Healthy Living in Singapore

OSAKA/ TOKYO AUTUMN ITINERARY 2014: DAY 4 (PART II)- What we ate + Best Korean BBQ in Osaka!

Didn’t want to ruin the Nara deer park pics with photos of our dinner because both Nara Deer Park and our dinner deserve their own posts! So here’s what we ate on day 4 (continued) and in my humble opinion, the BEST Korean BBQ in Osaka (disclaimer: I’ve only tried one other HAHAHA)

On the way back from Nara, we stopped by this store selling pork cutlets at the Nara train station and it was SO GOOD. I didn’t take a picture of it because it was GONE SO FAST. I don’t even know the name of the place but it’s a pork cutlet store near the entrance of the Nara station.

Anyway, we make our way back to Namba and because this morning’s Unagi don was SO good, we had MASSIVE cravings for good quality Unagi don so we went in search of a dedicated store selling Unagi. I mean, if a random store sells great unagi, a dedicated store specialising in nothing BUT Unagi must be out of this world right?!

Prices are pretty steep but we really wanted good quality unagi!

Ungai Tamgo! Decent but not crazy wow.

The ultimate unagi set with tempura and other sides! The soup was really good!

Surprisingly, this unagi set wasn’t as good as the humble simple little one we ate that morning from a random store 🙁 I mean it was good but it was … kinda on par with the simple one from that morning. 🙁 (I think my standards are too high in Japan haha) Perhaps it was just an off day for that store that day? We would never know but I left feeling like that money was kinda wasted 🙁

Anyway, we decide to go drown our sorrows in PABLO cheesecake which in my opinion, is also highly overrated. Or maybe it’s just impossible to appreciate a whole quarter of cheesecake each. Hahah. The cheese biscuits were not bad though!

We wander around Dontonburi Shopping District trying to find something appealing (read: hot and filing) to eat for dinner and stumbled upon this crowded little shop with bright red air vents!

Friend is obviously very happy. Haha.

Anyway! The food here is amazing! It’s so good we actually went back TWICE in our 5 days in Osaka! I’ll let the pictures do the talking in a bit but the beef here is of such high quality and the kimchi… it’s my favourite in the world! Watered down bland versions sold in foodcourts in Singapore, I’m looking at you >:( The kimchi here is lovingly coated with the red pepper paste and tastes fantastic on its own or grilled!

Kimchi was so good we ordered another bowl of it!

I know I said I don’t want to go back to Osaka and would prefer to stay in Kyoto but if anything were to draw me back, it’ll be this store!
STAMP OF APPROVAL x 10000000 times indeed! 😀

Osaka/ Tokyo Autumn Itinerary 2014: Day 4 (Part 1)- Kyoto’s Nara Deer Park

Since we saw monkeys the previous day, we figured today would be DEER day! This has got to be the highlight of the trip! Ever since I watched a youtube video of the ‘bowing Japanese deer’, I knew immediately that I would make it to Nara Deer Park somehow!

And make it we did! But not before brunch! 😀

Brunch was once again at Namba station before taking the train to Nara Deer Park!


After a totally satisfying brunch (the unagi don was fantastic!), we bought some bread from a bakery (because deer park = no food= FEAR. Hurhur)


This chocolate bread is my favourite! I love to bring it home and toast it so it’s crispy and hot outside and soft and full of melty choc on the inside!

WE ARE HERE!!

Long walk from train station to the park.

Deer are wild animals! They can kick, butt, bite or knock you down.

Mr Menace not sitting in the park at all but on the university grounds OPPOSITE the park. Wonder how he managed to cross the road?

We are sad because it was raining and we had to sit on a bench instead of go play with the deers. 🙁

Finally the rain has stopped!

There was a food fair going on in the park and the deer were just wandering around freely and poking their noses into things and conversations.

My first view of the deer!

