Urban Homme Icon

我是 Urban Homme 及多位现代生活品牌商家联手打造的都市型男！

Mr Urban Homme Icon says, “Great responsibilities means a greater need to take good care of ourselves.”

We are all superheroes. Especially when we live in an urban environment where the demands of city life are many. Boss, employee, teacher, student, parent, child, reader, blogger… we play many different roles and slip from one role to another faster than Superman can emerge from a turnstile or phone-booth. We have to fight the many minions that our urban roles bring, and true victory is achieved when we can give those necessary evils a good wham-bam and still come out of them looking like (insert name of person you think looks really good).

Urban living heightens the focus on our appearance. We live in high density areas with close proximity to people whether real or online. As it takes between 5 – 15 seconds for first impressions to be made about us with the most part that influence the opinions coming from our physical image, good personal grooming could determine if we get that job, sale, or a hot date! Looks are not everything, but it’s the first thing people know us by.

Compared to a rural dweller that lives in smaller communities and faces mainly cows, chickens, ducks and green, green grass, he/she is the boss of them. So long as there’s feed in hand, the animals are not going to form an opinion about the master of their universe.

BIG THANKS to Urban Homme, Omy.sg, TDK, Kenneth Cole, The Boiler Room, The Studio, & Eucrocuffz for giving us men a chance to shine.

Talking about superheroes, do you recall any of them ever looking bad while saving the world? I bet Clark Kent gives himself laser face and body treatments through the red rays he shoots out of his eyes, while there’s a reason as to why Wonder Woman does all that spinning around to transform. It helps her burn cellulite and stay in shape. As for Batman and Robin, they are probably engaged in some perfectly normal and healthy activities that at the same time, generate enough latex to make batty’s body suits.

Superheroes are Made

Like everyone, I’m an urban superhero. We may not be the kind of hero that saves the world on a grand scale, but we make a difference to our own lives, and the world of people close to us. And about a week ago, on 11 Nov 2010, I was given a new superpower (role)… that of being an icon of the urban male! I wasn’t born with this destiny, I was made.

If you’ve read my series of Urban Homme blog entries, you would know how very little I cared about image and self-presentation, which led to my losing battle with age as evident in the grey-suited me below…

I can't believe the organisers sabo-ed me by making a life-sized standee from my ugliest photo! But I 陷害自己 (dug my own grave) by posting that pic up in the first place. Don't I look like some dorky superhero in a grey suit?

Many friends expressed disbelief that I had a tummy and could look like that. They assumed that the ‘before’ photo was taken by the organisers and the problems exaggerated by Photoshop. In a way, I felt many of my friends weren’t qualified to make such an assumption because they hardly see me in person.

My waistline did balloon to that bulge and the photo was taken by my personal compact camera. Except for adjusting the brightness and colour, no digital retouching was done to make anything better, or worse.

My ugly standee had all my friends laughing and posing with it. After that, they even brought it down to a pub where they left it there for the weekend. For all the fun it brought, it's a good thing that happened to me after all.

I wasn’t aware that Urban Homme created a standee using my personal photo. When the standees of all six of us first arrived at the event venue and were lying on the floor, I thought they were made from photos of our ‘after’ photoshoot at The Studio. So you can imagine my horror when I saw that grey monster! My standee was the most revolting compared to the rest of the guys’.

But it was all done in good spirit. Since I’ve already posted that pic in a previous entry where it’s there for the world to see, what more image damage can this standee do? Since I can’t ‘fight’ the choice of photo, I might as well join in the fun! Posing with mky standee, I’m redefining what it means by self-love. LOL

Happenings During the Urban Homme Icon Challenge Finals

First of all, my deepest appreciation to everyone who voted for me. I thought I wouldn’t have many votes since I missed out on a Mary Chia ‘live’ roadshow to canvass for votes (Urban Homme is the male face and body care subsidiary of Mary Chia, a household name in Singapore for female personal care and slimming services).

During the event, we shared our thoughts about the transformation process, got a friend up to share his/her observations of our changes, played a game of charades, & went amongst the audience to get more votes.

Moreover, even though I have more than 3,800 friends in my Facebook friends’ list, only about 2% are active in leaving me comments on wall posts and photo comments and an even lesser percentage heeds my calls for support. If you’re reading this blog post as a result of clicking on my link posted on Facebook, thank you for being an active member in my community of friends and online acquaintances.

