Packing Away

It's the time of the year for me, Chinese New Year trip! My family have this tradition (I think most Chinese families are about the same, it's like Christmas but Chinese) of making a trip back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where my grandmother lives to celebrate Chinese New Year together. So this means we are flying back to Malaysia for holiday.

I have a love - hate relationship with packing. Put it in this way, I like packing but when I realized I am in the 'packed too much or packed too little' kind of situation, I dislike packing right away. So I watched some YouTube videos to see how other girls pack their bags for holiday (I said girl because my husband literally took like 5 minutes to pack everything and ready to go). It took me longer but I still get the job done, just more time consuming! It take me long enough to decide outfit of the day, it was a nightmare for me to dig in my wardrobe, packing my outfits for a different climate country for holidays.

Anyway, I am really relieve that there are packing or travel bag related blogs and videos for me to refer to. It helps, no matter how many times I have packed for my trips (I always tend to forget something or packed something I will never use in my holiday). So I thought I would share what I packed in my travel beauty and cosmetics bags.

I bought this travel bag from Ripcurl warehouse in Torquay for 20AUD. They are so handy, comes in 4 compartment, 3 of them are detachable, a mirror, a hook and I can fit so many in them. So here are the stuff I packed in this bag:
The first compartment (which is like a pencil case sort of pouch on the top), I packed some black hair ties, snag free hair elastics, black bobby pins, dressy hair ties from Forever New, medium hair claw, small hair claw, hair screws and Hollywood fashion tape.

Second compartment (the only attached one), I packed it with L'oreal Elnett Satin hairspray, Dove Hair Therapy hair serum, Avene Eau Thermale Spring Water, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen (SPF85++), Clinique makeup remover, Clinique Moisture Surge face spray and Oral-B Essential floss.

Third compartment (another pencil case alike detachable pouch), I have my makeup in it. These are the products in it: Dior Style Liner intense liquid eyeliner, Bourjois Liner Pinceau liquid eyeliner, Urban Decay Glide-on eye pencil in zero and whiskey, Rimmel Sofl Kohl Kajal eye liner pencil in pure white, Japanese brand (I don't know how to read them) eyebrow pencil, Makeup Forever Aqua Liner in gold, Benefit They're Real mascara, MaxFactor False Lash Effect mascara, L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara, NYX lipliner pencil in nude pink, Revlon Colorstay lipliner in nude, Bourjois Effet 3D lip gloss in brun exotic, Rimmel Apocalips in apocaliptic, Bourjois Color Boost glossy finish lipstick in peach on the beach, Sportsgirl Pout About It in fruit tingle and Lancome lipstick in 104.

Last compartment (The biggest clear pouch), it filled with Benefit POREfessional, Urban Decay Eyeshadow primer potion, Bourjois 10 hour sleep effect foundation in 75, Bourjois Happy Light foundation in 53, Bobbi Brown Illuminating finish powder compact foundation in shade 3 beige, Rimmel Stay Matte long lasting pressed powder in 001 transparent, Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzing powder in 52, Lancome All Over Magic bronzing brush in shade 5, Sephora lasting and perfecting corrector in shade 02, Urban Decay Naked palette, Maybelline Color Tattoo in tenacious teal and barely branded, Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow stick in bad girl bronze, Bourjois Blush Exclusif, Benefit Benetint, Benefit Chachatint, Benefit Highbeam, Bourjois 3D Effet in framboise magnific and TopShop eyelash curler. 

In this red travel bag I get from a purchase from Olay, I packed most of my skin care and hair care products in it. I have the Body Shop Seaweed series travel pack (cleanser, toner and moisturizer), cotton pads and Q tips, Tresemme moisture rich shampoo and conditioner, Schwarzkopf normal balance express repair leave in conditioner, Victoria Secret Bombshell body wash (love the smell of it), Bastiste dry shampoo and Gillette Venus & Olay Shaver.

