Things I Learnt From all these moving chaos

I have just settled in our new apartment in Melbourne CBD and just starting to enjoy the clutter free, boxes free, new apartment that we finally can call home. But this doesn't last long because we are on the move again, this time to Paris! It's very chaotic and stressful experience for us but it's all over now (at least in the Australia bit). I can finally sit down and relax after all that packing. While I was having a glass of wine and reflecting what I've learnt from these few months of moving, I've decided to share them up here. Moving to a new place, big house to small apartment, city to city or even from one country to another, it will be stressful from any directions, these tips might come handy.

1. Buy or Collect boxes as much as you can - Retail shops or supermarkets will have unwanted boxes if you want to save some bucks. Also, get them in big, medium and small sizes, they are very useful for different sizes and weight of objects. For example, smaller boxes to store your books, they can get heavy and small boxes of them makes it easier to lift. Remember, get them as much as you can, you can always put unused boxes to recycle or give them to your friends or family who need them.
2. Start going through your stuff weeks earlier than the moving date - You will be surprise what you find in your house and to realise you own that much stuff. It might not look like it but trust me, you need to start early to be prepared. You can start going through the rooms or sections of the house weekly, so you covered all floor. (Do not get distracted or jumping room to room)
3. The label: Keep, Sell, Donate and Bin - This is the time to step your foot down. While you go through your stuff, have a box or bags by your side with labels on them. I've put two boxes aside (one for donate and one for selling) and a bag for the ones to bin. 
4. Sell - Join on-line groups like Gumtree, Ebay or even some community groups on Facebook that dedicated for reselling items allow you to resell your items online. I find this is the best options for furniture you wanted to get rid of. We sold our excess book shelves, retro knife stand, boxes of clothes and so on. That saved our time for hiring a truck to get rid of them. However, make sure they are still in good condition!!
5. Donate - Donate stuff to salvation army opportunity shop or thrift shop, some people called them. 
6. Stop buying groceries - It's time to eat up all the food you have in the fridge and pantry so it's less to move. Cleaning products can be used up too to clean up the house before you move out. 
7. Zip lock bag/ sandwich bags are your best friend - These bags are handy to pack small items, keys, screws for furnitures or even cosmetics. Best thing is, you can see what's in the bag and label them so it's organised. 
8. Furniture shopping - Delivery takes time so unless you don't mind moving in to an empty house with no furniture, do the shopping earlier (not in rush) to ensure they arrived in time. This including appliances, the basic ones at least like fridge and washing machine. 
9. Electricity, water, gas and INTERNET - Get things organised. Activated them for the new place and deactivate them for your old place to avoid unnecessary fees. 
10. Mail redirecting - Sign up for the mail redirecting system to ensure all the newsletter and letter to be sent to your new address. We might be forgetful sometime, so redirecting mail is the best way to know what is going to your old address and to change them over. 
11. Label and group things accordingly - Unpacking and organising will get easier with labels on the boxes. 
12. Take picture - Pictures show how you left the place as it is for rented accommodation. It's handy to have them if you have problems like damages and so on. Aside from that, it's a memory. 
13. Hire a truck - It will save you time and effort in the one load of stuff to move to the new place. It's easier to have one day focus on moving everything, it would be ideal with some help from friends or family too (don't be shy on this, take as many help as you can).
14. For moving overseas/to another country Get a removal company involve - They might be pricey but it's worth it. They pack the house properly for you (basically you just sit there and watch). They handle the customs, insurance, and shipping for you as well. 

So there you go, things I have learnt from moving. I hope this will give you an idea of what to do when you're on the moving agenda too.

Love,
Carol

My UGG Australia Collection

The brand UGG Australia is famous with their sheepskin boots or slippers for some of you would call it that keep our feet so warm and toasty especially during those cold winter. However, there are so much more than the classic UGG slippers. So here I am, listing the 10 UGG Australia shoes from my own collection that are not the usual and popular classic UGG boots you would think of. *Note: these are all the older seasons' styles, you may still find them on Amazon or Ebay.

