POSTED ON: Monday, March 10, 2014 @ 12:06 AM | 0 comments
Being a typical Singaporean, I am dearly missing the cheap and wide variety of food back in my country. So ever since I've been in Stockholm, I've been searching high and low for Asian supermarkets, hoping to find some familiarity in this foreign land and recreate some of my favourite Singaporean dishes.
Warning: Long post ahead.
This post documents all 11 supermarkets I've been to so far and aims to help lost souls in Stockholm (like I initially was when I first arrived) find good places to shop at. All the photos are taken by me (unless otherwise stated) and the addresses are those that I've been to. Of course there are many other outlets for the bigger chain supermarkets so I hope you'll find one nearest to you. (:
ICA
This chain supermarket is almost everywhere too, and it's the most convenient one for students staying at Lappis since ICA Lappkarrsberget is right smack in the middle of our Campus Lappis. The stuff here isn't at all cheap but the location makes it extremely convenient. Good enough for me to run down wearing a coat with my pyjamas underneath to grab a bottle of milk or other random stuff I suddenly need. Oh and there's the post office inside the supermarket too so that's where I collect my packages or mail stuff to my friends and family. (:
Address: Professorsslingan 15, 104 05 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Universitetet
Hemkop
This was the first ever supermarket I visited in Stockholm. A mad rush to get some basic necessities on my first day in Stockholm at 8pm when everywhere else was close. Similar to Singapore's NTUC Fairprice, with a good selection of stuff but a little bit on the pricey side.
Address: Mastersamuelsg 57, 111 21 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana (or what we Singaporeans call the MRT station): T Centralen
Pressbyran
This is everywhere, every single corner, every single station. It's a convenience store just like Cheers and 7-11. Limited selection of products, good for snacks and drinks. I usually buy my transport card and top up card for my phone here too.
Coop
One of my favourite chain supermarkets since the price is rather reasonable and the variety is good. It's pretty convenient for me too since I'm staying at Lappis and the nearest one for me is either at T-Centralen or at Bergshamra (another area with student housing by SSSB).
Address: Centralplan 1, 111 20 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: T Centralen
and here's the one at Bergshamra (Coop Konsum Bergshamra)
Address: Radjursstigen 3-5, 170 76 Solna
Nearest T-bana: Bergshamra
Kista Grossen
Recommended by a friend but I didn't like the atmosphere of the supermarket very much. The variety of spices and sauces is pretty good and the prices are cheaper that those chain supermarkets. They have Indian, Iranian, Chinese, Vegetarian and Halal selections on the shelves. Kista is quite out of the way for me though. Anything that requires more than half an hour of travelling time isn't worth my effort.
Address: Torsnasgatan 4-6, 164 40 Kista
Nearest T-bana: Kista (blue line)
Asian Market
Mostly Thai products and some Chinese sauces too. Not exactly as cheap as what I can get in Singapore but a good place if you're looking for Asian products.
Address: Olaf Palmes Gata 12, 111 37 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Hotoget (exit at Olaf Palmes Gata)
Mai Mai Asian Market
Just across the road from the previous Asian Market (above), Mai Mai Asian Market is very similar to the previous Asian Market too. Mostly Thai products with some Asian products too. Prices are quite similar in my opinion but one thing that strikes me about this one is that they have quite a large selection of noodles to choose from.
Address: Hollandargatan 9A, 111 36 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Hotorget (exit at Olaf Palmes Gata)
Hong Kong Trading
My favourite Asian supermarket thus far! All things familiar here!
Look at the rows and rows and sauces and spices and pre-mixes! I can cook chicken curry, green curry, chicken rice, laksa, chicken rendang, korean bbq pork etc. with all these! They even sell char siew (Chinese roasted pork). The instant noodles here are really cheap too, at only 4 SEK per packet. The other sauces are a little bit on the pricey side if you'd ask me, but I think it's worth the money for a taste of home.
Address: Olofsgatan 5, 111 36 Stockholm (perpendicular to Sveavagen)
Nearest T-bana: Hotorget (exit at Olaf Palmes Gata)
Oriental Supermarket
The biggest Asian supermarket I've visited so far, with products ranging from Thai, Korean, Chinese to Indian and even Japanese.
They even have a counter selling steamed dim sum and meat (chicken feet, pork knuckles, pig trotters etc.). The prices are reasonable too but remember to check the expiry dates on the products!