Last but not least, the carry on bag essentials! The make up bag is the normal make up bag (Marc Jacobs) I have in my handbag. It always packed with more products in it when I go on a plane. So I have these in it: Estee Lauder makeup remover towelettes, tissues, Dettol hand sanitizer, Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, Elizabeth Arden Intensive daily moisturizer, Maybelline 8in1 BB cream, L'Occitane hand cream in passionate jasmine, Maybelline Fit Me concealer in shade 25 medium moyen, Laneige water sleeping mask in a small MAC container, Systane Ultra eye-drop, Chanel Allure Sensuelle perfume in the pink travalo, Maybelline baby lips, Chanel travel mascara, Clinique high impact mascara, Napoleon long black mascara, Chanel Rouge Allure in 04 imagination, Bourjois little pink pot blush in 34, Burt's Bees cuticle cream and a Sportsgirls kabuki brush.

It is an eight hour flight so I will be doing a similar routine to Lisa Eldridge's video (I have linked it below). I tried it twice and it hydrates my skin so much, so I am determined to do it every time I have a long flight.

Here are some of the videos for travel packing ideas:
Lisa Eldridge-My Beauty Regime on Long Haul Flights
Lily Pebbles-Inside my travel makeup bag & in-flight beauty bag
Lily Pebbles-Packing for Thailand
Essie Button-My Travel Makeup Bag
Amelia Liana-My Travel Makeup & Beauty Bag

The packing part is over!! I am very excited and looking forward for this trip because I will be meeting my family and friends, the food I've been missing so much and we have a shopping list- shopping time!

My Quick and Easy Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Have you ever feel so lazy to cook at home after a long day? Ordering take out or delivery service just seems to take longer and more expensive to do so. How about 2 minutes noodle (again) but it is not healthy at all.

I got an idea last night when I was looking through my fridge to see what I can whip up with and spaghetti aglio olio came into my head! Remembering the old times when I used to cook this a lot during my uni times. My friends love to order Domino's Pizza but I'm not a pizza fan (I know this is weird, who doesn't like pizza??! well, ME!). However, the pizzas always came with few sachet of chili flakes and I love to collect them for my cooking purpose (budget savings)! So, these sachet of chili flakes were my key ingredient to cook my spaghetti aglio olio.

Anyway, I made them last night and it was quick and easy! Thought of sharing the simple recipe up here. This is a rough recipe, not exact recipe ( I always go with my gut or "cooking with eye" as some people would say depends on how I like them).

You will need: (for 4 person)

4 Garlic Cloves, finely diced
5 Bacon, diced
1 tbsp of Olive Oil
2 tsp of Chili Flakes (depends on how hot you want it to be)
1 cube chicken stock (I used OXO cubes)
350g of Spaghetti 
water (for cooking spaghetti)

So cook your spaghetti as what the packet told you to and add the cube of chicken stock into the cooking water. On the other hand, heat your frying pan with the olive oil and add garlic in. Cook garlic for 1-2 minutes (when the garlic started to turn golden), add the diced bacon in. When the bacon are cooked, stir in the cooked spaghetti (keep the chicken stock). Mix everything in the pan till it's even then add the chili flakes and pour about 2tbsp of chicken stock in. Reduce the sauce and voila, dinner is ready!

This was a hit, I cooked them last night and my husband loved it. I didn't manage to take a picture of our dinner because we were so darn hungry. But, I manage to take a picture of the left overs and here it is:

Have a good weekend!

January Beauty and Makeup Haul

Last month, I spent more on clothes and shoes, this month I spent more on beauty and make up (Thanks to the half price sales in my chemist and chemist warehouse, I couldn't resist). So these are the stuff I bought.

From ASOS, I bought Bourjois Happy Light Foundation in 53 Golden Beige/ Beige Dore.

It is cheaper to purchase this product on ASOS in comparison to Priceline but how to choose the right shade without swatching the shades available personally. There are 2 options:
1. Swatch it in Priceline and remember the shade you want.
2. Go on these websites to find out your shade with the foundations you have already. Here are the 2 websites that assist you to buy foundation online: http://findation.com/ and http://www.temptalia.com/foundation-matrix
(They don't have Happy Light Foundation on the chart yet but I research online and learned how to adjust from other Bourjois foundation I have to Happy Light)
For example, I am using Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 54 beige and to adjust to Happy Light (everyone goes a shade lighter) so I chose 53 Golden Beige (it was a gamble) and it turned out perfect!

I've used it once since its arrival and I love it already! It feels so light on the skin and not cakey at all. However, the coverage is not a full coverage but it is build-able and it's quite a matte finish. Nice scent, long lasting (about 7-8 hours for me), not oily and very light foundation that lets your skin breathe!
If you want to read or watch a proper review, you should watch this video by Rachael Jade or if you prefer, read the post by ViviannaDoesMakeup.






From Coles the supermarket, I found 2 items that are on clearance sales, score!

I bought this Maybelline Color Show Sequins nail polish in 815 golds night out (limited edition) at 2.50 AUD if I'm not wrong. I don't have any gold sequins and since I watch the video by Essiebutton about Maybelline Color Show Knitted Gold nail polish (which is similar to this) now I can't wait to play with it.






Then, I saw the yellow price tag (yellow price tag means they are on sale) again! This is the second item I bought which is the Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in Medium. I paid about 5.60AUD for it. Not too bad huh?!
I didn't hear much about this product and it looks interesting so I decided to try it out. It has three part in the container, blusher, bronzer and the light colour one it is either powder or a highlighter (correct me if I'm wrong). I haven't try it out yet but I think you can mix the colour together to get different colour out of it. I shall see how it goes.

Next, I bought these Revlon chalkboard nail polish from Priceline at the price of 9AUD each but they only have the colour pink and yellow at that moment. I still haven't give them a try yet but sounds like a good idea having your nails looking like chalkboard. I have no idea where else to get them in Australia, some Priceline branches don't even have them which is a bummer.

Here is a link for the review and demo of Revlon Chalkboard Nail Polish

Please excuse the blurriness of the picture, they looked alright on the camera but turned out to be like this on my computer. I went to target with my husband the other day and saw these bourjois products are on clearance sales since target will no longer carry the brand Bourjois (I think! since the booth is cleared and getting replaced by other brand). I decided to get the products that still look decent (some of them are opened and leaked, gross!). So, I managed to get 4 lip glosses in 03 Brun Rose, 05 Rose Hypothetic, 08 Framboise Tonic and 23 Framboise Magnific.

They were about 5 dollar each if I'm not mistaken. Good buy since they cost 22 dollar at Priceline. These are really good lip gloss though I'm not so much of a lip gloss person. They are moisturizing, good colour choices, smells like candy and it says they will stay for 8 hour (not for me).











 Lastly, I had a little Rimmel fever at My Chemist and Chemist Warehouse !

Stay Matte long lasting pressed powder is all over youtube videos with good reviews. Since it is on half price now at chemist warehouse, I bought one for myself in shade 001 transparent at the price of 6.50 dollar. I start using it right away and fell in love with it. It work so well to set your makeup and give you a matte finish. Absolutely work well with my combination skin that tends to get a bit oily especially during summer. The only thing I don't like about this product, the packaging! But overall, love the product, well done Rimmel!

Next up, I bought Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in shade 14 which is like a warm nude beige with a brown/pink base. I paid 5 dollar for this at my chemist. I don't dislike it but I'm still getting use to it as it is hard for me to find a good nude lip colour that won't make me look like I'm all washed out.

Another Rimmel product I bought from my chemist is the Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer that everyone raving about. I paid about 7.90 dollar for it since it's on half price in my chemist or chemist warehouse, pretty good deal! The one I bought from my chemist is 701 stargazer, it is a shimmery nude colour. I love the name stargazer for unknown reason, I just think it's a cool name, haha!
After swatching around in my chemist, I really want to get 303 Apocaliptic but they were out of stock (the one I was in) so I head to chemist warehouse that is near my house to see if they have it and they do! They are at the same price, again, bargain! I'm so glad I found it, it is a very nice colour and stay on even after you had a meal and drinks. They smell good, very pigmented, high quality for a drugstore product and they are easy to apply. Did I mention their brilliant packaging? See the picture below, this is the time when I first open it, the tube will show clear if it's brand new. Then, the product will pump up when you pulled the applicator out and you will not have a clear tube anymore. I love the feeling when I pulled it out the first time. It amazed me somehow. Again, you did an awesome job Rimmel!

What I do for my Birthday

I spent my birthday in Singapore last year. My husband invited my cousins to have dinner together at the restaurant called Carnivore which is a Brazilian Churrascaria type of restaurant (it's like a BBQ buffet, perfect for meat lovers). My cousins got me a Polaroid camera and I had such a great time.


This year, I had my birthday in Melbourne (for the first time!), I did some research since I have no idea what to do at first. So these are the stuff I did for my birthday this year!

First, I had a romantic dinner with my husband in a comfy and sort of rustic kind of Italian restaurant called Gorski and Jones. I got to know them through an article on Herald Sun News and this is the title and link to it Top 25 new Italian eateries in Melbourne.

I really like the setting of the restaurant, it's simple and great layout I think. Pictures speak more than words, so I just put up some pictures instead of trying to describe them.

The drinks and cashier counter bar on the left and the cooking bar on the right. There's a door at the back to the other section of the dining room.

This is the other dining room through the clear glass door.

You can literally see them making them yummy pasta at the cooking bar.

To sum it up, I like the restaurant: place is great, service is good, food is great, nice serving size and the desert is just divine. If you decide to give this restaurant a try, make sure you save some room for the Panna Cotta!

I had another birthday celebration too. I organized a high tea session with the girls (my sister in laws, my cousin and close friends) last Sunday. I chose Beau Monde International Hotel because they were having a great package at the time. So I decided to give this place a try. We were served with a glass of sparkling wine each and a little gift that made us all even happier. The gift is a pair of pearl earrings!

The original high tea area was having air condition difficulty so we were moved to the ballroom. Anyhow, we had a great time there, the service was good, the food was alright, nothing wow me but it's not bad if you know what I mean. Here is a picture of the food layout.

I was showered with some nice presents this year, so blessed with these lovely people I have in my life. So here are some of the presents I got.

Florescence by Merrell: A book with all the beautiful photographs of different type of flowers, absolutely stunning!

Oroton Silk Scarf, Love it!

Napoleon Partners Classic Pack with auto pilot skin primer, long black mascara in double black and devine goddess lipstick in Lianna. My first ever Napoleon cosmetics!

Purple Flower Bouquet, just perfect for my house deco.

I know there's still a year to go but what to do for my next birthday celebrations?

A day visit at the Blue Lotus Water Garden

It was nice and sunny before the extreme heatwave hit Melbourne. So, my sister in law suggested to give this water garden a visit knowing the giant amazon lily is blooming. It was a nice drive up there, passing through suburbs like Seville, Woori Yallock and Wandin, beautiful country view.

The garden has a nice set up, they have a cafe, an air-confitioned gift shop and places for picnic and barbeque. Since we all had our quick lunch, we went for the flowers right away. As usual, they will give you a map with the garden's layout so you can decide which part to go first and you won't lost your way in the garden (though it's not that big). They have sections (some with green house) such as the giant amazon lily, little yarra adventure trail (which is the outskirt of the garden next to the yarra river, it's cooler there), the crocodile plant pavilion, oga lotus garden, night lily house (you will be able to see the flowers during the day) and winch house.

