Monthly Archives: September 2011

My cheaponess at its best!

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Im typing this as I’m on the Vienna bound train and I just cannot contain my excitement as we just managed to bag ourselves a free Day Vorteilscard which is similar to the Young Person’s Railcard in the UK where cardholders are entitled to 1/3 off rail fares. The Vorteilscard on the other hand allows a good 50% off train travel and usually costs €19 for a yearly card (methinks)

We were at the Linz station when the unhelpful people at the Information counter asked us to use the self-service ticket machines. We checked the prices and gaped at the cost: €53.10 for two single tickets to Vienna.

Egad. Earlier, the bf happily informed me train tickets to Vienna were ‘cheap at only €13 per person’. Bah. Being the usually difficult and bitchy person that I am, I started telling the bf off and he kept insisting ‘no no it is really €13!’

We went back to the information counter, a different one this time and were told the same thing, that it costs €53.10 unless you purchase a Vorteilscard.

The cheapskate in me then decided to join the ticketing queue to ask if they do ‘student discounts’ hehe and guess what?

We got ourselves a free Day Vorteilscard!!

All I did was ask very nicely if they do special prices for students and the man handed me two forms and tadah! Two singles to Vienna for €28.10, which gives me some allowance for *cough* more make up *cough* or even my favourite up of Nespresso bought on board the train for a hefty €2.70 :p

Any of you have similar cheapskate experiences? Do share! :p

p/s: I’m feeling a lot better now, thank you for all of your encouraging comments *big group hug* I will reply comments as soon as I get free Internet in our Viennese hostel so please bear with me!

I detest wordy photo-less posts so I’m ending this post with my cuppa Nespresso coffee. Can you smell the aroma of freshly brewed coffee enticing you to grab a mug yourselves? :p

Stay safe everyone! :)

This is getting a bit much, no?

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Hello everyone,

I am exhausted. The last few weeks have been rather difficult for me and the people around me. Been going all over the place with journeys beginning at the airport, rushing to catch long distance trains up to the midlands, coming back to South East England (where I live) again… And now as luck would have it I’m at the airport, no not waiting for someone as before but this time I’m boarding a plane, heading somewhere not too far away (but far enough)

Having had less than 3 hours’ sleep last night, my eyes are bloodshot, I feel incredibly groggy and my grey matter’s been blast off into space. Forgive these hyperboles but i do need a place to vent when everything seems ever so bleak at the moment.

It’s times like these I thank whoever’s up there for blessing me with my lovely friends, blogger ladies #crazyaunties you know who you are and my family for always being here for me. I’m also thankful I’ve got a more than lovely uncle and aunt whom I consider my ‘other parents’ when I’m here as they would always go the extra mile for me or even those around me.

This is getting a bit long for all of you, isn’t it? I’m sorry I haven’t been replying comments / skype / twitter as I havent been online (yes Hanny my phone’s skype is always logged in as my bf always uses it to call home) but I promise I will be back and if I can I will blog from Vienna! :)

Thank you for hanging in there, sweeties! :)

Here’s a very random shot of a Virgin Train, photo edited with Snapseed. ;)

Budget travelling part 1

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As I type this I am sitting on a train jam-packed to the brim, heading to Wolverhampton as a close and dear friend is having some serious emotional issues. We decided to travel on a small budget this time (we normally do travel as cheaply as possible) but this is my first no-frills holiday. No frills being not having an en suite shower / toilet in my hotel room and…. Eating posh but cheap Boots Meal Deals. Costs £3.69 and tastes yummy. Better still, it covers my next day’s breakfast :p

Because I feel obliged to do so.

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Le sigh. This is what happens when you have lovely blogger friends who are quite persistent. =p Lily for one has always encouraged me to apply eye liner when you all know I have the most watery eyes and shakiest hands. With these two ‘ailments’ combined you will either blind yourself or, like me, just give up on eye liner already. 
So this Hanny and Lily have also been pressuring me into doing a FOTD and being the most obliging person that I am (yeah roll your eyes already) I will present you with one. 
I have newfound respect for those of your lovely photogenic bloggers / people out there who diligently apply make up and take FOTDs because I do not even know what my ‘perfect angle’ is because when I look at myself in the mirror only one word comes to mind:
FAT


+___+
Without further ado, I shall let you into the products I used:
1. Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua
2. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-2
3. Lancome Eclat Miracle Universal Radiance Booster
4. By Terry Touche Veloutee 01 Porcelain
6. BareMinerals Hydrating Mineral Veil
7. Guerlain Meteorites 
10. Bobbi Brown Sephia Ink Longwear Gel Liner
I really am on a roll with the Chanel eyeshadow, as you can see =D As all (if not most) pencil liners smudge on me, I actually gave the Bobbi Brown Gel Liner a go as I hear it does not budge upon application. 
I lined my upper lash line and lower waterline with my Ruby and Millie eyeliner brush and surprise surprise! It wasn’t that difficult to do after all though I did cringe quite a bit when I saw the brush coming towards my naked eye.  
 I think I may have applied the eyeshadow a little too sheerly but I’m not too keen on having an overly made up look as I was only going to dinner and I didn’t want to overdo it though this is a lot more than what I’d wear on an everyday basis. 
What do you think? I would really appreciate any comments as I know I’m the worst person ever when it comes to make up! =) Thank you! 