And if you may be convinced further to take action, please support my future calls for votes because it does matter! I scored the second highest in terms of online votes for this challenge. Thank you! (Please vote for my LG Life’s Good Ambassador Challenge next. Click here to vote!)

Thank you all so much for your online votes throughout the contest period and for all the 'Kiss' votes received that night. 谢谢！Terimah Kasih! Arigatou! Merci! Kup Khoon Khrup! The kisses had a hard time sticking on to my body. Is it because my skin has gotten smoother from the body treatments?

The night’s events went on smoothly with quite some exciting segments where the finalists got to interact with the audience. I was a bunch of nerves that night with butterflies in my stomach having a rave party. No matter how I could describe about the way I felt that night, they would all be understatements. But thank God for the host – famous creative personality, Danny Yeo (杨君伟).

His hosting skills were superb and if not for his quick wit and sharp humour, my stage segment would’ve been a bigger mess than it was. No wonder he won the Most Creative DJ at the Golden Mike Awards in 2000. For the life of me, I could never get my tongue loose whenever I need to talk about myself in front of an audience or camera. If only I have the telepathic powers of Professor X from the X-Men. Then I can transmit my miles of thoughts instead of letting my mouth run after them.

The Night’s Big Surprises

My biggest surprise was seeing the number of friends who came to support me. I never like to personally ask friends to come because I would be placing a responsibility on them to show up or put them in a spot where they would feel bad if they reject. But the truth is, at an event like this, nothing feels better than seeing familiar faces and see them cheering for you downstage.

I felt like a winner already when I heard whistles and catcalls each time my name was called. My parents even brought noise makers and whistles to make a racket! Their spontaneity and love are so precious and priceless.

My deepest appreciation to my family and friends who came to the event to support me. I'm surprised to see so many of my friends who came even though I didn't ask. Very touched...

And of course, winning the challenge also came as a huge surprise for me. I had actually prepared three reasons why the judges should choose me as the winner but I didn’t get to share them. Good thing too, I do better at thinking rather than speaking out ‘live’ what I think! Anyway, here are the reasons :

1. I need more treatments. Throughout the whole blogging process about the month-long treatments I received, I usually write into the wee hours of night. My blogs are usually completed or posted at around 3:00 am. I slept very little in the past 3 weeks. Moreover, the amount of detailed information I put into those entries didn’t come from me relaxing during treatments, but to constantly think about what I want to share and ask Lyn for answers. Even with a mask over my face, it didn’t shut me up. So I need more treatments to truly enjoy them.

I had an out-of-body moment when my name was called as the winner. It was surreal! Congrats to Peter for winning the Mr Personality award and Dennis for being named Mr Photogenic. Congrats to all 6 of us for achieving better skin and body conditions through the treatments.

2. I need the prize money to buy new jeans. I lost about 2.5 inches off my torso in the preceding weeks and now my old jeans don’t fit.

3. I want to be an inspiration. If the like of me can be considered a well-groomed, polished, confident urban man, then there’s hope for all guys in the world to achieve positive image changes. I started the challenge wondering if I can turn from being a frog into a prince. I set out to achieve the best in me. And I did. So could everyone.

Doesn’t the cheque look big? You have to forgive me for this is my virgin experience in receiving such a huge cheque and for a moment, I was thinking how am I going to bring it to the bank?! Seriously. I was making plans.

One of the highlights of the night for me was meeting Mdm Mary Chia in person. Her success is a rags-to-riches story, a true 白手起家业者. The magnate of Singapore’s beauty industry started out as a one-woman show going from home-to-home during the 1970s to provide facial services.

When she saved up enough, she opened her first salon that led to a chain of salons in HDB heartlands in the 1980s. Then bringing in results-proven slimming technologies from Japan in the 1990s and partnering with her daughter Wendy Ho, the spa chain has expanded regionally with plans to go global.

Even though I met Mdm Chia for only a very brief moment, the magnate of Singapore’s spa industry came across as being warm and down-to-earth. She never revealed her age to the media, but an approximation is that the grandmother should be in her late 60s to early 70s. Look at her, does she look even a day past 50? Whatever anti-aging stuff she’s doing, they must be working!

Life's Good when you have family & friends to share your joys and triumphs with! But don't ask for free treats hor. Coz I've spent every cent liao!

