Exploring Singapore? Part 1 - Haji Lane

Recently, someone asked me where are some nice places in Singapore. As a Singaporean, i took sometime to think through and since SG50 is coming.. I decided to do some short introduction to Singapore for the all the friends out there who would want to make a trip to this small little island filled with many surprises!

I will first start with the place closest to me! HAJI LANE! This lane has the name of being the hipster street! A few years back, when i first came to this lane, it's where local designers started out their own small boutiques and the things are really cool but expensive in those days.

Today, Haji Lane still kept to it's name for being Singapore hipster street! The colourful units sticks close to one another, and every shop has their own unique features! I love this street because... If you ask me... where can i find unique clothes? unique accessories? This is definitely the place! Many photographers like to take photos here too! because of the colors, the hippy and liveliness of this lane.

Personally, i am a lover of unique things! I buy unique things from all over the world whenever i travel and bring them back to this small island of mine! And of course, i am a cafe hopper too! Sitting down for a nice coffee of coffee or tea, with a magazine or iPad :x will make my afternoon!

2 months back, i decided to share my collections and bring these unique things i find together, i opened my retail shop here @ 21 Haji Lane!

Combining apparels, accessories, cafe and even beauty together all in one place!

If you follow my blog, present this post to my staff to receive 5% off apparels and accessories! You can also follow us on Facebook @thelastpiece and Instagram @thelastpiecesg for our latest promotion! We are also having weekly giveaways that you can take part in!

We open at 11am everyday and closes at 8pm. We close later on Fridays and Saturdays, at 9pm. If you are looking to have lunch or dinner around the area when you come by, do not worry! You will receive 10% off total bill at "I am" cafe, where they sells really really nice western food! when you purchase anything in my shop, and present the receipts upon ordering!

We have new stocks replenished every Mondays. Every piece is unique and only one piece available. Looking for dresses for events or parties where you don't wish to see another person wearing the same dress as you? We are confident to say that we only carry 1 piece of each design and per color. You will not find the same dress in the same color in our shop. We do not restock the same item :) So if you like something, grab them before they are gone! ;)

Facials are available too! come on down to see what are the promotions every month. We can also work around your budget so do not worry about having to pay what you are told to. We do our best to bring comfort and satisfaction to meet your needs. 

There are other shops around that sells cool things too. You can walk down the lane from where we are, and find interesting finds too!

The weather can sometimes be really warm. Wear light clothes, bring along an umbrella if you have to. As the weather may change and you will not want to be caught in the rain ;)

Planning a trip to Singapore? stay tuned for more introduction to other nice things in Singapore! <3 <3 <3

Are you a member?

Membership card is one of the common item in our wallets nowadays. They give us shopping and dining privileges to various places and discounts. 

Maybe just like me, you carry a cardholder that holds up to 20 cards apart from your long wallet!

Are these cards really useful? Should we or should we not, have to carry them everywhere we go to ensure that they are within our reach in the event when we need them!

Lets see what are some of the cards i have. Credit cards of 5 different banks, credit cards to specific stores and membership card for different shops and places
It feels like, i do need all of them right?
but membership cards can sometimes go out of hand as the number of shops and places we go just keeps increasing!

First of all questions:
Do these cards really help you to save more? Personally, YES!
There many shops that may sell the same item, and i will only go to the one that i have a membership card with or have credit card promotions.

So what can i do to cut down on some of the cards i have to carry around?
#1: Look through your credit cards and pick out the one that gives you the most rewards, in terms of discounts and also rewards points. Keep to one main card.

Many people overlook the reward points and simply allow them to expire. But do you know that they can add up to quite an amount? I have already redeemed up to USD$300 worth of vouchers from my credit card points.

#2: Credit cards to specific stores should be carried around because they often gives better rebates and discounts compared to membership cards

#3: Take out those membership cards that allow you to redeem with your personal identity card or mobile number, which many of them do nowadays.

