Product Review : New Anglia Shandy Apple Flavour

So I've been a long time fan of shandy, especially Anglia Shandy. I even have a stack of playing cards embossed with the Anglia Shandy logo that I remember playing with during my childhood days. :)

So it was with great anticipation when I read in the Star newspaper article about a new Anglia Shandy flavour being launched in Malaysia. Called the Anglia Apple, it promised a fresh tangy taste to the lemonade beer.

A brand new twist on the old Shandy

We bought a couple of cans to try it out. And boy! I would definitely not recommend this drink to anyone. The taste of the shandy was totally overwhelmed by the fake apple-ish flavour. It came in with a bang.... but it sure does fizzle out.

Moral of the story : Stay loyal to the original Anglia Shandy - I'm buying a whole crate of them for Chinese New Year!

Product Review : St Ives Apricot Scrub (Invigorating)

The St Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub has been around for years. The product promises to reveal vibrant, visibly healthy skin and also making your skin look softer and smoother. I got it for less than RM20, alternatively you can also wait for special promos to get it at a cheaper price.


Technique :
1. I usually wash with a cleanser before using a scrub. Probably it's cos I have the paranoia that I'll scrub all the dirt into my skin if I did not clean it beforehand. :)
2. Once the face is cleansed, squeeze out about an inch of the scrub into the palm of the hand.
3. Apply all over the face and scrub using the palm for a more even effect. Do not scrub too hard or you'll end up doing more harm than good.
4. Leave on face for about 1 minute and then rinse thoroughly.

The result :
The face does feel a lot smoother, probably because of the graininess of the scrub - it has a very sandy feel to it when you first use it. Overall, it does feel like you're just scrubbing your face with sand from the beach. Therefore I don't recommend using the scrub daily as it will be pretty harsh on your skin. However, it's pretty refreshing and no negative reactions from using the scrub. I can definitely use this scrub in conjunction with my face mask from Simple.

Product Review : Apple iPhone 3G

The Apple iPhone 3G is no longer new to the market, it's been blogged about, talked about and received more coverage than many other phones. Full features can be found at the Apple website.

Some pretty cool features of the iPhone 3G is the upgraded capability of the phone with added features like the 3G (obviously), third party software enabling and GPS among others. The new contoured shape fits more snugly into your palm and gives a more comfortable feel when holding the phone. Of course, the new model gives a faster response time especially when loading webpages, nearly 50% faster as compared to the original iPhone.

It's pretty fast and painless the update and change different applications on the iPhone. So you always seem to have new applications flowing in and out of the interface. And a big plus for the new iPhone is the improved call quality compared to the old one.

However, the iPhone is not without its downsides, the bluetooth still connects only to the earphones and nothing else. This is definitely something that Apple can consider upgrading on the next release. The built-in camera still remains at 2MP which is quite outdated compared to other phones on the market. The quality of the pictures is not good and tends to give shaky pictures.

Battery life is not very powerful especially when it's put through heavy usage. The battery depletes much faster in comparison to the old iPhone. The contoured curve feels good in the palm but wobbles when placed on flat surfaces. I'm not too keen on the plastic back of the new iPhone. And of course the 3G service fluctuates depending on the provider, service area and number of users in the area.

The price ranges from RM2400 - 2600 for the 16G model. For that price and features, I would still go for the Sony Ericsson G900 (see the review).

Product Review : O.P.I. Nail Lacquer "Little Red Wagon"

Got this as a souvenir recently :

O.P.I Little Red Wagon Nail Lacquer

It came as part of a set of 4 small bottles called the OPI Tiny Toybox. Since O.P.I has always been on the pricey side of the nail varnish market, I have not had a chance to really try it out. That is... until now... muahahhahahah!

Steps :
To do a proper "professional" manicure job, you need to do it right.
1. Lay the base coat on your nails, let it dry.
2. Paint the colour coat on... in my case, it was the RED RED RED Little Red Wagon.
3. Once dry, paint a second coat to ensure a more vibrant colour (like my red wasn't red enough?) and let it dry. This time it takes a whole lot longer to dry seeing that there's already 3 coats of paint on the nail.
4. Finish up with a top coat to protect colour and bring a shine to the whole package. It's usually recommended that you put a second top coat the next day to really lock it in. But I cheat by just doing the top coat the next day, else it will take forever for 4 coats to dry!

It's been 3 days since I applied the nail lacquer, and it's holding up well.

Pros :
- Amazing colour
- Easy to apply
- Long lasting

Cons :
- Too expensive, a normal sized bottle costs around RM40.

Conclusion : It's pricey but worth the investment especially if it's for a special occassion. Else, just make sure that your local manicure/pedicure shop offers O.P.I as a selection and get your nails done there!

Product Review : Sony Ericsson G900

The new Sony Ericsson G900 is a real cool and power pack phone.


If you feel bored of navigating your phone with the key control, now you can just touch the screen to navigate your phone. And if you prefer using a stylus provided, that works fine too.

It comes with a 5MP build in camera which lets you take many pictures. The phone comes with 160 MB internal memory so you should be able to take quite a number of pictures.

Need to write a quick note someone and refer back later? You can do it now directly on the Notes feature of the G900 and use the stylus to write in your own handwriting. Time to forget those pen and paper.

The best feature that I like about the phone is it has a Wi-Fi support build in. What that would mean is that, where ever I go, if there is a free Wi-Fi hotspot, I could be online and update the blog, facebook and even chatting with friends over IM.

And the price? It is selling for RM1150 now and comes with 12 months warranty plus free 1 GB memory stick micro (M2) card.

My K800 is over a year old now but still in good condition. May be it is time to trade in and get the new G900? :-)

Product Review : Sony Ericsson K800

I have been using the Sony Ericsson K800 for a year now. It has serve me pretty well over the past year, without any hiccup.


It was priced at RM 1799 during the launch in June 2006. When I bought it in June 2007, the price was at RM800.

The main features I like about the phone are:

a) it is capable of storing over 1000 sms
b) it is also able to store 1000 phone book entries, which is more than sufficient for me
c) it comes with a 3.2 MP build-in camera, which is excellent (most pictures in this website are taken with it)
d) it comes with bluetooth, which I can use for file transfer to my bluetooth enabled laptop

Few months ago, Sony Ericsson launched a new phone model that caught my eye. My itchy fingers could not resist it. So, I went to the shop to personally hands on it.

Check out what my thoughts are about the new Sony Ericsson G900 . It is selling for RM1150 now. It comes with 12 months warranty and free 1 GB memory stick micro (M2) card.

For all the attributes of the phone, it may well be worth it after all :-)

Product Review : Simple Deep Cleansing Face Mask

The brand Simple has long been known for being hypo-allergenic and non-animal tested (PETA supporters will love this brand!). Since I have sensitive skin, we decided to try this brand's facial mask and see the results!



The natural clay has detox and purifying benefits, and the seaweed extract - cleanse, soothes and softens... eh? well ok, I'll try it anyways...

1. Washed face with my usual cleanser and patted dry.
2. Apply a thick layer of the mask all over... hrmmm, pretty cooling effect.
3. Put on some slow music, switched off the lights, and took a snooze while waiting for the mask to take effect.
4. Washed face with warm water and voila! My mask experiment is done.

The promise?
"Reveal fresher, brighter looking skin with our Deep Cleansing Face Mask to draw out deep down dirt and eliminate dead skin cells."

The result : My face does seem brighter after the mask. No sensitive reaction and breakouts (a definite plus for me!). However it did not do anything to my "deep down dirt"... LOL! Guess those may need more work.

Conclusion : A good buy for less than RM20 compared to the other products in the market.