Personally, I’ve experienced the face and body treatments and they work. I’ve been watching my diet and gymming for the longest time but my middle-age spare tire showed no signs of retreating. The body sculpting treatments burned off more fat than my sit-ups and crunches. But of course, in order to get great abs quickly and safely, I also cut my carbo intake and increased my cardio output in the gym. Combined with the treatments, I lost the inches in half the time.

My super fashionable urbanite gadgets set to activate an iconic lifestyle! Prizes I received include - S$2,000 cash, Urban Homme treatments (worth S$5,000), Kenneth Cole timepiece, Eurocuffz cufflinks (Royalty collection - S$450), TDK iWave (S$199), & TDK WR700 wireless headphones (S$329). Thanks for ALL the prizes & the experience!

With winning, comes responsibilities. My transformation journey doesn’t end with being named Urban Homme Icon. The challenge to reverse the signs of aging is an ongoing challenge. Maintaining the results I’ve gotten will require superhuman willpower. And I don’t want to maintain, I want to keep getting better. Thanks to Urban Homme for the Icon Challenge that gave six ordinary guys an opportunity to reveal the best in us.

As the reigning Urban Homme Icon, I take it as my duty to share with you my journey in skincare for men… to experience first-hand body shaping technologies and give you a detailed account… to dive into the science behind ingredients used in products… to understand more about what causes the problems on our face and body and blog about them… so as to empower us guys with knowledge to make informed choices about personal care… to bring about the right for guys to have facials and slimming treatments… and with greater complexion, tighter abs and higher self-confidence… to be a force for goodness throughout humanity… and bring about WORLD… PEACE!!

If you’re interested to read some of my past posts on Health and Skincare, please visit my blog : celebratelah.wordpress.com. Don’t forget to vote for my LG Life’s Good Ambassador Challenge.

Here’s wishing you every success in achieving positive growth and change!

*Enters and looks around*

“Hey! Where has everyone gone?”

Just thought I’d write an epilogue of sorts to round off all my entries in this blog. Those of you who weren’t there last evening – well, you missed *quite* a show! I got to St. James at 3pm to discover that omy.sg and Urban Homme were sparing no effort for the finals – they even got life-size standees of each of us.

All photos belong to Darren…the night’s BIG winner and owner of the best camera amongst us!

Which is the real me?

Like a celebrity, I had a pseudo Madame Tussaud’s moment with my standee double.

All right, easy to tell - I'm on the left...I wouldn't run around in public dressed as a "superhero"!

Here are all six standees:

Smartly dressed, relaxed in berms and a few "superheroes"...here's looking at us, guys!

There was also a large billboard with our best photos outside the Boiler Room:

This huge billboard with our best "mugshots" greeted guests upon arrival.

The show got underway and as the first contestant up onstage, I was a bundle of nerves and have no idea what I said to Danny Yeo, who was the host. Can only hope nothing too embarrassing spilled out. We were far more relaxed subsequently, and had the audience laughing along, especially in a segment where we engaged them in a round of charades.

The stage is prepped for the big event.

But we just knew there would be a moment coming when we had to shed some clothes. Danny finally revealed that the audience could cast their vote by sticking cardboard lips on us – but only on our skin. Of course, those who flaunted it got the most votes. Not quite my style…luckily I was in a singlet, so I managed just 8 votes on my arms (THANK YOU!!!) from a few diehard supporters.

I’m really happy for Darren (Urban Icon winner), Dennis (Mr Photogenic) and Peter (Mr Personality) – Congratulations guys, and continue enjoying the fabulous treatments at Urban Homme! But thanks to our generous sponsors, Benson, Daniel and I walked away with our arms quite full too:

TDK iWave - Sound System for the iPod. All of us received one, along with TDK headphones. Thank you, TDK!

Thanks again to Urban Homme and Omy.sg. I think my ultimate prize is a more youthful, radiant face and the elimination of the bulging tummy – and I’m going to keep it that way. One last look at the six of us – the first alumni of the Urban Homme Icon Challenge:

Thanks, guys..."We're ALL winners!"

终于等到这一天 11月11日，Urban Homme 都市型男出炉的日子！

护肤护理及疗程搞一个段落，接下来就是展现成果的时候。

我要感谢 Mary Chia , Urban Homme The Cocoon 的专业团队，EuroCuffz 的服装赞助，还有许许多多朋友的鼓励与支持。

谢谢大家，我们今晚见！

In a few hours, the first ever Urban Homme Icon of Singapore will be born. When I tried out for the challenge, I was in for the month-long free face and body treatments but I soon realised I was in for something more than I asked for. I’ve learnt so much more about personal care and grooming, and that guys don’t have to be silent sufferers of expanding waistlines and awful complexion. Beauty care is no longer the exclusive birthright of the femmes.