At first I was super excited to see the stags fighting but after I realised that they no longer had antlers (shaved for human safety), I felt really sad. Like we were exploiting them for our own entertainment. 🙁

This guy was a deer whisperer man. Everywhere he went, the deer just obediently followed him and did whatever he wanted them to do. The deer could stand on their hind legs or spin around in circles and they were never rude to him. Most of the deer there can get very persistent and mildly aggressive because they want the biscuits. But not those around the guy! He smacks them if they get aggressive and they become really meek and gentle! Alpha male, much?

We love the sweet baby ones! 😀

Magic biscuits! Senbei for the deer!

They SWARM towards you the moment they see the biscuits!

How cool is it that we managed to take a group pic with the deer! I balanced the camera on a random ledge in the park and all I could think of the entire time was ” please don’t let a deer eat my camera”.

My friends cannot stop bowing. and bowing. AND bowing to the bowing deer!

It’s so hilarious!!!! I just stood there taking pictures of them and laughing. AHAHAH.

I’m not kidding! The deer really bow! (Okay, and me too haha)

THE SCENERY! GORGEOUS! Such a wide expanse of grassland for your to run and play!

Nara Deer Park is really a GREAT place to go especially in autumn when the leaves change, the hills are a-rolling and there are deer all a-roaming. I highly highly recommend it!

Osaka/ Tokyo Autumn Itinerary 2014: Day 3- Kyoto’s Arashiyama/ Monkey Park/ Bamboo Groves/

Day 3!

As mentioned in Day 1, we didn’t have much of a planned itinerary so every morning we would just wake up and say ‘hey, do we want to go see some animals today or some historical building’ and animals would ALWAYS win. Hahaha. On today’s agenda- Monkeys! 😀

We were really early and nothing was opened yet so we ended up at Macdonalds for breakfast. Yum! I love the Filet o’ Fish!

Then onward to the Hankyu train station for the ride to Arashiyama in Kyoto!

The trains are adorable!

There are normal, express and limited express trains. We were really fortunate to be on a limited express train so it went straight to Arashiyama with only a few stops in between!

Japan, your scenery and weather is AMAZING. I love it.

We take a long meandering walk to find us some monkeys!

How can this be unphotoshopped?! The natural beauty of Japan is just ASTOUNDING.

Yay! We are finally here! 😀

Tickets are 550yen per adult and 250yen per child!

Wear comfy shoes because there is a long long longgggg trek up the hill to the monkeys.

We. Made. It. *huff. puff*

Humans go into a cage and monkeys hang outside to get food!

Gorgeous views from the top.

Dat is an ant. Dat ant in a my mouth.

Dat is a human. He feed me a banana.

Imma be a leaf.

I really love this fellow! While all his friends were clamoring for food, he was just perched on a little log, whiling the time away and hanging out with his shadow. So zen. He lives on air. pftttt. All the others ar plebeians.

All in, I had such a great time there! The place is so worth the climb up! And so much more fun than spending your day in yet another building! SO HAPPY! And it’s a great place to bring your kids too because while the climb up is a little tedious, the kids there were so intrigued by the monkeys! Great experience, I say!

I sincerely wanted to change my FB profile pic to this. This is how I look at my mother every night before dinner. Where is dinner, mother. I am starvingggg. FEED. ME. PLEASE. PLEASSSSSEEEE.

The slide down is only for children! WHAT IS THIS AGEISM!

Kyoto is gorgeous. When I get back to Japan next time, I’m never staying in Osaka again. I’m just going to spend all my time exploring Kyoto.

We make our way down for a snack and Togetsu Cafe.

Crispy Veggie Chips!

More amazing matcha goodness.

We walk along the streets lined with shops and make our merry way to the Bamboo Groves.

SO zen. So amazing. So unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.

There was this girl who was causing quite a crowd to form around her and I realised everyone was taking a picture of her cat! SO CUTE. He looks worthy of a meme. haha.

Then lunch time! By day 3 I was craving for a salad already. So I ignored my friends excited exclamations over Tempura Udon and whatnot and forced my friends into the cafe that looked like they served the healthiest food on the street– OBU CAFE! Hehhehhheh.

