suki pooki

~majolica majorica puff de cheek macaron blush ~

2012-02-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to pop by the mall to pick up a card for my bf for Vday. In the end I just purchased a cute "thinking of you" type card because the Vday card section was swamped with a lot of guys. There were guys with suits, casual clothes, young teen boys and middle aged men. Needless to say I didn't want to "fight" with this hoard and decided to go with the easier route lol They also all seemed very thoughtful in picking a card, they actually read what was inside the card and if it wasn't sufficient or didn't please them they'd pick up another one etc. No, I didn't stand to watch them but it wasn't hard to miss this action since it was literally at the very front of the store lol cute!

Anyways, I'll be doing a review on the Majolica Majorica Puff de Cheek Macaron blush. I just checked ebay and they are selling for around 20$CAD from a reputable seller, so the price isn't too bad but I guess it really depends on how much shipping is =S

~ packaging ~

The blush comes in a round tin container, probably relating to it's name, macaron.

I bought the shade PK301. The other shades are 302 and 303. I believe there was also two other limited edition shades but don't quote me on that.

There is 7g of product which I found quite surprising since the popular NARS blushes only have about 4.5g of product. <-- according to sephora lol I've yet to own a nars blush yet, they just seem so pricey!

The puff it comes with is extremely soft and I love that bow detail! This is also small enough to easily fit into a to-go makeup bag or your purse.

Everything in the container. There is a plastic sheet separating the blush and puff.

The colour is really lovely and easily buildable, I really love it! I use the puff to apply the colour and as odd as it seems, I really like using the puff! I was skeptical about the puff at first, thinking it was probably more of a decorative item than an actual tool but I've been proven wrong. =) If you don't like the puff you could also just use a blush brush too but because of the design of the packaging, it would probably be a bit hard to use a brush. You would basically be "jabbing" at the blush since the container is quite small.

I really wish I bought more colours now, I love this blush!

~ honey sticks ~

Some honey sticks I bought at the Christmas market, these were really yummy!

Valentines day is tomorrow so I'll probably be back with a post about that at the end of the week or by next week! Oh and you might have already seen a photo of the macaron blush if you saw my tumblr page =P

Happy Valentines Day!

~ afternoon tea at shangri-la ~

2012-02-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

Ever since the Shangri-la, one of my most favorite places for afternoon tea, discontinued the service on weekdays, I haven't been able to go for half a year or more! I work every weekend but was able to get last weekend off and took full advantage of that!

I still called ahead to make sure I had a window seat, I really don't like being stuck in the middle of the lounge =S Also, they have a lovely piano player which makes the experience all that more enjoyable!

~ setting ~

The setting hadn't changed from the last time I was there, don't forget to put your strainer above your tea cup before pouring the tea! I got early grey as always =P

~ the tiers ~

The theme for tea this time was Valentines day! When I went around the same time last year it was a Chinese New Year theme ---> here!

~ savory tier ~

My bf's favorite tier! Everything here was scrumptious and perfectly balanced!

~ scones ~

The scones were divine! They were warm, crispy and tasted delicious with the clotted/devonshire cream!

~ sweets ~

My favorite was the macaron!!!! It was chocolate filled and was oh-so-yummy! The chocolate brownie piece was also really good but by that time I was too full to finished it >< The pink heart is made of white chocolate with krispy pieces inside.

I really enjoyed this tea experience this time, what made it even more special was that my bf requested the pianist to play disney songs!!!! He said it would make me feel like I was in Disneyland, the most magical place on earth hahahaha and it did! Thanks hun!

As I mentioned before, you can read my Chinese New Year tea experience here from last year to compare the difference, I much preferred the Valentines day theme though!

It's midterm season = hermit season~ I'll be responding comments slowly! I've typed up a review for the macaron blush >< I keep forgetting to post it though! I hope everyone has been doing well! I can't wait for spring to arrive!

Till next time!

~ catching up ~

2012-01-30T16:28:00.000-08:00

Bf and I spent a day downtown a few weeks ago and here are some photos w/captions! Not too much is going on right now since I'm back in school = hwk and becoming lazy I must say hahaha Other than that the weather is warming up, there's less rain = no more grumpy suki! =D

I finally got a chance to go to Theirry's after having lunch at The Italian Kitchen (which I didn't like btw). Theirry's is a cute little shoppe where half of it is a cafe and the other half is where you can order dreamy desserts and macarons to go.

Gorgeous macarons! The colours were all so brilliant my camera doesn't do them any justice!

The other pasteries also looked delicious! Bf told me to get some but I was too full from lunch to even want to attempt eating these.

Gorgeous!

Drool......

~ lv display ~

We walked by the lv store and they had these deliciously cute displays! They are currently selling a bag charm that looks like the cherry on display =)

~ macarons ~

We bought 7 macarons and if I can remember properly we got pumpkin, cranberry, hazelnut....pistachio......apple cinnamon...and I can't remember the others. The macarons are BIG compared to other one's I've had but that's it, there is nothing special about these macarons. I much prefer the ones from the Urban Tea Merchant.

~ aquarium ~

Afterwards we went to the aquarium to check out their luminescence displays.

Pretty! This isn't the actual display btw LOL The actual displays are in the animal exhibits where they replace the lights with black lights and then the animals glow in the dark!

A birdie almost pooped on me and my new bag!!!

Pretty......my favorite animal in the aquarium is the green anaconda but I can almost never get a good photograph of them =(

We actually were in time for the shark feeding! I felt so lucky because the aquarium doesn't feed the animals on a "schedule" because they don't want the animals to get into a routine so it is random to make it as natural as possible for the animal. The diver was feeding the sharks squid and a type of small fish with extended clamps =)

~ cute ~

Some adorable garbage baskets we saw at Daiso! I was soooo tempted to get them!

For those who live in Vancouver the aquarium is opening their registration for their Valentines Sleepover! You get to sleep by the belugas, do a cooking workshop, have a gourmet breakfast and spend the morning going through the aquarium =) Sounds soooo romantic. If any of you are wondering why I'm not doing it, it's because 1.) no interest in the cooking workshop and 2.) bf is germ phobic and the idea of sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor grosses him out greatly. If any of you opt to do it let me know because I'd love to see photos and hear about your experience! Bf and I are still trying to figure out what we're going to do for Vday this year!

Till next time!

~ seattle, snow, home ~

2012-01-29T01:21:00.000-08:00

A week or two ago bf and I decided to pop down to Seattle to shop and get some vitamins for his mum. It snowed a few days ago but not so badly that we couldn't go anywhere. We got across the border and quickly realised that Seattle had recieved a LOT more snow than Vancouver! Which was so unusual in the area that all the malls and stores closed super early. So we basically only went to Costco and Target......but honestly, I loved it despite no shopping lol Long car rides are my thing and when it was snowy out it felt super cozy inside the warm car!

~ brekkie ~

I think we actually had noodles before we left but we decided to grab a drink for the long car ride there. To be honest, I try not to drink too much on long rides since I've got a peanut bladder....

I never knew that Starbucks gave out those little green sticks to keep your drink warm?/ stir it? I ordered a Tazo Earl Grey Latte btw and really liked it! =D Though my bf said it's just overpriced early grey tea with milk lol!

~ lucky ~

My bf's "lucky" talisman in his car.....it reminds me of old men and taxis in Hong Kong lol

I was actually waiting for him to buy socks at the outlet. I didn't want to brave the cold winds and snow so I stayed in the warm car =P

OMG! I know right? Some of you must be flipping out on how I can place my bag (and not just cause it's designer) on the floor but I do.....not for every bag but I always do for this bag. LOL I don't like to have anything on my lap when I'm in the car (except Duffy) and I take off my shoes because I sit cross legged on the seat.

I want to try driving to California or Alberta in the summer time =D I proposed this idea to bf and he said of course I'd love it, since I wouldn't be the one driving hahahaahaha so true!

~ beautiful ~

The snow covered trees were beautiful, like a winter wonderland.

~ Mcdonalds popcorn chicken? ~

We both flipped when we saw this! We don't have this in Vancouver and Bf loves popcorn chicken-like things and I love Mcdonalds Thai sauce!!! <3 I want some now ><

My attempt at taking a photo where it looks like someone else is taking it.....fail! I look like I'm just pissed off at my drink hahaha

OMG! Sharkie had a MOOSE-STACHE! <-- how I pronounce mustache hahaha He was unbelievably dirty and frozen up! We took him to a car wash back at home a few days later and I felt so bad for the people who had to wash him ><

This was actually suppose to be my "outfit" of the day photo hahaha This is pretty much how I look all the time now, often with a scarf if I'm busing and I LOVE those shoes! I bought those little booties in HK for less than 40$ =)

~ pokemon vending machine ~

A pokemon vending machine! You can buy plushies, pokemon cards and even DS games!

~ red lobster ~

I didn't mind going home to eat but bf thought it would be such a waste of a drive if we didn't eat here especially since all the malls and stores were closed!

My dinner which I thought was just "meh". I personally don't like grilled/bbq food too much and the rice wasn't great either, I would have preferred a baked potato.

I really miss doing these kinds of posts! Ever since I got back from my trip I was in such a "hurry" to push out all my travel posts that I've kind of skimmed on the "diary" portion of this blog. Next time I go on a trip I'll definitively try to space things out so my life doesn't get left behind on my blog hahaha

Till next time!

P.s I just viewed my blog on my bf's mac and I realized the colours looked so much nicer there and my font wasn't too bright to read. Of course bf took the opportunity to let me know all about the screens specs and what not -.-

~ skinfood good afternoon peach green tea bbcream ~

2012-01-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going to be doing a short review on the SkinFood bb cream I bought in HK! The one I bought is Peach Green Tea which is part of their Good Afternoon bb cream line. This one is targeted for those who have oil/combination skin. The other types such as Berry Berry has ani-wrinkle properties and Apple Cinnamon Tea is meant to brighten =) This will be a brief review so I won't be going into depth with ingredients etc. Since I'm no good with that anyway lol

If you don't have a skinfood store around your area you can try looking on ebay! I just checked ebay right now and they are easy to find and really affordable too at around 10$cad a bottle with free shipping too!

~ packaging ~

I thought the packaging was adorable and had a very natural feel with the cardboard box and neutral colours which is something I personally think defines SkinFood packaging.

I really love the small pinhole opening for the bbcream because it really gives you full control of how much product you want to squeeze out. Unlike my Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer which is very hard to control and I will sometimes "oversqueeze".

~ back~

On the back is a brief description of the product and how to use it.

~ swatch? ~

I personally love this bbcream! It does smell but it smells heavenly! Sooo good, unlike the tinted moisturizer I have lol But if you are very sensitive to smells, good or bad, you might want to rethink this one. Though once you apply it to your face the smell will eventually disappear.

The coverage is not bad. I wouldn't say it's like foundation but it does have a heavier coverage than the Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer (sorry but this the only thing I can compare it to since I don't use foundations and the like ><) Also, from what I know I believe it only comes in one shade =( While the bbcream does have 20spf I think that will be really insufficient during the summer but for the winter time when there's not much sun, it will pass for me =)

As for oil control.....this is the only area that I was disappointed in. It didn't give me breakouts or zits etc. But I did have to blot during the day and I basically didn't feel any sort of "oil control" taking place BUT the plus side is that this bbcream will keep your face looking relatively matte even when you're oily and I personally like the matte look myself. I'm assuming that the other two bbcreams in this line will give you a more dewy look though I can't say for certain.

~ size ~

While I don't have much to complain about this product and I really love it in general, the only thing that bugged me the most (more than the oil thing) was the sheer size of this bottle. It's just tiny!!! I only use a pea sized amount but I'm already going through the bottle relatively quick and I don't even wear it everyday! =( I know it's inexpensive but it's just a hassle to have to buy more bottles, I wish they just made one that is the same size as my tinted moisturizer.

~ boo ~

And now a horrible photo of me BUT I do have the bbcream on lol I know it's not a close up but you get the drift =) Can you see my double bags in this photo? LOL and please excuse the mess in the background, I dunno why I left my wardrobe wide open -.-

That's it for now! I'm planning on reviewing the macaron blush I got next since these are two items I've been using regularly for awhile and feel confident to do a decent review on. Things like facial washes etc. will have to wait a bit just because I don't wait to use too many new products at once but right now I'm using the hado labo toner and I love it!

Till next time!

~ afternoon tea at hong kong disneyland ~

2012-01-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

It's time to bring on the Chinese new year! I've decided that I'm NOT going to make a new years resolution list but instead I'm just going to focus on staying positive! Besides, I usually have the same goals each year lol I'm going to be blogging about my afternoon tea experience at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel! I'll start off by saying that I highly recommend this, especially if you are planning a day at Disney Land. The park at Hong Kong is fairly small so you will definitively be able to make time for this! However, you probably won't be able to do both this AND Disney dim sum in one day since they are both available at pretty much the same time, so if you have dim sum most likely you won't be able to make it on time for this or you will be way too stuffed! Both Disney dim sum and afternoon tea at in the same hotel and you don't need to buy a park ticket to enter! I went to Disneyland twice but only went into the park on one of those days.

Again, you can access the hotel by either taking the free shuttle once you get off the mtr or you can also walk there, it takes about 20mins. The afternoon tea is held in the lobby, which you can see once you get into the hotel. You can also call in advance to make a reservation if you are scared it will be busy.

~ Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel ~

The huge window at the lobby from which you can see the large mickey shaped maze outside!

My bf and I both ordered earl grey tea but his was iced and mine was hot. I love Disney's earl grey tea! I tried to find a can of it for sale but there was none =(

Another special and unique thing at this afternoon tea was that there were two choices of tea sets. One was the western tea set, which is the one that is normally served with the scones and finger sandwiches. The other was an asian one! It had dim sum and chicken skewer! Needless to say we ordered one of each to try LOL

~ Western afternoon tea set ~

Tiers were very pretty!

~ sweets ~

There were only three types of sweets but they were quite large and everything was delicious! I especially loved the piece with the strawberry on it the best!

~ savory tier ~

I love the Disney touches!!! The savory tier was good too though I wouldn't say amazing but I really enjoyed it nonetheless!

~ duffy at tea ~

I bring Duffy to all the Disney parks with me!

~ Asian afternoon tea set ~

The asian one! I was quite excited to see this set since it seemed so different! (Though my bf said it was really just random types of asian food thrown together on a pretty plate hahaha)

~ dim sum ~

....was alright, not too shabby but not great?

~ bottom tier ~

Chicken skewer, spring roll....and I can't remember what those other pieces were lol but I remember these were pretty yummy! It was actually quite nice to have something this salty and savory at tea!

~ the middle tier ~

The green and red pudding was delicious!!! Oh and inside that white little dish was mango pudding which was soooooo good too!

~ disney touches !

I love the disney touches! Oh and that jam was black currant! I LOVE black currant flavored stuff, I normally don't like jam and would never put it on my scone but this time I smothered that stuff on like no tomorrow!

