The making of Encore Malacca | performing arts theatre review

Malacca is well known globally as a historic city and a UNESCO world heritage site. But what's so great about it? As a Malaysian, I'll proudly swear by Malacca's awesome food choices as per misstamchiak.com and many instaworthy historic sites like the A Famosa fort ruins, St Paul's church, Stadthuys and Christchurch. But where can we find a way to truly experience Malacca's multiracial culture and unique Baba and Nyonya heritage? It's none other than Encore Melaka!

Encore Melaka is a unique performing arts theatre built on reclaimed lands by the straits of Malacca.  So don't be surprised if Waze directs you to drive into the sea!

Encore Melaka

No. 3 Jalan KSB – Impression 8 Impression City, Kota Syahbandar, 75200, Melaka
06-270 7777
https://g.co/kgs/5JpM5h
Official website 

There are currently two shows running daily.  I highly recommend the 5.30pm show because it's just the right time to enjoy an awesome sunset view by the beach by the time the show ends.

The attractive LED lighting in the evening also makes Encore Melaka such a beautiful landmark in Malacca.

The brief synopsis about the show- the audience was brought back in time to witness how Malacca was first ruled by Parameswara which then became a melting pot of culture with interracial marriage and Baba Nyonya heritage.  Because of its strategic location as an international commercial port, many settlers from China, India and Portuguese have come for business.  But some eventually
stayed behind, started a family and integrated their culture and religion into the local community until today.

But today our focus will be about the intriguing technology and planning that brings Encore Melaka to life.  Encore Melaka is part of the Impression and Encore series,  a brainchild of Chinese leading directors Zhang Yi Mou , Wang Chao Ge and Fan Yue. These are huge names in the  global movie industry.  A total of 5 Impression Wonders has been created, harnessing the power of live performances in natural settings.  I have personally been to Impression Liusanjie in Guilin China and felt so inspired by the performance.  Not only that the opening and closing gala of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was also produced by the Impression Wonder Group.

Look at how ordinary the stage looked before the show started. There were 4 thin circular tracks on the ground. Little did we know how important these were until we finished the show.

The entrance doubled as the stage. It's 360 degrees rotation with multiple layers and levels. That's why the doors have to close on time. During the show,  one could appreciate faint throttling sounds as the various stages rotated through the front stage.

The drum performance was definitely a very well coordinated and impactful part that managed to deliver the message of how big a group the Chinese settlers were.  The LCD background was semi transparent at times,  making the visual representation of them braving the waves and arriving at Malacca by sea.

The LCD projector managed to enliven the performance even more.  It acted as a great way to compartmentalize the show- in one go there can be multiple mini stages rotating through the main front stage, each featuring a distinctly different scene.

For example,  the background was either black or in a patterned background such as a classic Baba Nyonya living room setting.  Each of the mini stages were at different levels featuring various traditions in Baba Nyonya families like traditional wedding,  dances and  tailoring traditional clothes.

One of the highlights of the Encore Melaka show was the dance in water.  The dancers,  clad in flowy costumes,  danced to depict abstract concepts such as ruin, peace, death and the birth of the multiracial new generation in a wartorn environment.  Coupled with colorful stage lights and most,  it made the performance complex yet attractive .

What's more. Every visitor gets to take photo with the performers free of charge! We love their traditional costumes.

Even if you are not really that much into the show (which is a great shame! Because for someone like me who is not that art and history inclined,  I thoroughly enjoyed Encore Melaka's performance), there are so many instagrammable spots around the theatre. It's just like visiting famous Sydney's Opera House. Encore Melaka has an unobstructed  view of the Straits of Malacca. And it's a perfect spot for sunset.

Encore Melaka is definitely a great showcase of the Malacca culture and spirit.  Make it one of your top to visit list in Malacca! For the whole July,  grab discounted tickets at Encore Melaka! 