Eggplant pasta. SO FREAKING GOOD. But nothing compared to…

This unassuming tofu, shrimp and avocado salad. WHAT. This salad was so out of this world (what did they put in it?!) that even my carnivorous friends were so taken by it, they ordered ANOTHER one.Amazing!

So good. So nutritious. So satisfying. Mhmmmm. Japan is a great place to get your friends to eat better. Everything tastes fantastic there, especially the vegetables!

Along the way out of Arashiyama, we found ARINCO ROLL!!!! Hve you guys ever heard of Arinco? They used to have a store in Singapore but they closed down! I was devastated. The bunnies and I used to love the rolls so much we would order and eat THE WHOLE ROLL. Just like that! I swear E shrieked in excitement and we both ran across the road towards the store (without looking out for cars) when we spotted it!

Bought a Kyoto-only cream sandwich to try and packed 2 rolls home for supper. The rolls were packed not just in a box but with ice packs in a cooler bag. T.T Japan, you need to stop doing this to me!

Bye bye Arashiyama! You are beautiful and I wouldn’t forget you!

Back in Osaka we had a massive craving for Korean BBQ so we searched the streets for a yakiniku place. Finally found one in some random back alley!

Our Yakiniku cravings satisfied and now mildly satiated, we make our way back to our apartment and realise that a new Korean restaurant had just opened! 50% off their signature dishes! So dinner was korean food… in Osaka. Haha.

We sneaked in a box of takoyaki to munch on while waiting for dinner to be served.

With our tummies curving out and our smiles curving up, we waddled home to sleep.

T’was another really good day.

xx. 

Osaka/ Tokyo Autumn Itinerary 2014: Day 2- Osaka Castle/ Pomme no Ki Omurice/ Harbs

YAY!!! It’s day 2 and we wake up bright and early and energized for a day of exploration!

BUT FIRST… FOOD!

(WARNING: This clique I typically travel with call ourselves ‘The Gourmet Bunnies’. It sounds atas but in actual fact it’s just because we like to eat. And eat we do– unashamedly, unabashedly, enthusiastically! So sit tight and brace yourselves! It may look like we eat an obscenely unhealthy amount but we are very nice people (who wouldn’t eat you) Hehheh. I may be vegsmoothiebunny most of the time but come holiday periods… HELLO WORLD! Balanced living, eh? Haha)

We walk to Namba station which is filled with food places and randomly enter one for breakfast.

The fake food displays are really helpful if you don’t speak Japanese because you can just use your phone or camera to take a photo and show it to the wait staff. Service is legendary in Japan, of course so no judgement there 🙂

People who smile while counting your change. Japanese people, you are so inspiring. Haha.

Mhmmm. Everything was delish, of course. With our tummies full and our eyes already searching for our next possible meal joint, we head to the trains and make our way to OSAKA CASTLE!

The place is gorgeous. The water so beautifully calm and the weather was perfect.

I love blue skies and foliage!

We like to ham it up for the camera. In public. Our skins are an inch thick. Must be all the food we consume. Haha.

Little ducklings on an excursion!

There’s a judo school within the premises as well and there was a competition going on- exciting!

 The walk to the castle is beautifully scenic and full of… food. Haha

Ice cream in cold weather! Raise your hand if you love ice cream in cold weather too! The matcha soft serve was SO good. Not a fan of the Fanta Grape one. I dislike the drink as well.

And finally.. the castle itself!

The place was like a little museum which was really interesting. I like visiting museums and checking out biasness int he featured documents. Oooh, and the gift shops.

Evening was rapidly approaching so we left and made our way back to Namba. I had an Omurice craving so we went to Pomme no Ki for it!

I like places that you can customize everything! Pomme no Ki allows you to customize the size of your rice, sauces and ingredients!

