[Review] NATRAHEA

It should be around 3 years ago,  I remember till date that I was tearing while I stood rooted beside Vera's pram, right at the traffic light junction opposite to my block. The pain was intense and I was limping badly even the support of the pram. I called for my sister's help to babysit the kids and went to straight to a chiropractor. You read it right, not General Practitioners as they would probably prescribe me with some pain-killers which I am allergic to and ask me to monitor the pain, if it worsens, then do go for an x-ray. 

At the Chiropractor, I was diagnosed with a hip bone inflammation, went for intensive treatment thrice a week for a month and I recovered with no medicine, purely by adjustments and doing stretches at home.

At the beginning of 2020, I started to have nagging aches on my lower spine and neck aches. I was not sure if it was due to the fact that I am always crafting on the floor and the hard fall onto the sea bed during the waves surfing attempt in Bali last year. The bad posture and fall actually contributed to aches and pain and a tingling numbness on my thigh. 

There was a week, I was bedridden due to intense pain on my lower back. The feeling was scary as I could only move my body with my arms, it was that bad. I could not even bend forward to pick things up nor to change my shorts. 

To add on, another problematic area was my neck that was aching badly with possible cause attributed by poor posture from using the laptop and mobile phone (try and think if you have been looking down on your mobile phone most of the time).

Then, I was recommended to NATRAHEA, a premier one-stop natural healing centre that provides Chiropractic, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and Functional Wellness as a one-stop solution. With these 3 services under one roof, it definitely saves a lot of time from travelling from one place to another. Although worlds apart, these three treatments complete the Circle of Healing. 

 Dr. Jason 

First, I went for an x-ray just to make sure that there was no hairline crack from the fall. Luckily, there was no sign of any. My x-ray scans were explained to me and what caused the pain. 

However, it showed that the disc space on my lower back at L4 and L5 was pretty narrow and that could be the culprit that caused the pain and numbness on my right thigh. 

Blue line is the healthy curve, red was my alignment.

My pelvic bone needed to be pushed down to create more space so as to lessen the pain. You can go Xavvylicious Instagram highlights under Natrahea and clips on how Dr. Jason did the adjustment for me. As he proceeded with the adjustment, I could feel 'clicks' along the spine. The feeling was indeed a relief!

I like that chiropractic adjustment are non-invasive, safe and it helps to alleviate pain and aid in recovery. 

Apart from chiropractic treatment, I also did spinal decompression to release the pressure felt on my nerves as the decompression machine gently stretched and retracted my spine. I took the chance to catch some winks while the machine did its job. You could barely see the movement but it was some really gentle pulls. 

There were also moments I would feel unbalanced and I knew that one of my legs was shorter than the other due to the stress I added on it from the pain. At times, we tend to stand in a way such that we made ourselves 'comfortable' to accommodate the pain but in the wrong posture. I was indeed having a leg shorter than the other because it could be easily seen when Dr Jason did the check. Usually, after the spinal adjustment, I could feel my 'balance' again.

 If you have been getting frequent headaches, give your neck a check. It could be due to the posture accumulated from looking down at the mobile phone as well as when we are using the laptop. Ideally, these two gadgets should be at our eye level to maintain a good posture.

 

Using the adjustment method as well, the aches behind the neck disappeared instantly! Just relax and trust that you are in good hands of the doctor. 

With TCM service under the same roof, patients can also seek consultation and have acupuncture treatment done on the area you are experiencing soreness. I did my check on my first visit and was told that my heartbeat was slightly faster than the norm and blood pressure was on the lower side. I took the chance to tune my body which lacked the qi as I always have the felt like I had been hit by the fatigue bug. After a course of herbal powder, my blood pressure improved, I felt more energetic and my heartbeat was back to normal by the second visit.

Accupuncture

Under Functional Wellness, they do provide Muscle Therapy too! Deep muscle massage to loosen the tight knots. It was pretty comfortable though certain trigger points were really an 'OUCH' moment when pressed on, especially the shoulder blades and certain part of the neck. All these are caused by the accumulation and stress due to poor posture or old injury. 

