[Advertorial] Beans to Bars - A Chocolate Lover's Dream.

I'm an avid lover of chocolate. Milk, dark, white...whatever, I'll eat them all heh. And so, I'm here to share about Beans to Bars, a local company that brings in handmade artisan chocolates from Europe and Australia.

Basically, the owners started out this business with a simple goal: to be able to eat artisan chocolates which they enjoyed while living overseas but yet, not worry about exorbitant shipping prices for these indulgences (: 

They sent me a box of their handpicked artisan chocolates - in a personalized pinewood box which has a photo of Tzu and I (which I emailed to them) printed on it - so I was really excited to have a look at how it'll turn out and have a taste of the chocolates as well (: 

While unwrapping, I caught a glimpse of the box and I was srsly wow-ed (not pose one okay - Tzu can be my witness hahaha he took these photos of me):

Ta-dah! (:

A full view of how the box looks like when you slide the cover out

And here are some product shots I captured:

The box came together with a lovely note with some information on the content of the chocolates sent/picked (:

Close-up of the printed pinewood box

And... revealing the best bit of this box - the chocolates! 

For chocolates that are brought in by Beans to Bars, they contain 0% vegetable oils and are made by artisans - they are not made by pre-programmed machines! (: And Beans to Bars are exclusive distributors of these award-winning chocolates in Singapore.

Plus, some of the flavours are crazy unique. The chocolates they bring in more more experimental on flavours, like porcini mushrooms, cordyceps, organic mulberries and cinnamon! Read on for more details about the flavours of chocolates I received

(:

For the chocolates I've received (from left to right):

1. Dark Milk Chocolate with Tahini and Roasted Sesame - Awarded Bronze the Northwest Chocolate Festival 2014; a combination of lovely sesame and dark chocolate.

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Who knew roasted sesame would make such a good combination with dark milk chocolate? The taste actually reminds me of sesame tang yuan: sort of like a mix of flavours between the east and the west.

2. Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt Crystals - expect a combination of flavours like oyster sauce, vegemite and even chicken essence! 

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I know the description sounds really weird but I actually really like this?! It's like salty and the saltiness goes really well with that bitter Cacao taste. 

3. Dark Chocolate with Honeycomb

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HONEYCOMB: who doesn't love honeycomb?! No one would hate this I think, it's absolutely delish?! This is actually my second sister's favourite; she couldn't stop eating it. It's practically almost finished hahaha. 

4. Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut Cream - fresh hazelnut toasted and peeled by hand create a twist on traditional Italian gianduja chocolate 

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A classic mix of hazelnut and milk chocolate: I love the creaminess of the hazelnut! This is perfect for people who have more of a sweet tooth when it comes to chocolate I feel (:

5. Limited Edition Dark Milk Chocolate with Wild Porcini Mushroom - Nutty and woody

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Okay, I know what you must be thinking: MUSHROOMS AND CHOCOLATE? Hahaha that was my initial thought too, but THIS WORKS (I promise) - I could eat this all day, no kidding. 

Anddd.. with Valentines' Day coming up this Saturday, what better time would there be to try out these delicious and unique chocolates with your loved ones! (:

Plus, Beans to Bars offer packaging in the form of the printed and personalized pinewood box! I was really really impressed when I opened up the parcel to find the printed pinewood box, plus my sisters said I can save the box to use for my wedding next time hahaha. 

The box can be purchased at $40; but if you spend above $80 on site - the chocolates would be automatically delivered in the pinewood gift box (i.e. $80 for chocolates + $40 personalized box at only at the cost of $80!). 

Hence, it's actually more worth it to purchase $80 worth of chocolates - you'll actually get the box together too!

Plus.. as part of their Valentines' day promo, the first 100 people to use the code "jocinabeanstobars" when checking out from their site will receive $2 off their total bill (: 

In conjunction with the celebration of SG50 this year, Beans and Bars are also gonna be holding giveaways throughout the year for 50 times - so do like their Facebook page and follow them for updates on Instagram if you'll like to win something! (:

For their first giveaway, there's a caption competition running on their Facebook page where they are giving out $60 worth of chocolates - go participate everyone heh!

Beans to Bars

Site: www.beanstobars.sg

Facebook: Beans to Bars

Instagram: @beanstobars

P.S. I am actually munching on these chocolates while typing this blog post hahaha. I really think this would be such a wonderful Valentines' Day present for your other half, especially if he/she is a lover of chocolate (:

Thanks for reading! (:

Love, Jo ♡

OSIM uDiva; in collaboration with the MBS 2015 Countdown!

I'm gonna be sharing about one of OSIM's products today: the uDiva! OSIM very kindly sent me one of their uDiva massage sofas as they were one of the main sponsors for the Marina Bay SG Countdown 2015 (: 

And here's how it looks like:

It can be used as a sofa, lounger and massage chair (by simply using the remote control to adjust)! 

