 21 and above who are first-time customers of TOUCHE™
*Advanced booking is required and you need to quote “Grace’s Blog” when you call any one of these outlets for the special promotion:
TOUCHE™ Elite 6221 6612
442 Orchard Rd #01-13 Orchard Hotel Shopping Arcade Singapore 238879 Orchard 6738 8441
390 Orchard Rd #04-02 Palais Renaissance Singapore 238871 (opposite Hilton Hotel) Bugis 6238 0500
No. 9 Tan Quee Lan Street #01-02/#02-07 TQL Suites Singapore 188098 (Opp. Bugis Junction) Eastpoint Mall 6789 6616
3 Simei Street 6, Eastpoint Mall #02-45/46, East Ave Wing Singapore 528833
(Next to Simei MRT Station)
I don’t know about the other treatments offered at TOUCHE™ , but I have tried this Grape Wine one and can vouch that it really works. Just try it once and you’ll know what I mean!
In late-July, I invaded the kitchen of one of the rock candy stores in Singapore. Only to meet lolliologists with names like ‘Candy Bandit’ and ‘Sugar Tinker’!
Yes, that’s me pretending to be a natural at making sugar boil. And it’ll boil at 150deg Celsius. It was really hot in that kitchen. XD
The Sugar Tinker aka Lady Boss says that this candy-making is similar to dating a woman: You cannot rush her when she’s doing her makeup, and you also cannot make her wait either.
What do we do to the sugar after it’s done boiling? Watch this video to find out and also meet the very sweet people:
Here I am rolling what is about 8kg of candy. Lots of fun like playing with Play-Doh. My teacher, Maya, is ever-ready to help as it’s not an easy task – that mound of candy gets a flat edge if you let it sit on any one side for too long.
See my point? Maya’s still worried while I can’t help smiling:
Ok… she’s smiling here… somewhat:
Candy!!
From left: The lemon candy we made (Priceless!), Citrus Mix (Large) $11.90, Yuzu (Large) $12.90 and rose lollipop. *I like the Yuzu candy a lot. Admittedly, the large jars hold too much candy for me to consume. Would buy smaller ziploc bags to put them in so I can bring the candy out with me, but the candy needs to be stored in a cool environment (air-conditioned office or fridge) or they’ll start sticking together. Great for OLs who need something sweet and yummy to get through the day!
Many thanks to the sweet gang who showed me how to make candy and let me participate in that rather tiring process. Never going to look at rock candy the same way again. And here’s us having fun:
There is an AMAZING range of rock candy flavors in the store. You absolutely have to visit it and sample the candy. When I visited in July, there were flavors like Champagne *yumz* and Latte Macchiato. The team constantly pushes the envelope to come up with new designs and flavors. Check out the Mid Autumn and Childrens’ Day ones: (photo credit: Sweet Enchantment)
I like what Maya said in the video, around 2.24, “Firstly, I need the passion for this… I have a lot of that”.
Indeed, the candy chefs at Sweet Enchantment are very passionate about what they do, so visit them at Vivocity #01-159 and at www.SweetEnchantment.com!~
Here’s what I think makes Sweet Enchantment a successful business:
*The entertainment/show-and-tell of watching candy being made – like what BreadTalk does with breadmaking *eating really freshly-made candy, which is still warm, is oohlala too yummilicious for words!*
*The cute girls handing out candy samples for passerbys to try – who can refuse?
*Pleasant surprises, besides the mindboggling variety of flavors, like getting a free packet of candy mailed to you when you drop your namecard into the lil bowl in the store.
*Try every flavor if you have to before you buy.
*Innovation: candy roses, candy bouquets (which I think will be a hit at V-day)
*Uber-friendly bosses and staff. XD
Go grab some candy now! And come back soon for some very exciting interviews culminating in the most exciting one on October 1st: The interview with Peter Buffett, Warren Buffett’s son. If you’re on my subscriber’s list, you get the interview sent straight to your email inbox. If you’re not a subscriber yet, sign up now for free in the box on your right.
Candylicious is the brainchild of Ms Sunaina Gill. The store in Takashimaya caught my attention because it was so colorful and welcoming. After the interview, I also couldn’t resist taking a photo with this sign:
It was an awesome experience to be hosted at the Takashimaya outlet before opening hours with no kids running about. But customers WERE almost beating on the shutters and demanding to be let in as the interview took a little longer than expected.