Natural and multifunctional skincare products | D'RAN wonder series review

Working for long hours with many meetings and backlogged administrative work create much stress and sleep deprivation for me in the past month. Not to mention my two cute boys who consistently wake up before 7am. These spell recipe for a skin disaster-- dull complexion, blocked pores, blemishes, dark circles, eye bags and a puffy unrefreshed face. What the others in the healthcare line will amicably call it as a post call face. The hot and humid weather speed up your aging process even faster unfortunately.

Therefore I'm genuinely excited to unbox these D'RAN Korean skincare products! All I want is good skin without much makeup on. That's why I only use and introduce you all to quality products!

D'RAN Korean skincare products do not contain mineral oil, paraben and alcohol which are common additives in skincare products. These may cause allergy or dehydrate the skin. For vegans and animal lovers, be reassured that D'RAN products are cruelty free, ie not tested using animals.

 

D'RAN Korean skincare has introduced the wonder series to tackle skin problems like mine. It aims to protect our skin from losing moisture and maintain oil balance, thus halting the skin ageing process. The 4 main functions of this series are: quenching dry skin, maintaining firm skin, brightening the skin and protecting the skin. Let me bring you through the 3 products I have been using lately.

D'RAN wonder hydrating cleanser

This foam cleanser lathers easily and cleanse the skin from impurities effectively yet is not harsh or irritant to the skin. Moreover, it helps to maintain moisture and pH balance of our skin. It's suitable for daily use twice a day.

The active ingredients are

-Argan Oil is rich in polyphenol, vitamin E and Omega 3&6. These are potent antioxidants and soothes irritated skin.

-Jojoba seed oil is similar to the structure of sebum produced by our skin in order to lock your moisture and prevent water loss from the skin.

-Macademia nut oil is well absorbed by the skin aka the vanishing oil. Containing palmitoleic acid, it restores the skin by maintaining elasticity.

D'RAN hydrating mineral mist

This facial mist can double as toner. The spraying action allows the active ingredients and moisture to penetrate into the skin. It's a great product in hot tropical weather like Malaysia because it also has a cooling effect. What's even better is that it can also be easily used on a face with full makeup on without destroying the look.

D'RAN hydrating mineral mist is made from:

-Alaska glacial milk is rich in natural minerals which also provides great hydrating effect to quench thirsty skin and keeps the skin radiant

- Hydrolyzed marine collagen is an important skin component to maintain elasticity. If you want to know more about the benefits of collagen in skincare products read my previous post.

How to use?

-For first use, keep pumping until the first spray was delivered.
-Aim the mist about arm's length.
-Spray it onto the face.
-Repeat as frequently as needed when the skin feels dry.

D'RAN wonder snail treatment cream

After cleansing and toning, it's time to moisturise and pamper you skin with this awesome treatment cream! It also functions similarly to a sleeping mask. D'RAN wonder snail treatment cream has anti wrinkle and skin whitening effect. It helps to fade scar, enhance skin barrier, restore radiance and moisture by the means of antioxidant effects.

The active ingredients include

- Snail Secretion Filtrate, although sounds yucky, is actually a great skin food containing hyaluronic acid, glycoprotein, proteoglycans, antimicrobial and copper peptides. This interesting article talks all about the use of snail in beauty.

-Silkworm Cocoon Extract is taken from silk fibre threads which contains sericin that is a great moisturiser as well as exfoliator.

How to use?

Apply and lightly pat the cream onto the skin at least every night before sleep.

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

I always advocate the use of natural and plant based ingredients in my skincare regime. Therefore, D'RAN Korean skincare totally fits the bill. These are called phytonutrients and have so many beneficial effects that I have recently talked about in this post.

Furthermore, D'RAN products are multifunctional. Perfect for those with a hectic lifestyle who needs a good and simple skincare regime. I just need these 3 products to get through my day, perhaps just to add on a sunscreen as the last step before I head to work.