On the website it says the tea sets are 178$hkd each which means it's about 23$cad! That's one of the lowest priced tea sets I've ever had and it was amazing, even the bf said the price was great! Afternoon tea is offered from 2pm-6pm, as I mentioned, you've got lots of time to try this if you have a whole day at Disneyland! I'll be reply comments throughout the weekend!

Till next time!

~ hongkong& tokyo 2011 haul post ~

2012-01-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

THE POST YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

No I'm not dead yet lol just been busy (lazy) and yeah....I actually took the photos a while ago but didn't upload them = reason why this post is so late. I was originally going to post up the last tea post, which is the Disney one but I figured that people are probably getting a bit bored of those tea posts and hence this one =)

I haven't been able to try all the products yet but I am planning on doing reviews on most if not all of these so once again thanks for your patience lol *sigh* uploading these photos makes me want to go back to HK and Tokyo because I there are many things I forgot/regret not purchasing!!!

Without further ado!....( Long post!)

~ skinfood ~

It's really hard to get your hands on skinfood products here in Vancouver, unless your willing to pay double the price for it, the easiest way to get them would be ebay and even then you might not always be able to find the newest items. But lo and behold Hong Kong had their very own skinfood store!!! I really went wild in there and bought so much stuff that I was able to join their customer appreciation(?) list hahaha

Products from left to right:

Milk & Honey Body Lotion

Royal Honey Mask (2)

Salmon Brightening Eye Serum (on the top) <--smells like heaven!

Royal Honey Nutrition Cream (Anti-wrinkle affect)

Milk & Honey Body Wash

Good Afternoon (peach green tea) bbcream

The smaller packets on the top right hand side are samples the sweet sales associate gave me which consists of Royal Honey Hydro Essence, Royal Honey Toner, Royal Honey Nutrition Cream and a Black Sesame mask sample! The Milk & Honey Body lotion and body wash were actually gifts I received for becoming a member! I was astonished by how large these bottles were and honestly think it was worth the money I spent there lol The sales associate also told me that the Royal Honey products is their newest line and she was also very good at giving me recommendations that suited my skin type as well as for the weather here in Vancouver, I wish I got her name, she was so sweet!

~ my beauty diary ~

My Beauty Diary products were easy to find but I got most of my products at Sasa and Bonjour since their stores were readily available anywhere =)

Products from left to right:

Peach Soda Lip Makeup Remover

Strawberry Yogurt Amino Acid Cleanser

Sleep Concentrate

Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub

2 x packs of Chocolate Truffle Masks

Early Grey Macaron Mask

I actually gave the acid cleanser and sleep concentrate away as a xmas gift so I won't able to review those. Oh and I was sooooo excited to see those masks in HK cause they were really hard to get my hands on here in Vancouver, at the time I could only find them on ebay for 18$usd for a box of ten and I refused to pay that price but now they are actually available at T&T, my local supermarket for a reasonable price! So happy!

~ facial cleansers etc. ~

Products from left to right:

Biore's Marshmallow Foam

Hello Kitty Apple Gommage

Hadanomy Collagen Wash

Hello Kitty Collagen Wash

There were so many types of cleansers that I didn't know which ones to choose! I bought the Biore one because Xiaxue used it before, Hello Kitty cause they're so adorable and the Hadanomy one because it was featured everywhere! Can't wait to try them! They are also all reasonably priced =)

~ mascaras etc. ~

Products from left to right:

Panasonic Electric Eyelash Curler

dejavu Fiberwig Extra Long Mascara

HbG x Fairdrops Mascara

Dolly Wink Volume Mascara

Mascaras! Im a huge fan of mascaras because I really think it's something that makes your eyes pop! (In real life, not photos) I gifted the HbG one away but I've been using the Dolly Wink one recently and love it, so review soon! I bought the Panasonic curler in Tokyo and never realized there were different types of curlers if you want to achieve different "looks" I thought there was just one type!

~ blushes, lipgloss etc...~

Products from left to right:

Hadalabo x Disney Toner

Tony Moly Coffee Scrub

Eyebrow Trimming Scissors

Revlon Lip Conditioner

Winnie The Pooh Blotting Sheets

Majolica Majorica Peach Macaron Blush

Candy Doll Lipgloss

Paul and Joe Lipstick & Blush

Smart Cute Hair Bun Tool

Whew...that was quite a list! I've already used half of these products so far! Some were disappointing but others were amazing! =D The majority of them were from HK but some were from Tokyo.

~ shampoos ~

Hair products!!!

Products from left to right:

Tsubaki Damage Care Conditioner

Ma Cherie Moisture Shampoo

Ma Cherie Moisture Conditioner

Tsubaki Damage Care Hair Spray

Ma Cherie End Cure Milk

I only showed one pack of the Tsubaki refill conditioner but I actually about about 6 packs or more hahaha if anyone is wondering, they fill up about 90%ish of the bottle once you pour it in. I bought the Ma Cherie ones because they were sooo pretty and by Shiseido, one of my favorite cosmetic companies!

~ duffy buys! ~

Of course I had to get my Duffy bear clothes in Tokyo! They were pretty price, at about 3800yen a set which is 50$cad!!! And I bought three! My bf thought I was going crazy hahaha Actually there was the special set of Duffy clothes going for 130$ and I wanted to get it but bf talked some sense into me and once I got home.....I started to regret it hahaha I'm nuts for his clothes, so much in fact that I'm going to do a review on them LOL! (omfg my Duffy's got uggs now!)

~ the new bear in town ~

Unibearsity

I got one of those new bears Disney is promoting....at first I was ashamed, I felt like I cheated on my Duffy boy. I justified myself by saying that this is only available in Tokyo, he's a new character, he came with a great sale. When I find out something is "exclusive" a light turns on in my head and I feel like I suddenly NEED whatever it is I'm looking at. I felt bad at first but I don't feel bad anymore because once I got home he just sat on my bed like any other stuffed animal and Duffy boy still reigns supreme LOL In fact the bf took pity on this new fellow and even offered to share his bed with him hahahahahahaha! Oh and yes, the school clothes will be put on Duffy but I do pity the new bear so perhaps I'll give him some hand me downs. (They also had limited Christmas editions which were all white and had blue eyes I think....I wanted one those too hahaha)

Oh and despite the fact that I barely had room to fit anything in my luggage I refused to give up that brown box he was sitting it....and when I got home I realized I could have just collapsed the box which would have created more room -.-

~ miscellaneous goods ~

I don't think these need much of an explanation so I won't bother lol I used the Rilakkuma travel cup and it's adorable, I think most people would think it'd be too small but for me it's perfect =D Bought in HK! The phone cases I bargained for at ladies market! If you're going to be there, bargain bargain bargain! Don't be afraid to walk away because once you do, they will settle for your offer =)

The egg mouse was too cute to resist, 'nuff said.

Inside the Stitch agenda, why does this happen to my photos from time to time =(

Adorable!!!!

~ disney haul ~

Including the Duffy clothes I think I spent close to 300$ at Tokyo Sea.......it was crazy, our dollar is soooo weak! Ugh! BUT! I don't regret a single penny because it was all worth it and best of all, I went during the Christmas holidays and was able to buy their Christmas themed goodies!!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! When you put Disney and Christmas together, it's a lethal combo for my wallet.....

The sleeping cuties! They also had really big versions of these but since I wanted variety I opted for this instead. My bf really liked Pooh from this collection hahaha

I didn't see these available at HK Disney so I think they are Tokyo exclusive, seriously, why do they get all the good stuff?!

Cookies bought from Tokyo Sea, amazingly delicious, I ate all of them in one sitting....

I'll be replying comments tomorrow! I still can't comment regularly so if you want to read my response to your comment feel free to check it out on my blog (I'm using the disqus commenting system for now) =( Sigh I think I need a mac hahaha I hope everyone is doing well! It's the start of a new year so keep calm and carry on! <-- Bf would totally laugh since I'm more of the panicky type....

Till next time~

~ afternoon tea ~

2012-01-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

So afternoon tea at Haagan Daz it is! Oh and I just got my tumblr and am still trying to get the hang of things so bear with me >< Other than that not much has been happening since I'm just working over the holidays!

While I was in Langham Place I walked by Haagan Daz and saw that they had afternoon tea! I couldn't miss out on this one because ice cream was involved! Helllloooo! I normally like to plan my afternoon teas since they are in the middle of the day which is not such a great thing if you're on a trip so this was quite "spontaneous" of us hahaha

The afternoon tea is offered from Monday - Friday from 12noon-8pm for the price of 188$hkd OR Sun, Sat and holidays from 12noon-8pm for 218$hkd! I couldn't believe they charge different prices for weekends, madness! But I do like how they offer it everyday and the time it is available for is huge considering that it is normally just a 3hr time from (normally from 2-5) for other teas.

~ Haagan Daz at Langham Place~

As mentioned before this tea time was quite spontaneous as it wasn't planned. We walked by and just decided to go for it!

~ the tiers ~

Unlike other afternoon teas, this tea time had three tiers of sweets and goodies!

~ the top tier ~

To be honest I don't even know what half the things here are! Just that most of these were made wtih ice cream except the small amount of biscuit sticks in the middle that were chocolate dipped too!

~ the middle tier !

Mostly strawberry themed! In the cups were chopped up strawberries on top of yogurt!

~ the bottom tier ~

I feel like this was a nice "cleansing" tier as the sweetness of the other two could really be too much. The fruits helped balance everything out and made me feel "refreshed" from all the sweets.

~ the tea ~

I believe I had my usual earl grey tea here, the china was cute and classy!

Of course, what would a blog post be without an obligatory photo of moi? =D Nah just kidding, I just wanted to post this photo because of my bf, he's smiling!! Look at that smile! It's really hard to get him to smile for photos hahaha.......thinking about it....if he sees this he might smile even less LOL (let's not concentrate on the fact that the camera actually focused on the tea and not us)

Over all I think the tea experience was lovely but I wouldn't recommend it for people who don't really like sweets since there was a lot more of it than normal. Other than that I think it was very nice and they also had chocolate fondue with ice cream balls to dip! Oh and the tea is officially called "Royal High Tea" lol on their menu. Of course they also have other things to eat besides just tea! Their menu was full of gorgeous photos of yummy desserts they offer as well as specialty drinks! =)

I know, I bet all of you are thinking "I'm sick of these tea posts, give us the haul photos!! Rawr!" LOL The haul photos are coming and I just realized how many reviews I'm going to have to do for them! ><

Check out my tumblr if you have time! So far I've only been "tumbling" my own photos LOL

Till next time~

P.s I'm still having problems commenting on some blogs so I will be replying those comments on my blog instead =( I hope it gets resolved soon and bf isn't around so I can't bum off his mac!

~ tumblr ~

2011-12-28T01:40:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Just want to let you all know that I got Tumblr! Yes, just tumblr and not twitter lol I just don't think I'd have enough things to "update" lol it may change in the future but anyways, I'm pretty excited to take photos and be able to show you all instantly!

Tee Hee Hee!

I realized that this way I won't have to make posts on just my iphone photos!

For my next post I'm thinking of posting either my afternoon tea at Hong Kong Disneyland or the afternoon tea at Haagendaz! Which one would you like to read first? =)

Oh Oh Oh I also switched my commenting system to Disqus, I'm going to try it out for a while and see how I'll like it =)

Till next time!

~ happy christmas 2011 ~

2011-12-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

H A P P Y C H R I S T M A S !

Hi everyone! I know. I'm super back tracked on comments! But I've been working, but I've been studying, but I've been....yeah no real excuse for it LOL BUT not being able to reply 90% of my comments is fusturating! However, I've found a temporary solution! For some odd reason I've been able to comment on all blogs on my Bf's mac! Hurray! Of course the down side is that I don't get to use it like I own it *sigh* Hun, if you really love me,you'd lend me Macky! <-- my name for his Mac book hahaha

Today I'm going to be just sharing some iphone snaps from my trip, nothing too Christmassy though =( Speaking of which, I haven't really been feeling the Christmas spirit this year, even when I was at the Christmas Market! I honestly think it's due to the lack of snow =( As much as I hate shoveling and dealing with that cold stuff I admit that Christmas isn't the same without it!

New Town Mall! This mall is the kind where the stores are packed to the brim and there are loads of people there all the time! It has really cheap clothes and accessories such as bags and earrings, necklaces etc. However the quality of the clothes aren't great BUT the shoes are not bad! This mall is located in Mong Kok and is easy to get to especially if you're taking the MTR, just look for the B2 exit if I remember correctly.

Shrimp and abalone flavored Pretz! I would have bought some if they came in smaller portions =(

Langham Place! This is the mall where Angela Baby's Cafe is located!

Inside! It was decorated with gorgeous lights and the Hello Kitty Exhibition is also here!

A Korean bbq place that my bf's friend took us, I thought the name of the restaurant is sooooo random! Guts Soul!

Food! I've never seen the mushroom wrapped with pork offered here before.

Food at Starbucks! OMG! Look at all this amazing food offered at the Starbucks in Tokyo!

You know how after you order your drink you walk over to the end counter area and wait for your drink to pop up? Well in this particular Starbucks there's a line up to order AND get your drink. After you order you are prompted to the neat line of people waiting to get drinks, a staff will then ask for your receipt to make sure you get your order, pick up your drink and then hand it to you while doing a small bow. Crazy!

This is what the train ticket looks like, we both do have the Suica cards but didn't bring them this time =(

OMG! So adorable! They had these sleeping Disney characters when I was there, I ALMOST brought a large one home but decided against it because I really had no more luggage space to spare.

Ew. What is this? As much as I love Disney I would never give this a second look......common Disney!

Hada labo's collaboration with Disney! I was tempted to buy a refill!

Really affordable Tsubaki hair care in Tokyo! I know a bottle of shampoo/conditioner here is 17$CAD before tax but over there, the same sized bottle was about 9-10$CAD! That's basically 10$CAD off! You can bet your socks that I bought a bunch of refills! I love how they offer refills too instead of always having to buy a bottle.

There are a lot of these types of snack boxes available at the airport for souvenirs and they are very affordable at 1000Yen so about 13$CAD. I bought three of these boxes and kept one, the chocolate cookie at the bottom is delicious as well as that yellow cupcake thing on the top right hand side!

Royce chocolate! These actually have to be refrigerated so when you purchase them you also need to buy an ice bag with ice to keep them in but I don't think you can buy them here and the bf really likes them so he stocked up lol

The super adorable tiger Stitch that I contemplated on buying over and over and over again. I think the discount of 30% off also had something to do about it too but in the end I just decided to take a photo with it and spend the money on Duffy clothes lol

The Samantha Vega collaboration with Disney! My, it seems like I got lucky with all these Disney collaborations going on! I really wanted to buy the one on the left just for the stuffed animals but decided that 300$+ for three stuffies just wasn't worth it since the bag isn't really my style.