With the last of my treatments at Urban Homme completed last night, the seed of regeneration planted within my skin and body, it is now time to add the finishing touches to upgrade my image. The packaging aspect of our looks, because the clothe maketh the man. And here’s my journey to complete that transformation with a makeover photoshoot at The Studio, and adding a touch of refinement to my overtly casual wardrobe, so casual I might as well be wearing rags, with the stylish selections provided by Eurocuffz.

Will I have what it takes to be considered the epitome of a man living in the urban 21st century?

The Studio – Model for an Hour

I’ve never had a studio makeover session done where it is all about bringing the best out of my personal style. My daily preparation for work or just to go out involves a show, blow drying my hair, don a t-shirt and jeans, and I’m done. There are no hair products on my thinning hairline and my choice of clothes is always anything that has hung in my cupboard long enough to lose the laundry creases. Basically, something I don’t have to iron.

The Studio is located amongst two rows of heritage shophouses that has been conserved on Amoy Street.

An unfortunate thing happened to me prior to the shoot. Since I got back from Ko Samed on Tuesday, I came down with a fever and sore throat and the stress of looking my best for the finals didn’t help. So I resorted to taking some Chinese medicinal pills in hope of recovering fast. Normally, I’d let my body heal by itself because I have multiple drug allergies.

I took the pills on Thursday night, my shoot was 3pm the next day and the dreaded thing happened. My eyes swelled up like a goldfish. My eyes are already small enough. After the swelling, they became slits! I quickly popped some piriton (anti-histamine) and seek advice for a quick remedy to reduce the swelling. Ice pack and teabags were suggested. I tried the icing method and thankfully, by the time of the shoot, I look less hideous. Phew!

Love the elegant monochrome baroque decor of The Studio. Do I now look like a prince on a throne? Well, not yet, this me still needs an image remake.

At The Studio, I had some light make-up done. I asked if the make-up would defeat the purpose of showing the skin condition after all the Urban Homme facials but I was assured that they’re not trying to make me look wayang (Chinese opera style), although encouraging clients to go for a special, innovative look is the working philosophy here. Moreover, if the skin condition is bad in the first place, even with light make-up on, the problems will still show.

Izhan shared with me that it's not uncommon for guys to put on make-up nowadays to head out. Err... ok, I don't think I would take up that trend though. I'm too lazy. Even during those days I was filming for Growing Up, I sometimes sneak past the make-up artist, preferring to just blot my face to remove the shine on camera.

For the shoot at The Studio, I had to bring three sets of clothes that I think best personify the urban homme. I’m no fashionista so I fell back on the safe, tried-and-tested business suit (the only one I own), something casual (easy coz I have loads of casual attire), and my only hip, smart-casual look (in my opinion) created with a brown suede blazer (again, the only one I have and a button had come off) and a rather loud t-shirt I’ve yet built up the courage to wear in public.

Make me a model! The Studio's crew - Keyne (photographer), Izhan (make-up artist), & Elly (customer service officer) must've had a good laugh at all my obiang poses.

The photoshoot for all the three looks were done in about half an hour. After that, I got to select the photo I like. I saw the photos of the rest and wah, all the other finalists so good with posing! If you feel awkward posing, not to worry, the experienced photographer will guide you.

This photo got urban attitude or not? I think the more I cover up, the better I look! LOL

A makeover package at The Studio cost S$88.00 and comes with make-up, hairdo, 45 poses in three oufits, one 4R print and two digital softcopy. You can purchase more copies for a price, and digital retouch services are also chargeable.

In our case, the make-up and photography services were sponsored, but the we had to buy the digital files we want to keep. Ten of the shots costs S$240 and the more we bought, the lower the per photo cost. As Urban Homme finalists, we were given a special 30% discount so it cost me S$168 for my set. Another price to pay for vanity sake!

Eurocuffz – Fine Selection, Superior Service

For the finals, all six of us will be dished out in fine-tailored shirts and cufflinks sponsored by Eurocuffz. When I was told to come down to Eurocuffz for a fitting, I thought it’s just to determine my size and a pre-selected shirt design given to me. I was pleasantly surprised when I was allowed to choose both a shirt and pair of cufflinks I like from the shop’s extensive range. And it’s all free!

