Categories

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Tattoo Removal 4

Today i went for my 7th session of tattoo laser removal. I started back in Feb 2013, and till today have only went for 7 sessions as i was pregnant in 2014 and it is not recommended to laser tattoos during pregnancy.

I do my laser tattoo removal at 2 places, National Skin Centre and Trinity Medical Centre (Marine Parade).

1st - 5th session were done at National Skin Centre. Est. $300-400/session.
6th - 7th session were done at Trinity Medical Centre (Marine Parade) Est. $300-400/session

Bear in mind that my tattoo area is big, but if yours is like say, less than palm size, it should cost $100-200/session.

So at my 6th session, i switched from NSC to Trinity as i didn't see much difference in the colors of my tattoos, it was lightening very very slowly. Not much difference from the 4th and 5th session. The initial plan was to go to Trinity for aesthetic procedures but i spoke to the doctor about tattoo laser removal and he told me he could do it too.

My most recent Tattoo Removal Process seems to be really effective after Dr Lim switched to another Laser Machine. According to him, this one is MUCH stronger.  I guess so too since it was EVEN MORE PAINFUL. Still, i think if i started on this machine from Day 1, i would require even lesser sessions to remove my tattoo.

I wasn't too impressed at my previous session because it was more or less the same as NSC so i never blogged about it...until THIS RECENT SESSION. OMG. I really think this one will make a BIG DIFFERENCE.

Oh wait, don't get me wrong, not saying the tattoo removal doesn't work at NSC but it just seems to be slow so I just wanted to try another clinic and see if I can see a bigger difference. I will still have to go back to NSC to remove certain colors (my tattoo is pretty darn colorful) if Trinity's machine can't do it.

Previous sessions, the "piak" (when laser hits your skin) sounds were much softer, and not so frequent at but after switching to this stronger machine, the sound was much louder and just keeps happening all over, so i really felt like it could remove even more pigments than ever.

It was damn painful though. Much more painful than all the 6 sessions i've done. NOT LIKE THOSE WERE NOT PAINFUL ENOUGH. Haha. But seriously, if it's going to make this process faster, I'LL GO THROUGH THE PAIN, GET IT OVER AND DONE WITH!!!

You can read my previous posts here if you are keen...


Here's my Progress update...



It's much easier to cover with a tattoo concealer now!
But i need another 5 more sessions i think....but i think after switching to this new machine, it should be even faster...we'll see!

So well, here's a picture taken right after my 7th Session...


I'll keep the pic small because it's SUPER GROSS. Never has my tattoo right after lasering looked THAT YUCKY. And it kept bleeding...and IT WAS REALLY SWOLLEN.

BUT...

Certain spots didn't form a white frosting previously!! Like the past 3-6 sessions, not much frosting formed leh...like only super duper red right after laser session. But this time after switching to this new machine, white frosting formed on almost the whole tattoo!!! Which is a damn good thing because i found this information online...

What is White Frosting?

The rapid local heating of skin pigment, which leads to gas or plasma forming, causes the white frosting you sometimes see during and after laser treatment. Carbon dioxide is released as a result of laser penetration and surfaces on the upper layer of the skin, which resembles a white frosting.

In the vast majority of cases, this only lasts for 15-30 minutes after treatment. It is a temporary side effect, which is perfectly normal. White frosting is always evident during the first treatment, but once more ink gets remove from further sessions it won’t appear as much.

Is white frosting a good or bad thing?

It might not look very nice, but the white frosting you see during laser tattoo removal is very much a good thing. This reaction indicates the laser is penetrating the ink effectively. On top of that, it also shows that your body is reacting and healing quickly.

As soon as the laser hits your skin, it can go in various different directions. Some paths of light will reflect off the skin, while others will penetrate into the epidermis and dermis. However, we are interested in the ones that reach the ink particles, are absorbed into the skin and cause white frosting to occur.

Cr: x

Looking forward to it healing so i can see how much it has lightened! But seriously, i think this recent treatment has to be one of the most effective one lah...it better be after going through even more pain. Haha.

I need to wait about a month for it to fully recover then i can show ya'll the results so look forward to the next update alrighty! :)

Details of the clinics i go to...