I'm thinking of taking a small teeny trip in February but that's not set in stone yet so we'll have to see but I noticed that I've received over 200 followers!!!! I will do a giveaway to commemorate this milestone! I'll probably hold it in late January or some time past that since I'm sure the post office will be busy busy until then and I'd hate for the winner to lose their gift in the chaos! This Christmas I'll be spending it with my family and my DSi LOL don't hate!

Till next time!

~ disney dim sum ~

2011-12-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

FINALL BACK! I know, it's true, suki's finally back! It's been sooooo long! I just did my exam this morning and this is my first free evening in a long while =P So obviously I'm going to be blogging! Kekeke I miss this so much and harsh needed it! Sadly, I haven't been going to many Christmas activities yet =( Hopefully that will all change soon! I'm going to blog about my dim sum experience at Disney Land Hong Kong today, I'm so glad that I still have all these to blog about and my haul!

For anyone that is interested in the dim sum, it's located at the crystal lotus restaurant that is located inside the Disney Land Hotel in Hong Kong. On the website it states that it is only available on weekends and public holidays. I believe the dim sum starts at 11am to 3pm but they may start selling out around 2pm. You may also call ahead to make a reservation if you're worried. Personally I just went and winged it, the restaurant wasn't too busy despite it being a weekend. In my excitement I totally forgot to take a photo of the menu >< But I believe that the dishes ranged from 7$-12$ Canadian per dish.

~ crystal lotus at the Disney Hotel ~

~ gorgeous lights ~

They had these gorgeous lotus chandeliers!

~ taro swan puffs ~

These taro puffs were delicious! The pastry puff was done very well! It was nice, light and fluffy, Im pretty anal when it comes to these "fluffy" pastries but these were really good.

~ glutinous Mickey pancakes ~

As cute as these looked they tasted soooo bland. This was the most bland tasting dish out of all the ones we ordered. That red sauce it came with was just regular spicy sauce, a disappointing dish, it was tasteless.

~ duffy red bean paste filled buns ~

Duffy buns!!! As much as I don't like red bean I still ordered these just to see Duffy's face hahahaha To be honest, they weren't bad and if you're someone that enjoys bean paste you'll probably like this dish.

~ three little pigs bbq pork buns ~

I really enjoyed these ones! I thing I also liked was the size of these buns, they were quite small meaning I was able to enjoy quite a bit of them, the down size is the price of these things!

So cute! The bf ripped off the ears and nose to eat first! >< I must say, I felt sorry for these little buns!

~ little green men pork and vegetable buns ~

We actually added these to our order since I wanted to see them so much hahaha despite the fact that I was totally stuffed by this point! These were not bad either! Noms!

Wheeee!

Overall I quite enjoyed our Disney dim sum meal. Again it's located at crystal lotus at the Disney hotel which is easy to get to once you get to HK Disney Land. You can either walk there, it's about a 20min walk or take on of the shuttles.We also ordered other dishes like spring rolls but I did't both taking a photo since they were fairly standard looking but it was yummy, so I do recommend them, especially over the mickey cakes! I also had afternoon tea at the Disney Land hotel but that will be for another post! =D

I will be replying comments today tomorrow and I do appreciate your patience! I hope everyone is doing well, wash your hands well so you don't get sick/virus! Enjoy the holiday cheer! It's not snowing here this year and honestly, as much as I hate snow, it really doesn't feel like Christmas without it!

Till next time!

P.S I am still having that problem with not being able to comment on blogs! I can only comment on the blogs with comments in a pop out box or full paged ><

~ sick ~

2011-12-16T02:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This is just a quick post to let everyone know I am still alive! >< I actually got really sick one night and had to go to the emergency room at one of my local hospitals. I was there for nearly 6 hours! It was also my first time having an IV -.- The nurse had a hard time finding my vein so I got a bruise on my hand from her wiggling the needle around and yes, there was blood! In fact, so much that it dripped all over the floor!

Anyways, when I saw the doctor he couldn't even diagnose me properly because my symptoms could be of two things. Either extreme food poisoning or the virus Gastroenteritis. Basically, I was vomiting every ten minutes (no joke, I even timed it!) and had sever diarrhea <-- Yeah gross right but hey! We're all humans here! I even missed my final exams because of this incident! I am feeling a lot better now but my stomach is still fairly queasy and I don't dare eat anything but plain crackers for breakfast and lunch T_T

I just wanted to keep you all updated! Gosh and there's so much I want to post too! I hope you're all doing well though, wash your hands well! Like the nurse said "tis the season" to get sick!

Till next time!

P.s Im still having that problem with the commenting system of not being able to leave comments on pages unless it is the pop up kind or the full page kind T_T

~ afternoon tea ~

2011-12-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I had a hard time decided which post to post today but I decided to do the afternoon tea at The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong! Sorry I didn't get a chance to take a shot of the exterior. The hotel is really easy to get to as long as you reach Tsim Tsia Tsu station, there are huge signs stating where each tourist attraction is. I just did one final today and have another one next week which means more studying for me but after that Im free!......to do Christmas shopping hahaha which is actually more tedious than it sounds =P But I'll try to make it fun!

FYI you can NOT make a reservation for tea here and get there early! I mean early! I got there about 15mins before the "official" time which is 2pm and there was already a nice big line up! As for attire, I think business casual or smart casual is alright. Don't wear anything that is too revealing or sporty. So no short shorts, flip flops etc. There is a sign that states the dress code but I'm not too sure how reinforced it is.

Oh and my Bf went to Europe for a week! Gosh, it was such a last minute trip with his friends but I'm sooooo jelly!!! I rolled around and pouted like a baby! Europe! I want to go to! He said if we don't go to Egypt in the spring we can always go to Europe, fat chance that's happening! (Actually that seems more realistic since the tension and revolts haven't gone down in Egypt T_T) I told him to get me some Laudrees macrons for me as I think Paris is his last stop (soooo jelly writing this right now!) =D

~ outfit of the day ~

Cardigan: Scalloped blazer H&M

Shirt: Bustier tank Aritzia

Leggings: Talula

Flats: Aldo

Bag: LV

I tried to wear something that was more "formal" but still comfy for me to be in for the rest of the day.

~ elevator ~

Just taking a shot from he mirror in the elevator lol As you can see the Bf wore very casual clothing but he still had a polo top and simple black runners.

~ decor ~

The decorations were beautiful. I kept staring at the ceiling which was completely lined with gold wooden motifs. I never got a chance to ask if it was all hand made or not.

A close up.

~ the menu ~

The tea list was a bit of a disappointing. I guess it's just like any other tea place but I was expecting more choices of teas here.

~ interior ~

I took this photo to try and show you guys what the inside looked like LOL It felt a little awkward to just lift the camera up and shot =P

~ chilled jasmine ~

I think my tea was either chilled jasmine or early grey, the day was soooo hot there was no way I could have drank hot tea! I was also very disappointed that the tableware here was made of plastic! I mean the handles of the knife, fork, spoon were all plastic! Is it really that expensive to get some real table ware with metal handles?

~ the three tiers ~

Our three tiers!

~ the savory ~

The savory tier was alright. Nothing really too impressive, the bread with the ham tasted like bread with ham and that weird looking piece...I don't even remember what it tasted like -.-

~ the scones ~

I felt like the scones looked really weird like some sort of bun LOL But Bf really liked the scones! I thought they were not too bad but not the best either and when I have pastries like these I tend to only eat the top half (this also applies to muffins a lot too, I swear the top half tastes so good!)

There was also devonshire cream (clotted cream) and strawberry/raspberry jam. I felt like the cream really like taste even though it was nice and airy.

~ the sweets ~

On the left is some fruit cake....like the ones from Christmas except it only had orange peels in it -.- The chocolate piece was alright and I remember really enjoying the citrus piece! =D

They handed one of these to every customer. Some jelly thing on top of marshmallow like mousse, yum!

~ the surprise ~

After you asked for the cheque they actually give you macrons to top off your meal! I'm not sure if it's only customers who order afternoon tea that get it or any customer but I thought it was a sweet gesture and a great surprise!

All in all, the experience of tea here was really for the atmosphere. The food is nothing to rave about, it was nice having it once in this hotel, but I probably won't be coming for a second time. Would I recommend this? If you're someone that likes having tea at new places then yes. Depending on where you live, you might not be able to have tea at this type of place, in my home city the Fairmont is the closet thing and it doesn't even compare to the grandeur of the lobby at the Peninsula.

Till next time!

P.s I'm still having problems commenting on lots of peoples blogs! >< Im not ignoring you but I just can't comment! This is only happening on the blogs which have the comment box at the bottom of their page. I'm having no problem commenting on blogs where the comment page pops up in another window OR it is the full page style. You can easily change your comment settings in the comment section of settings on your dashboard!

Unless otherwise stated, I always reply comments after I put up a new post! So if you don't get a reply from me in a about a day or two after a new post, Im not ignoring your comment! >< It's also really frustrating when I was to leave a comment to appreciate the blogger but I just can't T_T

~ disappearing act! ~

2011-12-06T16:49:00.001-08:00

Alright, so my latest post pulled a disappearing act on me and did not show up on the news feed. I have no idea what's going on but this post IS showing up so =S! Anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know that I already posted up my photos about my trip! =D Hope you enjoy it! It's just the post below this one!

~ hong kong, china, tokyo 2011 ~

2011-12-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

* EDIT --> For some weird reason I can't seem to post comments on some of your blogs! After typing the comment it would ask me to "choose a profile" but there is nothing in the profile box for me to choose! If anyone has ever experienced this before and has fixed it please let me know! It sucks not being able to comment on your blogs!!!*

I also know that my new post isn't showing up on news feed but I have no idea why ><

I have also changed my comment settings temporarily to a pop up box in case other bloggers are also having the same problem with not being able to reply, if you can't reply on my blog please email me at sukipooki@hotmail.ca so I can try and fix the problem ><

Hi everyone!!! I am finally back from 14 days of travelling!!! It was exciting, fun and stressful too! Now I need to really roll up my sleeves and study for my finals! Eep! But I must must must put up this post since it's only fair for you this way! Since it was my second time in Hong Kong with Dino I didn't take as much photos as my first but with that said, there's still a lot of pictures I chose! I decided to leave out my afternoon tea photos and do those as a separate post or else there would just be too much food photos lol I spent most of my time in Hong Kong, three days in China (just Guangzhou) and then three days in Tokyo. We decided to cut time out from HK for Tokyo since we had to stop there to fly home anyways, best decision made! I miss that place like crazy anyways! I am missing photos of China though since I didn't bring my camera in case it got stolen so I had to make do with my bf's phone camera, I'll upload those later though!

Oh and let me apologize in advance that I often forgot to change my camera settings so some photos came out blurry or with lots of "specks" on it T_T

Without further ado!

Hong Kong

~ first stop in hk ~

After we dropped off the luggage we headed over to Mcdonald's to indulge in their yummy spicy McChicken burgers made from chicken thigh! At the time they were having this adorable collaboration with Hello Kitty dressed up as the Mcdonald mascots! I got this one and the striped Hello Kitty! =D

Mcdonald's became our sanctuary. It was a place to rest, fill our tummies, quench our thirst and best of all, they were everywhere!

Unhealthy breakfasts are A-okay during vacays! One thing I noticed was that people would just leave their trays behind after they ate. I guess it's just part of their culture since there was usually one person walking around dumping trays, but I still dumped mine myself since I felt so awkward leaving it there.

~ goldfish market/street ~

Look at all the fishes in bags! There is actually two or three streets filled with stores that sold pets/pet items. Most were fish stores but there were some that sold bunnies and puppies as well.

Adorable bunnies!!!! >

The street is located in Mong Kwok if anyone wants to know.

~ peak tram ~

Our second time up to the peak! Last year we went during the day so we decided to pop by at night this time!

A gorgeous view! We also ate at Bubbagump up there!

~ genki sushi ~

We were craving sushi that day and luckily ran into this conveyor belt sushi place!

You actually make your own green tea here!

Put in the green tea powder....

and them pump in some hot water!

Done! This way you can make it as strong or light as you want and you can refill it yourself too!

~ iphone4 case ~

I got a few cases from HK but this is my favorite one! It's actually a dual purpose case, you can just use the bumper part of the case if you like =) Cases in HK are pretty cheap but if you go to places like Lady Market be prepared to bargain, if not then don't bother buying it from there since it's pretty pricey.

~ Haagen Dazs in Langham mall ~

We actually had tea here, look forward to the post! (yes, Im just teasing you here =P)

~ festive decorations ~

I can't remember what this place was called but it had gorgeous decorations! It's located in tsim sha tsui where that fancy shamncy hotel is located as well.

They actually had a carriage where you could sit in and take photos, there were also ushers making sure people got to take their time and were not rushed.

~ toy story festive decorations ~

This was near the avenue of stars! It was to celebrate the grand opening of Toy Story land at the Hong Kong Disneyland! (which I unfortunately missed!!!! OMG)

The claw....

REX!!!

Beautiful!!! This ceiling was above the stairway leading into the connecting mall.

Christmas tree of the little aliens! Of course there were loads of people there!

~ the spaghetti house ~

This is a franchise that you'll see all over HK so bf and I decided to try it.

~ fruit punch slush ~

This drink tasted like Skittles!!! No jokes!

My dish! Bf was disappointed at the size of the lobster lol it was fairly small....

Pasta with squid ink! I've always wanted to try this but it's hard finding this at home, it tasted really yummy though!

~ skinfood ~

Skin Food! I've always wanted to try their products but didn't want to pay full price for it =P I spent enough here to become one of their members -.-

~ street performers ~

In Mong Kwok you will find many types of street performers doing everything and anything to raise money. Since I can't read Chinese I didn't know what they were doing this for =(

~ bossini ~

Disney and bossini teamed up and had a collaboration with the film Toy Story 3! Sadly, there wasn't anything I liked from the collection =( But I love the decor!

~ baby cafe ~

This cafe is located in Langham mall and yes, it's Angela Baby's cafe! Bf and I had no idea (despite the fact that her face is plastered everywhere...) until we actually got inside and read the menu.

The menu is a set one at 99$HK, which we found quite affordable! It included an appetizer and one entree, the food was absolutely delicious!

Yummy drinks!

Salmon and pasta were delicious! The egg was meh....

In the cafe her face takes up a whole wall, talk about feeling insecure!

~ on the way to the happiest place on earth ~

The Mickey train!

Hello again!

The Disney park at HK is almost never really busy, besides special occasions such as Christmas so there's really no need to preorder tickets etc. (unlike Tokyo)

The Christmas decorations were up! I was so happy since it's my favorite event of the year and I've always wanted to visit Disney during Christmas!!! =D

~ afternoon tea at the hotel ~

This entire castle was made of chocolate and candy!!! I will be posting up a seperate post for this tea time =D

~ mickey and minnie in christmas outfits ~

I saw that the line up for this photo session was quite short so we lined up, normally I don't bother lining up for photos, I much rather go to the character dinner/breakfasts.