Eurocuffz is located at Orchard Central, #02-06. The shop design gave me a sense of trusted craftmanship steeped in the tradition of fine tailoring while having fabric styles and cufflinks that are everything, but boring.

Yet, being given choice was a big problem for me because all the stuff look so good, I spent a lot of time reaching to a decision. I thought I would be in and out in a minute so I came during my lunch time to pick up the goodwill, but I stayed there a long time browsing and taking photos of the cufflinks. I didn’t know there can be so many variety in cufflink designs and they could be make such status and fashion statements!

I picked out my shirt rather quickly because they all looked good and fitted very well on me. But I spent a lot of time choosing a pair of cufflinks because the range was mind-boggling! I love the spunk on some of the cufflinks and almost chose the Transformer one to represent this whole transformation process.

And the service was top-notch. Serene attended to me and she was ever so, so patient, helpful and super sweet. If you visit Eurocuffz, don’t miss checking out her uber bling, ultra cool fingernails. I almost wanted to pry them off and make them into a pair of cufflinks. Don’t take my word for it. Go see for yourself!

Posted this pic on Facebook and asked friends to guess which I chose. Thanks to all who responded but no prize for choosing the right one because there's no wrong guess in the first place. These 9 pairs all appealed to me but my choice is... (see next photo)

There are over 6,000 pairs of cufflinks to choose from in Eurocuffz and there are only five pieces of each design. I could almost say that any link you want, you can most likely find it here. Categories for the cufflinks range from designer classics, artistic, bling bling, bejewelled, novelty and even humourous. And the shop even carries specialised cufflinks for festive seasons such as Halloween, Christmas and Chinese New Year!

Decided on the funky gecko cufflinks because the gecko is a symbol of regeneration & rebirth, and they are also considered as good luck charms in some Asian cultures. Plus I think they're sooooo ME!

The gecko cufflinks are from the novelty range and costs S$96. Ready-tailored shirts cost about S$117 and for made-to-measure, there’s a choice to combine two fabrics and cost about S$168. But if you join as a VIP (free to join), you can choose from their range of S$207 packages where you can mix and match a combination of shirts, polo tees, ties and cufflinks.

An urban man is able discern quality & has the ability to enjoy life's simple offerings while appreciating the finer side of things.

There, my face and body treatments are completed. Makeover photoshoot done. Sharp shirt and cufflinks that represent me selected. I’m all ready for the big Urban Homme Icon Challenge finals tonight. Whether I win or not, it doesn’t matter because this has already been a very privileged journey and I hope that all my blog posts have given you in-depth information about the treatments and a behind-the-scene look at what it’s like to take that leap to transform ourselves for the better.

My Urban Rebirth

As a parting shot, here’re three photos from my makeover shoot. In many of the shots, I had to consciously open my eyes bigger because of the allergy swelling so I came across as looking rather fierce. These shots are the passable ones.

Let me know what you think and help me pick the next photo to be used as my Facebook profile pic. Thanks for reading and following my transformation.

1. Business as usual.

2. Natural & care-free.

3. Lao Hiao (old vainpot).

The Urban Homme Icon Challenge finals is held tonight (11 Nov 2010) at St James Powerhouse, Boiler Room, from 7 – 10pm.

Go Go Go…. The final day liao…..

Yesterday was my last treatment for the Urban Homme, Urban Icon Challenge, But you will not see the last of my. Even if I dun win anything tonite……(I hope I win something) :0I will like to sign up a facial package to upkeep my revitalized face.

On Tue, went for my last facial treatment, it was a really long one….. I had the usual RxP,  Oxy3 and G5 treatment at one go…. took 3 hrs…. really great session. Oh I also had a Oxy3 inhalation session while applyingthe ginseng mask…. its clears my lung and energize my body. After Urban Homme, I went down to Eurocuffz, they are the sponsoring the shirt and cuff link for to nite event….