From the massage, the therapist could tell that my back muscles were unbalanced, it seemed like I had used one side more than the other. I loved this treatment with all the massage pads stuck onto my back as it emitted gentle pulses to massage the sore parts before the therapist conducts a deep muscle rub. SHIOK max! I guarantee that you will have a better sleep in the night when the circulation in the body is so much better. 

Muscle therapy would usually end with stretches. This is so important! I do feel the difference if I stretch on a daily basis and on lazy days, the aches returned. 

After a month of intensive treatments at Natrahea, my nagging lower back pain was gone and the aches had lessened. If you do believe in natural healing, keeping a well balanced 'Qi' in your body as well as getting your muscular and skeletal elements in the ideal condition to make a healthy and energetic you, do give NATRAHEA a try! There are a total of 7 outlets islandwide, I am so glad to know that there is one outlet near me in the Northeast - Heartland Mall (Kovan).

For more information and promotion, do check out NATRAHEA at: 

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Thank you AT Marketing and PR Consultancy for recommending NATRAHEA. 

[Review] Pizza Delivery Singapore

Pizza is a favourite to most kids and that includes mine as well! During the long weekend, we dined at home with pizzas from Pizza Delivery Singapore which was listed as one of the best 12 pizza delivery in Singapore under Best of Singapore. 

I ordered one Hearty Festa Bundle that could feed 4-5 pax and

it consists of the following: 

- 2 x 12 inch large pizzas of your choice (I chose Seafood and Hawaiian pizza)

- 2 Fixed side dishes; Mozarella Cheese Sticks & Crispy Chicken Wings (6pc each)

Photo credit: Owari Photography

Photo credit: Owari Photography

I added on another 2 sides Honey Mustard Prawn and Fish Finger (6pc each). The delivery came on time but these handcrafted Italian pizzas needed to be heated up as we preferred it to be much warmer. 

I loved how every slice of the pizza was filled with generous ingredients and if you love thin-crust pizza, then you should all the more give this a try! The pizza dough was made using premium and finely-grounded wheat flour, imported from Italy, fermented for 72 hours before they make them on spot. 

Seafood Pizza

Seafood Pizza

The Hawaiian pizza was cooked with a spread of classic Italian tomato sauce, filled with plenty of juicy pineapple cubes, chicken ham slices, cheese and with a mixture of capsicum pepper strips. This is why Hawaiian pizza is always a hit with the kids and even us, adults! 

Hawaiian Pizza

I liked that there was a label stuck on the cover to notify you on the " time of expiry" of the food to prevent any case of food contamination if not eaten within the recommended time frame. 

However, it would be better if the fried items could be boxed up with some openings cut at the corner of the box to allow the heat to escape and prevent the vapour droplets from forming and dripping onto the fried food. Possibility of food losing its crispiness is high.

The sides came with individually packed dipping sauce in mini tubs, 

the downside was the cheese powder that was supposed to be sprinkled on top of the pizzas were melted and lumped together. It would be awesome if this could be improved. 

Currently, there is a 1-for-1 promotion for all medium and large pizza. Totally perfect if you have guests coming over for a gathering but please remember to keep your visitor numbers to 5 maximum. Thank you Best In Singapore for your recommendation! 

For more updates on Pizza Delivery, do visit their social media website: 

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More recommendation on Best In Singapore, be sure to check them out. 

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[Review] 8Durian

Due to Covid19, we stayed home most of the time and even until now, we hardly dine out. Most of the time we will pack food back on days I do not cook. We hardly shop at the malls too, most shopping is done online. But one thing for sure, we are still active with heading outdoors for cycling but with extra care.

Most of our birthday celebrations before the pandemic, we will head out to eat. But this year, I guess we would prefer to just order delivery and have a simple celebration at home.

Don's birthday was spent cycling to Changi Village via the park connector and back. We had a great 3 hours to ourselves after the kids left for school. It was like my wish came true because I have always wanted to do this trip with him sans kids.