Love the decor!

The Christmas merchandise, I refrained from buying too much since I knew that there was going to be more stuff I liked at Tokyo Sea.

Duffy's!!! The clothing they sold here were really similar to the ones in the States so I didn't buy any....here >=) Please ignore my gross hair!

A sign I found quite humorous...

My bf's second favorite type of ride, the ones where you just sit and ride.

Carousel!

Duffy meet and greet!!! <3 Mine's is cuter though.

See you again HK Disney!

Asian desserts! Shaved ice, jelly, sesame ice cream and mango sauce!

This dessert is called happy world!!! I love it! <3

~ Snoopy Cafe ~

The pastries you can buy. All so cute and "snoopy-fied"

Snoopy mousse cake!

Charlie Brown tiramisu!

The cafe is actually a cafeteria styled placed where you order and get utensils yourself.

Hello Mr.Brown!

Lemon tea and I think the other is a soy chocolate drink, it wasn't good =(

~ Hong Kong Museum of History ~

I was ecstatic when we got there because, by coincidence, they were having a special exhibition about the civil examination during the Qing dynasty! I just wrote a paper on this!!!

Imagine being trapped in this room, writing exams, for days on end!

If you ever cheated you were suppose to take a ball from the fish and feed it into the cat!

This is the other part of the museum! It's amazing!!! Definitively worth your time!

A old fashioned wedding!

The famous bread mountain! They still have this festival but you must registrar to participate and no, the buns aren't real anymore =(

~ Hello Kitty Ice exhibition at Langham mall ~

Another Hello Kitty collaboration! There were hugeee crowds around this display!

Dino's accidental photo of me lol, I love the light in the background.

~ disney dim sum ~

Three little pigs! Yup, this is another teaser....will be blogging about this in another post hahaha!

You can get this dim sum at the crystal lotus restaurant in the Disney hotel at the resort.

~ 360 ~

The last time we went up to the big buddha we took the bus and this time we wanted to take the cable car but we went too late both times and eventually gave up on it lol We actually woke up early enough to go but decided to have breakie at Mcdonalds and just sat around...till 4 -.-

~ the awkward angle~

that Dino took.....

If you go to more "ghetto" places you need to wash all utensils including bowls and chopsticks in hot tea before using them, just to make sure they're extra clean...

Lamb pot! This used to be one of my favorite dishes when I was younger!

"Dai pai dong" but an indoor one, full of old men that give you death glares lol

~ McDonalds ~

Omg whoever thought of thai sauce with fried chicken wings is genius!! Delicious! I even brought a pack back to Vancity hahaha

Nom nom nom!! Missing these already! Can you guess how many we ate? hahaha We nearly had to have a dose of these wings daily!

~ yogurt ~

So, while I was choosing the toppings on my yogurt I saw a cockroach in one of the topping bins....and it ran into another bin and another while the guy was trying to catch it -.- Needless to say, I didn't eat much of the yogurt...

~ apm ~

I think this mall is called APM

Omgeee! I loved watching her cartoons when I was younger! Taught me quite a few lessons too hee hee

~ ocean park ~

We decided to spend one day at Ocean Park! It was our second time there, we loved it the first time so we were excited to return!

~ the cable car ~

Do I look frightened? Lol If so, it's because I was! Im scared of heights, which is ironic since I love rollar coasters and I want to go skydiving some day!!!

The cable car ride was good. Nuff' said BUT the line up to get there was like going to war. It was not a neat line up. People were pushing and shoving just to get in front of each other! I think I am a pretty tolerant and good natured person and I do not believe in bullying or cheating others BUT this does not mean I am alright with being cheated on/bullied! There was about half a foot of space between me and the railing next to me and some man tried to squeeze by!! I mean really?! I had to place my hand onto the railing to let the guy know he's not getting by! The line also narrowed in near the entrance to the cars and everyone made a mad dash to get into one. It was really unorganized, unsafe and unprofessional. In fact the ushers working for the park kept telling people to go go go! -.- Due to this experience we didn't bother lining up for other rides for the rest of the day, luckily we've been there before! The place was full of tourists, mainly from mainland China.

Dino really enjoyed the ride since he loves this type of scenery.

We spent most of our time looking at the exhibits which is something we didn't get to do much of last time.

When I saw this sloth exhibit I excitedly said "o0o0o lets race and find the sloth!" and right after that my bf pointed to this box where the sloth was sleeping in plain clear sight -.-

Capybara's!!! I love these guys! Capybaras and seacows are some of my top favorite animals! <3 I want one as a pet!!!

We gladly took this express train instead of lining up for the cable car to get down.

~ skating rink inside of the mall ~

I can't remember which mall this was but we passed through it to get to the train to go to China.

~ flight to tokyo ~

The food served on our flight to Tokyo, we took ANA airlines and the food was delish! I know it looks like gross duck poop but it was actually the most delicious curry I've ever had! <3

Tokyo

Our view from our hotel room in Shinjuku! We always use the same hotel. It's small but clean which is what Im very picky about in choosing hotels, not to mention that the location is great! I wanted to try a new hotel but since we only had 3 days in Tokyo I didn't want to try an unfamiliar hotel since bf and I are already familiarized with this hotel and it's area.

~ shibuya ~

We shopped in Shibuya the next day!

Omg takoyaki! The takoyaki there is amazing!!!! It's more crispy and hollow, not soft and mushy and completely filled up like the ones at home! Delicious!

~ shibuya 109 ~

Shopped mainly here lol, so touristy right? =P I totally forgot to go to Shibuya's men, since they also have ladies clothing on the higher floors! ><

~ harajuku ~

We only went to Takeshita(?) st in harajuku and we decided to walk there from Shibuya to save some train money haha but I think it was actually very fast and convenient! Only about 15mins away and there are some stores on the way so you can shop at the same time too! Our dollar is super weak right now!!!

I was really bummed out when I found out they were renovating Kiddy Land!!! >

Looking down Takeshita st. There is actually a street nearby called Harajuku St. that actually sells more higher end clothing, I personally think that's where the real shopping is. Takeshita is more touristy but then again, that might just be my opinion.

I got so exicted when we got to the Disney store! It was like a teaser for the next day! Yes, I did buy something lol In fact most of my money went towards Disney purchases =(

The tree outside the store with stuffed decorations of the new bear, uniBearsity!

~ Miami Garden~

We went back to Shinjuku to shop some more afterwards and was starting to feel hungry so we ducked into the closest place that looked yummy, which is hard since many places look yummy in Tokyo!

My eggplant and zucchini pasta......which was horrible >< Have you started to realize I often make bad choices when it comes to food? I somehow always choose the bad ones =( My bf got the yummy white sauce seafood one....of course we traded LOL!!! Thanks hun!

~ family mart ~

One year ago I saw AMPM(?) convenient store everywhere but now I see family mart! I guess they've taken over the company? The place is your basic convenient store that sells things like drinks, snacks, buns, ice cream and magazine but everything looks 100x more appetizing than the 7-11 down the street over here....

One of the many fast food chains you will see around Tokyo, we tried Family Kitchen for the first time. The food wasn't bad but because our dollar is so weak, it turned out to be a very expensive fast food meal! The corn soup was a little too thick, almost like a corn chowder instead.

~ asia hates me ~

I got BIT! Is it obvious? T_T I guess I should feel grateful because the last time I went to HK last year, I got more than twenty bug bites on my legs. Im not sure if they are even bug bites! You want to know why? Because I got them all over night!!! WTF?! How does that even happen? My parents think it must be some sort of allergic reaction. I was very happy this time because nothing happened to me until about a week into our trip and then I got these on my foot. They were super itchy and I could only wear flats, they don't itch anymore but I've got these scars on my feet ><

These eventually turned purple, like there was some sort of internal bleeding and they were super itchy! Dino was really worried =(

My new favorite drink! I know it's just honey and lemon but this specific brand mix the perfect amount of lemon and honey! Not too sweet and not too sour! That's very important you know! I've tried other brands where it is either too sweet or too sour or sometimes even tasteless.

~ prepping for Disney ~

Alright, let me give you a tip. If you can, go buy tickets either online or at the Disney store. Why? Because the tickets can actually be sold out. They were actually sold out for the day we wanted to go but they sold us a day pass, which is the same thing except it's valid for both parks. BUT the catch is that we had to go right at opening or before. Since they could not guarantee entry for us. In fact, during the day they stopped selling tickets because there was just too many people in the park! Crazy! Also, when we got there huggeeee lines were already forming to get in!

~ tower of terror ~

Another tip. When you get in the park, assuming you went right when the park opened, head straight over to your favorite ride/top thing to do. Because if you don't you will have to wait 2+hr's for it later on.

No idea what the story is since everything is in Japanese.

I love the tower or terror! I actually got scared when I was in this room LOL It was because of the loud sounds okay?!

One day I will see these things for real!!!

The exterior of the Tower of Terror ride! They also have this ride in Florida, Im not too sure about the park in California though...

~ gorgeous view ~

Love the view! Did you know that this park is the only Disney park that is not owned by Disney? It's actually owned by a company called The Oriental Land Company that licences the theme from Disney. Which is why the inside of the park looks different from other Disney parks, they are constructed differently as well but I think they've done a fantastic job with details, I'd love to spend just a week at this one park searching every nook and cranny!

~ snowbunny mickey and minnie ~

Adorable! Oh and yes, there was a lineup for these guys too lol

~ brr ~

It was much chillier in Tokyo than Hong Kong and since I hadn't planned on staying at Tokyo I didn't bring anything warm with me to wear! (I also didn't bring our suica cards T_T) I bought the scarf in HK and made good use of it! The cool air really helped out my itchy feet though!

This area reminds me of the Morocco pavilion in Epcot!

The double decker carousel!!! If you're quick enough you can even ride a genie!

Genie fountian, each genie has a different expression!

Tokyo Disney Sea was also celebrating it's tenth birthday! I find that to be quite young for an amusement park!

Curry popcorn!!! There are hugeeeee line ups for food, especially popcorn!

~ ariel's grotto ~

The last time I was at Tokyo Sea I had passed on Ariels grotto, thinking it wouldn't be anything special.

Of course I was dead wrong and made it a priority to go in this time! I didn't go in last time because it has mostly rides for younger children and because I wanted to do other things instead >< Sorry Ariel! This is the special tree decorated for Christmas time.

King Triton!!! The first thing you see when you enter the grotto, it's quite impressive.

Omg the inside is amazing!!! As cliche as it sounds, it really felt like you were in Ariel's world, the lighting, the decor and of course, the music! *kiss the girl*

Ceiling

A store located inside the whale! (which made bf and I go ?, isn't this idea from Pinocchio? hahaha) But it was probably one of the larger stores, besides the ones near the entrance.

~ 2 hr wait to...~

Yup. This is the only ride we lined up for and it was a 2 hr wait. Bf actually started falling asleep and asked me to pinch him to keep him awake!!...Yes he was serious LOL I had lots of fun =P

I love the detailed decoration they put into everything at the park.

~ Indiana Jones ~

Part of the Indiana Jones ride! We grabbed fast passes for this ride, it was down the last time we came so we were happy to ride it this time!

~ meet and greet ~

It's obvious who's most popular.

~ duffy ~

I think no one will ever understand how popular Duffy is until they visit this park. Everyone has a duffy. Either they just bought him or they've had him ever since he was released. He's the big bear over there.

Oh and if you want to purchase anything Duffy related, be prepared to line up. Yup, you gotta line up to buy Duffy and the line is a long time, in fact, quite comparable to the line for rides! Oh and I mean anything Duffy related. There are lines to buy Duffy, lines to buy Duffy cakes (photo above) and even line ups to the popcorn stand that sells the Duffy popcorn holders.....it's insane!!!!

In the stores Duffy's were flying off shelves! The staff could't even restock in time, it was madness! Imagine boxing day shopping but...it's not boxing day!!! Nearly every store had a line up and people were actually buying stuff! You'd think that people who lived in Tokyo would already have Duffy's or tons of Disney merchandise already but nope, everyone was a hungry shopper. Not to mention, the Duffy bears got more expensive!

~ christmas at tokyo sea ~

Love the tree!

The presents underneath the tree!

Mickey nutcracker!

Another photo of the Tower of Terror!

~ hahaha ~

Food so fresh your mother would SLAP IT! LOL!!! Oh and there was a 2+hr line up for this restaurant....

Just a pretty Ariel poster =) If you notice, that tree behind her is the same one as the one I photographed earlier!

Getting ready to shop! Many of the shops link to one another.

Another tree...

Balloons galore! I really wanted one this time! I was just about to buy one until I remembered I had to bring it home...somehow =( I wanted the christmas one!!! ><

~ duffy in venice ~

That is, the Venice inspired area in Tokyo Sea hahaha

My Gimpy's so cute!!!

The gondola is actually a ride! I wanted to ride it but bf didn't want to line up and he said he'll take to the real Venice someday....hun, Im still waiting lol

I just love this area!

~ lunch ~

This was the lunch set being sold at one of the cafeteria style restaurants. We had originally wanted to eat at a sit down restaurant but the line ups for those places were 90mins+ and we were hungry.....I realized that you actually need to start lining up before you are actually hungry -.-

I told bf that the mickey egg tasted better than regular eggs. We were talking about how they made the egg like that, it could be molds but it's probably because they have mickey chickens right?

The most delicious blueberry mousse I ever had!!! I generally don't like mousse because of it's texture and weird taste but this was soooo yummy! *drooling* Oh and bf actually thought they hand dusted the powder like that and I think he got disappointed when I told him they probably just use a stencil LOL Silly boys!

~ christmas merchandise ~

At the Disney parks in Japan they hand out a merchandise pamphlet along with the map of the park. It's so bad because that means when you're lining up for the rides you're also planning out purchases already! Evil I tell you! If these cups were a little bigger I would've gotten them!

Adorable fork and spoon but at 30$CAD, they weren't so adorable anymore T_T

~ regret ~

One thing I regret NOT buying (sort of) is this set of Duffy clothes. Why didn't I buy it at the time? Because it would have costed me 120$CAD (8900YEN) which could actually buy me 3 sets of other Duffy clothes. The reason why this one is so expensive is because it's straight from Minnie Mouses store.....omg I really regret it now! (Bf thinks Im craaazzzy for spending so much on bear clothes especially since I bought 4 sets of clothes for Duffy afterwards anyways hahaha) This is still calling out to me!! *sighs* If only I had family in Japan T_T

The adorable Duffy agenda I wanted to buy but didn't because it was 30$CAD and I had already bought one earlier from HK, which is Stitched themed for 7$CAD.

~ drowning my sorrows ~

Finally got to try Pierre Herme dessert!

I can't remember what this was called but it isn't as good as it looks sadly =( The best part were the fresh rasphberries.

The inside.

This is Dino's dish, I didn't even bother trying it since it was a walnut dish and I hate nuts ><

Jasmine and Early Grey macarons, these were good but not fantastic.