National Skin Centre
Address: 1 Mandalay Road Singapore 308205
Phone: 6253 4455

Trinity Medical Centre
Address: 87, Marine Parade Central
#02-500A, Singapore 440087
Email: marineparade@trinitymedical.com.sg

p.s i'm not paid to write this post. i am a paying customer at NSC however at Trinity MC i get a huge discount but still, i don't have to write about the clinic if it doesn't work for me (which I didn't do for session 6, but am doing so now because I think this time it will work). Just here to share my tattoo removal experience.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

YouTubers V.S Bloggers

**Oh and one thing, everytime you read my blog and see that the font changes halfway, it isn't done deliberately hor! Everytime I edit something from my phone, it'll happen. Damn weird one.

Been a huge fan of MANY YouTubers after so many years and have seen so many improve and grow so much over the years. It seems like for YouTubers, the more subscribers they have, the more motivated they are to work even harder. Some even create multiple channels. Oh and not forgetting that they also have to keep their social media accounts active. Many become better and better at what they're doin. Those at the top continue producing such amazing work one after another and hardly ever disappoint us subscribers.

Here are some YouTube accounts worth checking out and why I love them!



NigaHiga (14 Million Subscribers)


Look at his first video, and his latest video. Look at how much it has improved over the years. The amount of effort he puts in his work AMAZES ME. He has been doing this since and just keeps getting better and better as the years pass. Also, seen him do collaborations with many MANY YouTubers. Even with local SG YouTubers!

Here are some of his old videos and his new videos (from old to new), watch and be impressed at how much he has improved!















MichellePhan (7 Million Subscribers)
Known as the beauty guru of Youtube. You can tell her videos aren't as "personal" as before but she definitely improved the quality of her videos. Also, besides beauty stuff, she gives pretty great advices to her subscribers. She has been doing this since and till today, she is still pretty consistent.

Some of her old videos to new videos...








She even runs her own glambag business, Ipsy, a make up line em michelle phan and owns a really interesting blog!

How does she even manage everything.....?!?!

Zoella (8 Million Subscribers)
Even with so many subscribers, she still remains so lovable and down to earth (as seen from her blogs). I wouldn't believe it's all an act because she updates so frequently and it's so consistent. If it's all an act then she has to be one hella good actress alright. She also has a separate channel updated frequently for her vlogs, MoreZoella.

Zoella's old videos to new videos...






itsJudysLife (1 Million Subscribers)
She's a mother of 3 and still manages to post a new video almost every single day.

Oh and one of her most popular uploads is of her baby and another vlogger's baby...


This other baby is from the other vlogging family the SaconneJolys and if you look at both their videos, you'd realize it's pretty similar. In a way they are "competitors" but instead of not mentioning each other, they meet up and do a collaboration! Both of them post new videos daily of the lives of their families.

Bubzbeauty  (2 Million Subscribers)
I'm probably her biggest fan in Singapore and i am so happy to be able to go through my pregnancy together with her. (haha macham i know her) She has about 3-4 weeks ahead of me and so consistent in her postings. Definitely helped me prepare myself better for what's about to happen to me. She's also such a sweet girl and recently raised like Her main account is Bubzbeauty but i prefer her vlogs on Bubzvlogz la haha.





grav3yardgirl (4 million Subscribers)

She's really not your typical pretty girl. She's kinda loud and uhm...her actions are a bit too kua zhang haha. But definitely keeping it very real and not afraid to be ugly which is why many love her!

I like her because she does a series of videos called "Does this thing really work?" where she buys random stuff as seen on TV/Magazines and gives a real review of it. Most of the time she's not being paid to buy the stuff or promote it.






Lets not forget our local YouTubers...

Take RyanSylvia (NOC) (300k subscribers) for example...

Some really good videos they've produced...

Whether it's for fun or ads, they put in a lot of efforts into their videos and are always collaborating with other YouTubers.







I've watched how they feature and made other YouTubers for example CheokboardStudios grow so much!

ALL of my favourite YouTubers are also very active on Social Media! Which means they really keep all their platforms updated and as active as possible.

Ok i actually like a lot A LOT of YouTubers but i decided not to make this part of the post too long haha...