I pick a purple shirt and a nice matching cuff link….. although no price tag, I can sense that the two ps are easily my one week pay….. very generous of Eurocuffz. If one day I become the Executive Chef of a restaurant, I will 100% patronise Eurocuffz, but for now I have to give you a pass…. I will refer my friend to Eurocuffz (pssss… VIP member get referrer fee

Wed, onto Urban Hommefor my last session… Advance Wave Frequency treatment…. this is the ultimate solution to trim and fit…. I will skip the techky part… the result is most important… just one session only, I need to belt to the last hole of my belt… thats half a inc…. super….. took a BMI reading, result shown although going through slimming treatment… I lost 2-3% of body fats while maintaining my body weight of 63kg…. all thanks to the properly plan diet plan by Urban Homme team…

Final Day…. Thank you Urban Homme for giving my this chance to be in e competition. Its really give me more confident to face my customer. The pimple and oily problem is under control… the marks  are greatly reduce…. Now I dun have to lied to people thats those marks are from oil splashes while cooking…. hahaha

This is my final entery for now….. As my target from Day1 was to become a 色香味， 有形有味，进得厨房，出得厅堂的 21th century 形男厨师…. and am proud to announce, you have it here, Benson Tong 形男厨师…

I know pictures paint a thousand words.

I think it is also imperative that i share the outcome of my Urban Homme’s treatments  with the Omy Readers.

I admit I was apprehensive about the results initially. I didn’t think there will be significant changes.

I was wrong.

After going through several sessions of the Body Sculpting program planned by Vince, I am pleasantly surprised to see abdominals on my body for the very first time!

I know putting shirtless picture of me in this blog might subject me to being laugh at by students. Perhaps even frowned upon by some academics.

However, I think it is imperative to show the end results to all readers here, at the same time, challenging the notion that  ’before and after photos’ are all fake and staged.  Lives are instead transformed. Confidence built.

I profess that i am generally lean and sporty. However, never in my life have i seen a more trimmer, fitter and leaner me.

I would like to congratulate Urban Homme for successfully transforming me to a more confident person.

The sessions were all non-invasive and for some, enjoyable.

here is the photo.

In less than 24 hours, the winner of the Urban Homme Icon Challenge will be revealed at St. James Powerhouse. It’s been just over three weeks since the Challenge proper started, and I have to say the results, even in this short span of time, have been amazing. Yesterday, a colleague who’d been overseas for a month returned to the office. She saw me and blurted out, “Wow! You’ve lost a ton of weight!” My cheeks and jawline have visibly sharpened and the love handles and bicycle tyre around my mid-section have vanished. It’s very encouraging to see all this happen, especially when others notice the difference as well.

I simply must express my heartiest THANK YOU to the team at The Cocoon – they have been most obliging and professional at every point along the way. They didn’t stop at administering treatments, but also gave us all great advice on simple, positive changes we can make to our lifestyles to help us maintain and improve on the results achieved. I’ve become more conscious of my food intake, and have come to realize that I consume a lot more calories than I need. I will also be sticking with my exercise routine – it makes me feel much more energetic throughout the day. (And yes, Vince – I’ll remember to touch my face with the back of my hand if I need to – never the fingers, as they usually have more bacteria on their surface!)

Yesterday, my penultimate session at Urban Homme comprised an RxP with deep-pore cleansing, Photopneumatic treatment and an Oxy Face Rejuvenation, followed by a balancing facial. The Oxy machine had just undergone a complete overhaul, and the cool jets of oxygen felt extra powerful. I will miss being comfortably wrapped in towels and under the meticulous care of Lily, who’s been fantastic – she even plucked my eyebrows during one long treatment.

Today’s session was my last. We targeted my mid-section with a second round on the LPG machine:

I managed to get a shot of the state-of-the-art LPG machine with touchscreen.

And then Vince had me experience one of the most effective slimming treatments – the Ultrasonic Wave Frequency Advanced Slim. Zoey, my therapist, rubbed some oil onto my belly and then ran the treatment tip over it in quick circles. Soon, the waves heated the belly area. For the treatment to be effective, an optimum skin temperature of 43 deg C had to be reached. Zoey constantly checked a remote thermometer to make sure I wasn’t being burnt (too much!). It’s now just over two hours and I can still feel some residual warmth in my belly. Effective, powerful stuff!

Zoey and the Wave Frequency Advanced Slim machine.

Am now going to get a good night’s rest – adequate sleep is just as important as having the right diet and wellness care, and then I’ll try to fit in some exercise tomorrow morning before heading down to St. James to prepare and rehearse. I am aiming to look and feel my best.

One last look at The Cocoon...I REALLY, REALLY hope to be back! *Fingers and toes crossed*

If you haven’t been sent an e-vite that’ll grant you complimentary entry to the event, an entrance ticket to the finals, which commences at 7pm, is just $12. It comes with one drink and a goodie bag worth $90. You’ll catch the six of us talk about our transformation, pick up some health and wellness tips and find out firsthand who’ll be the new Urban Homme Icon. See you there!