Overall I think the place is totally hyped up. The food is only subpar =(

Nice seeing you....

~ the new bear in town ~

So....I walked into the Disney store thinking I was going to see a galore of Duffy stuff but instead this slaps me in the face! Who is this new bear?! This new bear is exclusive to Disney Tokyo and is called uniBearsity.He also has a story that explains his existence, just like Duffy does, but I won't bore you with that. If you want to know leave me a comment or you can google it too lol

I'll be honest. I didn't like this bear at first. Who was he? Why is he all brown? Is he going to replace Duffy? Why is he so soft?! I sighed a breath of relief when I found out that Duffy isn't being replaced but it's really just a new bear being introduced. I personally think it's because they've now exported Duffy around the world, making him less exclusive and now they've come up with a new bear. Im curious to see how well this bear will do, it will be hard to sway Duffy fans.

....

Okay! Fine! I bought one too alright! Now leave me alone! >< I just couldn't resist! He is sorta cute and the whole exclusivity thing got to me but you know what the tipping point was? When I explained to bf how I felt like I was cheating on Duffy and bf said "no you're not, this can be his little brother" OMG sold right there! Currently he is just sitting on my bed, naked LOL I still love Duffy way more. Oh and the new bear's name is Zuni and I've decided he can stay with the bf hahahaha There's only enough room on my bed for one bear.

The adorable chocolates! So cute right?! Seriously, when they package things this nicely, do they really expect you to eat it?! I haven't even thought about opening mines up yet!

Giant pea pod! I actually have the smaller version of this!

Sneaky photo from bf of me shopping lol Omg Tsubaki shampoo/conditioner is soooo cheap in Tokyo! I bought a lot!!!

~ breakfast on last day there ~

On our last day we had enough time to still eat one more meal in Tokyo. We decided to go to a buffet since there aren't any around where we live.

Love all the plastic food displays around Tokyo! It really helps you decide what to eat and the displays usually aren't far off from what you will actually get!

Salad bar.

Pasta!

Dessert!

First round! I wish I knew the dressing of the salad! It was delicious!

Chocolate fondue fountain! Though I didn't have any I was surprised to see this! Looks so fun!

Dessert round! My favorite was actually that weird glob in the middle, which is actually tiramisu! Delicious and the taro flavored cupcake was good too!

~ bye bye tokyo ~

Hope to see you again! I only have a tiny bit of concealer under my eyes in this photo! Nearly naked face!

Sorry this post was soooo long! It was hard to choose these photos to show you all, I just wanted to post everything up! I won't be replying comments today but will probably be doing that tomorrow =) I want to thank everyone for leaving me sweet comments before I left for my trip! Thank you so much!!!

I will also be doing a separate post on my purchases of my trip. This will include Hong Kong, China and Tokyo! =D I mainly bought makeup, skin care and Disney stuff lol If any of you are wondering why I bought so much Disney stuff when I have a Disney store locally it's because the markets are different. What they sell at Disney stores in Tokyo and Hong Kong is totally different from the stores in America and the products there appeal to me much more!

Till next time!

~ packing for hk ~

2011-11-11T02:14:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It's currently 1:48am as I type this and I need to get up tomorrow at 7:30am to get ready for my flight LOL But a promise is a promise and here's a quick run down of what I pack etc.! Let's get started! Btw Im not a light packer, simply because I don't need to be lol so if you're looking for ideas to pack lighter, this isn't the post =(

~ THE list ~

I ALWAYS make a list of what I need to bring and I write everything down! I separate them into groups such as clothes, toiletries, miscellaneous etc. After I pack them, meaning they are nicely placed into my suit case I will cross them off =)

The trickiest things to pack in my opinion are things such as everyday makeup and facial wash items, just because I am still needing to use them the morning of the flight!

Remember to exchange your currency too! I also make a daily itinerary, I don't always follow it but I like having some sort of layout to follow =) I also know that there are many apps that do this sort of "travel check" so if you're a person that loves apps check those out!

~ the luggage ~

The luggage! I put all my underwear into that white bag in the lower left hand corner, shampoo & conditioner into the plastic bag in the right hand corner. I ALWAYS put any kind of liquid in a plastic bag in fear or it dripped, leaking etc. Also remember to bring extra garbage bags to put dirty laundry in!

Oh and make sure you do your laundry in time! Nothing would suck more than not being able to pack because your laundry is still wet lol Another thing I do is I take a photo copy of my passport. So say you carry your passport with you at all time, you can leave the photo copy version in your hotel, that way if anything happens at least you somewhat have a piece of identification with you. I also know some people write their credit card number down with "-" in between so it looks like a phone number. Remember to buy travel insurance too!

I put expensive things into my carry-on. Such as my laptop and designer bag, I rather not risk losing it!

~ make up ~

My three makeup bags! One for brushes, one for daily makeup and the other for random stuff like floss, razor, contacts.

The only makeup I put on my face for a long flight is concealer, other than that I don't use anything else. It might be a good idea to bring some sort of moisturizer though. Random things I did before my trip was get my lashes permed, get my eyebrows done and get a pedicure and a bang trim!

~ entertainment ~

I had a reader ask what I do on plans to keep myself entertained. Well to be honest there's no special activity I do to kill boredom =( I normally bring my DSi, my phone now and sometimes magazines. Other than that I try to sleep my flight away or watch in-flight movies. Oh yes, I converted to an iphone!!! =D My bf says it's so strange watching me play with my phone when Im normally using my bulky old LG Lollipop lol (which I still love btw!) My bf also downloads movies onto his laptop to watch on the plane, which is another good suggestion or bring a good book with you!

OVER PACKING IS BETTER THAN UNDER PACKING! I know, space is limited but trust me, if you forget something, especially if it's something important like extra contacts it can really ruin your vacation! (first hand experience here!!)

~ starbucks ~

My random tidbit about Starbucks. This is the season where I crravvve Starbucks simply because the pumpkin spice latte is back!!! I simply love that drink and it's the only time I visit Starbucks rigorously lol It's probably a good thing too because it hurts my wallet T_T Oh and the peppermint cake pop is delicious!!! It's chocolate mint cake inside!

On a random note I did Laser Teeth Whitening!!!! It took one to one to two hours including all the explanations etc. The actual lasering took one hour. Did it hurt? Hmm...I wouldn't say it's painful, I actually did not feel anything until the last 15mins and then it was hell! Sharp piercing pain from my lower teeth! >< The bad thing is that the feeling lasts for the rest of the day. Did my teeth get whiter? Hells yes!!! I went two and a half shades whiter! The dentist also gave me some take home kits to whiten my teeth further! =D

Well that's all before I go to hk! Im really excited to go back! Cheap food, clothes, Disneyland, what more can I ask for?! (Did I mention that I'll be there when they put up their Christmas decorations and open up Toy Story land?! OMG!!!) If I have internet there I'll try to upload some posts I have sitting around just for the sake of activity lol! I hope everyone will be doing well and I'll be back soon!!!

I also want to thank everyone for all your sweet suggestions on where to shop, eat etc.!!! Thank you lots! I will definitively keep those places in mind and am looking forward to check them out!

Till next time!

P.s Oh my, it's now 2:15am! Signing off now! =)

~ travel plans ~

2011-11-05T23:56:00.000-07:00

*warning - super wordy post ahead, proceed at own risk*

TRAVEL PLANS

To be honest, places like California, Hawaii, Mexico don't really excite me. I mean, they do sound nice and I would want to visit them sometime but I wouldn't really mind not going to them. Disney Land/ World are exceptions LOL When I went to Florida for Disney World, that's all I did, didn't go shopping, beaches, nada! Also when I travel I try to squeeze as much as I can in one day. When I come home from my vacation, I need a vacation from my vacation! Im usually really exhausted and want to sleep! My legs also feel like falling off...

So bf and I talked and discussed about our travel plans. Honestly, they were flying all over the place! Germany! Paris! Florida! Japan! etc......just when I thought I had it settled I would feel uneasy. I decided that I needed to prioritize things. What did I REALLY want to see and do. What would I regret doing or not doing. What would be a place I might not be able to visit in the future. SO after thinking it over and being realistic we finally made our plans, which are going to be permanent because bf would kill me if I changed them again! hahaha

Next year we are going to.....

EGYPT/TURKEY!!!!

I am completely ecstatic about it! I did crazy research about it already and I really need to stop because it just makes me want to go now! Pyramids! Hot air ballooning! I can't wait! The reason why I put both Egypt and Turkey is because if one too dangerous for us to go then we're going to the other place. Right now Egypt is first then Turkey, I'd love to do both though hehehehe

The reasons why we're NOT going NOW are because...

Im going to HONGKONG! At the end of the week! To be honest, I wish we could go Egypt/Turkey first but I already promised Dino that we would go to Hong Kong now and Egypt later =( Im just worried I won't be able to make time for it etc. Oh well's just gotta hope for the best! Im happy about Hong Kong too of course but when I think about not being able to go next year and knowing I could have went now makes my heart drop! The other reason is that Egypt is currently deemed unsafe for Canadians and are advised not to travel if you don't need to. Meaning if we go now we would have to go to Turkey but both bf and I rather go to Egypt so we're going to wait it out and hopefully by next year, it will be safe =) I'll be in Hong Kong for about two weeks~

In the future I really hope to do some sort of animal safari in Kenya and go to Peru! =D

~ suki ~

Hahahaha an obligatory photo of me =P I went to get my bangs trimmed and the girl also curled my hair slighly for me! I took this photo in a parking lot in the car which is why the photo's dark >< but I liked the curls! Im not a huge fan of ringlets on me and she just curled the ends, my bf didn't like it and said I looked too much like a doll, which I love LOL The hairdresser didn't use any curlers and just blew dried my already dried hair with a rounded bristle brush, she wrapped the hair around and around and it then just heated it up with the hair dryer =)....but....she cut my bangs too short T_T They always do!!! What part of "I don't want it to be higher than my eyebrows" do they not understand?! I know it looks like it's higher than my eyebrows in the photo but trust me, after years of experience, the real result is after you wash your hair.

ANYWAYS, I was wondering if anyone wants to read a post about getting ready for travel etc. Im thinking about making one about packing etc. and maybe just share some tips that I've picked up along the way =)

Oh and I want to ask my readers, what sort of posts would you like to see more of? Any requests or comments will be appreciated! Or should I just keep what Im doing and post random stuff lol Im replying my comments right now too! =DDD So happy!

Till next time~

P.s Any suggestions for Hong Kong? It's not my first time there so I've done most of the tourist attractions like Victoria Peak etc. I'd love some tips on good places to shop though, especially cosmetics and cheap clothes! Oh and good places to eat, my bf wants to try the toilet restaurant -.- Thanks in advance! <3 (wah so many questions all in one post ><)

~ lately ~

2011-10-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever! Though in reality it hasn't even been a week yet though I do try to blog twice a week, I've just been so bogged down with school! T_T Im currently suppose to be studying for my midterm for my Traditional East Asia History class but I decided to pump out a post first! =D Basically a photo dump!

~ Outfit of the day ~

One of the outfits I wore for school last week....I love the shirt, it's cute and all but it's "airy" where the tummy is, you know what I mean? These types of shirts make me cold! (yes I know my mirror is dirty!><)

Top: Hong Kong

Cardigan: Super Store

Leggings: Garage

~ soda ~

Just another photo of Soda since he seemed like a pretty big hit with you guys hahaha and I'm not wearing any make up here ><

~ cotton candy hi-chew ~

Hi- Chews are one of my favorite candies and I had heard of this cotton candy flavor a while ago but just managed to get my hands on it now! I was all excited and popped one in my mouth but it was just nasty!!! =(

~ Breakfast ~

I slept over at my boyfriends and in the morning we decided to get sushi for breakfast hahaha so random! We also got krispy kremes!

~ Godiva ~

Godiva chocolates. They are a luxury for me, I've only had them a handful of times because I really can't justify the price of these chocolates!!! Even on sale! However my dear boyfriend treated me to some yesterday! I only agreed because there were some cute Halloween ones I just could't pass up hahaha Holidays and events just suck me in -.-

In case you're wondering I got the 8 piece box set that you choose yourself at the counter. If you're getting 8 pieces make sure you specify that or else they're just going to put your delicate chocolates in a paper bag! That happened to me before, I guess they thought I was only going to get one or two pieces =( Even the box is luxurious, like the " LV" of chocolates or something hahaha

These were the special Halloween pieces that they have! They cost more than the others since they're limited edition and are all hand decorated!

Right now they also have their dessert truffles!!! Red velvet cake truffle, carrot cake truffle, chocolate lava cake truffle?! OMG They also sell a 12 piece box set that has all the flavors.

~ My box ~

My chocolates!!! I got most of the Halloween ones except one of them since it was a cheesecake flavor and Im not a huge fan of cheese cake! I tried the ghost one, which is marshmallow filled and GOSH it was DIVINE! Im sure there are people out there that can afford such luxury everyday but sadly Im not one of them so I savor each one and eat only one a day hahahahaha The seashell one is one of my favorites by the way, I always get it when I buy these boxes, I believe it is hazelnut based. I also got a creme brulee one, which is part of their dessert line.

Well that's it for now! Im not going to be able to reply comments again, Im so back tracked with those but I want you to know I read and value each and every one of them!!!!!! I will reply don't worry, after my exam and papers I've practically reserved a day for blogging/commenting hahahaha Where I sit home in my pjs with my hair pinned up and junk food all around my computer =P I hope everyone has been doing well! Make sure you're dressed warm! I've caught a cold for nearly 2 weeks and have just recently gotten better!

Till next time!

~ afternoon tea and Jen's giveaway! ~x

2011-10-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Omg! Trying to finish two essays, one proposal and study for a midterm within the span of a month! Some of you may think this is easy-peasy but for me it is not! >< Gotta whip out my best time management skills and kick procrastination out of my habit! About a week or two ago Dino and I went to try a new tea place. I was quite excited since it's been a while since I've tried a new place!

We went to Provence Marinaside! Honestly, I had high expectations from this place due to their location and the type of food they serve. However I was really REALLY disappointed in my experience =(

~ The tier ~

At first glance it looks alright but from my experience, I thought it looked lacking , especially the bottom tier.

~ Sweets and Pastries ~

This top tier looked so generic. Everything is the same colour and it's the first time I've ever seen scones that shape....they look totally deflated though the taste was alright. Speaking of taste, everything tasted the same. The cookies and madeleines taste the same but just in different forms and the taste was not phenomenal, it just tasted like plain butter cookies, you know the ones you receive in a round tin box during Christmas. The lemon tart was too sour ><

~ Macarons ~

The macarons were the only thing that saved this tea time. It was delicious. Nice, light and fluffy with coconut filling in the center. Absolutely lovely! Now...you see that white glob in the far back? I thought it was devonshire cream but when I put my knife into it, I could tell it wasn't. The texture was so different, it felt like....mayonnaise. To be truthful, I still have no idea what it was but it didn't taste good! It was sour and just plain well didn't go with scones! I had to make use of the jam on the left, which I normally don't touch at tea since I just use devonshire cream. I was devastated.