Address: Sergelgatan 16 - 18/ Sveavagen 17, 111 57 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Hotorget (exit at Sergelgatan)
Lidl
One of the cheapest chain supermarkets in Stockholm (comparable to Willy's) and it's quite big too so they have all the basic things I need. I really like the layout of this one. It's similar to the supermarkets in Singapore so I find it easy to navigate around. Prices are definitely cheaper than ICA and Coop.
Address: Folkungagatan 51, 116 22 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Medborgarplatsen (about 130m away from the exit)
Matrebellen
Another cheap supermarket hidden at the corner near the T-bana exit. Not everything is cheaper than the usual chain supermarkets but they have really good offers on different items every week. I once bought a bunch of 5 bananas for only 6 SEK! So I make it a point to drop by to check out the offers whenever I'm in the area. Call me a cheapo auntie but that's how a poor exchange survives in an expensive city like Stockholm!
Source: http://klapp.co/portfolio/matrebellerna/
Address: Gotgatan 17, 116 46 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Slussen (exit at Gotgatan)
Willy's
Source: https://www.google.com/maps/
Another cheap chain supermarket just like Lidl, but the only one I've seen is very far away. Chanced upon it while we were at IKEA (which was half an hour free shuttle bus ride from T Centralen). The supermarket is huge huge huge and prices are very reasonable too. They have great weekly offers as well, like 4 2 litre bottles of soft drinks for only 49 SEK. I would visit Willy's more often it was nearer to where I live though. Hopefully we'll find one that is nearer to us soon...
Address: Dialoggatan 2, 141 75 Kugens Kurva
Nearest station: Alvsjo (commuter rail I believe?)
A few differences between grocery shopping in Stockholm and Singapore:
1. Almost all products in the supermarkets have their price per unit listed (bottom left hand corner in smaller font).
2. The cashier does not pack your groceries for you after you pay for them at the counter.
3. Every plastic bag you use to pack your groceries in cost money. ):
4. There are barely any sales assistants in the supermarkets to assist you with anything at all.
5. PET bottles are meant to be recycled. And for every plastic bottle recycled, you'd get a slip of paper indicating the amount "refunded" and this slip of paper can be used to offset the stated amount from our grocery purchases.
Happy shopping! (:
Love,
Lorraine
TL Design - Dreamy
POSTED ON: Friday, March 7, 2014 @ 5:22 AM | 0 comments
First TL Design swatch - Dreamy. A dark blue holo polish with mostly purple and blue glitters. Didn't manage to capture the holo effect here it really looks much prettier irl. Pictured here is three thin coats of Dreamy, without topcoat.
Application was a breeze, loved the formula. It's been two days and everything is still intact! Pretty unusual since they usually start chipping after 24 hours... :/ Not the problem of my usual polishes, but probably because I'm just too violent and careless with my nails.
Can't wait to try them all and play around with different colour combinations too!! *excites* Too bad I left all my tools and other stuffs back home in Singapore...
Oh and did you notice? I finally got rid of the opacity effect on the pictures so you can see them clearly without clicking on them now (: #ProudOfMyself. Yes that's all for today, a very short post to share my excitement on my first bottle of TL Design polish from a giveaway. Will be back with more updates on my life in Stockholm in the next post! Sleep early and take care everyone!!
Love,
Lorraine
@misscelinas giveaway / TL Design
POSTED ON: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 @ 6:25 PM | 0 comments
About a week ago, I entered myself into a nail polish giveaway hosted by @MissCelinas and @ToneLiseAkademiet. And surprise surprise, I was chosen as the lucky winner! This is my first time winning nail polish from giveaways and I'm really glad to be the lucky one this time! So thank you so much @MissCelinas and @ToneLiseAkademiet!! (:
I received a slip from the postman yesterday morning and dashed to the post office to collect my package. How excited I was the whole day! All the sadness and hatred from a bad incident the previous night instantly disappeared for that moment. I've never tried polish from Tone Lise before so this is my first set from TL Design. According to their website, TL Design is a Norwegian brand of polish with natural crushed peals in their products for added flexibility and durability. They also use unique minerals from the Dead Sea as their key ingredients in their products. That sounds pretty cool and healthy to me. Apparently they come up with a Spring/Summer collection and Fall/Winter collection with 8 seasonally appropriate colours for each collection, and also special collections such as neon colours and glow in the dark collections.
I won TL Design The Good Life collection that was released late last year. The collection consists of 8 colours (from Left to Right): Glamour, Sparckle, Energy, Happy, Girly, Dreamy, Crazy and Laughter.
And below is a closer up shot of the bottles.