With the bubbly Ai Ling at Eurocuffz.

Ai Ling was very patient in going through all the shirt options with me, and then making sure I got the perfect pair of cufflinks to go with it. The store specialises in exquisitely made cufflinks and tailored shirts. I’ve never seen a wider array of cufflinks before, and all neatly categorised. There’s a Novelty series for those with a more expressive, playful streak; a Precious Stones series which features beautifully cut gems and there’s a Designer series, for go-getters who wish to make a dramatic statement – and more!

Just a small section of their huge cufflink selection.

Their shirts come ready-made in either slim or straight cuts, or else can be made-to-measure. Clients can select from a massive array of fabric, collars, cuffs and other finishes to create a truly unique personal shirt.

With Brian - fabrics galore for those who wish to tailor their own shirts!

I love the fabric of my new shirt, and the beautiful pair of cufflinks that go with it. Catch us all in Eurocuffz this Thursday!

Possible options - various collars and cuffs on display.

不知不觉，一个月的 Urban Homme 美容及修身护理将于 11月11日2010年（星期四）， 7.30pm，在 St James Powerhouse 举行的《都市型男大挑战》总决赛告一个段落。如果您当晚有空的话，请到场与我们同乐！

你可能觉得奇怪为什么这篇部落格我尝试用中文写。这是为了小玲写的。小玲是这几个星期来为我美容养肤的护理师。她来自中国吉林省，英文还有待进步所以之前我所写的她都只是看照片。非常感谢小玲这些日子以来把我的肌肤照顾得那么好，也为我解答了许多美容上的疑问。护理的时候，可怜的小玲不仅要动手，还得不停的回答我苍蝇般的问题，讲到口水都干了！

这金黄闪亮的物体不是琥珀，里头没有存着原始昆虫，而是用来为我们做脸部护理的营养凝胶之一。但，个人护理要取得成功，靠的不是这些护肤品。那，是什么呢？

在之前 Urban Homme 的一系列部落稿里，我分享了许多关于美疗机器及护理过程，还未真正深入介绍过位于 Ngee Ann City 的 The Cocoon 美容瘦身室。为什么要特别介绍呢？应为它装潢优雅，室内设计特别。就一个字。。。赞！听说新传媒还来过这里好几次为电视节目取景。

我中文写得不好，要写一行字把字典都给翻烂了。因此，我就通过照片以及简言为您揭开这茧的魅力。要改头换面，先由环境开始。。。

坐在舒服的宽椅沙发上享受足浴与按摩实在是超级爽快。你别看地板是完整一片，它可是内有乾坤的哦。

茧中的圆形灯饰犹如一枝枝柳垂的冰莹柱，看上去十分让人陶醉。

护理之前先走走猫步！两面水帘墙给人一种新潮 Zen 的感觉，而水声把一天的烦恼也洗掉，好让脑袋放松，享受接下来的美疗步骤。

这是 Urban Homme 仅有的更衣室。我每次治疗后都呆在里面很久，东照西照，左拍右拍。常要被工作人员问是否我发生了什么状况才出来。真不好意思！

Urban Homme 讲究高科技，就连存放个人物件与衣物的橱柜也由指纹辨认系统定开关。7号柜子很坏蛋，我每次要案上指纹好几次它才肯开，可能是舍不得我走吧。哈哈

这是肌肤分析器。它能把表皮的肤质放大至 60倍，所有的皮肤问题都逃不过它的蓝眼睛！它也能测试肌肤的保湿度和光滑度。不知道在总决赛那天会不会再遇上它，看一看我的肌肤是否在这一个月内有改善。

这位帅哥就是为我们量身策划个人美容及修身治疗的 Vince。他也是 The Cocoon 的经理，是一位尽责，典型的都市型男。我有他四分之一的 cool 就够了。

这，就是被我折磨手脚和口齿的小玲啦。她的耐心及谈吐都让我觉得美疗的过程十分轻松爽快。她讲话好好听的，有时候我表示自己不足的地方，她都有办法让我往好的方面去看待事情。

看过了照片，揭开了茧的核，其实都只是改造外形肤浅的花边装饰而已。想要变，靠的还是自己的意志力和努力。但往往单靠自己的坚持与力量是很不一贯性及稳定的。

在我眼里，我觉得这个月来的护理虽然不算长，但我个人觉得已经相当成功。我的成功不仅是仪器、疗程的功劳。更重要的是 The Cocoon 里的人。他们才是我能够坚持，继续的理由。虽然说经历的美疗配套都是免费的，但如果不 enjoy 的话，何必受苦呢？