This is how the start of the garden looks like:

We were with a friend, Emily and she thought the swan was real! No, it's not a real swan, it's a floating swan. Anyway, we were told that the giant amazon lily is blooming so heading over there to start the journey would be ideal. I was quite impressed with the garden, you can walk on bridges to cross the lake filled with beautiful lotus. There are few colours of lotus and lilies. Of course, I took some pictures and here they are:

We continue the journey with the newly planted crocodile plant (so it's still in a baby size), there's a crocodile in the pond and yea it's another fake animal! But these plants do look similar to the skin of crocodile and they are one of the favourite hiding place for the crocodile in the wild because it's camouflage.

We then hit the winch house, the house of hybrid water lilies. Here are some of my favourites:

Spotted some nice lilies near me! However, some on the far end.. can't take a good shot (or I need more photograph practice). We covered most of the green houses by now, it was certainly not comfortable to bear when the green house makes the environment so much hotter and stuffy. So we went to the little yarra adventure trail that you can see the oga lotus garden in the same time. 

That's me on the bridge above the lake full of lotus! 

Lastly, we visited the night lily house, there are some lilies blooming and it was about 3pm in the arvo. 

It's pretty and nice to visit (if the weather is not too hot) but make sure you check on their website for the latest information about the garden before you visit. click here for blue lotus water garden website

There's an entrance fee of 15 dollars but I think it's worth it!

The Golden Globes Dress 2014

It's the time again! Who's dress is better? Who looks better? Who has the worse choice?

Well, these are the ones I like! What do you think?

Maria Menounos in Max Azria Atelier

Olivia Wilde in Gucci

Kate Beckinsale in Zuhair Murad

Reese Witherspoon in Calvin Klein Collection

Leslie Mann in Dolce Gabbana

Amy Adams in Maison Valentino 

Emma Roberts in Lanvin

Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life

I have finally finished the book Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life by Lisa Chaney! This is how the book looks like:

 

I bought this book in Singapore Changi Airport just before I hop on a plane and I'm so glad I did it. I love this book! Obviously, this book talks about the life of the founder of Chanel, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel.

This book is very inspiring and educational, Coco was a fabulous and intelligent woman who has contributed a lot to the fashion world and helped in forging the idea of modern woman that sort of gave the "freedom" to women in the society to be independant. She is the most influential designer at her time and now, the brand Chanel is still one of the great couturier brand.

She came from a poverty background with a broken family and grew up in a convent. This made her very motivated and determined to grow out of her roots, being rich, upper class and she created a name the world will never forget. On the other hand, her personal life that has revealed in this book is very scandalous. She was a muse, patron or mistress to the century's most celebrated artists (Picasso, Dali and Stravinsky), to the French wealthy textile heir (Etienne Balsan), to Russian royalty (The Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich) and to Arthur 'Boy' Capel, the English upper class.With the newly discovered love letters and other records, Chaney reveals that Coco was a rebellious and progressive kind of a woman. Aside from the numerous liaison with some high profile men of the century, Coco has some lesbian affairs as well! She was hooked on drug habits and having trouble to dine or go to bed alone later in her life. She works most of the time till her death at the age of 87 because working made her feel good and not lonely. She passed away on the 10th January 1971 at the age of 87 in her bed.

I always knew that Bourjois and Chanel are related but never know how but in this book, I found the answer. Since the introduction of the signature Chanel perfume - Chanel N'5 (Coco's favourite lucky number: 5), she was introduced to Pierre Wertheimer (the owner of Bourjois) and became partner in business. However, since Coco's passed in the year 1971, no one was running the House of Chanel, so the Alain and Gerard Wertheimer (grandsons to Pierre Wertheimer) took over as a family business and still remain as the owner of Chanel now. They persuaded and hired Karl Lagerfeld in 1983 who is the creative director and head designer for Chanel now.

There are so much going on in this great, remarkable biography, it so worth a read and get to know the legend - Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel.

These are a few short Chanel films:
Once Upon A Time
Chanel First Shop
Mademoiselle
The Iconic Chanel Number Five
Gabrielle Chanel
The Return