My avocado and shrimp omu curry rice. SO YUMMY I am salivating as I’m typing this. T.T

Hashed beef which was insanely good as well.

Mentaiko Omurice

After which we proceeded to everyone’s all time fave dessert place- Harbs. Every single trip I’ve been to Japan (and I’ve been quite a few times now), I’ve been to Harbs. But this is the first trip that we went back to Harbs TWICE. And to be entirely honest, I don’t really like the place because I’m not a fan of cakes but my friends LOVE the place. The cakes, admittedly are pretty good and the ambience is fantastic but oh man… the sheer amount of cake was enough to make me feel a little green just at the mention of the store’s name. Haha.

 

Everybody has to order a drink! No problem though, their range of teas is SUPERB. Their green tea is out of this world light yet flavourful and so invigorating! I wanted to buy it back but they don’t sell it instore 🙁

Aged cheese cake. An (easily) acquired taste.

That night we rolled home but not before stopping at the convenience / road side stores (Namba is full of them!) and picking up Osaka’s famous takoyaki balls, gyoza, fried food (we live in the American District- everywhere sold beer and fried food!) and instant noodles.

Supper that night was made up of these happy things.

Chicken wing. Stuffed with cheese. Then deep fried to perfection.

Goodnight world.

xx.

Osaka/ Tokyo Autumn Itinerary 2014: Day 1- Flight to Osaka + Airbnb

I’m finally getting down to posting about my 2014 Japan trip to Osaka and Tokyo!

Lots of people have been asking me for the Itinerary but I’m really sorry I can’t mail it to you because we didn’t really have a plan per se. It was meant to be quite a free and easy trip so we just woke up each day and decided what we wanted to do! I hope these write ups of our days there will help though!

On 24 October, we took a 1pm flight to Osaka from Changi Airport!

Yay! Singapore Airlines allows you to choose your meal pre-flight so this sticker tells the stewardess that my meal is special! 😀 Singapore Airlines is a great airline no doubt but what is really amazing about it is its extensive menu customization. Upon booking, you can choose from a drop down list of lots of choices! There’s even raw vegan, low salt, suitable for diabetics, gluten free, kosher, etc etc etc!

For people who would like a normal inflight meal, they were serving soba and chicken. Yum!

Here is my friend looking very apprehensively at his ‘low salt’ option . HAHAHHA. My friends have been trying very hard to eat a little healthier and I’m so proud of them! My greatest achievement of 2014 has got to be the fact that I managed to persuade both of them to invest in their own blenders to make green smoothies for breakfasts! Yay to health!



The ‘low salt’ option turned out to be a really, really healthy meal! (HAHAHA so healthy that K was a little 🙁 HAAHAH It’s okay! We are going to the land of crazy good food!)