~ finger sandwiches? ~

The bottom tier was plain. That's all I could use to describe it. Plain smoked salmon on top of cucumber? Goat cheese on a cracker? Disappointing is an understatement! The only thing I enjoyed was the salmon piece and the spinach quiche. Sadly bf didn't like anything here except the salmon piece =(

As you can see I will never recommend anyone to come here for tea. I can't say anything about lunch or dinner since I came for tea but seriously, avoid this place at all costs! Though I must admit, it was the cheapest tea I've had yet, only 20$/ person but this doesn't mean I want to be served garbage! Trust me, don't be intrigued by the low price tag, save your pennies and go somewhere else, anywhere!

~ soda ~

Just a photo of my dog and I since I feel like he doesn't get that much recognition LOL and this is really an unflattering angle of my face.......I think he looks so cute here but sooooo old hahahaha

~ Jen's giveaway! ~

One of my blogger friends, Jen is having her first giveaway with great prizes! Look at that adorable hello kitty pouch!!!! Just click on the photo above to be taken to her page and make sure you take the time to check out her blog which is great and pink too! =D (which makes it even greater!)

That's it for today! Im definitely going to try fitting in time for blogging despite my workload right now! I think it will be my "down time" hahahaha Thinking about all that work makes me stressed and when Im stressed the pimples come T_T Pimples and stress, sigh could things get any worse? Oh and I've caught the flu or cold, whatever it is it's draining all my energy T_T So I won't be replying comments tonight =( bummers!

Till next time!

~ suki's corner ~

2011-10-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Designer Goods.

I think everyone has something they indulge in and one of mines is obviously designer goods. Right now Im into hand bags and not so much clothes, shoes etc. Just bags. Mainly because it's something I could get a lot of use out of. Now what I want to talk about is the "stereo-typing" you get when you carry a designer bad or openly express your love for branded goods.

It really irritates me when people think they can have a say on how I spend my money. Yes, I am well aware of how much this item costs and yes I know it could technically pay for your mortgage, car payment, school fee etc. But so what? I worked hard to save for this bag and it just IRKS me to no tomorrow that someone can just say that. Of course I don't mind it when my friends make harmless jokes, I know they're joking and they know me on a personal level but sometimes I still get the random "stares".

Now what irritates me MORE is when people ask me how I paid for the bag. Obviously with money but they love to ask if my bf bought it for me. Now this is what that makes my blood boil. So what if he bought it for me? It's not like he's going into debt buying me this bag nor have I pressured him into buying it for me (okay maybe a little LOL jkjk) but so what if my bf wants to treat his girl to a treat?! What's it to you?! Sometimes when people find out that my bf has bought most of my goodies for me they give me that look. Which could mean so many things.

Oh, spending all your bf's money I see. Poor girl can't even save for her own bags/stuff. Materialistic! But of course these are all my interpretations I mean they could be thinking LUCKY B*TCH! Hahahaha!

My darling bag bought for me by my sweet bf =) So technically it was my bf that got the addiction rolling hahaha

I specifically remember a friend asking if I had bought the bag myself. I just thought, why does that matter and trust me she didn't say it in a nice way either. Her voice had a "Did you buy it yourself this time or did your bf help you out again?" tone. Of course it felt good saying yes, I bought this bag myself but I really don't understand why it would matter.

Now let me clear up the term branded goods. I think most bags with a brand is branded goods. I don't have many bags but I like to rotate what I have. I don't just only use my most expensive bags, I just happen to like the way some bags are styled, shaped etc. For the winter I love using my furry Juicy bag. It's made with a warm fabric and keeps me warm on the bus! In fact if you're a steady reader of my blog you'll probably see me with a few different bags. I don't think there needs to be a set amount like "Only bags over 500$ can be a designer bag!" Though I must admit, I think there are different ranges of designer goods but let me make this clear, I do not look down on any "designer" bag/good!!! For example I think a bag made by Guess is still designer and a bag made my Marc Jacobs is designer but there is a huge difference in price and of course quality of the bag. I carry a bag because I like it, not only because of the brand.

I think what I discussed up top could relate to so many things on different levels. It could apply to vacations, cars, furniture etc.

Getting this off my chest sure felt good! I'll put up the original post sometime later on this week! Hopefully this wasn't too painful to read! I'd love to read your comments on designer goods and stereotypes!!! Btw please forgive any spelling/grammar mistakes as there are sure to be ~~some~~ many =( Made this post purple hoping it's easier to read, in fact I might make all of the suki corners purple now since they tend to be wordy.

Till next time!

~ suki's corner ~

2011-10-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I managed to get my take home midterm done one time and finish the two assignments due next week, I feel so accomplished!!!! =DDD But it's only because I need to get my research paper done soon so I can make time for my trip! Today is another suki's corner! It's probably no surprise that after discovering my love of games I also love anime and manga! Im such a nerd and otaku LOL Though Im nothing now compared to my former glory high school days, but I tell you, I never cosplayed, not once. Simply because I didn't know how to sew and there weren't as many cosplays for sale back then.

Onto manga and anime! Im less of an anime fan now, the voices get soooo annoying sometimes and it takes a lot for me to sit and watch an anime now, so it must be a really good one. For anime I prefer something light and easy going, something that I don't need to use my brain for. My favorite right now is Squid Girl! The graphics are clean and most of all the story line is just perfect for me =) Though I do enjoy other genres too.

My first true anime was probably Ranma 1/2 (unless you count Doreamon to be anime too hahaha)

I still purchase manga every now and then. Right now Im only into horror manga, anything else makes me want to barf. Im currently collecting Kurosagi's Corpse Delivery Service now =D and some of MPD. Pshyco.

~ Tomie and Junji Ito ~

Anyone who reads any bit of horror manga has probably heard of Junji Ito. The famous author of the Tomie series (which I am a proud owner of) and other works such as Uzumaki.

~ a small snapshot ~

Just one snippet of one of the books. To enlarge just click it, I tried it make it as small as I could so as to not scare anyone intentionally.....and I chose a page that wasn't so bad.

~ Chobits ~

Of course I do have a girly side to me. I love a group of artists named CLAMP which is a group that consists of four women artists! Chobits is one of my favorite series from their work and they've got a lot! I have the entire series of this too, I just picked book 6 since it was my favorite hahaha The story is sweet and the drawings are amazing, as expected from this group. Oh and you know that popular anime that aired over here a few years ago named Cardcaptor Sakura? Yup, that's by them too =D

~ Anime ~

I just randomly grabbed two dvd's. I stopped collecting dvd's fast because they were pricey and youtube became popular as well as other websites lol. The one of the left is also by CLAMP. The one on my left was a favorite of mines in high school.

(Omg I hate that split in my bangs in this photo)

I could probably have a somewhat in depth conversation with someone who is still into anime. But I don't watch a lot of mainstream animes like Naruto and One Piece, I just personally think they are overrated but then again nothing beats Sailor Moon! <-- the first season of course, the ending was just epic, die Queen Beryl! Of course I can't leave out Studio Ghibli movies! I wrote about them before so I won't mention it here again but I love them to death! Totoro <3

As you can see I had quite high expectations from my bf to be these dream anime guys LOL Reality snapped in a few years ago though =P Oh and yes, I admit it, I had anime crushes, any otaku would okay?!!??!?! Don't judge! If you want to know who they were leave me a comment and I'll tell you hahaha or else it stays a secret. =P

Till next time!

(P.s Just because Im writing about all this anime I had to youtube the Magic Knight Rayearth & Fushigi Yugi theme song, which was one of my all time favorite animes, thinking about it brings back good memories!)

~ petite tea ~

2011-10-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's October already! That means Halloween is coming soon! =D....but then again it's not like I do anything special for Halloween hahaha I want to hand out candy but no kids come to my area of the neighborhood.....=( I guess I'll just have to harass + humiliate my dog and get him to wear bunny ears or something.

~ Outfit of the day ~

This is how I normally look nowadays. Some sort of thin jacket or blazer and often with a scarf. Foot wear is normally boots and omg I look like Im 13yr here -.-

Grey Cardigan: Banana Republic

Leggings: Aritzia

Socks and scarf: Night market

Bag: Juicy Couture

Look at me bags! Oh my.....no more late night gaming for me <-- such a lie!

~ Petite afternoon tea at The Urban Tea Merchant ~

It was my first time trying the Merchants petite afternoon tea! I highly recommend this for everyone! The amount of food was perfect and my friend and I both got individual tiers!

~ Top tier - Sweets ~

The best tier! A plate of scrumptious goodies loaded with fruits, a macaroon, a petite cake and a large chocolate dipped strawberry!

~ Middle tier - tea buddy ~

A large cranberry(?) scone! With devonshire/ clotted cream and jam! I love the clotted cream! I really can't eat a scone without this, it's not possible.

~ Bottom tier - finger sandwiches ~

Delicious finger sandwiches! I think there was a smoked salmon one, a cucumber one and a chicken one. There was chicken salad inside the waffle cone! It's like a savory sweet treat!

If anyone is interested they also have a limited time Harvest Afternoon Tea right now and until Nov.16 you receive a free packet of tea (50g)! They also have Chocolate fondue teaseat! I haven't tried it before but it sure sounds good! My replies to comments will be delayed until further this week since I've got a midterm coming up! >< I hope everyone has been doing well!

Till next time ~

~ almost Absolute Food Porn ~

2011-10-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

almost Absolute Food Porn

~ The "almost" part, a loom ~

Im taking a textiles history class and a student from the textile division was kind enough to actually bring in a small loom for us to look at! There are looms that are the size of classrooms! It was amazing to see and made me realize how much time it took to weave something! Even after the demonstration I was still confused!!!

~ X-Cite Grill and Bistro ~

A local bar style diner with cheap eats! The food is sub par and has been either a hit or a miss with me, I had the shrimp fettuccine and it was terrible! The sauce was lacking and the garlic bread was dull, I only liked the shrimp, but then again you can't really go wrong with shrimp!

~ Krispy Kreme ~

Ahh....Krispy Kreme. I remember when they first opened in Delta and there were huge line ups to get these freshly baked doughnuts, fast forward a few years later and they are still no match for Tim Hortons. For those who know me well, Im not a huge doughnut fan, I only get the occasional cravings and I refuse to eat any other brand of doughnuts! Picky right? hahaha

Nom nom nom! I like to heat mines up for a few seconds before eating! Delish!

~ Wu Fung goodness....~

One of my musts if Im going to Aberdeen though I do often venture away to Guu or Aoyama Cafe. Specialty noodles and fried chicken winglets! I like these more than the whole wing, it's just yummier!

~ Home made goodness! ~

And last but not least, my bf's mums home made pho! This stuff is the B E S T! I could eat bowls of it and not get sick of it!.....I wants some now T_T Oh and yes, look at the ancient furniture, it's pretty to look at but not comfortable to enjoy!

Just a short post for now and hopefully I'll do another one Saturday night! See you all!

Till next time!

~ lately ~

2011-09-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! The weather is really proving that it is officially fall! I've even been painting my nails blue lately because it matches the mood of the sky which is always gloomy and rainy! But we did have a few nice days which were lovely! Life also seems to have slowed down a bit and with school settled into my schedule I feel like a turtle sometimes hahahaha I just wanna be lazy, sleep, eat, sleep some more and play video games =P

Im so happy there were so many positive responses to the first suki's corner! Hopefully I can keep those up regularly and make them interesting hahaha

~ Vancouver Aquarium ~

One of the first things you see when you walk in!

I have no idea what these were but when I saw them I thought they were so cute! This is what I love about this place, it never fails to capture my interest!

Can you spot two anacondas? How do they hold their breathe for so long underwater?

Our famous sea otters! They put shrimp into those tubes and made them work to get them out, it was adorable to watch!

~ Outfit of the day ~

Finally, an outfit of the day, in fact this is what I've been wearing lately. Leggings and a sweater, something simple and casual! This particular sweater could be worn as a dress but I felt a little self conscious that day, perhaps another time lol

Sweater: Talula

Leggins: Talula

Flats: Aldo

~ Akira Sushi ~

I've read many reviews about this place but never ventured to try it since it's all the way in Delta but finally had the chance! I actually tried it a few months ago but forgot to snap photos lol

Omfg. That roll on the left is sooooo delicious! I crave it often! It's a roll covered in crunchy pieces with spicy sauce, delisssh!!! Sorry Mr.California roll on the right, you just don't compare! Though I must say, the sushi here is pricey!

I've got a few posts in the edit section so Im glad that I have something to blog about hahaha I often get comments saying how my life seems to be all fun and games but I just don't want to blog about emo stuff since I wouldn't want to bore my readers with my own personal problems but I also think it's not healthy to have all this negativity around yourself/myself all the time. Maybe I'll blog about a regular day in a suki's corner post sometime hahaha anyways happy thoughts, happy thoughts!

Till next time~

~ suki's corner ~

2011-09-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! So this is hopefully going to be a permanent blog post about me where I will tell you completely random facts about me-self and may possible start losing followers because of it but then really, it's too bad for them right? =D I'll also try to keep these posts short....key word: Try.

Something that usually surprises people about me is when I tell them I love video games. Yes. I play video games and can become quite obsessed at some points. BUT....Im very picky with what I play. I usually avoid RPG's because I always and I mean ALWAYS get stuck at some point. So I've given up on most RPG games, the most recent one I bought and am still playing is Mario & Luigi's: Bowers Inside Story which of course I am STUCK. When it comes to gaming, gamefaqs is G O D. Especially if you suck at RPG's like me lol.

My favorite genre's for games:

Simulations: The first two that pop into my head are the Harvest Moon series and Sims. I love both and play them to death though I often give up after I get married or achieve to a certain point in the game where there's not too much left to do. It's funny though because bf asks me what's so fun doing the same thing over and over again, day after day.....and you know what's funnier? I have no idea why it's so fun but it's just plain addicting!!! *runs off to water my crops, milk my cows and pray that there isn't a freak tornado the next day which normally rips out all my crops T_T*

Third-Person Shooter: One word: Zombies (or zombie-ish looking things). I love shooting games. I'd have to pass on my thanks to my bf and sister for getting me addicted. Whenever Im sad or mad I will often tell bf "I think I just need to shoot some zombies" LOL and vice versa. I haven't played too many games so far since Im soooo picky (yeah Im a game snob) but my top two favs are Gears of War (all 3 of them!) and Resident Evil 5. I also play Left For Dead but....it's not my fav. Not to mention, my bro loves locking me out of the safe room and watch me get devoured by zombies.

Horror: This is a genre that I love but don't approach often due to many reasons. My top reason being: I must have another person with me, watching me play the game. Preferably someone who won't scream or jump when I do because that just makes me do a double jump!!!! Like wtf?! Oh and it's a hugeeee difference when you're actually playing the horror game versus just watching it. I remember getting soooo agitated whenever I watched someone play a horror game because they'd be scared to go into a room or something and Im sitting there thinking "just go in damnit!!!" but when they pass me the controller it's a whole different story LOL But my fav is Fatal Frame...I can't remember which one it was but I played it on the PS2 and loved it! Too bad it was only a rental and I regret not purchasing the game when I could've! Im comteplating of buying it for the xbox360 though....

Others: This would include things like Professor Layton and Big Fish games! I love the hidden object and time management games! Oh and if you want to know, a genre that I refuse to play and hate are sports games!

That's it for now! I know I said I'd try to keep it short but I guess it ended up being quite long LOL Im a chatter box =P ~~I'll probably also be updating~~ tomorrow so that's when I'll reply my comments! =D *edit- I won't be updating but will still be replying comments! Sorry about that! ><*

Till next time!

~ school disaster and moon cakes ~

2011-09-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

Omg! A disaster just happened to me tonight! I was planning to blog etc. so I decided that I better go online and drop a course that I decided not to take first before I forget about it since tomorrow is the last day to drop a course. So there I was hitting the drop button for ONE course then KABAM! I am dropped out of all my courses! I panic and panic and panic. I calm down. I email my profs telling them what happened and I guess I need to pop into the office tomorrow to sort this all out =( Technology often likes to work against me like this! ( I don't even want to talk about my printer.......)

Anyways! After getting my school schedule straightened out I finally have more time to relax and...do nothing... LOL I've been enjoying those lazy days where you stay home, lounge around in pjs and pig out on....anything =D

Here's a few photos from the moon cake festival that happened a little while ago =P

~ Lanterns ~

I haven't played with lanterns for ages! These are the traditional kinds, made of paper with a candle inside to light it up. There are newer kinds too that are just light bulbs inside etc. I guess it's more safe but personally I think it sort of takes away from the feeling a bit. I remember we used to buy bigger ones in the shape of animals and once my dad set my poor bunny lantern on fire and had to stomp on her to put the fire out....poor bunny lantern!!!

~ Moons cakes ~

What's a moon cake festival without moon cakes?.....yes, this one has no yolk LOL Apparently most people eat it for the yolk but my sister and I just like the lotus paste =P But we did have other ones with yolk in it.

I guess this would be a modern twist on moon cakes! It really just reminds me of mochi in a moon cake shape with filling haha The filling was red bean and green tea, the green tea filling was delicious since it wasn't sweet at all and I loooooved the chewy-ness of the....skin? LOL

~ Playing with lanterns ~

My family and I just pranced around our balcony with our lanterns but it got cold fast and since most of us were in our pjs we went back inside fast! Yes, this is what you would see me in if you ever catch me at home! Pj's, my favorite home sweater and sans-makeup of course!

Oh and yes, the festival is suppose to be about the moon and of course....I forgot to take a photo of it hahaha but it was very big, bright and beautiful!

Im also typing up my first "about suki" post, I think I might call it suki corner or something LOL Any other suggestions? I hope everyone is doing well!

Till next time ~

P.s I keep forgetting to title my posts LOL

~ foodie ~

2011-09-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! School has once started for me and it's nice getting back into the grind! My class schedule is still incomplete and Im on a wait list for a few of my courses, I hope I get in! I've also been catching up with friends and my travel plans have been more or less finalized! I will get it all sorted out on Monday but right now it consists of two trips to two separate countries! Im really excited!!! Now for some food porn....

~ Afternoon tea at Fairmont...again...~

I came here with a friend, who I normally have tea with and she had never tried it at the Fairmont Vancouver before. Honestly, after coming here for tea a few times I could never recommend it to anyone who wants to try tea. I guess if you really want to sit in the nice decor etc. But the food is sub par and is ALWAYS the same! The only exception would be special times of the year like Christmas. Shangri-La and Farimont Rim still rank as my top two choices for now.

It was a hot day so I decided to get chilled tea or have my tea chilled. The one I ordered was Angel Fall Mist and it was a really pretty pink! Think passion fruit icetea at Starbucks LOL BUT it was really lacking in flavor which really disappointed me since it stated on the menu that it could be served hot or chilled. When teas are served chilled it needs to be made stronger than usual, which is what our waitress said she did but the flavor was lacking and it needed a punch of sugar.

~ The tiers....~

Which is the same as my previous post on the afternoon tea at the Fairmont....

~ Kawawa Ramen at Metrotown ~

I love this ramen place. I think it's really a hit or miss for most people. Some hate it and some, like me, love it. Im especially liking their tomato flavored ramen right now, perfect for summer! In the winter I order their Chashu ramen! =D Im actually not a huge ramen fan, in fact, I would go as far to say as I almost DISLIKE it, this is really the only place I would go for ramen....no jokes!

~ Ramen Egg ~

The delicious ramen egg I order every time with my ramen and can barely finish because Im usually so stuffed! I hear that the "golden" ramen eggs are quite hard to make, though I can't say if this is true since Im no cook myself LOL But it's delicious Y U M! (Not to mention nicely located in metrotown haha)

That's all for now, hopefully I get to do more interesting stuff now that Im back in Vancover regularly! I did a trip down to the states about a week back but resisted buying anything since I have to save like a mad woman!

P.S FLAMINGOS

Can flamingos fly?

This is a question that my bf and I have pondered for a while. Dino said no, he said he thought they could fly for a little bit, perhaps hover a little but not actually take flight like other birds. I on the other hand, said yes, because I saw it once in The Little Mermaid. At the end when all the animals go and attack Ursula, I remembered there were flamingos flying. Then the bf argued with "How come the flamingos don't fly out from the zoo then?" Since the area where the flamingos are kept is an open area with no net above the exhibit. I thought for a while and decided to tell him that it must be because there is a steady amount of food there so they don't want to leave.

SO! I finally googled this today and found out that Flamingos can fly!!! In fact they've been known to fly as much as 350 miles a night! I WIN!!!! Im still not sure why they don't fly out of the Zoo though, but it might be because they need to take a running start before they can fly and their exhibits aren't very large......but it just feels so good to be right, thanks Walt Disney!

Till next time!

~ recently ~

2011-09-06T22:17:00.001-07:00

Wow two posts in one day? LOL Amazing, though the post is nothing spectacular it's still a post! This post is random, I'll let the photos do the talking...

~ Chocolate covered Macadamia Nuts ~

My sister brought these back as a gift from her trip to Hawaii! Apparently the guide said that he doesn't even know why these chocolate covered nuts are so popular in Hawaii, especially as souvenirs, since the nuts aren't grown locally! According to Wikipedia they're from Australia! LOL But who cares, it's got Lilo and Stick on it = MUST buy for suki =D

~ Hello Kitty Mooncake Set ~

For all those who follow the Chinese tradition you all know it's moon cake season!......but honestly...Im not a huge fan of moon cake lol It just doesn't taste yummy to me! So when I saw this set at T&T I jumped on it!

Adorable packaging! The ones in the middle are marshmallow filled with lotus paste and the ones on the sides are dry biscuit filled with lotus paste!

I haven't tired these yet but Im desperately hoping they're candy or something sweet.....

~ recycle....~

Look at this adorable eco-friendly shopping bag!

And the best part? It folds up into this adorable small parcel! Convenient and CUTE! I carry this around in my purse now and for those who are interested I got this at the Richmond night market for 4$! I think you can get something similar online (ebay) for about the same price! =D

My next post will be a bit foody hopefully and Im excited to do a "about suki" post, in fact I might even make it a permanent post LOL! <-- someone's becoming a bit of a narccissit =P I hope you're all doing well as usual! P.s Travel plans are in the making still!

Till next time!

~ blog awards ~

2011-09-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Im dedicating this post to the varies blog awards that I've been tagged with or have received lately! This is in no particular order!

I want to thank bambistyle for these three awards! She does amazing fashion reviews and knows the what's what in the latest fashion! Thanks sweetie! All three awards to boot! (Did I mention she's quite the looker too? hahahaha)

Secondly I want to thank Ingie or Harjar at MakeupxSparkles (Unique Moroccan Girl) for this lovely award! Tell you about myself? Of course! Who doesn't like to talk about themselves? LOL (Admit it, you know you love it too!) So thanks sweetie for passing this award to me and letting me have an excuse to go all egotistic on you guys! =D

Last but not least I want to thank Lizzy! Lizzy is a sweet lifestyle blogger and often writes about the types of foods shes tried, places shes traveled to etc. Not to mention she always has the latest giveaway information! She's a sweet girl and her blog and loads of photos too!

I know Im suppose to write facts about myself etc. but I won't be doing that here since I've got a lil something something planned for an *hopefully* upcoming blog post! =D Lastly, I want to tag each and everyone of you twinkies reading this! (yes I just called you a twinkie because they're tasty, popular and filled with yummy goodness!!!! *drools*) If you do, please link back so I can snoop and read more facts about you! Do not feel ashamed to take these or embarrassed, in fact if none of you do, I will be embarrassed! Unless that's what your aiming to do.....lol!

Thanks again ladies! You're the best! Keep smiling!

Till next time!

~ pne ~

2011-09-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates! School starts next week so hopefully I'll be making steady updates by then! Not to mention I finally have some time to myself so there will be some foodie posts too! Anyhow I hope everyone's had a wonderful summer and are ready to get back to school or for those who work, ready for the fall/winter weather! (I, for one, am not!)

I was able to head to PNE for a night! I missed all the interesting shows during the day but entrance fee was only 5$ past nine but it was hella expensive to do anything there! I wanted to ride the ferries wheel until I found out it was 7.50$ per person per ride!!! Am I just cheap or does that seem a lil steep for a 3 min ride?! I rather save my money and ride something at Disney! (Hey, every dollar counts!) It's probably the mentality of saving for the trip that makes me the cheapo I am currently LOL Anyways, just some random photos from the night!

~ Finally a day off! ~

So overexposed!

~ The humongous cow ~

Look how big these cows are! I think they originated from China, I got to pet them and they're super warm!

~ Piggies ~

Momma pig and lil piglets! There were more piglets and every single one of them was adorable! Not to mention pink and clean!

~ Chickees ~

So fluffy and they do make those cute *chirp chirp* sounds!!!

~ Incubator ~

~ Older duckies ~

I have no idea why this photo turned this way....hahaha that duck looks like he got stuck but he's actually just eating from the hole.

~ Horses ~

When I first saw this I got so excited because I thought you could get really close to the horses but there was actually a fence in the way =(

~ Blondie ~

Dino liked this horses mohawk haha and I thought the blonde horse beside him was really pretty!

~ Strange? Food ~

I didn't buy one but I think it's the same as hurricane fries but they didn't seem too popular....

~ Old Fashion Candy Stall ~

I even love the yellow vintage glass!

Once again, everything was pricey!

Greek food and scones?! Really? Are scones really a traditional fare at....fairs? I wikipedia-ed it and it didn't saying anything about scones served at fairs!

~ The overpriced Ferris Wheel ~

I decided to just snap a photo instead of riding it....

~ Fool the Guesser ~

This was one of the most interesting game stands ever! Basically, you pay 5$ or 10$ and let the guy guess your age or weight and if he's right within three years or three pounds then he wins, if not then you win! My bf wanted me to play guess the weight hahaha but I was too shy since there was a whole crowd of people behind us! I wonder how they train the staff to recognize age and weight....

~ Random Stands ~

This is just one example! There were other ones like a Henna Stand! I feel the PNE gets more culurally diverse each year!

Well that's it for now! Hopefully I can reveal my trip plans by next week or so! Im really excited though there is still a ton of planning to go and Im also excited for school to start! I promise to make more interesting posts by next week! =D Have faith in me! ( I will also be a tad slow in replying comments this time but I do read each and every one of them and appreciate them! <3) Oh and I want to say thanks for those who have tagged me awards etc.! I will do those once I have a bit more time on my hands! =D

Till next time!

~ shaughnessy and 100 follower giveaway winner ~

2011-08-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

OMG! I can't believe summer is almost over! Freedom-wise and weather-wise! Im hoping the summer stretches into September though. I honestly think it should because mr.sun came out a month late so technically it's only fair he stays a month later!!! All in favor raise your hands! *raises both hands and dinos too* ANYWAYS, I know I told you that I'd be announce my travel plans soon but there so many changes to my plans that Im glad I haven't announced anything yet! The plan is still in the works but to give you all a hint I will *hopefully* be visiting two countries in Europe! =D This is plan B, plan A would've been my dream trip but alas, bf has put his foot down and said it isn't safe to go yet T_T Can't argue with safety right?

Nothing too interesting today so Im just going to be writing about my dinner experience at the Shaughnessy at Vandusen Botanical Garden.

If you want good seats try to come early! Dino and I came right when dinner started and got awesome seats on their patio but the whole restaurant was nearly empty so we could have chose to sit anywhere!

~ camhog shot 1 ~

~ camhog shot 2 ~

~ The outside area of the restaurant where we sat ~

~ camhog shot 3 ~

~ Appetizer ~

I honestly can't remember what this was called and I can't find it on their website so it must be some sort of "special" dish. It was basically pureed scallops wrapped with bacon and covered with some sort of dressing that tasted like mustard.....it wasn't that great....

~ Entree ~

My Entree: Prawn and Scallop Linguine, what attracted me to this dish, besides the seafood and pasta part was the fact that the menu said "hoisin sauce" OMFG really? I had to try it and it was really yummy....BUT I could have gotten something reaaaalllyyy similar for half the price and double the amount at The Boss at Metrotown! (which btw is one of my favvv places to eat!)

~ Entree ~

Dino's Entree: Organic Steelhead and Seared Qualicum Bay Scallop. He thought it would be nice to try steelhead....but it ended up just tasting and looking like salmon LOL

Oh and in case anyone is wondering, you do NOT need to visit the garden to eat at their restaurant. Bf and I wanted to visit the gardens but decided not to in the end.

FINALLY!

It's time to announce the winner of my 100 followers giveaway!

*drum rolls* and please don't laugh at my horrible print screen pages lol

CONGRATULATIONS THAO!!!

You're lucky number 26! I'll be sending you an email for confirmation later on tonight! =D

I just want to take this time to thank all my readers and want to let you know that each and every one of you give me lots of support for this blog! =D thank you lots! I will definitely do one again if I reach 200 LOL <-- apparently I like hosting giveaways too much!

Oh and I almost forgot! I had to *disqualify* a lot of entries simply because they didn't follow the rules. >< I really didn't want to but had to because it would have been unfair for those who did, though there weren't that many rules in the first place lol I just want to let people know and make sure you double check your entries etc. I had to disqualify about 10 entries!!!! ><

Also I just wanted to let you know that I will be very late in replying to my comments but I WILL reply them, once I get a chance to breathe! I can't wait for school to start since that means I will be able to revert back to my regular life schedule!!! (Currently trapped in Squamish 6 days a week!) I have internet up here but not a lot of time! >< Bear with me!