Let me compare the Local Blogging Scene and the Local YouTube Scene....from my own observation. For both scenes, we have to create content to entertain and update our subscribers/readers. Both are pretty similar but the latter requires more work. However, if you take a look at the Top YouTubers and the Top Bloggers, you'd realize YouTubers post more frequently. The amount of work a Blogger has to put into doing up a Blog Post will never be as tedious and tiring as filming and editing a good video. I can't say the same for doing up exposes because i've never done one before so maybe only posts like those take up more time and effort. However, even with that "little effort" most bloggers still don't even post blog posts up that consistently. Which makes me wonder, is it true Bloggers get complacent after they've reached a certain "level"? I mean so far, those popular websites that are consistent and continue to produce good posts daily are news websites like Buzzfeed, Mothership, MustShareNews etc and definitely more entertaining than following blogs which are mostly dead half the time. If you do a SimilarWeb search on those websites and on most of us bloggers, you'd be surprised at how little engagement bloggers get compared to those sites. But most of us Bloggers earn even more than the writers inside earn...hmm.... :/

I understand that news sites have a team of writers to contribute content and articles which is why their website is always updated with something new daily , whereas for blogging, there's only one person behind the website. Still, the amount of work we "bloggers" produce, cannot be compared to those writers. Those writers have written more articles than most of us top Bloggers man? AND....i think most of us Bloggers earn more than them. :X

How many of us Bloggers are actually known for producing good and useful contents? I think most of us can't even find something to stick to so we call ourselves "Lifestyle" bloggers so we can blog about every single thing and maybe take up every single job given to us out there. Which means we should have more content right since our blogs are more diversified? In my opinion, the only "can make it" blogs in Singapore are the Food Bloggers. Those are the bloggers who go all the way out to hunt for good food to share with their readers. It's really not easy traveling the whole of Singapore finding the best Brunch place but they do it for their readers, they work hard to get a good post out which will help us narrow down the best place for Brunch. Food Blogging is something most of us Lifestyle bloggers can cover too because well, lifestyle blogging means everything happening in our lives right? But how many of us can produce a post as well as food bloggers?

. So, for me, i am categorized as a "Lifestyle blogger", i am supposed to blog about my daily life...or the things happening in my life. I can blog about so many things, some life hacks, food to eat, beauty secrets...etc! But many of us Lifestyle bloggers hardly bother to update our blogs... how many of us still do with Instagram around? We think posting pictures on Instagram is enough. Most of us bloggers who have reached a certain level can't be bothered to brain storm and think of good stuff to blog about. That certain level I am referring to is when we are given "paid jobs". That is the day most of us get motivated by money. Most Bloggers, unlike YouTubers, don't have that "drive" to keep our followers entertained. We don't even feel that "guilt" they feel when they don't post a new video in time. Do we really think we deserve the money we're earning? Surely, we can learn a thing or 2 from the YouTubers around and be better Bloggers. Look at YouTubers, they promise us things like "hey guys, new video every Wednesday!", how many Bloggers can do that? How many bloggers even blog on a weekly basis now? BESIDES THE PAID JOBS. I've seen potential in a few "small" blogs which are written as a hobby by some people that are SO MUCH better than blogs owned by popular local bloggers but i really wonder if they will still continue producing good content once they have grown to a certain level.

Hey look at those YouTubers, they do ALL of what we bloggers do, so much more. Yet, they still continue to produce good videos every week.

Could blogging be dying....?

Also, i don't know much about the YouTube scene and if this observation is accurate or not but YouTubers are willing to help each other grow. Unlike the local Blogging scene, if you are not from the same company, or not in a certain clique, you will never be seen in a picture together.. It is like Bloggers just hate seeing other Bloggers grow. Many just want to bring other people down. Something you don't really see in the YouTube scene. Even on their social media platforms. There's hardly a collaboration between bloggers of "different levels". Actually, then again, i've always been one who was willing to work with small bloggers whether or not people tell me so and so is only my friend to be popular, I never really cared. But only recently, some of those "small bloggers" have grown to be on the same level as me (and many surpassed me in fact) and ha, the way they look at me now is like as if i'm lousier than them and am a nobody. Uhm...when you were "down there" i never looked down or you nor saw you as a nobody so now that you are up there you shouldn't too? So yeah, even if you collaborate and make a certain someone "get noticed" in the local blogosphere, the person won't even help you when you're "not as popular" in future. Kinda sucks...