The sunlight was great today so I'm quite glad with how the photos turned out. Very close to true colour. As usual, click on the photos for a larger and clearer version. Note to self: need to find out how to remove this effect from the photos I post to the blog. And the lovely @MissCelinas included a lovely little card in the package too! What a sweet girl!! (:
Will try them out one by one, can't wait to swatch them all! Watch this space ladies!
Love,
Lorraine
POSTED ON: Sunday, March 2, 2014 @ 10:38 PM | 0 comments
TGIF! This week has been too overwhelming for my own good, I need more time to myself to think things through. So here's a summary of the week...
#1
Woke up on Wednesday morning to a pleasant surprise! Was selected as the winner for the Instagram sharing contest hosted by @misscelinas and @toneliseakademiet. So there I go! 8 bottles of nail polish from The Good Life Collection! The package is coming from within Europe so I guess it'll reach me pretty quickly! Thank goodness I'm in Europe now or the poor girl will have to spend quite a lot more on shipping if the package had to be shipped to Singapore. This is the first ever polish giveaway I've won so thank you Miss Celina! Can't wait for them to arrive, definitely gonna swatch all of them and post them here so do keep a lookout! Good luck to everyone else for future giveaways and may there be more free polish for all of us!
#2
Visited Kungstragarden (The Royal Garden) last weekend for our outdoor ice skating experience.
There was some Olympic carnival there too so we had fun at all the game booths and winning stuff like the cow bell below!
A very tiring but fun day of slipping and falling and crashing into people. I conclude that I like ice skating and will go back again soon (:
#3
Started my second module here, Consumer Culture Theory. It's for their Masters program here so the content is pretty different from our marketing modules in SMU. A lot more abstract idea, a lot more historical references and a lot more fluff. On top of that, the readings for the mod have been killing me every day. 20 over pages per reading is no joke. Can't wait for this CCT nonsense to be over soon.
#4
Skyped my mum this morning and she said I looked fat and chubby. Time to bury myself in school work and sink into depression... ):
#5
This week is the last week of our Ideation class. I really wish this class didn't have to end so soon. The lessons are rather enjoyable, the prof is pretty interesting and I've met so many nice new friends in that class I don't want to leave them so soon. Why do all good things have to come to an end??
Oh if you have 5-10mins to spare, please complete this survey for me! It's for the final paper of my Ideation module. Your help would be greatly appreciated! (:
Thrown into a foreign place all alone with unfamiliar surroundings and unfamiliar faces, it's time to think through what I really want, what I really need, and what I should be doing.
Off to attempt some strawberry cupcakes for tea today. Take care everyone!
Love,
Lorraine
POSTED ON: Saturday, February 22, 2014 @ 5:12 PM | 0 comments
The weekends are here!! Been in Stockholm for more than a month now. Quite a few things to share with you guys so I'll blog in a numbered format and keep things short for easy reading!
#1
We celebrated Chinese New Year at Grace's place with a hearty 'reunion' dinner. Chef Grace cooked up a storm and the highlight of the show was Singapore's famous Chilli Crab. It was my 22nd birthday that weekend too. Grace baked me a cheesecake and Blanche bought me a strawberry tart from Lindquists Konditori (:
#2
Booked my tickets to Paris/Switzerland with Grace and Denmark/Germany with Robin. So excited! My daddy has confirmed the date he's coming over to Stockholm too and we'll be travelling Europe together I CAN'T WAIT!!
#3
First exam in Stockholm this Wednesday. There are so many readings and individual assignments to do but thank goodness there aren't any projects for this module. I think I prefer my modules this way as compared to those in SMU.
Modules here are pretty short as compared to those we have in Singapore. The universities here split up their semester into either two or four periods so we take our exams after studying the mod for about 5-6 weeks? And then we move on to the next module. Less things to worry about so we can focus on one subject at a time, but not sure if I get to learn more this way.
#4
Took a ferry and visited the Vasa Museum on one of the weekends and I really loved the old ship. It was made out of wood and simply so grand. The little island there housed a few other museums too and a lovely park. Definitely going back there in Spring. Ended our day with dinner at MBQ restaurant. Had a good time with the SMU peeps (:
#5
As mentioned in the previous post, the Swedes are avid coffee drinkers and hence there are many cafes around for them to get their coffee fix. So far I've only been to one cafe and I absolutely love it.
#6
In desperate need for new nail polish, MUST get my hands on some when I head out later today!
Probably some pastel colours this time!
Take care and drink lots of water everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Hello Stockholm
POSTED ON: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 @ 5:43 AM | 0 comments
A little late for this photo but thank you all for sending me off at the airport.