1. The Alloway Metallic Leopard Calf Hair

2. The Jules in Pearl

3. The Devan in Navy

4. The Charlotte Seaweed Perf in Dusty Olive

5. The Dandylion II in Chestnut

6. The Carberry in Black

7. The Olivia in Black

8. The Scarlett in Chestnut

9. The Ophira in Black

10. The Adriondack II in Charcoal (Snow boot)

I love all these shoes of mine, great pieces to have! They are comfortable, sturdy, stylish and very durable. Of course, there are maintenance like cleaning them, spraying water repellent products on and dusting etc but these are to protect them so they last longer and more durable (same goes to your other shoes though). So keep your eyes out for their fashion footwear too aside from their comfortable and warm classic slippers/boots.

Love, Carol

Sephora + Collective Holiday Haul

This is a much delay post for the haul I did during my holiday in Malaysia and Myanmar. Anyhow, these are what I bought. I didn't do much shopping in Myanmar aside from their organic mask, a bracelet, a dress and a silk sarong, most of my spending were on tourist attraction, food and transportation. But, I did some shopping in Malaysia. Only some....

First up, SEPHORA HAUL!

Alright, most of these are not from Sephora Malaysia (they don't offer what I wanted), I did some on-line shopping on their US website before I travel. My cousin who now live in the states were going to Malaysia for Chinese New Year celebration too, so I asked her nicely to bring the parcel to me. Free postage fee, great product range (in fact the best!) plus I love their point perks and the generosity of samples, I always love to shop on their US website. So here's the products I got from both Sephora US & Malaysia:

1. Nirvana White gift set by Elizabeth & James (here) - Fall in love with this scent when I was given the samples from my last Sephora purchase. This set contains  30ml Eau De Parfum spray, 10ml Rollerball and a 50ml Body Lotion. Love their packaging!!
2. Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 01 Always Red (here) - I've tried it right away and it's a 2 thumbs up from me! It's staying power is awesome and minimum maintenance required. It's always a plus when it's matte red lip stain and the colour is gorgeous! 
3. Marc Jacobs Beauty Enamoured Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer in 110 Gatsby (here)
4. Sephora Nail Buffer Block (here)
5. Sephora Beauty Insider Birthday Gift - Nars One Year Bolder 2015 Birthday Gift (contains 2 Nars Lip Pencil deluxe sample)
6. Samples!

Another MUST GO place for us when we visit Malaysia is HerbaLine Facial Spa. My face were acting up a bit for months before visiting them, scarring and acne problem that just doesn't seem to go away. Aside from the facial treatment I had with them, I bought some recommended products that will calm my 'face problem' and some for the Mister too.

1. Herbaline Purifying Milky Lotion for him (here)
2. Herbaline Bio Cellulose Mask for him (here)
3. Herbaline Anti-Sensitive Ampoule for me (here)
4. Herbaline Aloe Vera Cream for me 
5. Herbaline Aloe Vera Gel for him  (here)
6. Herbaline Lemon Grass Aroma Oil for our house - this is the same aroma oil they burn in their facility. It's a very zen-ish and spa-ish smell.

I went to explore the newly open Innisfree shop located in Sunway pyramid shopping mall. They are one of the popular Korean beauty brand in the market. We do have access to some of their products here in Melbourne in some of the Korean/Japanese beauty house but not a full range of them. Also, they have an online store (link) that ship to Australia! So here's what I bought from them:

1. Black Berry sheet mask (here)
2. Rose sheet mask (here)
3. Bamboo sheet mask (here)
4. Bija sheet mask (here)
5. Orchid Enriched Cream set (contains Orchid Enriched Cream, Orchid Intense Cream and Orchid Hand Cream)
6. Eco Safety Aqua Perfect Sun Gel with SPF50+ (here)
7. Eco Beauty Tool Black Head Good-bye Finger Tip Silicon x2 (here)
8. Green Persimmon pore special kit (contains Green Persimmon Pore Pack & Cream, Green Persimmon Pore Essence and Green Persimmon Pore Toner)
9. Samples of Orchid Enriched Cream