Yet another filler post

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As I make yet another futile attempt at sorting my life out.

I love Canterbury as the walls of the much older buildings (usually churches) are adorned with agate-like stones and they never fail to put a smile on my face.

Oh yes I’m weird like that ;)

Review: Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel

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I don’t know why it took me so long to review one of my most favourite cleansers! I was introduced to Mario Badescu’s skin care products two years ago by a friend who swears by their Enzyme Cleansing Gel which then prompted me to purchase one as I was running out of my usual random drugstore cleanser at the time.
Cleansers are the one thing I’m not fussed with as I believe cleansers are only used to remove sunscreen / make up and daily grime so I don’t invest in them. I usually just pop into Boots and buy what’s on offer, usually a Neutrogena one (terribly drying, them ones) or Clinique as I love to take advantage of their lovely GWPs. =p 
I have to admit this is one of the strangest cleansers I’ve used. It’s green (obviously) and does have a certain shimmer to it and the best bit? It does not lather at all. 
Touted as their best selling cleanser, the Enzyme Cleansing Gel supposedly removes make up and does not dry the skin even though it consists of natural AHAs from the Papaya and Grapefruit extracts. 
Even though it claims to be able to remove make up, I still use my Kose Speedy Cleansing Oil as I don’t want to go to bed with a dirty face and wake up with zits all over! =p So I still double cleanse but this cleanser really does brighten the skin and leaves your skin so soft and smooth! I actually don’t mind the fact that the product does not lather up at all but those of you who are used to having foaming cleansers might find using this strange at first.
The fact that it’s quite an affordable cleanser with minimal packaging (yay!) is an added plus! This costs £10.95 and lasts me over 3 months with everyday use so it’s not too bad really. =) 
I haven’t experienced a softening cleanser before so this really is a gem to me and I will continue to repurchase again and again, which means this definitely is my Holy Grail cleanser =D 

Meet The Parents.

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Through the contents of a parcel. 
I received a parcel earlier today and am astounded at how Mum managed to make sure the parcel reached me today *cough birthday cough*
They are really badly taken photos but I just couldn’t contain my excitement so here they are!! 
Heavy box filled to the brimmed and air-flown! 
I really like the blue. #random
Anyway I took a really quick photo once I took the lid off! 
Bee Hoon / Rice Noodles / Rice Vermicelli whatever you want to call it! I’m quite the fussy eater when it comes to eating Bee Hoon (my favourite type of noodles… Will get there later) and I have tried so many brands here (Yeos, River something etc.) but all those noodles are extremely starchy and are practically limp when placed in noodles. 
I have to ask Mum on what brand she gets but it’s quite difficult to get hold of as you can only get them at Tesco Extra in Shah Alam as well as in some other places but I’m not too sure about that! I love this because it’s not starchy and stays firm and even springy when drenched with soup! So very yummy and a huge staple of mine!
Onto the topic of noodles… My stomach does not handle Koay Teow / Hor Fun / Flat Rice Noodles well as it’s very oily and it makes me bloated so I try to avoid them when I can. Yellow / egg noodles contain a crazy amount of alkaline water so I stay away from them too! =)
Mum sent a crazy amount of Ginseng too and I’m having a nice cuppa Ginseng tea as I’m typing this. Yums!! 
Dear readers, I have MOONCAKES TOO!!!! *drools* I can’t wait to have mooncake and sip chinese tea tonight!! Better late than never! 
Moving on to the heavier items:
(From L-R)
1. My all-time favourite Light Soya Sauce I can’t live without! I have a penchant for half-boiled eggs in the morning and I cannot live without a few drops of this particular brand of soy sauce! Try it and you will love it! Mother darling sent a huge bottle of this good stuff over yum yum yum!!
2. Life Ginger Marinade. Amazing for everything. Chicken, Fish, Duck, whatever. Just slap this marinade on, leave it overnight and cook the next day. Tastes delicious when paired with Oyster Sauce. =D
3. Ulam Sauce. I love steaming fish and then serve with a dollop of Ulam Sauce on top! Very tasty!
4. Erm. To be honest I don’t know why Mum popped this in but it’s very nice Assam… If you like Assam, that is! I don’t eat it very much as I’m not very fond of such snacks. It really helps if you’re feeling ill though. 
One more!
Chinese Herbs!!
I love herbal soup. Nothing beats having a nice warm bowl (maybe two) of herbal soup in winter! Yet another fav I cannot live without! 
Thank you Mum and Dad for one of the best ever birthday presents!! =) 
Oh, and Happy Malaysia Day to all Malaysians! 