I really miss you guys truckloads ♥♥♥
Here's the view from my bedroom window. A lovely sight to wake up to every morning (:
It's been exactly a month since I've arrived in Stockholm.
Life here is good, and I love how transport is so convenient and cheap ($100 per month for a card and you can have unlimited bus and train rides everyday). I shall start my first Stockholm post with "5 things about Stockholm", which is probably in contrast to Singapore whether I actually realise it or not.
#1
People here walk really fast. I always thought Singaporeans walk pretty quickly, especially those in the CBD areas as though they are rushing to war. But oh my these Europeans walk even faster, even when we're walking together in a group. People usually slow down when they're walking in a group right? I am half walking and half jogging to catch up with these angmo friends of mine all the time. And when I'm walking around alone, the whole world just overtakes me along the streets. Ain't nobody got time for long strolls here...
#2
Pets are allowed on public transport. Food is allowed too. They even have vending machines at the train platforms and I barely see cleaners hard at work or anything. Despite all these, it's so clean everywhere.
Picture credit: Chen Yen Yu
#3
Little streets like these everywhere. I love these streets and their quaint little shops.
Much better compared to the same old shopping centres we have in Singapore that are pretty much the same island wide.
#4
Food here is extremely expensive. Oh bother, everything here is expensive.
A McDonald's meal in Singapore costs around $5, and the same meal here costs about three times as much. Same goes for things in the supermarket and shoes/clothes/accessories etc.
Back in Singapore, I never had to worry about my expenses. My daddy gave me enough to spend every month and most of my meals were taken care of by my parents. Here, I have to cook my own dinner every night and of course do my own grocery shopping every week. And it really sucks that everything is so expensive and I barely have anything left to spend on other things like clothes/shoes/bags/accessories.
Note to self: however poor I may be, I WILL NOT FREELOAD OFF ANYBODY.
#5
The Swedish people here love coffee. At any time of the day, you'll see people carrying a cup of coffee as they hurry along on the streets. Someone told me these guys drink an average of 6 to 7 cups of coffee per day? I don't think I even drink that many cups in two months.
The weather's getting better, the snow and ice is almost gone and we're experiencing more sun now.
Ending off with a pretty picture of Stockholm.
Picture credit: Cindor
Stay safe everyone (:
Love,
Lorraine
Adventures in Europe
POSTED ON: Thursday, February 13, 2014 @ 10:45 PM | 0 comments
Been in Stockholm, Sweden for about a month or so and I've kind of settled down here. So I'm back to updating the blog, less of nails/nail polish for now and more of my exchange experience in Stockholm. Hope you'll enjoy reading my posts anyway! (:
To start off, a photo of the two bottles of polish I've purchased in Stockholm within the first 4 weeks. The one on the left is Maybelline's new nail polish range called ColoRama. The polish is Bubblicious, a bright hot pink polish with a really glossy finish. I bought it for around $8 and for that price, the formula is great and the brush is wide enough for easy application. Guess I'll purchase the other colours from this collection soon.
The one on the right is from H&M for only 10SEK which is approximately $2. The formula is acceptable and the brush is pretty small but I guess I am satisfied with the quality given I only paid $2 for it. I'm not sure if it's because of the different formula here or the dry weather but these polishes dry pretty quickly so no manicure mess for me!
*****
Left sunny Singapore for a six month long journey of adventure and self-discovery. Definitely not easy for someone who never had to worry about mundane tasks like settling my own meals, washing and ironing my own clothes/bed linen and even wandering around on my own in a foreign country with barely any English signs.
We bid goodbye to our dear Singapore on 11th Jan and Blanche, Grace and I flew off to our first holiday destination in Finland. The little town of Rovaniemi was lovely. We visited the Santa Claus Village, met dear Santa, sent some postcards back to Singapore from Santa's Post Office (with the help of Santa's little elves), went on husky rides and reindeer rides and even had a taste of some reindeer meat (I'm sorry!).
I love the Santa Claus Village!
Yeah I wish I was even capable of building such a huge snowman!
We headed further up North to Ivalo where we checked into our Glass Igloos for two nights! See the sled at the side? We were sliding down the hills and crashing into heaps of snow all day long with it (:
No sign of the Northern Lights but the beautiful scenery and a snowmobile safari was good enough for us!
Snow angel!!
So we bid goodbye to Finland after a week full of fluffy snow and friendly locals, and we're off to Sweden.
Layout: The grey bunny hops away ★ Ever since: 2011
I have a fetish for unicorns and whales, I live in Narnia. Do not fret, dear friends, for I have candy for all of you. Okay, you get the point. About you, wish list, your gallery, Tagboard here.