As for myself…

I ordered the Fruit Platter. It’s standard knowledge that airline food is heavy on the salt and flavour to account for the desensitization of our tastebuds due to the change in altitude. The air is already so dry, I didn’t want to risk being totally dehydrated out so I opted for the most water rich wholefoods I could find on the menu. I was a little worried they would soak the fruits in sugar syrup to preserve it or to enhance its taste but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were alright. Phew! It’s always a good idea to get one of each kind of meal when you fly with friends so you can share and have half the salty, flavourful food and half water rich, nutrient dense food!

~~~.~~~

7 hours later, we finally reached Osaka airport where we bought standard train tickets to Namba from the airport. From there, we walked (more like circled and circled and practiced my horrendously limited Japanese) to our Airbnb apartment (Ame#6 4min. to Nanba &Dotonbori) hosted by Genesis LTD!

We booked our accommodation late and it was right smack during the time of the Osaka Marathon 2014 so our hopes were not high but the apartment actually looked exactly like it was pictured. The apartment building was also incredibly new and the place was cosy. While the page states that it can accommodate 6, 4 of us were already an incredibly tight squeeze. The two girls shared a double while the guys each got their own pull out beds. I don’t know where else another 2 would sleep man.

All I ask for really, is a clean liveable place and I was really happy to get exactly that (and more). The host was also extremely helpful and friendly 😀

We arrived at the apartment close to 11pm and after everything, there was not much to do but to say oyasuminasai and crash into deep slumber.

zzzz.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!!!!!

YAYYYYY!!!!

It’s a brand new year!!!!!!

I’m really excited about the new year but then again I’m excited about every new day and every new second and every new moment so YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

I’ve been MIA a little because 2015 is a year of lots of changes for me – getting married, starting a new job, moving house and permanently moving to my fiance’s church- which is crazy scary but as always, I’ll just tell myself it’s not FEAR I’m feeling, it’s EXCITEMENT!

With regards to the new job, some of you might know by now that I’ve gone into uhm… the civil service. I really don’t know how much I can divulge here. I’m sure it’s okay to say that I’m a teacher right? (I will, because I’m really happy and proud to be one so I shan’t deny it or hide it!)

And on the last day of 2014 I really STRUGGLED with regard to my social media accounts. Ideally, I would like to take my entire presence off the internet because you know, it’s a Big Bad Place and one must be Very Careful. What if someone questioned my authority in school over a grammar mistake I made in a hastily written post over here? I was really about to delete this blog and my Instagram and all at the stroke of midnight  (cue dramatic music) but I went for a talk about keeping your personal life out of your profession life and one of the main ideas was —it’s easier if your professional life is not TOO different from your personal life.

And it really struck me that my professional life is really no different from my personal life.

Whatever I say over here, on my facebook, on instagram, anything at all, is exactly what I would say to anyone in real life, face to face. I look exactly like I do in my photo on the right. Everything I post is something I really believe in and am passionate about. There’s no need to delete anything because there’s nothing to hide. So okay, I admit it’s a little bit embarrassing because over here I wear my heart on my sleeve and might come across as overly enthusiastic or with such an imperfect history when in my professional life I might have to be portray a more thoughtful, perfect demeanor. But then again, I want to be as enthusiastic about healthy living and people and being real and trying new things and loving everyone as I am right here!

So instead of making this post a tearful goodbye post, it’s going to be a really happy and enthusiastic HELLO from me!!! I can’t wait to continue sharing 2015 with you and I look forward to all your emails and comments and lunchbox as we work together to be healthier, spread the love and enjoy the little moments in life right here in sunny Singapore! 🙂

Stay beautiful everyone. You are enough.

With all my love 🙂

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Hi everyone!

Thank you for your participation in the regent giveaway!

It is now CLOSED and all entries will be put through a random generator!
Winners will be announced tonight at 10pm! 🙂

Sorry for the delay and good luck! 🙂

xx

VSB SecretFriend Box Contributor: Second Helpings Beenut Butters!

Everybody knows I’m insanely in love with food that’s additive and nasties free. Not only do I want packaged food of the highest quality, I want them to be tasty and delicious too!