This is a short YouTube video of me trying out the D'RAN products. There's a reason why I don't like wearing my glasses. Look at the difference in the video! I look so much more matured and aged in my specs.

Want to give D'RAN Korean skincare a try? Head on to their Malaysian websites now.
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Eversoft multicorrective replumping serum | Home Tester Club Review

I grew up with Eversoft avocado facial cleanser. It's a time when life was a little bit more difficult and I wasn't financially independent. Eversoft was such a household name. The cleanser was both cheap and effective. Since then, Eversoft has introduced so many other products. And today I want to introduce you all to Eversoft multicorrective replumping serum.

Eversoft multicorrective replumping serum is part of the Skinz Timeless Youth series. It harnesses the power of phytonutrients using Japanese technology. The other products in this series include cleanser, toning lotion, day defense SPF30 PA++ and night solution.

The active ingredients in this serum are

- Wakame extract which fades fine lines and make wrinkles less visible because it's enriched with plant based collagen

- Ume or Japanese apricot extract which helps to maintain skin radiance and avoids dull/sallow complexion. This is called anti-glycation. 

- Rosehip oil which reinforces the function of skin as barrier and helps to lock moisture in the skin by the virtue of vitamin A and essential fatty acids.

Eversoft products are also cruelty free- no animal testing. They are suitable for sensitive skin as they don't contain paraben, alcohol, artificial colour or fragrance, phthalates and mineral oil.

How to use?

Best effect is of course when one uses all the products in the Skinz Timeless Youth series.

Step 1- cleanse
Step 2- tone
Step 3-serum
Step 4- moisturise

Eversoft multicorrective replumping serum could be applied over the eyes and face once or twice a day during step 3. A single pump is enough for each application. 

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

I love how I don't have to get a separate serum for my eyes because Eversoft multicorrective replumping serum can be used for eyes as well. It's light weight and doesn't burden the skin too much. The natural apricot smell is also relaxing.

Interested? Eversoft multicorrective replumping serum is available in most pharmacies/supermarket.

Eversoft website

The benefits of drinking tea | T3aLong review

Tea has been regarded in centuries as a healthy beverage. It's therefore, not surprising that many research has been done about the benefits of drinking tea. Freshly brewed tea, for one, doesn't have any downsides-- not much caffeine and no calorie or sugar. A lot of brews are considered as tea including certain fruits/flowers infused drinks. However, purists only consider green, black and white tea.

How do we differentiate the types of tea?

Green tea is made with steamed tea leaves and has a high concentration of antioxidants called flavonoids in which ECGC is the most potent. This has been linked with anti-cancerous properties, the ability to burn fat and reduce risk of dementia. Black tea, from fermented tea leaves, has the highest caffeine but is great for flavoured teas and instant teas. It has been shown to protect lung damage due to cigarette smoking. White tea is not processed (not cured nor fermented). Theoretically, this will lead to the highest concentration of anti-oxidants.

The caveat being we are still not sure how much tea do we need to drink to get the touted benefit. But it's better than none. Read more about the benefits of drinking tea at WebMD.

However, not all teas are good. In fact, the FDA has issued warning for certain herbal teas which may potentially lead to bowel problems, liver and kidney damage, even death. Read the labels and make sure your tea doesn't contain the following ingredients such as senna, aloe, buckthorn, comfrey, ephedra, willow bark, germander, lobelia and chaparral.

This is particularly why I only drink good quality teas. T3aLong hails from Singapore and relentlessly source the best tea from China. This is the place of origin for Chinese teas because the climate and geographical location is suitable for tea growing. The finest and purest leaves are obtained in a pollution free area at a high altitude near 1600meters at an average temperature of 10-18 degrees Celsius with average annual rainfall of 2000mm (The exact location remains a secret).

The tea leaves go through these following process- plucking, withering, tossing, oxidization, fixing, rolling, drying and finally roasting. How does one quickly know that T3aLong tea is of high quality? Only leaves are used in their Nanyang Savour Tea (not powder which is usually of the leftover after processing and is used in tea bags). So true tea lovers only buy premium tea leaves such as T3aLong from Singapore.