Lorong Halus Bridge

We ordered western food for dinner and rounded up the dinner with a birthday song and a special 'cake' made of evenly bittersweet fruits from those thorny fruits. I say it was a pretty special 'cake' this year! His birthday cake was made up of Grade AAA Mao Shan Wang and Premium Black Gold durians from 8durian, with their plantation located in the high mountains of Pahang Malaysia.

Just like the quality crabs from @8crabs, @8durian is under the same umbrella. 8durian made sure that the durians are fresh and in good quality before they make the deliveries. Expect long flesh & small seeds, creased-looking for authentic Mao Shan Wang.

Every box was sealed in a bag

I missed the cut-off time the day before Don's birthday and was about to change my mind ordering.  However, I gave a try to order on the day of his birthday and my order was accepted and it was delivered on the same evening! REJOICE!

8durian offer free delivery for orders $100 and above, do check this out: http://8durian.com Not the cheapest but the quality is assured. Thank you, 8durian!

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[Review] heART Studio Singapore

Vera has officially started her Primary school journey since Jan 2020. Prior to this, I have already observed that she has some challenges in catching up with the syllabus, her ability to process and retain information was weak and not forgetting the inability to stay focus for the first half of the year.

However, tuition and enrichment classes are never the first on my mind to help her with these challenges. I believed in Art and Music education to aid in cognitive function as we use both sides of our brain when we draw, the right for creativity and logical thinking on the left. This process can actually help to strengthen one's focus and strategic thinking. I decided to set aside every Friday and allowed her to attend art classes with heART Studio Singapore.

It is not just about going to the art school, draw, paint and go. There are so many elements involved in naturing a child, allowing them to express themselves freely with no right or wrong when it comes to art, to increase their confidence, unleash the creativity in them and allow them to imagine and create.
Most importantly, I always believe that arts can help one to view life with different perspectives and to think out of the box to troubleshoot when facing challenges.

We have been with heART Studio for a month, Vera brought back new knowledge every week. Apart from the technical skills in drawing, I saw that she has improved on the areas of some concerns I had for her. It may not be a huge improvement for now but the structure of the art class taught at heART Studio actually helped strengthen her weaknesses bit by bit.

Putting her observation and visualization skills to test

This was Vera's completed outline with guidance based on her observation.

The completed outline of her structure

Vera learnt to be a little more patient and acknowledged the need to listen first before she got started. This is a challenge for her as she gets excited easily and is always eager to share her views!

Every artist should know the basics, the different type of brushes and the strokes they give.

I could roughly guage her spatial awareness from how she mixed the paints within a small area, there is still alot of room for improvement. Nevertheless, I thought that she had done pretty well here!

Working on her hand-eye coordination and focus through tracing lines with a paintbrush.

And to paint a huge background is not going to be easy for Vera as it requires lots of patience and the eye for details especially when she needed to really have patience to paint the huge spaces and to scan through her painting to look out for empty spaces to fill the paint in. I loved how she tried her best to scan through the painting.

Filling in the colours of the blocks was next, doing it systematically. 

Vera was also taught how to observe the different tones each brick could reflect from different angles.

By the 4th lesson, she learnt how to draw studs onto the bricks and had the painting completed! Never mind that her cat became a dog, let's practise again next time! I find it pretty adorable!

Vera was happy with her painting and when I gave praise to her for being patient enough to complete the whole painting, I could see the beam in her eyes as she nodded with confidence. It did not bother her that her cat looked like a dog at the end, she found it hilarious instead and we had a laugh over it. She loves the art classes and surely looks forward to every Friday!

Vera is currently in Little Picasso (suitable for 6-8 yo) and these are the programmes for various age group:
Little Botero  suitable for 3-4.5 yo
Little Dali suitable for 4.5 - 6 yo
Young Van Gogh suitable for 8 yo and above
Portfolio Building Programme (For DSA)

I am definitely elated to see how Vera has progressed and improved in the many areas mentioned above. Will share more in the next post!

Background About heART Studio

This boutique Art Studio is founded by Rena Chew who is a certified Music and Movement and Speech and Drama Teacher. As a mum to three boys, ranging from preschool to primary school, Rena believes that Art helps to develop many life skills which are important for children to navigate through the future world.