Do not remove credit, for I have a dragon that can eat you up. Thank you!
POSTED ON: Monday, March 10, 2014 @ 12:06 AM | 0 comments
Being a typical Singaporean, I am dearly missing the cheap and wide variety of food back in my country. So ever since I've been in Stockholm, I've been searching high and low for Asian supermarkets, hoping to find some familiarity in this foreign land and recreate some of my favourite Singaporean dishes.
Warning: Long post ahead.
This post documents all 11 supermarkets I've been to so far and aims to help lost souls in Stockholm (like I initially was when I first arrived) find good places to shop at. All the photos are taken by me (unless otherwise stated) and the addresses are those that I've been to. Of course there are many other outlets for the bigger chain supermarkets so I hope you'll find one nearest to you. (:
ICA
This chain supermarket is almost everywhere too, and it's the most convenient one for students staying at Lappis since ICA Lappkarrsberget is right smack in the middle of our Campus Lappis. The stuff here isn't at all cheap but the location makes it extremely convenient. Good enough for me to run down wearing a coat with my pyjamas underneath to grab a bottle of milk or other random stuff I suddenly need. Oh and there's the post office inside the supermarket too so that's where I collect my packages or mail stuff to my friends and family. (:
Address: Professorsslingan 15, 104 05 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Universitetet
Hemkop
This was the first ever supermarket I visited in Stockholm. A mad rush to get some basic necessities on my first day in Stockholm at 8pm when everywhere else was close. Similar to Singapore's NTUC Fairprice, with a good selection of stuff but a little bit on the pricey side.
Address: Mastersamuelsg 57, 111 21 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana (or what we Singaporeans call the MRT station): T Centralen
Pressbyran
This is everywhere, every single corner, every single station. It's a convenience store just like Cheers and 7-11. Limited selection of products, good for snacks and drinks. I usually buy my transport card and top up card for my phone here too.
Coop
One of my favourite chain supermarkets since the price is rather reasonable and the variety is good. It's pretty convenient for me too since I'm staying at Lappis and the nearest one for me is either at T-Centralen or at Bergshamra (another area with student housing by SSSB).
Address: Centralplan 1, 111 20 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: T Centralen
and here's the one at Bergshamra (Coop Konsum Bergshamra)
Address: Radjursstigen 3-5, 170 76 Solna
Nearest T-bana: Bergshamra
Kista Grossen
Recommended by a friend but I didn't like the atmosphere of the supermarket very much. The variety of spices and sauces is pretty good and the prices are cheaper that those chain supermarkets. They have Indian, Iranian, Chinese, Vegetarian and Halal selections on the shelves. Kista is quite out of the way for me though. Anything that requires more than half an hour of travelling time isn't worth my effort.
Address: Torsnasgatan 4-6, 164 40 Kista
Nearest T-bana: Kista (blue line)
Asian Market
Mostly Thai products and some Chinese sauces too. Not exactly as cheap as what I can get in Singapore but a good place if you're looking for Asian products.
Address: Olaf Palmes Gata 12, 111 37 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Hotoget (exit at Olaf Palmes Gata)
Mai Mai Asian Market
Just across the road from the previous Asian Market (above), Mai Mai Asian Market is very similar to the previous Asian Market too. Mostly Thai products with some Asian products too. Prices are quite similar in my opinion but one thing that strikes me about this one is that they have quite a large selection of noodles to choose from.
Address: Hollandargatan 9A, 111 36 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Hotorget (exit at Olaf Palmes Gata)
Hong Kong Trading
My favourite Asian supermarket thus far! All things familiar here!
Look at the rows and rows and sauces and spices and pre-mixes! I can cook chicken curry, green curry, chicken rice, laksa, chicken rendang, korean bbq pork etc. with all these! They even sell char siew (Chinese roasted pork). The instant noodles here are really cheap too, at only 4 SEK per packet. The other sauces are a little bit on the pricey side if you'd ask me, but I think it's worth the money for a taste of home.
Address: Olofsgatan 5, 111 36 Stockholm (perpendicular to Sveavagen)
Nearest T-bana: Hotorget (exit at Olaf Palmes Gata)
Oriental Supermarket
The biggest Asian supermarket I've visited so far, with products ranging from Thai, Korean, Chinese to Indian and even Japanese.
They even have a counter selling steamed dim sum and meat (chicken feet, pork knuckles, pig trotters etc.). The prices are reasonable too but remember to check the expiry dates on the products!