My family loved it; my dad would use it almost everyday after work and watch TV from it in our living room area in a reclining position coupled with it's massage functions! I even caught him asleep on it before hahaha. 

Ta-dah! The uDiva flips out easily to it's reclining position for a massage 

The remote control and all of it's functions

The uDiva features the 3D-Power Ball massage technology which comes with specially designed massage programs which would help your body to relax and unwind after being out for a day. 

These 6 programs are:

Sleep, Stretch, Lumbar, Happy Hour, Spa and Neck & Shoulders.

As for myself, I have really really really low tolerance for massages. People always look at me weirdly when I say I don't go for massages when I'm in Bangkok hahaha. I'll feel either really ticklish or it'll feel painful if the force used is too great? 

And that's where the uDiva is perfect for massage-sensitive people like me. You can actually adjust the strength of the massage going on at specific areas - High, Medium, Low and even the roller width/position!

Close-up of the adjustable functions

CHILLIN'

So, well what's not to love of it heh - mad user-friendly and it can simply be just used as a sofa/lounger when you're not in the mood for a massage. 

Plus, it comes in such a chic design with 5 versatile shades: Gorgeous Pink, Elegant Beige, Luscious Maroon, Enchanting Blue and Stunning Black. (The one sent to me was in Stunning Black!) (: 

And...I'm gonna end off with a video of Lee Min Ho (he's so dreamyyyyy), who's the spokesperson for uDiva:

Thankful for such a chance from OSIM to try out one of their uDiva massage sofas! It was a wonderful experience for my family members and myself (: 

Oh yes, and OSIM has very kindly offered a uSnooz Neck Pillow as a giveaway prize for my readers and followers on Instagram! Stay tuned to my Instagram account for more details (: 

Love, Jo ♡

MBS Countdown to 2015: at the floating platform

Hello! (: I'm gonna be blogging about my countdown experience to 2015 on 31st Dec 2014! I was gifted tickets by URA to the MediaCorp SG50 concert, which was held at the floating platform (: and

I was pretty excited because I've never been to any of these large scale countdowns! 

Since the concert had free seating, everyone turned up pretty early and we had to queue to get in. Here are some shots I captured while queuing; I can never get sick of Singapore's skyline in the Marina Bay area:

After queuing for close to a couple of hours, we finally got in and here's the view of Marina Bay from our seats:

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the flash on my camera out so most of my portrait shots turned out blur hahaha but oh well, blur photos better than no photos right?!

And the only photo I took of Christabel and Joal, who were with us on that night too, (BLUR ALSO ): )

There was non-stop music and entertainment all the way through from 730pm by both local and overseas artistes such as The Sam Willow, Gentle Bones, Stefanie Sun, and many more too! (: Not forgetting the crowd's favourite: Big Bang! Here are more photos before 12 midnight:

Stefanie Sun!! (okay on the screen but still, she's amazing)

And of course when it was 11:59 pm...

...FIREWORKS! (': Oh-so-beautiful. I love watching fireworks. It's like as if the world has come to a stop and everyone's fixated on watching these fleeting bursts of explosives light up the night sky. 

And of course, the night ended off with Big Bang's performance where everyone went nuts; the atmosphere and energy of the place was crazy high!

And, here's a short (and very badly shot hahaha) video which I took at the concert:

We left about 1-ish cause we didn't really want to get caught in the human jam when everyone leaves. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience being live at the countdown with the crowd and everything going on, plus I got to see the live performances of many many talented people!! Heh, here's to a wonderful 2015 (Jan has been okay so far, crossing my fingers for Feb cause it's just gonna get busier!)

I'll be back soon!

Love, Jo ♡

Love, Lace: ShopNassa ❀

So, ShopNassa (www.shopnassa.com) recently approached me to do a feature on one of their newly launched and self-manufactured pieces (for CNY). I'm really excited to share these visuals because I haven't done a fashion feature for a rather long time!

The Taylor Lace dress is a dainty and very pretty piece with it's classic scoop neckline and lace setting. It's sleeves are sheer and the lace flowers show up really nicely on that part of the dress. Wore it out to school and for a quick dinner out with Tzu yesterday (photos are captured by him) and it's boyfriend-approved for it's design and cut heh!

The dress comes in a total of 4 shades: white, black, red and blue. The fabric is crazy soft and there was no need to iron this piece at all cause it's quite crease resistant! 

Details

I feel that it's a pretty versatile piece because it can be dressed up with a pair of heels for a sleek look and paired for more casual days with just a pair of simple flats. I paired it together with a pair of white canvas laced-up shoes and left the dress as it is with hardly any additional accessories as I wanted to achieve a more laid-back look with it (:

Do check out more about Shop Nassa at their webpage here, or pop by their Facebook page to take a look at upcoming pieces. They also have an Instagram account: @ShopNassa! And...here's a treat too: quote "Jocina20" to get 20% off your bill when shopping with them (valid till 10th Feb 2015) (:

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Love, Jo ♡