I admire the YouTube scene so much because i've seen people with 100k Subscribers work and promote other YouTubers who only started with like 1k Subscribers. They let each other star in each others videos...and then also mention them in the description box. When those 1k Subs YouTubers grow to like 50k subs, they too start working with smaller YouTubers and helping other people grow. It's like happening in every single YouTube community all over the world...Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, Europe, America...Everywhere, they just seem to like helping one another. Look at it this way, YouTubers all come from "different" companies also right? So how come they can work together and how come bloggers can't and are not willing to? How come they can star in each others videos and make friends with each other so easily? Why are so many of them so helpful and willing to help each other get noticed? Unlike the Blogging scene, bloggers feel threatened people are going to "overtake" you. I always feel that if it happens, it happens...it just means you don't produce good enough content which is why you're overtaken. In the local blogging scene, you can see many "clique of bloggers". It's always the same ol' people on each others blogs. You will hardly ever see different cliques coming together working on something together...unless it's a company thing. Never really a collaboration or whatsoever. The only time someone mentions someone else is when the person is more influential. Nobody ever promotes someone "smaller" (unless they have been friends for a long time).

AND...last but not least, why are most YouTubers way friendlier and more down to earth than most Bloggers and don't give off that "i'm a big shot" feel even with such great number of followers? I just think they are so much easier to like! Why do bloggers always have that holier-than-thou attitude...? With this attitude the industry becomes very uncomfortable to be in...and so fake. Everyone is out to kill you. Especially if you are from a rival company.

Writing this post is actually really inspiring ...for me lah. Like suddenly i really feel like i want to work hard on blogging...but then i remember i'm gonna have to take it easy as i'm going into a new industry soon and might not have time for this. BUT REALLY, I am so inspired with all the YouTube community and how hard they work so very hard to get to where they are...and continue working hard even when they are on top.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Grid




Thursday, April 23, 2015

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Carrislabelle





Wrap Around Top available in 5 colours - SGD $21


Latest Swimwear Collection:
Shop over 100 designs of swimwear at our website


Whether you are looking for sexy or cute bikini or monokini, we got you covered!

Hop over to our website to view more designs now



Prices starts from SGD$23.00





One of our hottest selling swimwear in our latest collection:



Mesh Sports Bikini






New Arrivals








Shop New Arrivals:

Carrislabelle offers free normal mail within Singapore
Ships to Malaysia at just SGD$3.00 (non-registered) and SGD$6.00 (registered)
Ships to other countries starting from SGD$5.00

Sign up for mailing list here to get the latest updates and promotions just for mailing listees:

Exclusive Discount Code for Tammy's Readers!
Enter "Tammy5" during checkout to get 5% off your cart

Like the Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/carrislabelle
Follow us at Instagram Address www.instagram.com/carrislabelle


Shop at website 



Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Tokyo Travelogue with Canon PowerShot


Last week I made a short trip to Tokyo, I love Japan but was pretty excited for the trip because it was the season for Cherry Blossoms! 

As with every trip overseas, I make sure I have a camera on me. For this trip, I collaborated with Canon to capture all my pictures for my Tokyo trip with the Canon PowerShot SX710 HS. I brought it along everywhere on this whole trip so all these photos you see below are taken with this camera! 

After spending 4 days with this camera, these are some of my objective views on it. 

When I first received the Canon PowerShot SX710 HS, I noticed its compact body which was a little flatter width-wise and longer length-wise. It was easy to grip with just one hand and fitted easily into my bag.

Although I got it shortly before my trip, it didn't take long to get used to it. It was really pretty user-friendly. If you're familiar with Canon cameras, the mode wheel and controls will be what you're used to. If you're new to the brand, the good thing is that it is straightforward and very easy to use. Most of the main functions are all set on the mode wheel, making it easy to switch from mode to mode. If you are looking to buy a camera for yourself or your parents, this would be a good gift! Most of our parents or grandparents who aren't into professional photography take pictures to capture precious memories of the trip and I'm sure they would prefer to travel with a camera which is light and easy to use. 

One of the biggest and most impressive functions of this camera was its zoom. For such a compact camera, it was quite shocking that this small camera had 30x Optical zoom. I don't usually use far zooms but having such functions for trips overseas is a good to have because you never know what you'll need it for. Played around with this quite a bit on the trip. You can see more on this zoom function below! 