Address: Sergelgatan 16 - 18/ Sveavagen 17, 111 57 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Hotorget (exit at Sergelgatan)
Lidl
One of the cheapest chain supermarkets in Stockholm (comparable to Willy's) and it's quite big too so they have all the basic things I need. I really like the layout of this one. It's similar to the supermarkets in Singapore so I find it easy to navigate around. Prices are definitely cheaper than ICA and Coop.
Address: Folkungagatan 51, 116 22 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Medborgarplatsen (about 130m away from the exit)
Matrebellen
Another cheap supermarket hidden at the corner near the T-bana exit. Not everything is cheaper than the usual chain supermarkets but they have really good offers on different items every week. I once bought a bunch of 5 bananas for only 6 SEK! So I make it a point to drop by to check out the offers whenever I'm in the area. Call me a cheapo auntie but that's how a poor exchange survives in an expensive city like Stockholm!
Source: http://klapp.co/portfolio/matrebellerna/
Address: Gotgatan 17, 116 46 Stockholm
Nearest T-bana: Slussen (exit at Gotgatan)
Willy's
Source: https://www.google.com/maps/
Another cheap chain supermarket just like Lidl, but the only one I've seen is very far away. Chanced upon it while we were at IKEA (which was half an hour free shuttle bus ride from T Centralen). The supermarket is huge huge huge and prices are very reasonable too. They have great weekly offers as well, like 4 2 litre bottles of soft drinks for only 49 SEK. I would visit Willy's more often it was nearer to where I live though. Hopefully we'll find one that is nearer to us soon...
Address: Dialoggatan 2, 141 75 Kugens Kurva
Nearest station: Alvsjo (commuter rail I believe?)
A few differences between grocery shopping in Stockholm and Singapore:
1. Almost all products in the supermarkets have their price per unit listed (bottom left hand corner in smaller font).
2. The cashier does not pack your groceries for you after you pay for them at the counter.
3. Every plastic bag you use to pack your groceries in cost money. ):
4. There are barely any sales assistants in the supermarkets to assist you with anything at all.
5. PET bottles are meant to be recycled. And for every plastic bottle recycled, you'd get a slip of paper indicating the amount "refunded" and this slip of paper can be used to offset the stated amount from our grocery purchases.
Happy shopping! (:
Love,
Lorraine
TL Design - Dreamy
POSTED ON: Friday, March 7, 2014 @ 5:22 AM | 0 comments
First TL Design swatch - Dreamy. A dark blue holo polish with mostly purple and blue glitters. Didn't manage to capture the holo effect here it really looks much prettier irl. Pictured here is three thin coats of Dreamy, without topcoat.
Application was a breeze, loved the formula. It's been two days and everything is still intact! Pretty unusual since they usually start chipping after 24 hours... :/ Not the problem of my usual polishes, but probably because I'm just too violent and careless with my nails.
Can't wait to try them all and play around with different colour combinations too!! *excites* Too bad I left all my tools and other stuffs back home in Singapore...
Oh and did you notice? I finally got rid of the opacity effect on the pictures so you can see them clearly without clicking on them now (: #ProudOfMyself. Yes that's all for today, a very short post to share my excitement on my first bottle of TL Design polish from a giveaway. Will be back with more updates on my life in Stockholm in the next post! Sleep early and take care everyone!!
Love,
Lorraine
@misscelinas giveaway / TL Design
POSTED ON: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 @ 6:25 PM | 0 comments
About a week ago, I entered myself into a nail polish giveaway hosted by @MissCelinas and @ToneLiseAkademiet. And surprise surprise, I was chosen as the lucky winner! This is my first time winning nail polish from giveaways and I'm really glad to be the lucky one this time! So thank you so much @MissCelinas and @ToneLiseAkademiet!! (:
I received a slip from the postman yesterday morning and dashed to the post office to collect my package. How excited I was the whole day! All the sadness and hatred from a bad incident the previous night instantly disappeared for that moment. I've never tried polish from Tone Lise before so this is my first set from TL Design. According to their website, TL Design is a Norwegian brand of polish with natural crushed peals in their products for added flexibility and durability. They also use unique minerals from the Dead Sea as their key ingredients in their products. That sounds pretty cool and healthy to me. Apparently they come up with a Spring/Summer collection and Fall/Winter collection with 8 seasonally appropriate colours for each collection, and also special collections such as neon colours and glow in the dark collections.
I won TL Design The Good Life collection that was released late last year. The collection consists of 8 colours (from Left to Right): Glamour, Sparckle, Energy, Happy, Girly, Dreamy, Crazy and Laughter.
