Tuesday, April 19, 2011

...

Hi everyone,

For those who follow me on Twitter, y'all know what happened to me. For those who are in the dark, here is the quick rehash: for the last week, my whole family moved from the house we've been living for 20 years to a rental house. The reason? It's time to rebuild the house.

This year, I've been living in 3 different houses: the one in Florida (which I moved out in February), the old place (which we just moved), and this current rental house. Last week, I ate, slept, and woke up with only one thing on my mind: moving! Twenty years of stuff packed in a week was a lot of work and I'm thankful that it's over. Come to think of it, I'm quite a pro at moving at this point. I don't feel so overwhelmed anymore but instead, I know how to pace out.

Now, the only problem is finding the stuff we packed. It is another pain!

And now, a few pictures of our old front yard. Good bye, old home! You'll be new and splendid again in a few months!

My dad's fish tank
We have some beta fishes :)
Plants and trees
We ended up leaving some plants behind :(
A plant with jagged-edge leaves
That's all for now. I'll do my best to post again this week. I still don't have my table, currently blog with my laptop on top of a night stand :)
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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Introducing New Segment: Burning Makeup Question

Hi everyone,

Due to the lack of FOTD's on Thursday, I decided to implement a new segment called "Burning Makeup Question." Each week, there will be a question about makeup and possibly skincare, too.

To kick start this segment, here is this week's Burning Makeup Question:

What are the colors you cannot wear?
Wanna know my answer? Jump!

For the life of me, I cannot wear gray and taupe. I know a lot of people swear by MAC Satin Taupe and wear gray shirts as if they were the new black. But on me, these two colors just look ashy. Dead. Sickly.

How about you? What are the colors you cannot wear? Please give me your answers in the comment section. I'd love to hear all about it!
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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Za Plumper Lips Lipstick in Pink Pearl Is Cotton Candy Juiciness!

Hi everyone,

Lately, I've been finding myself reaching out for Za Plumper Lips in Pink Pearl a lot. My friend Dreezy in Singapore sent it to me but I did not get a chance to use it as much. Now that I have a nice tan, baby pink and cotton candy pink lipsticks begin to look really good on my skin.

One funny back story: back in the days, I could not wear light-colored pink lipsticks at all since my skin was too pale. I looked like an alien. MAC Pure Rose lipstick (from the Ungaro collection) went to the stash and I didn't even buy Viva Glam Gaga I, although I really wanted it. Both of them, albeit being pink and lovely, were just too pale for me.

But heading to April, 2011, things changed. I got a tan whether I like it or not, and these pale pink lipsticks look really good on moi. When I picked up Pink Pearl from Za again, it was as if everything fell into the right places. It is no longer a tacky pale pink lipstick. It is the pale pink lipstick I love to wear.

Za Plumper Lips lipstick
Love the pink case!
Wanna know how it looks like? Jump!



Shade number 6 is Pink Pearl
And this is how it looks in the tube
On my lips, in the shade
With more sun exposure
Beautiful, isn't it?
Nope, I didn't even use any lip glosses on top. That's how the lipstick looks. It glides like buttah! On top of that, it doesn't smell like anything at all. Just pure moisturizing juiciness. With one layer, you will have just a hint of color. But as you layered it up, Pink Pearl is more opaque.

Color-wise, I think this is the love child of MAC Viva Glam Gaga I and Pink 4 Friday (y'know, the bubblegum pink lipstick Nicki Minaj collaborated with MAC?) Unlike these two MAC lipsticks, Pink Pearl is actually more wearable. Also, it does not look tacky on my skin.

If your skin is around NC30, this lipstick is for you. It actually makes your tan look good. Please get it if you can. I did some search and it costs around $13 SGD (~$10 USD.) The quality, I believe, is better than MAC lustre lipsticks.

Lately, I've found myself in a pink lipstick mood. Everything I use is pale pink and lovely. I even dug up my MAC Pure Rose and Quiet Please! lipsticks and use them. Needless to say, they all look good.

Disclaimer: I got this lipstick as a gift. The opinions are mine and reflected my own experience.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Makeup in Pencil Zip-up Bags: Just Throw It in the Bag!

Hello, my lovelies!

Back to Vietnam means many things to me. One of those things is saying goodbye to my awesome closet full o' makeup. Yup, just a few month ago, my makeup closet had enough product to fuel a small-scale beauty magazine. When I left, I threw away and donated lots of stuff I and carried my best with me. Now, I don't even have a table to put my makeup, which explains the recent lack of FOTDs.

In my parents' house, each square inch on top of the dresser is prime real estate. Therefore, I need to group my makeup wisely. That way, not only I can locate them faster but I can also spot the things I want even before I open the bag.

The solution: zip-up stationary bags for kids!

Like these guys!
 I got 2 after the back to school event last year. The blue one in the background was from that event. It has 3 holes so you can fit it into a 3-ring binder. Since I used both of them and still have plenty of makeup left, I wanted some more and got another 2 in the bookstore near my parents' house.