And today I’m going to introduce a food product made RIGHT here in SUNNY Singapore that ticks EVERYTHING on my checklist. It’s wholesome, free from nasties and MAD DELICIOUS.

It’s none other than…

 (Looking at this picture just makes me feel like eating all the bottles of peanut butter :/)

I first knew of this product when I was wandering around pasarbella about a year ago! Back then, I’d already just made the switch to Adam’s Natural Peanut butter after realising how FULL OF SUGAR and horrible things commercial peanut butter had. Have you ever inspected your jar of peanut butter at home? Some brands carry not just a load of sugar but hydrogenated oils as well that are really bad for you. Peanut butter is something I really love and want to eat everyday without harming my health!

(Check it out! Only 4 ingredients! And the mark of great peanut butter? THE SEPARATION LAYER.  )

So anyway! There I was at Pasarbella and chanced upon a small pop up store selling these little jars. Truth be told, I was already done for the day (Kale in ma’ bag!) and ready to go home but Tannie, the brain and muscles behind Second Helpings, with her big smile and even bigger personality!, offered a small sample and honestly, who says no to peanut butter?!

And I took one bite and I WAS HOOKED.

LIKE REALLY HOOKED. The thing about Adam’s Natural Peanut Butter is that it’s really dry and to up it’s sweetness I actually have to blend bananas into it. But For Second Helping’s beenut butters, it’s smooth and creamy and absolutely luscious. The moment I tried it I wanted to buy one for everybody I knew. It was THAT GOOD.

So for a girl who had no more money left in her wallet and was about to go home, I accosted my innocent boyfriend who wandered along and borrowed money to buy THREE jars of the beenut butters!

Second Helpings does flavoured salt/ sugars too and other kinds of peanut butters 

but my favourite is the Original one. IT’S SO GOOD you’ve GOT TO TRY IT FOR YOURSELF.

These beenut butters are also the PERFECT introduction for anyone wanting to try out a healthy lifestyle but don’t know where to start. Everyone I know who used to tease me about eating ‘dry, bland rabbit food’ has been hooked to this after I introduced it! It feels really good for me as well to know that they are making the healthier switch!

To find out more about SecondHelping’s Natural Peanut Butter, be sure to check out their facebook and definitely follow them on Instagram! They constantly update cool stuff, venue updates on their next pop up and collaborations!

And of course, if you would like to win a bottle of this AMAZING beenut butter and many other healthy, body lovin’ stuff for YOU and A FRIEND, be sure to check out the VSB SECRET FRIEND GIVEAWAY! Hurry because giveaway closes FRIDAY NIGHT!!

December 2014 Health and Wellness Giveaway!!!

HOLA!!!

This giveaway is my baby and it’s been SO LONG in the works that I’m SO happy to finally be able to announce it and give it away!!!!

Announcing….

*drumroll!*

The 1st Vegsmoothiebunny SECRET FRIEND giveaway!

This giveaway is a dream come true for me because I’ve always wanted to use this blog to do more than just talk about healthy eating. Healthy living, for me, is truly about building ties in the community and encouraging compassion and thoughtfulness for one another. In this year, I’ve had the chance to meet up with so many amazing people with the biggest of hearts retailing the best products and I wanted to connect these awesome retailers with the people I love and the people YOU love!

But I ran into all sorts of problems on the way.

In the beginning when I first thought of the idea for this box, I wanted to package the sample stuff I got from retailers.  It felt a little unfair that I had good stuff to try so why not share the love with you guys? Unfortunately, after trying out several items, I felt that they were unsuitable because of certain hidden ingredients or false marketing. I wanted products that were free from additives and other nasty and truly good for the body, not some packaged product full of junk. This of course, made some people really upset when I politely declined their contributions. But honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to put in ‘healthier’ cereal that was still made up of 8 kinds of sugar!!

In the end, I decided to put together a box full of things that I personally LOVE. Every item you see in this box is PERSONALLY curated by me. Which means that I PERSONALLY tried and tested the products before emailing the relevant people to contribute their products to this box!

So thank you —

Eden’s Kitchen:  (for those who always ask where I get my coconut oil from!)

http://www.edenskitchen.sg/
https://www.facebook.com/edenskitchensg

Second Helpings (for their totally addictive nasty-free peanut butters!)
http://instagram.com/_secondhelpings
https://www.facebook.com/secondhelpings.sg

Mekhala Living (for the most amazing vegan sauces EVER and vegan beauty products!)

http://www.mekhalaliving.com/
http://instagram.com/mekhalaliving

Paper Bunny (for the most inspiring and uplifting cards to encourage our friends)
http://thepaperbunny.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ThePaperBunny