服务业真的蛮艰辛的, 得应付一些顾客古怪或不规矩的要求, 护理师都必须宛转的应付客户而在需要的时候保持专业立场。非常感谢 The Cocoon 所有的工作人员给我那么好的回忆。。。除了 Vince 和小玲以外，还有为我做过修身护理的 James 和 Jacky、凤尾眼眯眯，让我想起林忆莲的小精灵 Wendy、及办事果断，善解人意的 Jasmine。

他们的友善，笑容与关怀让我觉得来这里不是接受美疗，而是和一群新结识的朋友说说笑笑，开朗身心，由内至外，这对我来说才是改造自我的真正奥秘。

OK – you’ve read the warning, but you still decided to click through… let me prepare you – although this is not the official ‘before and after’, to really be able to show-off my transformation with Urban Homme, I have to reluctantly, and quite shamefully, post an image (taken from my ‘before’ video profile just a few weeks ago) – it hurts me so much to do so – how did I ever let myself get like this over recent years? *tsk tsk* – I can blame the wonderful food in Singapore, but that would just be self-deceptive. It’s all about poor eating habits, lack of exercise and in general not treating my body like the temple it should be… and of course, I had never had Urban Homme in my life before!! Only now can I feel pride in being able to remove my shirt and go topless for all to see – how remarkably liberating!!

Get ready… the ‘before’ was mere weeks ago (snapshot from our first video at Urban Homme – hold back the shock and horror), the ‘after’ was just this evening after a very satisfying workout at Fitness First… the light doesn’t really do the picture justice, because not all the shadows and lines which I’ve worked so hard to achieve (with Jacky’s brilliant help) on my tummy are very clearly visible. But I’m sure you can see the clear difference in weight and overall definition before and after! (Today’s weigh-in – 83.3kg – is 11.5kg lighter than my first Urban Homme audition).

The secrets to success:

1. Count the calories!! – Thanks to Vince at Urban Homme, I received very clear direction on how many calories to take in – not only did he provide me with a very nutritious and healthy diet, he gave some very prudent advice on how to ensure that I keep the the calorie count where it should be, even if I don’t eat everything day-to-day as spelled out in the schedule… my maximum intake each day is just 1,000 – 1,200 (remember before I was just drinking almost 3,000 calories a day – before I even started eating).

With Urban Homme’s assistance, I eat and drink well each day, do not go hungry, and still manage to satisfy the taste buds at the same time…

2. Exercise Regularly!! – Once again, under expert instruction from Vince, my extra homework has been to continue my gym workouts both in preparation for each coming treatment session, as well as to maintain and improve on the body sculpting work – you see, it’s not just about losing the weight, it’s also about increasing muscle and definition (converting fat to muscle) and thereby reducing my overall body fat percentage.

Body-builder I certainly am not, but as you can see in the picture below, my arms have actually increased in size, but at the same time I’ve pretty much completely lost any ‘flabiness’ that used to sit on the back of my triceps (thanks to the cold wraps at Urban Homme and the huge weights I’m now pressing)… this has helped me build so much confidence.

3. Most Importantly – Urban Homme Body Sculpting Treatments!! – We’ve spoken about them here often… G5, G9, WF, Cold Wrap, Body Detox, LPG, etc, etc… when I started the treatments, my tummy fat (especially) was ‘rock hard’… from the treatments, the fat that is left is soft and much more easily broken down and/or converted to muscle. The missing ‘mountain’ when I lay down has upset my 3yo somewhat because he can no longer use my stomach as a human slippery slide

I would never have dreamed of putting a ‘topless’ photo of myself on my blog, but now I feel no fear nor do I feel self-concsious about it… for those of my readers who remember the infamous media bathtub race at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat festival, in which the bathtub being paddled by myself (as winner of the 2010 Singapore OMY blog awards) and Ang Geck Geck (winner of the 2010 OMY Singapore Modelling Blog), the common belief published across various media platforms was that the problem was with our mismatched body weight – in fact, I was even referred to on Singapore radio as being ‘3 times’ the size of my fellow paddler… I reckon now next year (if we’re lucky enough to do it again), we might actually have a shot at not just staying afloat but also of winning the race!! Bring it on!!