You absolutely have to take a bite out of this giant chocolate bar when you visit! Ok, I’m kidding – it’s not real.
Kids absolutely lurvve the Pucker Powder machine. I came by on a weekend once, and kids (and their parents) were having a really good time getting their candy fix here. Where else can you find such machines?
And…
If you’re feeling lucky, there’s the Jackpot machine. You can’t actually win anything, but you can bring home lotsa chocolate coins and feel like a winner
I know why I was attracted to this candy store! It’s just so bright and cheery:
Lollipops coming out of the walls. How awesome is that?!
By the way, I hope you saw the merchandise on sale in the store. I was quite taken with the Candylicious caps and tees. But I couldn’t resist the chocolates so I bought the latter instead.
Here’s a quick quiz: Do you know what these words mean?
People who know me say that I have a sweet tooth. I usually have to correct them – I have many sweet TEETH! So come back soon for more potentially addictive yummy candy interviews.
*Remember to enter your email address in the Subscription field on your right, just under my photo. I’ll send you all updates for FREE, and send all the giveaways your way too. Enjoy the awesomeness!
Patrick calls himself an “accidental entrepreneur” and a “servant leader in the real estate world”. Find out why Patrick, who wanted to be a social worker at 17, went into the real estate industry. In the first video, Patrick also shares about the 4 freedoms, how he became an accomplished speaker, Success Habits he follows throughout the day, and how we can wake up to an amazing and wonderful day every day.
This first video is over 10 minutes in length. I could have uploaded only snippets of this interview, showing you just the highlights. However, Patrick has provided so many nuggets of wisdom and I’d like to share all of them with you because you deserve nothing less.
So, before you watch the video, grab a cup of coffee, then sit back and enjoy:
Still have some coffee left? There’s a 2nd, shorter video, no less awesome though.
This next video is a separate one which will tell you how Patrick became known as a “Love Evangelist” and what he did to build a whole company on Love. He also shares about self-love and how we can “practise the art and the skill of loving others”:
Indeed,
“The best way to live our life is to live our life for others. The more we reach out to bless other lives, the richer our lives will become.” – Patrick Liew
Grace says:
You’ve heard Patrick share about Junior Achievement(www.ja.org.sg) which teaches life skills to school children, so if you’re keen on joining me in volunteering, head over to the website and fill in your contact details.
The interview with Patrick was a most serene one. Patrick just has this aura of peace and calmness about him. But when he took me around his company and office, he had a spring in his step and he was just filled with pride and excitement at all he was sharing with me – whether it was about the awards the company has won, their commendable efforts at installing recycling bins on the premises, or about their community outreach efforts.
Here you see a card that was handmade by Ms Anna Joseph, one of the elderly participants of the HSR Elderly Community Outreach Programme.
At the back of the card is her photo and name:
Proceeds go towards helping the elderly so if you can, drop by the HSR office to purchase the cards.
I believe the plan for the HSR office was for it to be a self-contained hub for the agents, complete with massage services, a childcare centre, KTV area, the works. I was very impressed by how HSR strives to provide a loving environment for staff, agents, as well as the elderly community.
Here’s something you may not know about Patrick: He’s into Kickboxing & Gymnastics. Yup!
Finally, I’d like to thank Patrick. It was my joy, honor and privilege to interview you. And thank you, David, for the awesome videos.
Just last Thursday, I had the opportunity of interviewing 3 Certified Hypnotherapists. You can imagine my excitement at the prospect of meeting them! (I suppose they were stunned at having to appear in my first-ever video interviews though! Haha!) I interviewed them as I wanted to find out how Hypnotherapy can help you, my blog readers.
Here’s my favourite picture:
That’s me & a cute kid. We’re not hypnotherapists!
This adorable kid, affectionately nicknamed “Lele”, is the daughter of one of the Hypnotherapists I interviewed. Besides having the cutest hairdo you can ever find on a kid, she was also the largest Asian baby born at the hospital – naturally and WITHOUT epidural! At birth, she weighed a shocking 4.4kg, which is just slightly lighter than the dumbbells I work out with at the gym! You cannot carry her without significant muscles, ok. I don’t even want to think of giving birth to a baby of that size without epidural. According to Lele’s mother, Nicole, the birth process was fast and relaxed.