And below is a closer up shot of the bottles.
The sunlight was great today so I'm quite glad with how the photos turned out. Very close to true colour. As usual, click on the photos for a larger and clearer version. Note to self: need to find out how to remove this effect from the photos I post to the blog. And the lovely @MissCelinas included a lovely little card in the package too! What a sweet girl!! (:
Will try them out one by one, can't wait to swatch them all! Watch this space ladies!
Love,
Lorraine
POSTED ON: Sunday, March 2, 2014 @ 10:38 PM | 0 comments
TGIF! This week has been too overwhelming for my own good, I need more time to myself to think things through. So here's a summary of the week...
#1
Woke up on Wednesday morning to a pleasant surprise! Was selected as the winner for the Instagram sharing contest hosted by @misscelinas and @toneliseakademiet. So there I go! 8 bottles of nail polish from The Good Life Collection! The package is coming from within Europe so I guess it'll reach me pretty quickly! Thank goodness I'm in Europe now or the poor girl will have to spend quite a lot more on shipping if the package had to be shipped to Singapore. This is the first ever polish giveaway I've won so thank you Miss Celina! Can't wait for them to arrive, definitely gonna swatch all of them and post them here so do keep a lookout! Good luck to everyone else for future giveaways and may there be more free polish for all of us!
#2
Visited Kungstragarden (The Royal Garden) last weekend for our outdoor ice skating experience.
There was some Olympic carnival there too so we had fun at all the game booths and winning stuff like the cow bell below!
A very tiring but fun day of slipping and falling and crashing into people. I conclude that I like ice skating and will go back again soon (:
#3
Started my second module here, Consumer Culture Theory. It's for their Masters program here so the content is pretty different from our marketing modules in SMU. A lot more abstract idea, a lot more historical references and a lot more fluff. On top of that, the readings for the mod have been killing me every day. 20 over pages per reading is no joke. Can't wait for this CCT nonsense to be over soon.
#4
Skyped my mum this morning and she said I looked fat and chubby. Time to bury myself in school work and sink into depression... ):
#5
This week is the last week of our Ideation class. I really wish this class didn't have to end so soon. The lessons are rather enjoyable, the prof is pretty interesting and I've met so many nice new friends in that class I don't want to leave them so soon. Why do all good things have to come to an end??
Oh if you have 5-10mins to spare, please complete this survey for me! It's for the final paper of my Ideation module. Your help would be greatly appreciated! (:
Thrown into a foreign place all alone with unfamiliar surroundings and unfamiliar faces, it's time to think through what I really want, what I really need, and what I should be doing.
Off to attempt some strawberry cupcakes for tea today. Take care everyone!
Love,
Lorraine
POSTED ON: Saturday, February 22, 2014 @ 5:12 PM | 0 comments
The weekends are here!! Been in Stockholm for more than a month now. Quite a few things to share with you guys so I'll blog in a numbered format and keep things short for easy reading!
#1
We celebrated Chinese New Year at Grace's place with a hearty 'reunion' dinner. Chef Grace cooked up a storm and the highlight of the show was Singapore's famous Chilli Crab. It was my 22nd birthday that weekend too. Grace baked me a cheesecake and Blanche bought me a strawberry tart from Lindquists Konditori (:
#2
Booked my tickets to Paris/Switzerland with Grace and Denmark/Germany with Robin. So excited! My daddy has confirmed the date he's coming over to Stockholm too and we'll be travelling Europe together I CAN'T WAIT!!
#3
First exam in Stockholm this Wednesday. There are so many readings and individual assignments to do but thank goodness there aren't any projects for this module. I think I prefer my modules this way as compared to those in SMU.
Modules here are pretty short as compared to those we have in Singapore. The universities here split up their semester into either two or four periods so we take our exams after studying the mod for about 5-6 weeks? And then we move on to the next module. Less things to worry about so we can focus on one subject at a time, but not sure if I get to learn more this way.
#4
Took a ferry and visited the Vasa Museum on one of the weekends and I really loved the old ship. It was made out of wood and simply so grand. The little island there housed a few other museums too and a lovely park. Definitely going back there in Spring. Ended our day with dinner at MBQ restaurant. Had a good time with the SMU peeps (:
#5
As mentioned in the previous post, the Swedes are avid coffee drinkers and hence there are many cafes around for them to get their coffee fix. So far I've only been to one cafe and I absolutely love it.
#6
In desperate need for new nail polish, MUST get my hands on some when I head out later today!
Probably some pastel colours this time!