And for the rest of the haul:

1. Yankee Candle Car Vent Stick in Balsam & Cedar
2. Yankee Candle in Mistletoe (here)
3. The Body Shop Blueberry Special Edition Body Butter (here)
4. The Body Shop Fijian Water Lotus Body Butter 
5. The Body Shop Olive Body Butter x2
6. The Body Shop Moringa Body Butter
7. The Body Shop free gift from purchase mini shower gel in olive and satsuma. 
8. Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Face Brush (here)
9. K-Palette 1 Day Tattoo Eye-liner in Black (here)
10. Guardian Jeju Face Mask Sheet in Tangerine, Lily and Tsubaki x10 (here)

There's nothing over exciting but now I'm all stocked up with body butters and face masks!!

Love,
Carol 

The Golden Yangon

With the ambition of ticking the countries across South East Asia, Myanmar was our latest tick and adventure. We didn't manage to get a long trip and we only stayed for 2 nights (totally regretting this!). We spent our whole trip in Yangon, their largest city with the population of over 5 million.

For the first day, we spent the half day with pagoda and temple visit. We were blessed with nice weather and pictures turned out so beautiful. The first and the most iconic pagoda (the one that you must visit when you're in Yangon) was the Shwedagon Pagoda. We hired a tour guide that was available in the pagoda entrance (optional) for just about 10USD for the two of us. He was very informative and taught us so much about the history and culture of this sacred place. Another plus was he took nice picture for us too and here's the picture.

The Pagoda was under some renovation at the time, replacing the gold plates and ready for their new year celebration in April (same new year with Thailand). Keith bought a sarong to wear as he was wearing shorts that day. You are required to wear top with sleeves, long pants or skirt or sarong and no shoes when you're in the pagoda.

After this Schwedagon Pagoda visit, we went around in a taxi that cost us about 10USD (if I'm not wrong, I remember it being very cheap)and visited the other smaller pagoda or temples around Yangon city. Then, we went to the Kandawgyi Lake for a walk. Spot the Schwedagon Pagoda in the picture.

We hopped into one of their local restaurant, the one that looked busy and popular to the locals (that's what we normally do, follow the locals, they know where's good food!). We ordered their local dish which is very similar to Chinese/ Thai food as their cooking were influenced by the Chinese, Thai and Indian cooking. I ordered fried fish with Burmese curry rice and Keith ordered chillies minced chicken stir fried with egg rice. They were really flavourful, tasted so good that we just inhaled the whole dish in seconds and they only cost us about 4 USD each dish! Very affordable! We ordered dessert too, Burmese style! We ordered the drink named Falooda and we fell in love right away!

It's hard to choose when they have so much to offer when it comes to food, I like all of them but the one that really blew me away was Mohinga. It's their unofficial national dish apparently! I saw them selling this dish everywhere (in a portable kitchen stall by the side of the street) like these but we didn't get a chance to try them with certain reasons (language mainly).

However, just before we leave the country, I get to taste this unofficial national dish - Mohinga and this is a shot before it get in ma belly! Yum Yum Yum!

I love it here, in Myanmar/Burma in general, the people are so friendly and everyone seems to be very relax, happy and pure if that's the right word. I suppose that's the effect of being a Buddhist country. Also, there are some pretty/good looking faces here. Their skin are well taken care of, especially their face. Most girls will have this mask/plant root paste on their face for cooling, UV protection and smoothing purpose. I bought myself some and I put a little on and took a picture :)

We definitely would love to explore more in Myanmar in other region when we get a chance. I hope country development won't change the culture they have now and stay how they are!

What a trip!! 

Love,
Carol 

Recent Update

It's been crazy busy and I have been wanting to write a blog but time is what I'm lacking! So here's what happened since my last post!