That was accomplished with Hypnosis. How cool is that?! Long gone are the days when people try to hypnotize you by swinging a pendulum in front of your face! Now, Hypnotherapy aims to help individuals in a variety of ways, e.g. pain management, weight loss, childbirth, depression, etc.
What I found on ol’ reliable Wikipedia:
“Hypnotherapy has long been used in relation to childbirth. It is sometimes used during pregnancy to prepare a mother for birth, and during childbirth to reduce anxiety, discomfort and pain.”
“Modern hypnotherapy is widely used in the treatment of anxiety, subclinical depression, and certain habit disorders, as well as in the treatment of conditions such as insomnia and addiction.”
Here’s Lele and her beautiful mother, Nicole:
I also had the chance of interviewing Fazdli Jamal & Suparna Kapoor, . Fazdli is in his early twenties but already sought-after for his Hypnotherapy skills. Most notably, he recently helped a client of his who was a cancer patient. The client did not need more than half the chemotherapy sessions that the doctor prescribed after Hypnotherapy sessions with Faz, and recovered fully!
In fact, both Faz and Suparna share their thoughts (even about their own initial doubts) in this awesome video interview we did. It’s a short clip so go ahead and watch it:
Hypnotherapy is far from scary and can help if you are, for example, afraid of public speaking. When you are in what is called an “amnesic” state, it will allow you to temporarily disengage from the fear and perception that you cannot do a certain thing (in this case, it is speaking to a group). When you have a reference for success in an area, it allows you to start focusing on what is possible rather than what is not. Very useful, isn’t it?
If you want to explore a career in helping others, you should definitely consider Hypnotherapy. If you are already a nurse, caregiver or counsellor, learning Hypnotherapy will take your skills to the next level.
Of course, if you are interested in how communication and conditioning can affect human development, (if you are a manager, supervisor, teacher or parent), then you would want to explore and find out more about Hypnotherapy and how it can be of help to you and your charges too.
I did a bit of research to see what public opinion of Hypnotherapy (not often discussed but so very helpful) is like:
Newsweek (Sept ’04): “Hypnosis can help. A growing body of research supports the ancient practice as an effective tool in the treatment of a variety of problems, from anxiety to chronic pain.”
Dr David Spiegel: “…hypnosis is not mind control. It’s a naturally occurring state of concentration; It’s actually a means of enhancing your control over both your mind and your body.”
Forbes (Nov ’05): “[Hypnosis] can also be applied to improving study habits, stress reduction and raising self esteem…If you are having difficulty controlling your appetite, sleeping or just need to relax, hypnosis might help you toward your goal.”
I was very fortunate to have Faz take me through the entire process for relaxation. Last week, I had the missions trip to prepare for and lots of work piling up. But those precious minutes were priceless. I emerged feeling very at peace and also refreshed.
And here we are:
I had a burning question too – Would anyone get “stuck” in hypnosis? Like, being unable to emerge or have someone do something irreversible in their head? Pete Tan, the lead Hypnotherapy Instructor, said that no one has ever gotten stuck in Hypnosis and that the entire process is really voluntary and if you ever find that the Hypnotherapist does not have your best interests at heart, you can emerge immediately. Myth busted!
The 3 awesome Hypnotherapists I interviewed can be contacted via The Pathlight Centre. You can find them at www.pathlightcentre.com.
Also, they are awesomely kind and are extending complimentary (FOC!!) invites to you, my blog readers! Simply SMS Julieh at 9067 0785 for a ticket to their demo session on 21st June.
You will be able to experience first-hand what Hypnosis is, ask as many questions as you want, and receive special deals on the courses. The best part is, Pete will be conducting the demo session so you have to be there.
So, hurry and SMS Julieh (9067 0785) NOW for a free ticket by saying you read this blog post. I believe they have approximately 10 places left so if you want to be able to help people or just want to experience the kind of relaxation I enjoyed, then grab your ticket right now.
For today’s blogpost, I catch up with the boss of a Prawning place I frequent. Here’s a video with awesome Prawning tips for a start:
