Urban Homme : Bringing Out the Best in Us

我是 Urban Homme 及多位现代生活品牌商家联手打造的都市型男！

Spider-Man says, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

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!!

Urban Homme : Finishing Touches

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.

Urban Homme : 揭茧核 Core of Transformation

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。

Urban Homme : Sun of a Beach

Greetings to all from Ko Samed!

In my previous life, I might have been a sea turtle, or seagull. I love a life by the beach. Blue skies, blazing sun, powdery shoreline and shimmering crystal blue waters draws me like a moth to a flame. I especailly love those beaches where the water is so clear, you can see the bottom and there is marine life close to shore.

I would spend hours snorkelling and free diving to explore every inch of the colourful corals and the creatures that live amongst them. It’s a whole new world down there and I’d never get tired of swimming with shoals of fish. And it didn’t matter that I’ll be terribly sunburnt thereafter.

So you can imagine my misery when I have to stay indoors the whole time while the glorious sun is up at one of Thailand’s most beautiful resort island, Ko Samed.

All I could do at Ko Samed is photograph the beach & lusting after it; yearning to plunge into the crystal clear waves. But alas, I can only stand there longingly & let my saliva become part of the sea.

It’s my 3rd day here at Ao Prao resort, Ko Samed, and I’ve been staying in the room or surfing the internet at the hotel lobby (where I wrote this entry). If you can’t go into the sea, there’s very little to do here. Felt that this is kinda like a wasted trip. What a bummer feeling… sun of a beach.

Hands up if you're not a terrorist to your skin.

But for the sake of making the best of the Urban Homme treatments I’m currently going through, I must endure!

There’s no greater motivation to give up something when you know the sacrifice will bring about even better things to come. Well, at least that’s how I consoled myself. Each time I hear the rush of the waves, my determination gets washed that much thinner.

In the last week preceding this trip, I’ve had all kinds of facial pampering by Urban Homme with Diamond Microdermabrasion, PHA treatment, Oxygen Face Spa, Thermal Eye Therapy, and a series of nourishing facials. It would be a waste if I don’t restrain myself from the sun now and jeopardise the results.

Furthermore, the treatments have revealed my younger layer of skin so damaging it now is going to cause even greater repurcussions. So I have to stay in and if I really want to go out, I’m all covered up. The islanders and tourists all gave me the “this guy is nuts” look.

Apart from dressing up like a militant terrorist, my next line of defense is the range of skincare products I’m slapping onto my face. After-treatment care is equally, if not more important than the treatments themselves because that’s when they skin recovers and heals and you want to make sure it has all the best materials to rebuild. So I jammed my home-based skincare routine up a few notches.

Adding to my fantastic four – cleanser, toner, eye cream and moisturiser, I’ve included a few skin repair and nourishing products as well as sunblock. Yes. Sunblock. It used to be a swear word to me. Now I swear by it.

Number of t-shirts I brought on this trip : 4. Number of skincare products : 9.

After-care products are not included in the Urban Homme Icon Challenge’s range of treatments so I had to buy them. Now I’ve lost an arm, and possibly one foot. Here are the 2 products I bought – MU Anti-Melanin Lightening Cream and MU Emollient Essence (MU stands for Mary Chia-Urban Homme). The Heliocare SPF50 sunblock was given by my mum.

White face, blood red tee, & no sun. I'm an urban vampire!

I invested S$588 into the two products. With this amount, I’m not expecting them to be magic potions, I expect them to be miracles! But I think they’re giving my skin a virgin birth effect because photos of me on this trip showed a more even complexion, and my face is white as sheet. I look like a vampire. Yikes!

I think the ladies would love to have whitened skin like mine and I think it could be due to the ingredients in the two MU products apart from the Titanium Dioxide used in the sunblock. Titanium Dioxide is white in colour.

The two MU products weren’t exactly cheap but I’m going all out this time to see just how good my skin can become. But I’m also convince by the premium ingredients used in the products.

MU Anti-Melanin Lightening Cream uses Arbutin, a plant-based phytonutrient extracted presumably from Bearberry and has the ability to fade pigmentations and discolourations as effectively as hydroquinone but without the carcinogenic perils of the latter. Arbution has also been shown in clinical trials to block future melanin formation. Melanin is the stuff that causes dark patches on our skin.

MU Emollient Essence contains a plethora of the most established and latest in skincare technology. Of the 26 ingredients used in the formulations, of which many are botanically-derived, the one that caught my attention was inclusion of Placental Protein. This is the latest darling of the cosmetics industry with its superior skin-whitening effects and ability to re-ignite the skin’s natural ability to regenerate itself.

Combined with the other ingredients, the Emollient Essence is a comprehensive product that can repair damage, revitalise new skin production, and eliminate oxidative stress on the skin caused by free radicals. For me, I just like that it doesn’t feel heavy on my face. The only thing heavy about it is its price!

Trading high carb foods with more protein & fibre. Losing weight is not about starving but eating fit food. But fat foods just taste so much better!

So much about what I’m doing for my face. Body-wise, I’m trying to control my diet as much as possible and it’s pretty hard! Thai food is just too delicious. I haven’t been really disciplined in what I ate on this trip so far but I try to keep to the rule of high protein, low carbs.

There’s no gym at the resort here so I can’t workout and previous commitments to jog by the beach has given way to white wine by the lobby lounge. Who would have thought being in the challenge would be so challenging?! The self is the biggest barrier.

Having hide out at the lobby area the whole day to wait for sunset, I lost no time in getting into the sea. Even if it was just for a little while.

In order to achieve something, we must be willing to give up something else and do whatever it takes. It is a choice. But looking at the beautiful beach and clear waters before me, I can’t help thinking if it’s all worth it. What’s the point in looking good if you can’t enjoy what you love doing?

Well, if we continue to do what we love, then we must be prepared to bear the consequences. This Urban Homme Challenge is calling for more than just a physical makeover. It’s a lifestyle re-direction.

Anyway, I held myself back enough. I couldn’t stand it any longer. As soon as the sun began to lose the height of its power, I sampled the resort’s pool and took a dip in Mother Nature’s sweat tub… Everything tastes sweeter (saltier) when it’s forbidden. Moments like these are more cherished when you know they’re going to happen less often.

Urban Homme : Burn Belly Burn

Hot! Hot! Hot! That summed up the series of inferno treatments I went through at Urban Homme‘s The Cocoon studio today. I totally needed that. Since posting up the photo of me looking like some latex gym ball in my last entry, I’ve been getting calls, smses and Facebook emails from friends and readers bemusing the impression they have of me, a tone-fit guy, and the actual size of my belly. I’ve already warned earlier that the Urban Homme Icon Challenge will expose all my problems right? Now you know the real me.

But a BIG thanks to everyone for your reactions to the photo, it lets me know you’re reading. And your shock fuels my will to drive to burn off that belly even more. In the last five days, I’ve cut my carbo consumption and increased gym time. Hopefully I can stick to it because it’s a lot of sore muscles and the pain of giving up food, and my passion for eating lots of it. So please continue to encourage me. Thanks!

This is the front view of my pre-treatment bulging tummy. It was taken during my first body trimming session last Wednesday (20 Oct 2010).

My session today was super long as I’ll be missing treatments for a week while I’m away in Ko Samed and Bangkok. Will I be able to resist the temptation of frolicking in Samed’s aquamarine waters and that fatty but absolutely delicious Thai pork knuckle rice? Vince gave me strict orders to stay out of the sun and keep up with my skincare regime. This is the first time I’m travelling with more facial products than clothes. Not young anymore, so I should really take care of the damage damn-age.

So, what are the fat busting treatments I had today? First of all it’s my good pal, the LPG machine, to warm up my body and also to turn on my lymphatic function to detox mode. Again, I was pinched all over but this second encounter wasn’t as painful. After that, I was introduced to a new machine…

Advanced Wave Frequency (WF) Slimming

The fame of this machine precedes it. I was told that it guarantees taking off at least 0.5 inch off the waistline. Vince told me that the highest record they ever achieved at Urban Homme was 1.5 inch in just one session!

Warning to All Fat Cells : This is James. When you meet him, you are doomed. He holds in his hand the thermally lethal WF gun that will reduce waist circumference by 0.5 to 1.5 inches GUARANTEED. So fats, there's nowhere you can hide. Resistance is futile!

With clinically proven results in just one session, it’s hard not to anticipate how much I would lose. How it works is by sending radio frequency waves deep into the dermal and subcutaneous tissues to dissolve fat cells by causing them to heat up and burn.

The process involves James, my body therapist for the day, first measuring the temperature of my ab area and then running the sonic gun over it. There’s no pain, but at some parts, it got too hot and I experienced some stinging burns. But these burns weren’t like those caused by fire and there was no injury or wounds.

The WF machine waisted no time in trimming my mid-section. Does my tummy look smaller than the pre-treatment pic. And I didn't suck in my tummy when having it taken.

From what I gathered, the acute burning sensation happened because some of the parts may retain residual heating effects when the WF pass through it the first time and when it runs over the same area again, the acute burning sensation occurs. As the heating is somewhat like that of a microwave oven and not fire, the ‘burning’ didn’t cause any harm to me.

The above photo was taken after I had the WF treatment. I don’t know how many inches I’ve lost but when I measured at home, my waist is size 30 no more… I lost about 1 inch! But I don’t know if it’s the sole effect of the WF machine or the combined outcome of all the treatments because after WF, I was given another treatment where I was wrapped up like a mummy.

Detoxification & Drainage Programme

When James told me many clients have a love-hate relationship with this programme, I was wondering why. I found the warm hug of the thermal blanket comfortable and relaxing. I was enjoying it. Then 20-minutes laer, I wanted to jump out!

It got hot, I was perspiring profusely, my heart was pounding like I’d just ran 2.4km and I can’t move. I almost panicked. James came in a couple of times to check if I was ok. I assured him each time there wasn’t a nary of the problem and I was doing just fine. But I was not. It’s an inferno in here! I must be burning in hell for lying.

Felt like I was the emperor herbal chicken soup dish being marinated with dead sea mud, wrapped in plastic, then covered up by the aluminium foil. I was literally cooking under the blanket. Darren soup... anyone?

But when I felt the prespiration dripping off my body and my lower abs totally sunken, I endured. Finally, after 40 minutes, I was free! Normally, a treatment takes only half an hour but James decided to extend mine for 10 more minutes because I only started to heat up quite late into the treatment.

What this programme does is to encourage the body’s natural metabolism rate to increase so as to burn fat and drain toxins out of the body. By the end of it, I left behind a huge puddle pool of sweat. And I’ve never felt better!

But I wasn’t the only one feeling better. Daniel had his facial session today and when I saw him afterwards, I was so jealous. That guy’s skin was like a baby’s bottom and he’s four years older than me!

Check out Daniel's clear and radiant complexion after his facial treatment... Skin so smooth, even my camera wants to smooch!

Actually, I didn’t fare too bad either. After my two facial treatments last week, my friends who saw me over the weekend during a friend’s wedding all had good things to say. I’ll share more about the facial treatments in later posts. For now, I shall re-check that I’ve brought my sunblock, hats and long-sleeved tees.

Can you imagine going to a beautiful beach resort and you can’t swim or play sea sports? This holiday is going to be a test of will. If I succeed, it would’ve been a dead boring holiday. If I don’t, well, you’ll see some sunburnt pot-bellied pics here next week.

Urban Homme : Pinch that Inch

My tummy area has been hurting the whole of yesterday and today. But it’s a good kind of pain, which resulted from going through a series of body sculpting treatments at Urban Homme‘s The Cocoon studio on Wednesday night (20 Oct 10). And when you see my photo in the grey suit below, if you are a kind person, you would wish even more pain for me.

Loose don't show, tight can't lie. After Vince, who tailored our treatment programmes, saw me in the figure revealing LPG skin suit, he promptly, immediately, instantly, added the LPG procedure to that day's treatment & another body sculpting session for my next visit. Grrr...

I used to have flat abs because I was underweight before age 19. It wasn’t rock-hard washboard, just flat. Now, the letter ‘L’ has gone missing.

Since I turned 30 six years ago, so did my waistline. And my battle with the bulge began. I was briefly victorious and my waistline hovered around 28 inches for a while. Then last year, I had to buy new jeans. Size 30 ones.

When your waistline is 30 inches but your tummy circumference is 32 inches, you know you are on your way to make the ladies very happy… by showing them that men can get ‘pregnant’ too. I am pro-life but this is one ‘pregnancy’ I need to abort for vanity health’s sake. Fortunately, Urban Homme is here to help with Vince, the Branch Manager for The Cocoon, and Lyn, my dedicated treatment consultant here to pound, knead and pinch those inches off.

It's only to be a bumpy ride on my body sculpting journey with a hump this size! "Mai hump, mai hump, mai hump..." ('Mai' means 'don't want' in Hokkien & 'no' or 'not' in Thai.)

Generally, it takes the body and abs about 3 months to metabloize fat through cardiovascular exercises and weight training to look visibly toned and sculpted. But when the exercise routine is paired with the body sculpting treatments, you can get results in half the time. Which leaves me with 1.5 months (6 weeks) to put the ‘L’ back in ‘fat’ and take it out from ‘flab’.

As the Urban Homme Icon Challenge runs for a month, I only have 4 weeks to get where I want to go with my abs. Moreover, I’ll be away for a week from 27 Oct to 2 Nov so I’m losing precious treatment time. So what results can I get in such a short period of time? See for yourself when Benson, Daniel, Dennis, Emeric, Peter and I unveil our new bods on 12 Nov 2010 (Friday) at St James Powerhouse, 7 – 9 pm. So come on down and see our transformations up-close and personal if you have the time!

To guarantee I would be stage ready, I started my gym and diet programme today (I know it’s a bit late, but have to try!) to maximise the results from Urban Homme’s ab treatments. Here’s a look at the weapons of mass construction that were unleashed upon my tubby tummy…

Step 1 : Integral Quartz Macro Body Treatment

This treatment is where this blog entry got its title from. And I have a love-hate relationship with the machine that was used to perform it – the LPG Lipomassage.

I met this machine during the audition for the challenge two weeks ago. Finally, I got acquainted with it. It's one bad-ass fat buster with a nasty pinch!

It looks like something out of Star Wars but the LPG machine with its tentacled arms can cause some serious damage. To fat cells that is. Especially stubborn ones. Our bodies have a natural balance to produce and eliminate fat. But with age, fats tend to get stored more than they are being eliminated. That leads to excess fat in the body and the appearance of cellulite. As for guys, we are genetically predisposed for excess fat to gather at the mid-section, thus causing pot / beer bellies.

While I’m not too flabby generally, my lower ab has this hump of stubborn fat that is visible from outer space. No matter how many crunches, sit-ups or leg raises I do, or dietary restrictions I impose on myself, the bicycle tyre just kept self-inflating. But after my close encounter of the mechnical kind with the LPG machine, it felt like a valve has finally been installed for the tyre air to escape.

Oh, did I mention the machine has a mouth filled with two huge roller ‘teeth’?

My tummy looks flat in this picture because my arms were stretched all the way back, pulling the fat away from my abs. This is what I want my abs to look like while standing up and sitting down when wearing rubberised shorts

How it works : For the treatment, a body suit must be worn to reduce the friction when the machine sucks in a portion of fat and pinches it between to rollers to trigger the reactivation of fat elimination and production of collagen and elastin. It breaksdown the fatty cells and sort of liquify them so that they could be discharged by the lymphatic system via sweat and urine.

The process involves Lyn running the mouth back and forth over my body, tummy and love handles like she’s mowing the lawn. It felt like someone pinching my body rather comfortably but it’s ouch! at the more sensitive parts such as the inner thigh and triceps. This step also serves as warm up to stimulate blood circulation and makes the body more receptible and responsive to the other treatments that followed.

The evidence behind it : I saw many benefits listed in the brochure about the procedure, but being naturally conservative about marketing claims, I went in search for supporting scientific proof that the technology works. Apparently, there’re over 85 studies done that is supported by the International Scientific Committee of Research (COSIRE) for the LPG system and it shows that the system improves fat elimination by 50% and reactivates the body’s ability to produce collagen by 240% and elastin by 160%! Wow!

Benefits : So what does it really do? The benefits is one long list but in summary, it firms and tones the body, improves skin texture, gets rid of flab and cellulite, thin down fat deposits around arms and thighs, and most importantly for me, the promise of sculpting my abs and chiselling away those love handles! And the best thing is that all these are achieved naturally by triggering the body’s own metabolism to melt away fat without surgery or other mildly invasive methods such as mesotherapy.

Step 2 : Abdominal Trimming (G5)

After LPG, came the second machine that has an appendage that resembles a black shower head with protruding nodes. A layer of moisturing gel with a very fragrant and calming lavender scent was applied to lubricate my abs and love handles before Lyn ran the device across those areas. This one felt like a hundred jackhammers pounding me.

Poor Lyn was getting slightly out of breath from having to run the machines on me. She made sure every inch was taken care of. It's hard work on her. Thanks a million!

How it works : Running on gyrating rotary motors, the shower head sends a series of high-frequency shockwaves to the layer of cutaneous (surface) and subcutaneous (stubborn) fat covering the ab muscles. The rapid vibration shatters and smashes the fatty structure into smithereens thus allowing the body to use it as energy more effectively. It can also be used as a massage gadget.

Benefits : When the applicator first went on me, I immediately felt a heating and itching effect from increased blood circulation to the treated area. I can literally feel my bicycle tyre being poked and punctured repeatedly to deflate it, and it’s equivalent to doing hundreds of sit-ups in just 15 minutes! I love the feeling! Apart from increasing circulatory flow, the muscular system in the treated area is also enhanced with the abs becoming firmer and the skin tone improved.

Step 3 : Self-Heating Body Mask

Having treated my ab like a punching bag, this treatment gave it a rest. Do you remember the time when you’re a kid and had a tummyache, and your parents heat up medicated oil by rubbing it between their palms rapidly, and then applying the soothing warmth on your stomach?

The self-heating body mask treatment felt like that for me.

A creamy self-heating body mask was used to fire up the fat burn. I love the warm feeling over my tummy. It brought back a very cherished childhood memory of my maternal grandmother.

I’m not sure what ingredients go into the mask but it felt like there’s mint in it because while it was hot, it was cool too. The paste was left on for 15 minutes before it hardened and was lifted off. By then, my ab had reddened and felt tender. But it looked bigger!

That’s because the treatments were causing the area to swell. But that’s not the end yet! Next up was the Intensive Weight Vaporiser.

Step 4 : Intensive Weight Vaporiser

The name sounds very cool and hi-tech but the machine turned out to be very warm and endearing. Maybe it’s due to the fuzzy brown blanket used to trap the heat within the half cylinder that made it look so huggable…

Doesn't this look like a delicious Swiss roll cake? But I'm the one who will be baking inside the torso oven while being rocked side to side.

But hug not! This is another meanie that is a total jerk too! I laid on the bed (not too bad, quite comfortable) and the heat was turned on (okay, it’s steaming, but I can get used to it). Then the vibrating switch was flipped. The whole bed started rotating in a circular motion and the leg rest began vibrating vigorously. I felt like a rag doll being jerked around on the bed.

I was told to close my eyes and sleep. Sleep?! Are you kidding? I was trying to anchor my head and feet the whole time so that only my torso and lower body rocked to the vibration. If you ever go on one, keeping your head and feet still would be most effective for the treatment and most comfortable as well.

The Intensive Weight Vaporiser is also known as the lazy man’s exercise machine. With the heat and constant motion, 15 minutes on this monster is equivalent to running for 45 minutes. When I came out of it, I was deliciously cooked with a sprinkle of sweat glistening off my body and what seemed like four shy humps on my upper torso. Gasp! Did all that vibration mess with my vision, or am I seeing the first hint of my six, possibly eight, packs?! *BIG SMILE*

Step 5 : Sauna & Plastic Popiah

The last step was 15 minutes in the sauna and a plastic wrapping around my waist. I found it really comical when Lyn brought in the plastic roll. Felt like I’m putting on a man corset. I guess this would be my first encounter with plastic ‘surgery’?

I had to leave the binding on for two hours and I wasn’t allowed to shower after being soaked through in the sauna. Never mind, think of army days and bear with the stickiness.

After the LPG overall body toning, abs trimming, self-heat mask, weight vaporising, & sauna, my midsection was wrapped up like a popiah for another 2 hours to keep the fat burning action going.

When I unwrapped the plastic, I got a surprise. My earlier four molehills were gone and my belly was swollen without me being bloated from food. And my bicycle tyre had become a motorbike one! But I guess sometimes things have to get worst before they can get better. Just like cancer patients going through chemotherapy. They will experience a lot of side effects such as hair loss and vomiting before they start to recover.

It’s been two days since my ab treatments and the tummy area is still sore, but the swell is subsiding. And it looks like my body renovation will be replacing the big hump, with some smaller ones soon.