These guys are really cheap. For the B2S sale, I got them for about 25-30 cents each. The ones I bought in VN are 20 cents each. Can't get anything cheaper than that! Even at dollar store, you get a dingy clear makeup bag that costs a big one already!

Wanna know why I like these clear stationary zip-up bags? Jump!

First of all, I have a thing for clear bags when it comes to makeup. To think of it, I'd prefer to know where my stuff at even before opening the bag. It would be fine to store your makeup in whatever type of container/storage facility if you have less than 10 items. However, with a massive amount of makeup comes the headache of locating them. Since I don't want to open 10 bags in order to find an eyeliner, these guys are perfect.

The second point:

This bad boy haz a zipper, baby!
 If they made sturdier and better-looking Ziplock bags, I would tote my stuff around in them. Sadly, that's not the case. Between the regular zipper and the ziplock-type one, I prefer the later. It glides a lot smoother since there's no teeth for it to snag on.

And now, for those of you who still wonder how many things I can carry in my bag, please take a look at this:

These are all of my regular makeup items. Granted, they don't look like a lot but I have busted a big makeup bag in order to fit them!
However, the stationary zip-up bag is a trouper!
Not only I can see them, they all fit in the bag very nicely.
I also have another bag for my brushes. Since it's very dusty around the house, this type of bag keeps my brushes from the dust. From now on, I would totally travel with these bags. Not only they are cheap, they are also very sturdy and the clear plastic helps me spot my makeup items even before opening them.

How about you? How do you store your makeup?

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Monday, April 4, 2011

My Trip to Cambodia, Part 1

Hey y'all!

Since I came back to Vietnam, I've been traveling extensively. One trip after another but I did not feel so tired. In fact, I've come to a realization that I love traveling, as long as it does not involve full body scans and waiting for hours at the airport. Traveling here in Vietnam is quite easy and inexpensive. When an opportunity arose for me to travel to Cambodia, I took it. And boy oh boy! It was fun!

It had been my dream to travel to Cambodia for such a long time and now that I got a chance to fulfill it, I felt very fortunate. Here is a recap of my 4-day, 3-night trip. I took a total of 766 photos and I decide to break it into a series of entries. Otherwise, I would be an intense (and long) entry!

Here it is. I hope you'll enjoy!
Day 1

Breakfast at Trang Bang, a province at the border of Vietnam and Cambodia
The soup was not all that, I guess they took us to the wrong restaurant :(
The herb smells like five-spice powder. I ate it with the soup and it was very yummy!
About to cross the Vietnam-Cambodia border
Same area but has different names: Moc Bai (Vietnam) and Bavet (Cambodia)
More pictures of my journey in Cambodia after the jump. So jump!

Somewhere in Cambodia. I took a picture of an ad about Angkor
Ate dinner at Pho Ha Noi/ Golden Cow restaurant
They sell Vietnamese food here with decent price and quality. I had a rice dish for dinner and I was FULL!
Angkor is a brand of Cambodian beer. This ad was everywhere.
The hotel. The room was big and very clean.
My roommate was an 81 year-old lady. We didn't know each other prior to the trip and she is the coolest 81 year-old lady I've ever known!
Day 2: Visiting Angkor, baby!

Map of Angkor
Angkor is a part of Siem Reap that consists of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and many other smaller temples, including Ta Prohm (where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider.) We spent the whole day there and it was divine!

Various trees and shrubs
We arrived at the Southern face of Angkor Thom. This was the entrance when the king came back victoriously from a battle. This side of the entrance had statues of gods...

while the other side has statues of the devils.
These statues depicted the battle between the Gods and the Devils for the Elixir of Youth. According to the tour guides, the Gods and the Devils had a truce: the Gods would hold the Elixir of Youth for a couple of years and then passed it on to the Devils. However, the Gods drank the elixir and once the Devils found out, they raised war.
Southern entrance.
Buses were not allowed inside. We had to rent a smaller car to get into Angkor Thom, which was 3 km away from the entrance.
Engraving statue of an apsara, who is believed to be half-woman, half-goddess.
Rock everywhere!
Arrived at the Bayon, Angkor Thom's state temple. Built during the pre-industrial period, the whole site was made of rocks stacking on top of each other.
The famous four-sided face tower
There are so many of them.
Another face tower. Each face symbolizes a different emotion: happiness, anger, love, and jealousy.
A dancing troupe with some tourists mixed in. You pay them $1 USD to take pictures.
A headless statue
Raiding for antiques was real, not just in Tomb Raider. I saw many headless statues around Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. 
Tail-less lion
Maybe someone stole his tail or the weather took it away. Anyways, it was an interesting sight. I could not help but take a picture.
That's all for today. More photos of my trip in Cambodia next week. Have a nice day, everyone!
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