Let it Snow in Nagoya!

Nagoya is a very metropolitan place. Nothing much, but it felt like you are in a Western country because the buildings, lighting, sights, and sounds really reminds you of New York .. .or something like that.

(1) Pretty light. It feels Christmas~y although technically when we were there it was still CNY.

(2) Bought my two Burberry Blue Label here in Nagoya. Actually, Bear bought the other one for me. *hugs*

(3) And then, while we were minding our business shopping and then on our way to have dinner, it started S.N.O.W.I.N.G~~!! It was the most one of the most shioking event ever in my life!! Totally didn't expect it at all, and it has been my life-long dream to experience falling snow. Granted, it is not a white Christmas .. but I sudah cukup puas. :) Of course, naturally the temperature started dropping rapidly, and I eventually couldn't feel my nose and toes. We quickly scurried back to the comfort of our hotel.

(4) It snowed throughout the night and the following day... and as a result...

(5) Snow-covered everywhere!

(6) According to our guide, this is one of the worst snowfall in Japan. Are we blessed or what? :)

I HEART SNOW ALTHOUGH I WAS FREEZING MY ARSE OFF!!

Love;
Mrs Lee

A Quaint Town Called Kyoto

We did a quick stop-over in Kyoto on our way from Osaka to Nagoya where we eventually put up a night. If given a choice, would love to come back to Kyoto and do a proper visit to this amazing and beautiful place. :)

(1) Compare to Osaka, I prefer Kyoto because there is something rustic and quaint about this town that brings you back to olden day Japan.

(2) .. Like in Memoirs of a Geisha.

(3) In case if you don't know how does a Japanese monk looks like .. Nah here's the picture! :p

(4) We were told in Kyoto all buildings cannot be more than 7-storey high and the colours of the building cannot be too funky. This is to preserve the heritage of Kyoto. 

(5) And yes, this particular street (forgot the name) is littered with street food! Bear was a very happy man. He tried this fishcake thingy which he said is really sedap. For RM16 per stick.

(6) Of course, you have not "tasted" Kyoto if you didn't layan their green tea ice-cream! Bear thoroughly enjoyed it and no, I didn't take cos my hands were freezing cold and was obviously not in the mood for ice-cream. 

Tips : For those who want to buy souvenirs and food-stuff, i highly recommend to do so in Kyoto as they have more varieties and is cheaper. 

Love;

Mrs Lee

Land of Tako Yaki - Osaka

Alright... I admit, for the past few months days I have been neglecting my blog. Reasons: (i) Malas (ii) Busy with work (iii) Undisclosed reason. So, to ease my guilt, I'm going to do a straight-to-the-point write-up on my Japan trip. 

(1) Of course, as usual must start off with a cam-whore picture of myself in the airport. The "freshness" of my look is "faked". Half and hour before landing, I applied make-up. Hehe .. I am vain I know. But hey ~ it's Japan we are talking about! Everyone looks prim and proper ok. 

(2) Yes, you didn't read it wrong. It is called Kansai Airport. Sound vulgar in Hokkien I know. :p

(3) Just to prove a point that it was freezing cold in Japan. Brrr~

(4) Went to the Observatory Deck aka Floating Garden on our own to have a panoramic view of Osaka. 

(5) It was beautiful!

(6) Up on the deck, there is an area for couples to hang their locks. You can buy the locks at the lobby area, if I am not mistaken it cost RM80. And they will engrave it for you. For good luck I guess.

 (7) This is a must-go place. All tour agency will bring you to this place - The Osaka Castle. Small and erm .. nothing fantastic if you ask me. Bear looks like an oversize "warrior". hehehe ~

(8) In Japan, everyone is on-to-go. Everyone seems to be rushing for time. Even no time for lunch hour, evident from the shop that we saw in the subway where people stand and eat. How uncomfortable!

(9) A funny sign we saw.

(10) When visiting a foreign country, I strongly recommend to try their local street food. Really interesting. This is some doriyaki-equivalent thingy. Pretty decent. Taste like kaya-balls. For RM4.

(11) The view during dusk in downtown Osaka is pretty amazing. :)

(12) In my opinion, you have not visited Osaka if you don't go to Doutonbori Street. It is where all the food, shopping, and happening are. We are quite blessed as our hotel is only walking distance to the street.