Another plus-point was that it had built-in Wi-Fi. For me, it's really important to be able to update on-the-go. If you followed me on Instagram, you would have noticed me posting about Tokyo regularly. Thankfully, that was made possible and easy-to-do with this function. 

One thing I really wish it had though, was a flip screen. This is the first time in a long time that I used a camera without a flip screen and it did feel weird at first because I couldn't take my usual selfies haha. Personally, having a flip screen for me would be better.

Overall, I won't lie and say this is the best camera I've used, for its price and functions, it was good enough for point-and-shoot images. What I like about this one is that it is so compact and light! It could fit into the pocket of my jeans and jacket easily. It was a great traveling companion! 

Now finally, onto my trip! Definitely not the best Tokyo trip as it was raining so much I hardly went out but it still was a memorable one because of a few things!

Firstly, I managed to secure a reservation at a Michelin star restaurant, Sushi Honten

Address: 6-3-8 Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Phone: +81 3-3571-1968
Hours: Open today · 11:30am - 9:45pm








It's SOOOOO GOOD. I can just cry. LOL. It's really damn amazing!!! We had Omakase and it's about $300+/person exclusive of Sake. Not something you can eat everyday and definitely not everyone would want to spend that kind of money on food but i reeeeally love good food and I would definitely do it again!!! After that meal, my partner and I just couldn't stop smiling and it really made us so happy! We love Japanese food A LOT and this was definitely the best we've tried. I look forward to trying other Michelin Star Restaurants during the next trip!

I wanted to try a few more Michelin Star Restaurants REALLY badly but since I didn't, here are some on my list which I hope you can secure a reservation and share your experiences with me hehe... 

Sushi Saito 

1F Nihon Jitensha Kaikan, 1-9-15 Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo 

Sushi Mizutani 

8-7-7 Ginza Juno Building 9F, Chuo 104-0061, Tokyo Prefecture 

Esaki

150-0001, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 3-39-9 First Floor, +81 3 3408 5056

Sushi Kanesaka 

8-10-3 Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan 

From what I learnt, it's best to ask your hotel concierge to make the booking for you! :) Unfortunately, once I tried the food from the Michelin Star Restaurant, the food I tried at Tsukiji Fish Market was rather disappointing. I really am THAT in love with the food I had at Sushi Honten and I'm looking forward to trying those with more than 1 Michelin Star soon. Can't imagine food any better leh. 

Well we woke up one day at 5am and queued for approx. 45 mins to eat at Sushi Daiwa at Tsukiji Fish Market. I wanted to try Sushi Dai but the queue was already insane at 5am.... I think we would have to wait 3-4 hours for a seat! So we settled for Sushi Daiwa. 

6am breakfast at Sushi Zaiwa at Tsukiji Fish Market... 







Used the macro function for all my food pictures in Japan. Love how it managed to capture the glistening effect on the fish and bringing out the texture and colours of the food so well. The macro mode made all the food so delicious!







Moving on from the food, now on to the sights!

Remember how I said the Canon PowerShot SX710 HS has such a powerful 30x Optical zoom? I stayed at the 43rd floor at Park Hyatt Hotel and decided to try how far the camera can zoom in...



Look at how clear it is after snapping! So impressive right? I read up a little more on this feature since it seemed like the main feature. Basically, this camera has an advanced zoom framing assist feature that helps to evaluate camera movement, distance to subject and even the number of faces there are in the photo! Whatever it was, it just really seemed to help me get that clear picture! 

I snapped a few pictures of Sakura flowers on a tree using the zoom as well....



After zooming in, managed to get this bokeh effect!

Other than getting to eat so much good Jap food, the other unforgettable thing from my trip is SEEING CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN REAL LIFE. 

The season's almost over in Tokyo but we managed to see some at Shinjuku Gyoen. 

It was so beautiful!








Hope you enjoyed looking at the pretty images captured using the Canon PowerShot SX710 HS!

If you feel tempted to get yourself a Canon PowerShot camera for your next few travels too, why not try and win yourself one!

TRAVEL WITH POWERSHOT GIVEAWAY

There are 3 Canon PowerShot cameras to be won and the steps are really simple!