1. We need to move out by April - We moved out of our house last weekend!! I will now refer that house as our old place. Keith has been living in that house for about 10 years since he finished his high school and I moved in 2 years ago after we got engaged. On top of that, Keith's siblings all (7 of them) stayed in that house at some point since it's a 3 bedroom house. Long story short, there's a lot of stuff in that house! We spent weeks packing that house up and getting rid of unwanted furniture. So I have been super crazy trying to be organize in packing things up.

2. We need to look for a new home - We are looking into buying our home but not without a trial! So we will be continuing renting a place in the area we are interested in, Docklands. It's not exactly in the city but very close to the CBD area. This meaning that it's not going to be too busy with the view of Yarra River and the city. Another plus, close distance to both our workplace in the city! We found a place after few inspection and we will be moving in by mid April! Here's a picture of our new place, we will be staying in the white building at the far right. Excited!

3. We went to Myanmar and Malaysia - It's that time of the year, every Chinese New Year we will be travelling to Malaysia to see family. This trip, we managed to squeeze in a 2 day trip to Yangon, Myanmar. We spent about 9 days in Malaysia after the Myanmar trip. It was amazing aside from the food poisoning part.

4. Work as usual - no more holidays and no special treatment when you're rushing in moving from one house to an apartment. So time is very limited (and human do get tired).

5. Moving into new home - This is the excited part! I can't wait to move in to our new place and start organizing our little home together. This time just us! We're not sharing our home with other family member like how we were in the old place. It's like honeymoon again :)

There you go, that's pretty much a summary of what's happening when I stop writing post here. I will start sharing some experiences when we settle. Till next time!

Love,
Carol

It's My Birthday Again!

I sound pretty exciting for someone who's getting older but I like birthdays, especially mine. My family's birthday are all fallen in January with a couple extra from my in laws side as well. There's a lot of coincidence that we all born in the same month but different years. It's like January sounds like a good month for having your baby born! I know I will try not to have my babies in January in the future so they don't have to fall into the January birthdays group and have their own birth-month!

Anyhow, I'm blessed with all the people around me who are very lovely that remembered my birthday! Woke up with birthday kisses by my better half, my colleagues surprised me with a great birthday cake at work and my phone was filled with loves from my family and friends around the world.

 I made some Oreo cupcakes to treat everyone! (wasn't expecting the birthday cake!!)

After work, Mr Murphy brought me to an American restaurant called Misty Diner. Great set up, I felt like I'm in America especially with the interior decorations. And the food!! OMG they are so delicious and big portion (I can't finish my main and can't make it to dessert at all)!!

Birthday presents wise, I was so spoilt this year. I got a couple L'Occitane perfumes and hand lotions from my colleagues, a red Coach borough bag from Mr Murphy, a Chanel sunnies from my mum and an Iphone 6 from my dad!! On top of that, I got a white Arizona Birkenstock for myself too! 

All these loves, attention and presents made me feel way much better about me getting older :p 

Love,

Carol

Some of the 'Gift Packs' from 2014 I bought for myself

When it comes to gift set (especially during Christmas time), I always hope someone would think as I do, get that gift set I 'woooh and ahhh' about for me. But, that's never really the case. Let's be real, no one would really know exactly what you want (or else, gift buying would be such an easy task for everyone!).

Most gift sets are limited time or edition only and they were normally released near Christmas. It's just the best time of the year to get your hands on some products! Also, did I mention their value are normally awesomely worth it! So, to not miss the chance of owning some of the products I'm drooling over, here are what I gave in and purchased for myself.

1. Nars Blush/Bronzer Duo (link)
One product and I get both of the most talked about products from Nars: Orgasm blush and Laguna Bronzer. It is definitely cheaper than buying both items individually (I think I paid 56AUD for this and it would cost me $49 for the Laguna Bronzer here and $39 for the Orgasm Blush here). However, it might be a smaller portion of them but let's be honest, it would take me a long time to hit pan and 2 product in one compact palette, great for on the go!

2. Nars Digital World Pencil Coffret (link)
Another Nars product! I always wanted to try their lip pencil but can't justify myself to get one (it's $34 each here). I finally picked them up when I saw the gorgeous packaging and the value for this set. Acrylic case with pretty patterns and it's $65 for 5 mini lip pencil (which is not that mini, it's the size of my finger, thats more than enough for me), SOLD!