Take care and drink lots of water everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Hello Stockholm
POSTED ON: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 @ 5:43 AM | 0 comments
A little late for this photo but thank you all for sending me off at the airport.
I really miss you guys truckloads ♥♥♥
Here's the view from my bedroom window. A lovely sight to wake up to every morning (:
It's been exactly a month since I've arrived in Stockholm.
Life here is good, and I love how transport is so convenient and cheap ($100 per month for a card and you can have unlimited bus and train rides everyday). I shall start my first Stockholm post with "5 things about Stockholm", which is probably in contrast to Singapore whether I actually realise it or not.
#1
People here walk really fast. I always thought Singaporeans walk pretty quickly, especially those in the CBD areas as though they are rushing to war. But oh my these Europeans walk even faster, even when we're walking together in a group. People usually slow down when they're walking in a group right? I am half walking and half jogging to catch up with these angmo friends of mine all the time. And when I'm walking around alone, the whole world just overtakes me along the streets. Ain't nobody got time for long strolls here...
#2
Pets are allowed on public transport. Food is allowed too. They even have vending machines at the train platforms and I barely see cleaners hard at work or anything. Despite all these, it's so clean everywhere.
Picture credit: Chen Yen Yu
#3
Little streets like these everywhere. I love these streets and their quaint little shops.
Much better compared to the same old shopping centres we have in Singapore that are pretty much the same island wide.
#4
Food here is extremely expensive. Oh bother, everything here is expensive.
A McDonald's meal in Singapore costs around $5, and the same meal here costs about three times as much. Same goes for things in the supermarket and shoes/clothes/accessories etc.
Back in Singapore, I never had to worry about my expenses. My daddy gave me enough to spend every month and most of my meals were taken care of by my parents. Here, I have to cook my own dinner every night and of course do my own grocery shopping every week. And it really sucks that everything is so expensive and I barely have anything left to spend on other things like clothes/shoes/bags/accessories.
Note to self: however poor I may be, I WILL NOT FREELOAD OFF ANYBODY.
#5
The Swedish people here love coffee. At any time of the day, you'll see people carrying a cup of coffee as they hurry along on the streets. Someone told me these guys drink an average of 6 to 7 cups of coffee per day? I don't think I even drink that many cups in two months.
The weather's getting better, the snow and ice is almost gone and we're experiencing more sun now.
Ending off with a pretty picture of Stockholm.
Picture credit: Cindor
Stay safe everyone (:
Love,
Lorraine
Adventures in Europe
POSTED ON: Thursday, February 13, 2014 @ 10:45 PM | 0 comments
Been in Stockholm, Sweden for about a month or so and I've kind of settled down here. So I'm back to updating the blog, less of nails/nail polish for now and more of my exchange experience in Stockholm. Hope you'll enjoy reading my posts anyway! (:
To start off, a photo of the two bottles of polish I've purchased in Stockholm within the first 4 weeks. The one on the left is Maybelline's new nail polish range called ColoRama. The polish is Bubblicious, a bright hot pink polish with a really glossy finish. I bought it for around $8 and for that price, the formula is great and the brush is wide enough for easy application. Guess I'll purchase the other colours from this collection soon.
The one on the right is from H&M for only 10SEK which is approximately $2. The formula is acceptable and the brush is pretty small but I guess I am satisfied with the quality given I only paid $2 for it. I'm not sure if it's because of the different formula here or the dry weather but these polishes dry pretty quickly so no manicure mess for me!
*****
Left sunny Singapore for a six month long journey of adventure and self-discovery. Definitely not easy for someone who never had to worry about mundane tasks like settling my own meals, washing and ironing my own clothes/bed linen and even wandering around on my own in a foreign country with barely any English signs.
We bid goodbye to our dear Singapore on 11th Jan and Blanche, Grace and I flew off to our first holiday destination in Finland. The little town of Rovaniemi was lovely. We visited the Santa Claus Village, met dear Santa, sent some postcards back to Singapore from Santa's Post Office (with the help of Santa's little elves), went on husky rides and reindeer rides and even had a taste of some reindeer meat (I'm sorry!).
I love the Santa Claus Village!
Yeah I wish I was even capable of building such a huge snowman!
We headed further up North to Ivalo where we checked into our Glass Igloos for two nights! See the sled at the side? We were sliding down the hills and crashing into heaps of snow all day long with it (:
No sign of the Northern Lights but the beautiful scenery and a snowmobile safari was good enough for us!
Snow angel!!
So we bid goodbye to Finland after a week full of fluffy snow and friendly locals, and we're off to Sweden.