From developing perseverance and patience, to problem solving skills, Art has many benefits to nurture a child holistically. heART Studio prides itself on a progressive Art programme which scaffolds a children's understanding of lines, shapes and forms. The term projects aim to introduce to not only techniques but also to increase knowledge on artists as well as styles. Its programmes for childen are suitable for children from 4 to 12; Heart Studio also conducts classes for adults. 

heART Studio Singapore
1 Charlton Road
#01-4
Singapore 539631
6554 7653

For more infomation, do visit heART Studio Singapore on their social media handle:

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[Review] Lucca Vudor - Rosina Leather Sandals

I am always on my feet most of the time, out and about (before Covid19), an everyday comfy pair is utmost important to make my feet happy.

I have difficult feet as they are wide and have problems getting nice, fitting shoes that do not bite me on my toes, the sides of my last toes and at the back of my feet.

Today, I tried on Rosina Leather Sandals from LUCCA VUDOR, every step was a total comfort as I stepped on the cushioned insole.

The soft leather lining made of sheep's leather was gentle on the feet. I have to walk quite a distance daily to reach Vera's school and back, for the first time, I wore and walked with a pair of new sandals that did not bite. Not forgetting that the heels were slightly heightened, no pressure was put on my back too! I returned home with a pair of happy feet!

The buckle strap does not limit the sandals to match with apparels like shorts only.

The design of Rosina made it suitable to match with dresses too! I chose brown (available in red and black too), a colour most versatile and can match most basic colours. 

I am falling in love with this brand where design and comfort meet, the perfect pair to bring together a summer outfit. Do check out https://luccavudor.com/ for more designs! 

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Theo10 Disinfectant Spray + Hand Sanitizer

During this period of Covid19 with numbers gradually climbing up, we are also having concerns over the surge in Dengue cases, while wearing of mask is the new norm, I am sure that I did not loosen up on my preventive measures too.

With the habit of washing hands after returning home, before meals, I like to have preventive measures like disinfecting the tabletop and door handles with disinfectant sprays as well as carrying disinfectant wipes and sanitizers in my bag.

Recently, THEO10, our very own homegrown brand, sent over THEO10 Squeaky Hand Sanitizers, disinfectant sprays as well as Mosquito Repellent. 3 years ago, I wrote a post for THEO10 "An Alternative to Natural products", I would say this is one of the brands I trusted to have no nasties in their products. I use it for the family with an ease of mind.

THEO10 hand sanitizer is formulated to be moisturizing and gentle on the hand as there is Vit E content in it but yet powerful enough to kill germs and viruses. It does not leave a sticky feel yet my hand felt soft after each sanitization. It will even leave your hand smelling mildly of Orchid and White tea scent. It is also suitable for dry and sensitive skin!

It is available in 3 sizes (30ml bundle of 5, 60ml, 150ml, 400ml, 1000ml).

THEO10 Disinfectant Spray is a new addition! It is a broad-spectrum disinfectant and anti-microbial agent with ingredients recommended by WHO, NEA and EPA in specific concentrations. The usage is pretty easy, just spray and wipe off as it is 100% natural and water-based, causes no skin irritation and can be used on any surfaces!

What I did was I rebottled them into my own spray bottle and bring it out to me. I like to use it to disinfect our hands if we head out to nature and could not find a washroom. When dining out, to disinfect the tables we are seated at and toilet bowl seats. I will use the big spray bottle for home use.

THEO10 disinfectant and sanitizing products have been tested to kill beyond 99.99% of bactericidal activities as per Europe Standards laid out in BS EN 1040:2005.

It left my table top with a mild Frangipani scent with the Frangipani essential oil in it, if you are thinking that you have a sensitive nose like me, this scent did not cause any nose irritation at all!

Disinfectant Spray

It comes with a "lock" too so that kids would not accidentally press on the handle.

Keeping myself well protected when  I am out in the parks. Unfortunately, I am a natural mosquito magnet but with thanks to THEO10 Mosquito Repellent, it kept those bloodsuckers away from me!

Lastly, do join THEO10 in supporting HCSA! For more information, please refer HERE.  

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