#4: Remove those membership cards of stores that you have not visited for more than a year. The chances of you visiting them again is quite slim and very often you don't even remembered that you have the membership card until purchase is already done!

I'm beginning to appreciate places where membership is linked up with our identification card or mobile number because it makes shopping easier and i do not have to always remember to bring out my whole loads of cards when i go out for some shopping.

M.A.C Brush Sets

Lately i have been seeing a lot of post on how people identify whether their M.A.C brush sets are authentic or not. Looking through some of them i realized a few interesting points stated by some of these blogs, which i think is not so true!

Before i begin, let's look through some of the M.A.C Brush sets available in the market!

All of these brushes are produced by M.A.C for a different season of different years and some are exclusive to make up schools at different years. Some maybe many years ago and some are the really recent ones.

Some of the facts mentioned that are not so true:
1) They only come in silver tips
Looking through the photos, i think you can be very sure that it does not apply all the time.
In fact, they come in silver, black and even gold depending on the series they are being produced for.

2) They only come in black glossy body
Again, you can see that they DO NOT only come in black glossy, they come in matt black, blue, transparent and others not stated here!

3) All brushes comes with the number
This only apply to the more recent series of brushes

Remember i mentioned of the M.A.C brush set i got?
They come in black tip and matt black body. They may not belong to the latter series but the quality is so good.

No so long ago, a friend was telling me about the M.A.C brush she bought from the M.A.C shop itself and the brush is dropping hair every single time she uses it. I believe all items may experiences factory faultiness. It does not determine the authenticity of the item.

The fact remains, if you are afraid and insistent on getting authentic items, my advise to you is to purchase them from the original store itself instead of online stores. So that even if the item does not function well, you will not doubt its authenticity.

Over shopped?

Shop, like, buy... Especially when you are away on a holiday and you have to make a decision on the spot whether to buy or not. In the end, to prevent regretting not getting what we like, we end up buying more than what we need!

Like many shoppers, i believe many of you face the same situations below:
1) Bought too many things and you do not need them all
2) Have many brand new things laying around that are not used, bought on impulse!
3) Accumulation of things over the years and some are only wore once or twice
4) Growing out of your sizes
5) Buying clothes that are not your size, believing that you will fit them one day!

Honestly, i fall into almost all of the above! I can relate to how you are feeling now because i am facing the exact same situation and thoughts are running through your mind:
"They are still brand new, i can't bear to give them away"
"Maybe i can really fit into them soon!"
"What if the fashion comes back?"
"I really love this dress/top even though i cannot fit into them"
"I only wore this twice, so wasted to just give it away"

With all these thoughts running constantly through your mind as you go through every piece of item in your closet, you will never be able to pack out anything! But once a wise man said, whatever you did not use for the past one year, you probably will not do it again~

Don't know what to do with the items that are still brand new or once wore once or twice, in perfectly new condition? Shopper's Mind is planning to start a Shopper's Mind Store to help you get rid of these items but at the same time, do good! Stay tune for more information! But meanwhile, pack your closet and take nice photos of these items!

Jurong Bird Park!

Photographer: Me!

Trip to the Jurong Bird Park after so many years! Together with my friend and her family. It's really different when you begin to view everything through the camera. Even though we didn't manage to finish walking through the whole bird park, we had a very fruitful 4hours. Watching the 'Birds and buddies show' and 'Kings of the skies show'. Visiting the Lory loft, where birds are to fly freely around you, open for feeding and photo taking. The Birds of play, where kids can play at the playground and the water area, come ready with their swimsuits or you can just drop by the shop there for one!

Looking forward to my next visit! ;)

Jurong Bird Park
2 Jurong Hill Singapore 628925
Tel: (65) 6265 0022

Take the MRT to Boon Lay Station and transfer to SBS number 194 or 251 at the Boon Lay Bus Interchange.

Opening Hours
8.30am to 6.00pm daily
(Last ticket sale at 5.30pm)

Adult S$18.00
Child (3 to 12 years old) S$12.00*