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

I am absolutely in love with the flavour of T3aLong Nanyang Savour tea. It's just at the right strength which doesn't affect my sleep even if I have it near bed time. In fact, it helps me to relax and wind down just before that. The flavour is also balanced with a hint of floral scent, neither bitter nor stale. Even if after I steep the tea for over 10minutes.

The metal packaging makes it easy to store the tea leaves. Comes with a pack of desiccant, this enables me to maintain the freshness of the tea for even longer. Since I don't really drink coffee anymore, tea has also become a good companion when I need a good teatime.

Intrigued and want to try T3aLong? These are the websites. Quote yingzangel when you check out for 10% discounts!

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Popular Hari Raya food | Medical department Open House

Hair Raya is all about eating and open house. At least for me. Our very own medical department had recently held our open house. This means free food! These are the following popular dishes for this Muslim new year available at our open house. This is a month's long celebration.

Rendang chicken

This is a spicy chicken dish in which the chicken pieces are fried before then. The chicken are then slowly cooked with a spice mixture called pemasak (ginger, gal gal, turmeric leave, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, coconut milk and chillies). Rendang chicken goes really well with dahl  vegetable curry (brinjal, long beans, potatoes and carrot), achar (pickles of cucumber, carrot, chili, onions with mustard seeds) and crackers.


Laksa

These springy noodles go great with the spicy fish based broth and julienned cucumber, onion, lettuce and hard boiled eggs. It has a slightly sour and spicy flavour but the fish is not overpoweringly strong in flavour.

Nasi Dagang

This is a popular rice dish in the East Coast. Rice cooked in coconut milk that goes so well with a chunk of fish curry, pickled cucumber and carrots.

Soto noodles

Noodles or vermicelli (boiled or deep fried) in clear herbal broth (made from lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, black peppercorns, Thai basil, coriander and cumin seeds) that goes well with chicken breast strips and potato begedil (deep fried minced beef with potatoes).

Satay

This needs no additional description. An absolute crowd pleaser, skewers of grilled chicken pieces marinated in turmeric with peanut sauce, cucumber, onions and nasi impit (rice cubes).

Cendol

Cendol is also a well known dessert consists of green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. Mixed with shaved ice, it's the perfect way to chase away heat.

Fruit rojak

Rojak basically means a mixture of many fruits such as mangoes, sengkuang, pineapple, cucumber in a spicy paste (made with shrimp paste, palm sugar, ground chili pepper and peanuts) which gives it a tangy flavour.

Raya cookies and cakes

A delicious selection of pineapple tarts, cakes, red velvet cookies, semperit and almond London.

Of course, we have to take lots of photos at the booth for memory keepsakes. So if you want to organize an open house, consider all the above dishes!

Korean Lunch | Daebak Cafe Kuantan Unpaid Review

It can be quite a rare occasion to have enough lunch time to enjoy a cuppa in a local cafe during weekdays. The task becomes even more difficult to have 2 young children in tow during weekends. So we were fairly lucky to be able to try these Korean lunch menus at Daebak cafe recently.

Daebak Cafe
Jalan Taman Beserah, 25300 Kuantan, Pahang
017-914 8747
https://g.co/kgs/rzkAAm

This cafe is owned by a Korean lady. When it first started up, the menu was mainly about coffee, certain special beverages, waffles and its famous crepe cake. So far, we have really positive experience dining here so we were really excited to introduce their lunch menu to everyone. 

The atmosphere in the dining area was calm and soothing. Great for a few hours of chit-chatting and relaxation. 