(13) And in Osaka is where Tako Yaki originated from. So yums ~ We have 3 times when we were there for that 2 days. RM20 each. Not exactly cheap I know. 

(14) Oh So Good. Especially eating it piping hot in the cold!

(15) On our free and easy day, we also went on our own to the Osaka Aquarium.

(16) And the star of the show is the Whale Shark. I think the fella is still in its teens cos it's not that big yet. The ticket for this is not cheap. If I am not mistaken it is RM300 for both me and Bear. Covers the entrance fee (unlimited access) and a full day-pass on the subway.

And that... concludes my Osaka posts. What did i tell you about being straight-to-the-point? :p

Love;
Mrs Lee

Movies I Can't Wait to Watch!!

There are two shows that I am strongly anticipating to watch:

(1) Hunger Games.

A friend of mine told me to be on a look-out for this show. It is apparently better than LOTR. Looking at the trailer, I would believe so. Can't wait to get my hands on the book. :) It's a trilogy by the way.

(2) Snow White & The Huntsman.

Without taking into account that Kirsten Steward is Snow white (urgh!), I think this movie would be pretty good with Charlize Theron playing as the evil witch. :) The trailer looks awesome too.

Can't WAIT!!!

Love;

Mrs Lee

Review : Battle of the Concealers for Under-Eye Bags - Sasa vs Maybelline

By now you must be wondering why am I rambling on and on about make-up and skincare. I am just trying to buy time cos I am too lazy to start on my Japan holiday post(s). In order to sustain my "viewership" (ceh~!), I die-die also must post something right? :p

By now also you should know that I have a massive under-eye bag problem from all those TVB late nights and my life depends I need concealers to cover them up or risk looking zombified.

I have been using Maybelline Angelfit Perfect Concealer for the longest time but somehow I noticed that it doesn't really does the job well. My eyes still looks puffy. :( The only reason why I continued using it is because it is cheap at RM19. hehehe ~ kiamsap~ness

One of those random lunch hours, I dropped by Sasa and the promoter recommended me their own Sasa-brand of concealer for under-eye bags. To me, I felt that there is nothing to lose (except for $$) so I took the plunge and bought it. If I remember correctly, it cost RM20+ (less than RM30 for sure la).

Left: Sasa's concealer glides.
Right: Maybelline's concealer doesn't.

And the difference was astounding! Sasa's concealer looks like a lipstick and it glides upon application. So easy to use! Most importantly, the white inner layer that you see has moisturising properties so it doesn't feel dry. :) Double wow~! It does the job perfectly well. Love it!

Usually what I do is apply a generous amount of the concealer on my under-eye bags, then use a two-way cake foundation to blend it. I will usually put another thin layer of the concealer again after the foundation to minimise the puffy~ness.

Leaked~!!!

With the Sasa's concealer, it can be on-the-go where I can carry it in my handbag and touch up where necessary. My one biggest problem with the Maybelline's concealer is that after a while, it "leaks" .. I found out about it the nasty-way when it stained my precious handbag T_T

So do try the Sasa's concealer. It is really good. And plus point is the moisturising properties which I absolutely love. :)

Love;

Mrs Lee

Review: Remove Your Make-Up without Scrubbing Your Face Off

Now most of us uses foundation and water-proof make-up especially for mascaras and eyeliners. Yes, it looks good and stays on your face the whole day with minimal smearing. Which also means that when it is time to wash it off, it can be a b**ch to do so as well.

I know your predicaments. I have tried many brands (most of them I tried halfway and then threw it away because it doesn't work) from oil-base to water-base to those wipes. None of them cleans your face entirely and somehow you still feel "dirty" with residue of make-up still stuck. Either that, or you would have to scrub it off (literally) until your face becomes sore. -_-"

For some time now I have been taking the easy way out by using Johnson baby oil. I don't recommend this because at the end of the day, you face is darn oily despite washing it off with cleanser. Thank God I didn't experience massive outbreaks ok. phew~

And then, the revelation came (in the form of my mum), and she recommended these two wonder-products which I have been using ever since. And yes, by now you know that I am quite kiamsap a thrifty person so it doesn't cost a bomb. :)

(1) Loreal Gentle Lip and Eye Make-Up Remover (less than RM30).