1. Follow @CanonSingapore on Instagram

2. Instagram a picture of you on your travels and tell us why you want the Canon PowerShot as your travel companion 

3. Hashtag #TravelWithPowerShot for us to be able to track your post. 

Contest ends on 15 May. For more information and to check out the other PowerShot travelogues, go to www.travelwithpowershot.com.sg

Bioderma


Happy 20th Anniversary Bioderma!

This morning I woke up to this lil gift from the team and it made my day as this is one product I use everyday! I looove the micelle solution so much and it's one skincare product I cannot live without. :) looking forward to trying the cleansing milk tonight!



Favourite Instant Noodles

I haven't done a post like this for awhile and well, this is gonna be a very unhealthy one. Haha.

I stayed away from Instant Noodles during my pregnancy as I wanted to eat healthier for my baby and after giving birth too, as I wanted to eat clean to lose weight. However, now that I have given birth and lost the excess weight, my unhealthy diet is back. I can't resist my favourite instant noodles! I know it isn't doing my hair loss issues any good though. :( 

Anyway, here is my list of my favourite instant noodles available in Singapore (although some are pretty hard to find and only available at specific supermarkets)! 

Realised I've never share with you all before hehe. 

1. Myojo Chicken Bee Hoon
This one is the "healthiest" choice among all as it's "Bee Hoon". The packaging also looks very plain and boring. Some more it's chicken flavor, I never liked chicken flavored noodles as I prefer spicy stuff. But when I was very young and at my friend's house, her maid cooked this and it smelt AMAZING. Since then, i always have this in my kitchen to have on days I want something more "plain". It's really not that plain though, you have to try it yourself! The other flavors kinda suck though. The Tom Yum one not nice one...which is weird because to me Tom Yum is always nicer than the rest.


2. Myojo Tom Yum 
If I had to choose a favourite instant noodle brand in Singapore, it'll be Myojo! I don't really like the Tom Yum instant noodles in Singapore after trying those from Thailand but if I had to choose one easily available in Singapore, I'd pick this.




3. Yum Yum Shrimp Tom Yum
Now this is my all time favourite tom yum instant noodles!!! Can't find it in Singapore besides the thai supermarket at Golden Mile. Usually buy it from Bangkok's Big C or 7-11s. Everyone loves "mama" brand tom yum instant noodles one but I feel that mama isn't that tasty!! Once you try this you'd not like "mama"! I feel la.


4. NongShim Mushroom Ramyun
This one is probably the most popular one and most people's favourite! I loooove the springy noodles! I only like the bowl and packet one as the noodles are the thick kind...the cup one kinda sucks.

5. Samyang Chicken Spicy Noodles aka Korean Fire Noodles
My favourite at the moment!!!! I first tried it late last year as my friend who knows I love spicy stuff bought it for me to test my tolerance for spice. Little did I expect it to be no big challenge at all!! I was HOOKED instead and couldn't stop since then. I admit it was spicy when I first tried it but after having it 2 more times, it became a shiok kinda spicy to me. Like Nong Shim, I only like the bowl and packet one because the noodles are the springy kind! This is served dry so the texture of the noodles are even nicer and chewier!

6. Indomie Mi Goreng
Best served with a fried egg on top! Oh and more fried onions. The black sauce is sweet and when mixed with the salty seasoning, it's perfect! Only wish the noodles were like the Korean Fire Noodles. Maybe one day I should sacrifice one packet of fire noodles and use the noodles for this. 

7. Cintan Mi Goreng Pedas
A spicy Mee Goreng which again, isn't easily found in Singapore. Not many people I know have tried this before and I wish more people could Cus it's good man. In fact, I don't know where this is from! Indo or Malaysia? Anyway, this one smells AMAZING and has a very unique taste compared to most mi Goreng I've tried. I only see it in Mustafa in Singapore but if you know where else has it, let me know!

I do have more but I think I'll stop here already hehe. That is my Top 7 Instant Noodles list and I hope I introduced you something nice to try! I think my list is quite unique and different lah. 

What's your favourite instant noodles??? I have tried almost every instant noodle commonly found in Singapore but i'd like to know which is the most popular one! Oh, and if you have any "rare" brands, feel free to share it with me. I am looking high and low for a good Ma La instant noodles! Want it to curb my midnight Ma La cravings...on nights nobody is free to go have Haidilao with me. Haha.