These are the lunch menu options:

Muesli raisin toast

Topokki 

Ramen and rice ball

Cream soup + toast

Smoked salmon salad

Kimbab roll

Spicy chicken rice

Rappoki noodles

Smoked chicken salad

Bibimbab rice

Bulgogi rice

Japcha

Croissant sandwich (cheese & tomato, egg& potato, smoked chicken, smoked salmon)

We ordered 3 different types of coffee. The coffee blend here is just the right flavour for me aromatic yet not too bitter or sour. Or what Mr husband would call as full body.The beauty of having coffee is that it's practically sugar free and only contains the calorie of the milk. 

Latte- hot

Cappuccino

Cold latte

In terms of the dishes, we ordered the following:

Topokki is Korean rice cake which is slightly sticky and chewy. I love how much the onions add to the sweetness of the dish and balance out the spiciness of the sauce. The fish cake and hard boiled egg complements the dish perfectly. The sauce if also of generous amount. 

Japcha is a vegetarian dish. Glass noodles with springy texture mixed with bak choy, mushrooms, julienned carrots, black fungus and onions. It has the fragrance of sesame oil. Even though it looks heavy, but it's actually quite refreshing and light in flavour.

Spicy chicken rice. I love how wholesome this dish is. An average portion of rice with spicy chicken strips stir fried with cabbage and onions. Crispy seaweed salad adds crunch to it. And it also comes with a sunny side up egg. 

Of course we have to try their signature crepe cake. My favorite is the original flavor but only matcha was available that day. The green tea is surprisingly good and not too sweet. The cake was light and the layers add texture. 

Overall our verdict is 8/10! Lovely cafe with great food and coffee. Although we would love more meat in the food though :p 

Comprehensive skincare | Dr Eslee product review

Dr Eslee is founded by Prof Lee from Korea. We are so lucky that it's now available in Malaysia as well. It's a skincare brand made and also used by doctors. It's in fact currently sold in more than 670 dermatology clinics. Dr Eslee's products also embrace the principles of evidence based medicine which only uses the most effective ingredients proven by relentless research.

Dr Eslee's products are made of eco-friendly phytonutrients. These ingredients are plant based and sourced from quality suppliers all around the world. Read more about the power of phytonutrients in my previous post here. Not only do phytonutrients make good supplements, but they are also great skinfood. Of course, the products are also free from potential allergens like parabens, SLS/SLES, chemical UV absorbers and artificial fragrances.

Let me bring you through the step by step way of complete skincare using Dr Eslee products. Note that the following products are useful for people who have combination skin like me. I have dry face. Yet my T zone is often oily with clogged pores causing acne and blemishes.

1. Cleanse/exfoliate
-Wash foam
-Enzyme wash doubles as face cleanser and as scrub if less water is used. Suitable to be used 2-3 times a week

2. Tone
-AC skin lotion is a convenient 3 in 1 product (toner, moisturiser & skin colour toning)

3. Anti acne
- Intensive care gel applied on the blemish

4. Moisturize
-Enriched water gel
-Hydra emulsion or drynix lotion (oil based moisturiser)seal skin moisture off

5. Sun protection
- Physical Sunscreen contains SPF50 which is more than enough to protect our skin from photoaging

6. Conceal
-Intensive blemish balm functions to reduce scar appearance and acts as foundation with UV protection

Besides this, Dr Eslee also has different range of skincare for various skin types- oily, dry, combination, aging and lastly sensitive/eczema prone skin. One can either purchase the products in their normal sizes or just in cute sachets like the ones I show in the photos. Excellent size for traveling. Each sachet is conveniently packed for single use.

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

Dr Eslee's products provide a complete solution for almost all skin problems. If you go through their website, they also include many useful advice for skincare tailored to skin types. It's not just skin deep! If you are like me, with no time for so many skincare steps, Dr Eslee also has products that are multifunctional.

Being a doctor, I fully realised how important it is to put evidence based medicine into my daily practice. And Dr Eslee is exactly following the same philosophy. This makes me trust the products even more. Made of natural plant based ingredients, I don't need to worry about possible allergic reactions.

Interested to find out more?

Dr Eslee Official website
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