3. The Body Shop Festive Mini Body Butter Trio (link)
Love their body butter and their limited Christmas scent (Vanilla Brulee, Frosted Cranberry and Glazed Apples) are just so damn delicious! I couldn't decide which one is my favourite so I bought this to have them all!

4. Sanctuary Spa Convent Garden Ultimate Glow Pamper Box
I just want to pamper myself with their spa smelling products :)

I was tempted to get gift packs from Lush but I got them as a Christmas present for my sister in law which she loves! However, I contributed in their awesome boxing day sale though :) Got myself some lovely items!

There are so many goodies around but these are the ones I allowed myself to splurge a little. I know it's a bit late to talk about them but just thought of sharing them here.

Love,
Carol

Read More Books!

One of my 'not so official' new year resolutions is to read at least 12 books this year which means 1 book a month. It's double the book I have read in 2014 (not counting the magazines, I have only read about 5 books in year 2014). Such a bummer!

With the influence of my better half, I have registered as a member in the website he uses to order his books, Book Depository. It's free delivery worldwide and they pretty much have everything on their website with ratings and good price tags! So I have been ordering from them and created my little wish list which also is my 'what to read next' list.

I have been doing well with the reading!

I started #Girlboss just before Chirstmas 2014 and finished this book just after New Year. I know I shouldn't count this as the book I have read in 2015 but just a quick mention here that I really like this book. Sophia Amoruso really inspired me with her story. Highly recommend this book!



Then I decided I want to read more about fashion and started the Paris Street Style. This is my official first book I read in 2015. It's a good read with lots of pictures that is very inspiring and interviews about French styles, French fashion stylist, French designer and so on. It's a book talking all about French style as the book title says it all. Side note, I like how the book cover itself is covered with blue stripes that is French favourite pattern.

After this book, I read The Richest Man in Babylon which was mentioned in #Girlboss. It's a book about how to handle your personal financial with the ancient babylon stories. It seems very easy to save up part of your income but I just got tempted here and there! This book outlined some pointers on how to save and what rules applied. Not a rocket science to figure those pointers but it acted as a reminder to myself, to discipline myself when it comes to my personal finance.

Now I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars. A bit slow to the band wagon, I know! Everyone was raving about what a great book this is but I just didn't have that urge to buy it to read. I saw this book was on sale for $12 at Target the other day and then finally, I picked this book up and put it in my shopping cart. It's very addictive! I just started this book and I'm now half way into it. It started to make me cry and get all emotional. Damn!

I have these books ready to read in my book shelf (I got a new book shelf for myself to store all these books). Gone Girl, Not That Kind of Girl and Outliers: The Story of Success.

Any other books you have in mind for recommendations?

Love,

Carol

So it's 2015 already!

I can't believe it's 2015 already!! I have been so busy for the past couple months with the festive season and especially working in a retail world, December has been flat out for me.

With the new year starting, based on what I have observed on the social media site, there are quite many people were having a bad 2014. Aside from the missing plane tragedy, the terrorist attack incident, disasters here and there and so on, stuff that we can't help with, people aren't really happy with the year 2014.

Not to brag or any other purpose, I thought I had a quiet year until I got sucked in to make the Facebook year recap video based on the pictures you took over the year. I actually had quite a good year. These are the highlights of my year 2014.

• Volunteered at Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival 2014. Got my experiences and the insight of how backstage of a runway really is in Melbourne. 
• A week holiday in Paris, France with my husband. 
• We bought a car.
• Got a job in Ugg Australia and got promoted as a supervisor. 
• Family holiday in Shanghai, China. 
• Celebrated our first wedding anniversary. 

For all these, I'm very grateful and I hope 2015 will be as good or better (who doesn't want a better year?!)

I'm here to wish you all a better year ahead even though it's 7 days late to wish you all but I do hope everyone of you have a better year and more positiveness in 2015!!


Love,
Carol