This product is damn awesome ok!! The upper dark blue layer is oil, and the lower light blue area is erm.. I don't know. You shake it, and then squeeze a little on the cotton pad. Place it on your eye and hold it for a few seconds. Then gently swipe... voila~ you will be amaze that most of your waterproof eye-makeup will be removed. Almost instantly. Amazing~!

(2) Nivea Refreshing Cleansing Milk (less than RM20).

For your foundation, just squeeze onto the cotton pad and gentle wipe your face. Then, you can proceed to clean it off with our normal facial cleanser. What I love about this product is that it is very moisturising and is not oily. It is milky and your face would definately feel very hydrated - it somehows retains the moisture in. Most importantly, it doest the job very well! :)

So yup, that's my two not-so-expensive secrets to make-up removing. I strongly recommend that you use them together. Both products are very gentle on the face and your eye area (very sensitive area!). And it works! :D

Love;

Mrs Lee

101 : Skin Care

Believe or not, I never knew what's with the fuss of people going through the tedious process of skincare and forking out tons of money for the products/facial. I guess all along I've been blessed with extremely good skin (good genes) and I've never bothered to take care of them until ... I was bambu by my colleague. -__-

She was going on and on about having wrinkly and age-spots face when I am older if I don't take care of them now etc etc. And I will lose my "face-glow" whatever that means. O_o"

My facial regime is facial cleanser (any brand that is cheap from Watson/Guardian). That's all. I am very quite suaku and I don't even know what's a toner for. Ok, you may proceed to snicker.

Over a short lunch period session, I was given a crash-course on basic skincare. And I've been religiously following my new regime ever since. Now for those who has relatively good skin, you need not splash on expensive products, (so-called) mediocre products are good enough in my opinion. Trust me when I said my skin was sensitive to Estee Lauder's moisturiser (itch like mad!). So girls, expensive need not mean it is suitable for your skin.

Just my two cents' worth of advice la. *shrug*

For those suaku like me, I shall share my simple and basic skincare tips.

(1) Cleanser - Garnier (less than RM20)

I've been using Garnier for the longest time ever. I love their lemon-y scent and to me it does the job perfectly well, so no need to change brands. 

(2) Toner - Neutrogena (RM19)

I have never ever used a toner before and my colleague gave me the wtf look. The lecture which I got from her was not pleasant at all. I even asked whether if I need to wash it off -_-" (I really thought I need to la!!). She recommended this brand, cheap and good in her words. To me, so long as it doesn't memedihkan my face then it's ok for me. So far so good la.

(3) Sunblock - Vaseline spf 30 (less than RM20)

This is useful not only when you go to the beach. So I learnt that you have to apply as base before putting on your full-on makeup. Apparently no matter where you go, you will get UV rays hence will destroy your face. Or something like that la. I was recommended to use Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Sunblock, but the orange-y smell of Vaseline (yes by now, you would realise I am a sucker for nice smelling products) is too tempting to not buy! I only go through this step in the day time, at night you may skip this step .. unless if you think that flouresant lights in the room or the moon emits UV rays la 0_o

In case if you wanna know, this brand is pretty good in the sense that it is not sticky and doesn't smell sunblock~y if you know what I mean. [p/s: actually what's the correct spf you should get?]

(4) Moisturiser - Odbo Aqua Moisturiser (bought from Korea at RM80)
Yes yes I know I said I won't but expensive stuff but this one was back in 2010 during my honeymoon in Korea that I tangan gatal went and buy with my husband's money *impulse buying* sekali bought two tubes some more hehehe ~ I like it that the moisturiser will dissolve into water-like liquid once you apply on your face. Can't stand sticky products! urgh ~

(5) Eye Cream - Odbo (bought from Korea .. forgot the pricing)
I only use this in the night because I damn malas :p Apparently will help reduce under-eye bags la.. but in my case, it is pretty severe so I don't know if it will work or not. *I blame you TVB!!!!*

To recap:
Morning - Cleanse, Tone, Sunblock, Moisturise, Make-up
Evening - Make-up Remover, Cleanse, Tone
Night - Moisturise, Eye Cream

And that's my new facial regime at this point in time. Surprisingly it doesn't take too long. I know I know there is the facial scrub and mask which I skip. Cut me some slack, I'm a newbie! -_- Too many things and steps for me to remember!

Love;
Mrs Lee