Lily’s Hosting a Fab Giveaway!

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Lily, a blogger friend of mine is hosting this amazing giveaway where she will be choosing not one but THREE winners! 
This Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL (yay for those of us not living in Malaysia) and all you’ve got to do is follow her blog on GFC (you must be a public follower) and check out her post on how to gain more entries! =D
I’m really excited about this as I have my eye on that Pulse Perfection Mascara (and everything else, of course) 
This giveaway ends on the 15th of October but that does not give you any room to procrastinate! Now get along and participate in her lovely giveaway!

*sad face*

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I know it’s still a good day away from me turning 23 but it does seem really different this year. Fact that I’m not celebrating it with Mum and Dad whose b’days are only a couple of days apart from mine makes me feel even more homesick. :’(

Guess I’ll be celebrating with a pathetic slice of cake and coffee.

Sorry am being emo and having fun with the new Blogger app for iPhone so please excuse this attention-seeking filler post. :)

Chanel Illusion D’Ombre in Illusoire 83

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Of late, I’ve been crazy about cream-based make up products. First cream blushes and now eyeshadows! I have the gorgeous Hanny  to thank as she’s been encouraging me to give eyeshadows a go and after going through many of her FOTDS  I decided to take the plunge and got myself not one, but two cream shadows! 
I have a thing for persistent sales assistants. I would almost always walk in with one product in mind and then walk away with a completely different product. I’m a victim of hard-selling, sigh! I’ve been going on and on with Hanny (and also on my lust list) on how much I wanted the Chanel Illusion D’ombre in Emerveille which is a nice peachy colour but upon approaching the Chanel counter in Debenhams in Westfield the lovely SA insisted I purchased Illusoire as it’s a ‘unique shade and would look lovely on my brown eyes.’

For the record, my eyes aren’t that brown. I think it’s more black than anything but oh wells. I kept touching Emerveille but she just kept taking me further and further away from the colour, saying it’s quite a common colour and I can easily get dupes in MAC or even in drugstore brands!  
*waves white flag*
It was between this and the green-ish eyeshadow but I thought I might as well head for Illusoire as I already purchased some greens from Inglot earlier.
Photo time!
The little tub contains 4g of product and comes with a nifty little brush that doubles as an all-over-eye brush as well as an eyeliner brush as shown in this diagram:
When I looked at the eyeshadow in store, it looked purple in the tub but when swatched, it leans towards grey / brown! 
Here’s how it looks in the tub:
I’m sure it’s the horrible lighting I had when I took this photo but it doesn’t look purple at all, does it? I love the bounciness of this eyeshadow! As this is my first cream eyeshadow, I wasn’t expecting such a firm texture as I’ve always thought of cream shadows to be somewhat soft! 
Here’s a swatch taken without flash under natural daylight:
With flash:
I have a feeling my camera hates purples because I can’t seem to see any purple hues in these swatch photos! I did my very best to stand outside the house (it was at about 1pm so there should be enough daylight) but the swatches still came out rather grey! =( Maybe I was being too stingy with the swatches hehehe, not enough swipes for the purple to show up! =p
Swatches aside, I think this looks quite nice on me when paired with Rimmel’s Colour Mousse in 006 Get Fresh (also a new addition to my stash) which is a shimmery pink:
All done with my fingers! =D I applied Get Fresh all over my lids as a base (no primer) and then gently blended Illusoire in starting from the outer lid! I uhm, ‘lined’ my eyes with Illusoire too and then smudged it out with my baby finger. =p 
As for staying power… Would you believe the above photo was taken more than 10 hours after application? I went out at 9am and this photo was taken at about 8pm after dinner. Amazing, isn’t it? No touch-ups whatsoever and I have a bad habit of rubbing my eyes whenever dust gets into it so both the cream shadows survived the vigorous rubbing! 
Pressed eyeshadows have always intimidated me as I never knew how to blend eyeshadows with brushes or even with my fingers but I’m now starting to enjoy using cream shadows very much as they are not only a joy to apply but they do not budge once worked onto your lids! 
Certainly one of my best purchases in a while! =D