http://instagram.com/thepaperbunny

MyLifeInc (for the Teaism wands every one is just crazy over!)
https://www.mylifeinc.me/
http://instagram.com/mylifeincme

I’ve never met more generous, loving people than the people behind these brands! I can’t wait to introduce them over the course of this week!

But why ‘secret friend’?

From now on, all VSB giveaways are going to be ‘Secret Friend’ giveaways. Which is really to try and encourage you to think about someone you know or someone in your community that you would like to spare a thought for and/ or reach out to. It’s inspired by this short film called The Secret Friend which is about an elderly, disconnected widow who is pranked called but ends up being inspired to live once again through the connection with the prankster who calls her everyday and becomes a ‘friend’ to her.

I really believe that the solution to a lot of societal problems is connection and so with the season of giving upon us, I would really like to encourage you to search for people in your community that you can reach out to. It can be a really close friend, a colleague, someone you sort of have an inkling is struggling or lonely but you just never worked out the courage or time to say a ‘hello’. It could even be you poor mom, who slaves for you day in and out. After all, we so often take for granted the ones closest to us.

How do I participate?

To participate, simply leave your name and email address in the comments below along with a short (or crazy long! :D) note on who you would like to be a secret friend to this Christmas or who has been a secret (or not so secret!) friend to you in your life. I would really love to create a space where people can read the comments and just fill so full of hope for humanity once again! So please do share freely!

What are the other details?

This giveaway ENDS Friday, 19 December 2014 at 10:00PM! Winners will be announced on Saturday, 20 December 2014 at 9:30pm. There will be FIVE winners but here’s the thing! Each winner will win not one but TWO boxes– one for yourself and one for your nominated secret friend! Upon notification, winners can either choose to supply the email address of the person you would like to be a secret friend to so I can contact them for their address and the box can be mailed directly to them, or request for both boxes to be sent to you. (I trust you will do the right thing and really be a friend! Haha)

For this first givaway, we are focusing on SELF LOVE so everything in
this box is full of healthy goodness for you or your loved one along with uplifting and gorgeously decorated cards from The Paper Bunny you can use to cheer yourself or your loved ones up! The coconut oil, beenut butters and vegan sauces are perfect to chase away any sort of blues as well! I’ll be
introducing each item in the box an item at a time over the next few
days till the giveaway closes so you’ll be able to understand each
product better! Over time, I hope to have other themes for giveaway
boxes as well such as ‘baby boxes’ or ‘Pampering Kits’ for struggling mothers to be and other people in society who just need that little whisper of encouragement to carry on in life!

So to kick things off- here’s my entry!

Grace
vegsmoothiebunny@gmail.com
This Christmas, I really want to reach out to my parents.  They’ve done so much for me but I’ve been so busy growing up, it’s only hit me now that they are growing old. I also want to be a secret friend to girls in my community that could do with reminders of how precious and lovely they are as they struggle to grow in a society that is often brutally harsh on them. I also want to be a secret friend to the uncle at the coffeeshop nearby who works with a terrible hunch yet always cheerfully cleans my table. Perhaps I will buy him coffee. But I’m shy to do things like that. Maybe I’ll just start off with clearing my tray myself and thanking him a little more sincerely and loudly when I pass him by. Just last night, the cab uncle that brought me home was a secret friend to me. He waited for me to get into the lift as it was past midnight before driving away. Also, this might be a little cheesy to say but my fiance has been my biggest secret friend. Secret because I’m sure he doesn’t even know it. I wouldn’t say it’s because of his love or him per se because I always feel self love must come from within oneself but he has definitely played a huge part in my recovery in bingeing. These days I no longer binge or do harmful things to myself because I want my body to be a reflection of all the love I’ve received from him and from everyone around me. A body stuffed with junk or thin and sick is a terrible testimonial of the immense love I’ve received so now I eat and treat my body like it’s my badge of honour and a reflection of the beautiful company I have the privilege to keep. 

Can’t wait to read your entries as well! To win this box full of goodness, just leave your name and email address and who you would like to be a friend to/ who has been a friend to you! It doesn’t have to be long! Just a short one will do too!

WIll be introducing Eden’s Kitchen to you guys tmr!

Till then,

go out there and love somebody!

xx