SQ 878

Hi peeps! I am back to talk more about SQ878 timing and stuffs. 

So I went to Taiwan early this year and tickets were booked 3 months in advance. I opted for Singapore Airlines as the pricing for budget air tickets was like 300++ per pax with 20kg luggage where as SQ was 508 per pax (on promotion). The timing for Jetstar was depart at 0100 and reach Taipei at 0600. For SQ, the timing was depart at 1140 and reach at 1630. 

Pros of taking SQ:
1. Food and drinks provided. 
2. Entertainment provided.

Cons of taking SQ:
1. Timing timing timing.
2. More expensive.

Pros of taking Jetstar:
1. Good timing.
2. Can have extra 100++ to spend on shopping. 

Cons of taking Jetstar
1. No food and drinks.
2. No entertainment. 

The price difference was around 100++-200? And I also have to consider on the traffic if I reach at 1630. Peak hours and bad traffic jam. Mins before and after the SQ flight, there are a few China flights, so is human jam at the immigration. However we cannot bear to pay so much for a budget flight. So after much consideration, we or rather I decided on SQ. 

When in Taiwan
I will not elaborate on the inflight experience as the information can be found easily online. I reached Taiwan around 430pm? I walked super fast to the immigration and start queuing. My travel partner was complaining on my kiasu-ness. But 5 mins after we queued, the queue was so long. I was allowed to queue at the counter for residents hence I managed to clear the immigration and collected my luggage by 1700/5pm.  

The traffic to Taipei was okay, pretty smooth, jammed for awhile at certain highway areas but we managed to reach our ximending hotel before 6pm. 

Yeap thats all guys! This post is written as I found difficulty when I was researching on the traffic/immigration in Taiwan at that timing. Hope it helps! 

Glomax Aesthetics (non-sponsored)

* Wrote the outline on 2013 and edited on 2016, NON-SPONSORED POST

It has always been my dream to have good skin like those kpop artistes, namely taeyeon.
Unfortunately, in my case, I have really oily skin on the surface and rather dehydrated at the same time. The main concerns I have on my face is clogged pores, blackheads, big pores, oiliness and pimples (outbreak occurred more in 2013, now is occasionally outbreak during time of the month)  

So I'm in the search for good dermatologist to save my pathetic face and I came upon this facial place called Glomax Aesthetics when browsing through forums.
And being a safe (kiasi) person, I start to google search for this place and mostly (all) of the reviews are sponsored. Well, as a safe (kiasi) person, sponsored = pay you to write good reviews, but in reality, they hardsell you and treat you badly. But I just went ahead to book an appt with them and deep in my heart, I will give them two treatments to show me the results. 

First appt (24/02/2013, 1230pm)
Booked through their contact page on their website, but no replies so I sent an email through their direct email address and the boss called me and set an appt. Going there need some challenge, though. Firstly, you need to call through the intercom by pressing their address then they will open the door for you. Next, go to the guest left (I went to the staff lift and I couldn't go up). So remember GUEST lift. 

When reached there, you will see a tiny but yet cozy area. The therapist will ask you to fill up a form asking for information like address, concerns, diet, lifestyle. Then she will look at your skin and give you the recommended treatment. I was recommended to do intensive acne treatment ($88 for 1st trial, $150 for normal price)

"Suitable for problem skin with congested pores and acne, start with a sonic cleansing that gently lifts impurities and dirt off skin surface before the problem areas are healed with a mild antiseptic high frequency. Combined with acne IPL to rebalance the sebum level, problem skin will dramatically clear up after each session." (Quoted from their website)

Then my therapist (Pei Shan) passed me a hairband and basically my fringe was swept behind, exposing my bare face. She took 3 pictures using a canon dslr (?) front view and both sides views. Then I was lead to my room. Didn't change because there will be no massage. 

Steps for the intensive acne treatment
1. Cleanse it with milk cleanser (to remove makeup)
2. Cleanse it with gentle cleanser (to double clean the face)
3. Sonic cleanser (to remove any surface blackheads/clogged pores by the vibration and loosen up the stubborn ones)
4. Extraction (to remove stubborn blackheads/clogged pores)
5. Antiseptic roller (kill bacteria that is still on the surface of the face)
6. IPL (to reduce sebum level and kill the bacteria that is deep down) 
7. Mask 

Those are the steps done during my facial if I remembered correctly. Maybe the first two were mixed up. Anyway, the treatment overall was quite comfortable for the all the steps except from the sonic cleanser step till the IPL. Sonic cleanser was done using a machine that will vibrate and it was used to scrap against your skin. It does feel abit uncomfortable as the therapist is trying to clear the surface blackheads and clogged pores.

Then it got really bad when come to extraction. It has to be the most painful extraction! It's so painful then I always teared in this step. But my therapist did a very good job. She basically won't miss out a single area on my face, like a vacuum cleaner. 

And for the antiseptic, I don't really like the smell. Smell erm weird? Hahaha. Pain wise is nothing compared to the extraction.

But I do get really uncomfortable with the IPL part. At musee, I did the underarm IPL and they give plenty of protection for my eyes. But over at Glomax Aesthetics, their protection for my eyes were only a few layers of cloth. I basically cringed when the IPL was done due to fear that my eyes will go blind and not used to it.   

Then after masking, I was left to tidy up myself and went out for a talking session (my feelings for the facial,products buying and package) Well I did get their products which is named Priori. Damaged ($406)

Conclusion
Overall, I think glomax aesthetics is quite a nice (expensive) facial place to go. I like the environment, clean and smell good. And their therapists do not really hardsell like some other spa place. Do give it a try if you are like me, desperate for good skin. But do expect to spend quite a big sum of cash as you may require to go back every month. 


2016
I have been going to Glomax for 3 years and I will say the experience and results are good! Once or twice, I did not go for facial for 6 months and yet my face is still looking good! Except for the stubborn clogged pores I always have, pimple wise is cleared! I also tried other treatments like Luminous Detox Energie Care Treatment and their eye treatment and I love them all!!! My therapist now is Parix and I like her skills. 

One of the cons I have for this place is that they did not play relaxing music, they played music from the radio!? Imagine halfway thru your masking and there is an upbeat song playing in the background. I also don't like their skincare products hence I have change my skin care products to other brands which I will review them soon!!!! But, I am still using their cleanser and the blackhead softener (tbh, no use). 

Hope this review will be helpful to you all!! :)