~ science world dinosaurs and m&m's ~

2011-08-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Evening! I hope everyone has been doing well! It's the month before school starts = month jam-packed full of activities that we all said we'd do but didn't! It's also time for back to school shopping! =D Though unfortunately yours truly can't spend a dime yet T_T

Here's my small group of Revlon lippies. They are part of the Revlon ColorBurst collection, I believe they range from around 8$-12$ depending on where you purchase them.

~Revlon ColorBurst Lippies ~

From left to right: Petal, Soft Nude, Baby Pink

~ Swatches ~

It's my first time doing a swatch, I hope it doesn't disappoint you! ><

Top to bottom: Petal, Soft Nude, Baby Pink

As you can see these fall on the sheer side but you can definitely layer it on for colour. Each swatch took me about 2 - 3 swipes. I think the lipsticks are pretty moisturizing but layering it on still won't be as opaque as other lipsticks out there. So this is perfect for those who want some colour that doesn't complete flush out the natural colour of their lips, Soft Nude is the only exception. These look fabulous with a nice gloss over top! I've been loving Soft Nude and Petal more than Baby Pink, which is the sheerest of them all, my advice is if you want the true colour try pairing it with a lip concealer.

*I was so excited to do a swatch that I forgot to "scroll" the lippies down to a shorter length and my Soft Nude snapped in half T_T!!! I was so sad, I can still use it but knowing my baby's broken in half because of my clumsiness kills me a bit inside, not to mention Soft Nude was the hardest for me to find!*

~ Science World - Extreme Dinosaur Exhibit ~

I saw in the paper that there was a Dinosaur exhibit at Science World so I eagerly went to check it out!

Yes, Im scared of Dinosaurs but I still love them, gotta conquer my fears!!!

This guy was alright...

A lil too close....

While the exhibit was nice and colourful I wouldn't really recommend anyone to go see it unless you're a die hard Dinosaur fan. The exhibit was tiny! About the size of a high school gymnasium and the ticket wasn't cheap either, sure it included the Onimax film but that wasn't too great either.

~ Aberdeen Center - The Boy King of Egypt Returns ~

Guess who was the sponsor....M&M's!!!! It smelled like it too! The sign actually says that the M&M's have been chemically altered and not safe to eat but Dino and I think they just put the sign there so people won't reach over and grab the chocolates LOL

They also had glass cases showing various Ancient Egypt items, all were replicas of course but still very interesting to see, this is the second time that Aberdeen has held this exhibit =)

On another note my giveaway has closed! Thank you sooooooo much to all of you who joined and for those who said congratulations and sweet comments! I'll be counting the entries, making sure they're valid etc. Hopefully it won't take me too long to announce the winner! =D

Till next time!

~ seasons in the park ~

2011-08-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone! Have you noticed that I have a trend when it comes to blogging? It's almost always at night and I usually update on Saturday nights lol Of course there's a reason for it but hopefully once school starts I'll get back to blogging more frequently <-- Ironically, it's usually the other way around for most students! I've finally had a bit of time to myself and I just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine! =D It's been lovely the whole week and I hope it stays this way for a bit! *crosses fingers*

On August 1st it was my four year anniversary with my bf but since we're planning to go on a trip and perhaps somewhere else in January we decided to not do anything special and just spend the day together =)

Oh and I've noticed that lots of other bloggers out there give cute lil names referring to their bf/significant others so I therefore formally announce that I will be referring to my bf as Dino. Actually, I spoke with him about it and when I told him Im going to call him Dino he asked if he could be Minion instead -.- Obviously his request has been denied LOL In fact Dino has been growing on him =D

It was a beautiful day so we headed over to Season in the Park, in Queen Elizabeth park for lunch. The restaurant is part of the Sequoia Company that also operates the Teahouse, The Sandbar and Cardero's.

~ Seasons in the Park ~

I've been here before but it was always at night so I was quite excited to go during lunch!

My Dish: Spaghetti Puttanesca

The dish was alright, it had lots of tomato in it but still tasted very bland, so disappointing!

Dinos Dish: Seafood Linguine Carbonara

This was fairly creamy with a light taste, it wasn't bad and was what I originally wanted to order but Dino wanted to order it as well so I chose the other spaghetti dish instead. (Yes, we're pasta fans)

Honestly, the food was just alright, my previous experiences with their lunch/dinner menu were better.

Dessert: Little Brownie Mountian

This was delicious! The portion was large enough to share for two, I was so glad that we didn't order two separate desserts!

The view was spectacular! One warning: Sitting right by the edge gave us a gorgeous view of Vancouver but beware, there were bugs galore!!! I kept my eye on a spiders web, with the spider on it, all throughout my meal!!!

~ Bloedel Conservatory ~

The conservatory!....that Dino has promised to take me to next time because we didn't get a chance to go through it or walk the park thoroughly (Harry Potter was waiting....)

Just a photo showing a glimpse overview of the park.

I loved the sunshine!

Happy four years!

~ Outfit of the day ~

Top: Hong Kong

Bottoms: Aritzia <-- Love these and they're on sale now too so hurry and grab a pair!

Shoes: Hong Kong

Well that's it for now! I did quite a bit in the three days I had free so I will be splitting them up into individual posts! Hahahah my secret to keeping my posts interesting. Doing a bunch of stuff in "x" amount of time and then try to spread them out as far as possible! Lol Just kidding......*shifty eyes*

Don't forget to join my giveaway! There's still three days left!

Click above to be directed to the giveaway page!

Till next time~

~ deco shelf ~

2011-07-31T01:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I originally wanted to do a reminiscing Hong Kong post but since my photos were taking f o r e v e r to load I decided that Im going to have to postpone that and decided to pull this older draft to post =) I haven't been doing any decos recently because of work and various other things. I did this a few months ago because I wanted to use up some of the supplies that I had before I went out and bought more, I didn't want to have a huge accumulation of stuff that I didn't use >< So Im sort of sad that this didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but oh wells, next time right? =)

~ Small wooden desk organizer from Winners at Metrotown ~

I loved this right when I saw it but it was so plain and boring but it fit my needs perfectly so I decided to take it home anyways!

~ Materials ~

Besides the pain I bought most of the stuff was already things I had lying around at home, like I said I needed to use some stuff up!

Glue gun, acrylic pain, deco items, frabic iron ons, paint brush...

~ First, paint the organizer...~

I used about three coats of paint here and you can see that I didn't bother to paint all the way down, since you usually can't see from the angle it was going to put on my desk. There will also be brush stroke marks, if you don't want that I suggest you use a much finer brush (I just used cheap ones lol!)

~ ta daa ~

Here's my final product! Like I said, I originally wanted to frame it like lace, similar to my bulletin board but didn't have the material so I just did what I could. Now it's sitting pretty on my desk and keeping it nice and neat! ( You can tell I took all day to do this from the natural lighting to the yellow indoor lighting hahaha)

I originally wanted it to match this board I deco-ed out.....maybe I'll just buy another and do it! LOL (I know, gross lighting!!!!!! I would've taken another one but it's hanging on my wall now =P)

Well that's my lil blurb for today, I feel like my posts have been really bland lately and Im really sorry for that! Working 6 days a week does not give much time for leisure! BUT it will all be worth it once I reveal why the heck Im working like a mad woman! But for now Im still going to have to keep it a secret since there are a lot of details I still need to have wrapped up, you will know mid-August! (Cause that's when I'll know too hahahaha)

Oh and please feel free to join my giveaway!

Just click on the photo above to be directed to my giveaway page to enter!

*edit*

A lot of people seem to have mistaken what I said about the Joe polishes, I meant to say that their formula is great and with most of the colours you can probably get a nice opaque colour with 2 coats but I just personally like to layer 5 coats and I do this with all my polishes regardless of how good the formula is. I just had to get this off my chest because I didn't want to give Joe polishes a bad name lol So try them with confidence! =D

Till next time!

~ make up ~

2011-07-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope you've all been well! I've been working like mad recently so I haven't had time to show any of my newer purchases =( So this will be a bit of a boring post! >< Bear with me! The weather hasn't been great lately, it seriously feels like Autumn here! My bf and I have been planning our next few trips so Im really excited about that and once we finalize everything I'll definitely let you guys know about it! =D

~ Benefit ~

Honestly, I don't even remember the name of this lipstick because it looked so horrible on me! The SA was kind enough to give me a sample of the new Benefit facial wash, I haven't used it yet though, so soon as I do I'll let you know what I think about it =)

~ MAC blotting powder ~

Ahh....the infamous MAC blotting powder, I finally got my hands on it and.....I hate it =( It just didn't work out for me and I had to return it T_T

~ MAC pro long concealer ~

After hunting for a new concealer I came across this one from MAC. I've used one previously from their studio line (the one that comes in a tube) and while I loved it, the formula settled into my fine lines so the SA said to give this one a try since it was a new forumla etc.

I actually love it but it still settles into my fine lines a bit. It's less when I use a primer and top it off with a top powder. I love the finishing of this! It's matte and not dewy/shiny like the Bobbi Brown one I've been using.

~ Joe polishes ~

I love these Joe polishes, is it obvious? =P These are all the colours I have so far, I love the brushes of these polishes and I think the formula is not bad as well though some of them are very diluted and will need multiple layers of polishes to get it opaque. Personally this doesn't affect me because I layer my polishes 5 times before Im satisfied!

(Names of the polishes from memory)

Top: Butter

Second top row: Marsh mellow, Seashell

Middle row: Ballet Slipper, Wave, ...can't remember! ><

Bottom row: Latte, Caramel, Cement, Tomato, Powder Blue

I was wondering, if you would like swatches of the make up I show? I recently bought new Revlon lippies that I love! Sorry this post is a bit bland, I hope everyone is having a great summer!

*edit*

~ OOTD ~

Here are the outfit/modelling shots I promised you! I feel like this shot makes me look top heavy!

Blazer: Zara

Babydoll top: Zara

Shorts: Aritzia

Shoes: From HK!

Bag: Louis Vuitton

Btw, I was wondering if it's helpful when I post where I bought my clothes from, do you like it or rather not know? lol You can't see the bow much from this shot, I'll try to get a better view of the bag from another view next time.

At Prospect Point in Stanley Park.

Please feel free to join my giveaway!

Just click on the photo above to be directed to my giveaway page to enter!

Till next time!

~ the bigger reveal ~

2011-07-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

It's been so miserable lately in Vancity it's unbelievable!!!!! Anyways Im finally going to reveal what was in the "larger" LV box today! *claps* It's just sad because even though it's been quite a while since I bought the bag I've only used it....less than three times hahahaha Just because Im sooo scared of getting it dirty and there's no way I can use it in the rain since I take public transit, this bag is my first high maintenance bag! BUT I don't regret buying it at all, I love it! =D

~ The box ~

(my camera setting was off and I forgot to set it properly because I was so excited to unbox my bag lol)

Don't be fooled from the photo, they gave me the softer box. Their boxes and shopping bags get beat up pretty easily!

~ Dust bag ~

I hear a lot of different ways to store your bags. Some say put it into your dust bag and into the box but others say just the dust bag etc. Personally, I stuff the bag first then just leave it in the dustbag. How do you store your bags?

~ wheeee ~

Photo by Bf hahahaha Yes I know I don't look that excited here but trust me I WAS!

~ Ta daaaa ~

The Noe in Damier Azur! I've been lusting after the noe after I saw a girl carrying it last summer!!! Loves!!!

~ fear of rain... ~

Now you know why Im so terrified of it raining when I use this bag! Look at all the vachetta!! I certainly don't want any watermarks, stains etc. on mine! Lots of people are worried about colour transfer, especially from jeans but since I don't wear jeans it's all good =) (I think I stopped wearing jeans for nearly a year now hahaha Im such a leggings girl!)

~ With the bandeau ~

I like the petite noe too but when I tried it on it didn't look as structured as I would've liked and I LOVE the azur pattern =P I feel like mono doesn't age too well, but that won't stop me from buying a mono bag hahaha oh and yes, this is why I bought the bandeau as well =P

Well that's it for my reveal for now! My bag fund has certainly depleted and needs to be replenished asap! I'll post my trip to Stanley Park next time which will have a few photos of me and the bag in action....well....they're not exactly "action" shots but posed hahahaha I haven't been in the city for a while but Im not missing out on much since it's been cloudy/rainy for nearly a week already and it doesn't seem to want to stop anytime soon =( I hope August is sunny one!

Oh and don't forget to enter my giveaway~

Just click on the photo above to be directed to my giveaway page to enter!

Till next time!

~ 100 follower giveway ~

2011-07-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Finally! Time to blog about my giveaway! As promised, I said that I'd hold a giveaway when I reach 100 followers and it really happened! Thank you so much to everyone who has been following my blog! =D So! Im going to make this an easy giveaway to enter! But first....the giveaway~

~ The Giveaway ~

Here it is! I hope no one's disappointed >< I really wanted to give things away that reflected my own interests and that of my blog =) So I threw in something disney, beauty related and foody as well!

~ Chesire Cat from Pook-a-looz collection! I love this collection of disney characters

~ My Beauty Diary Masks in Lily, Cherry Blossom as well as an eye mask

~Rilakkuma pen and note book

~ Puccho soda flavored gummies

~ Joe polishes in Seashell and Tomatoe (I LOVE tomatoe!!!)

~Theodore Earl Grey tea bags

How To Enter!

1.) You need to be a public follower of my blog!

2.) Please leave a comment stating you want to enter as well as your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. I will also be posting the winner up here on my blog as well =)

You do NOT need to reblog this, tweet this etc. BUT it'd be greatly appreciated if you did! =P (if you do please leave me a link so I can check it out!

Time!

I will allow entries for a month so this giveaway will end August 9th at 12amGMT.

I haven't decided how Im going to pick the winner. Either with the means of an electronic device or the old fashion in a hat way, though I will probably use the latter of the two hahaha Im horrible with technology! Also it's my first time doing a giveaway and I will still need to wrap the items, box it and then ship it so it might take me some time >< But I promise I'll try to get it sent asap!

OH! And if the winner lives in Vancity, we could arrange a meet up if your comfortable with it! =D

Till next time!

~ small reveal & ootd ~

2011-07-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon! The sun is shining, it's Saturday afternoon, there's a nice breeze.....and Im stuck working T_T Well that's life right? I was originally going to blog about the giveaway, I even took the photos, uploaded them etc. but at the very last minute decided that Im going to add a few more items! Hopefully, everything will be blog ready for Tuesday! But don't worry I'll give you a sneak peek of the giveaway since I know everyone has been so patient! THANK YOU!

Finally! My teaser reveal! Im going to save the big boy for later!

~ Louis Vuttion ~

The box! I love how it's so sturdy!

All wrapped up...

Finally out! My lovely bandeau! I use this to pretty up my bags, though it can also tied it up in your hair or around your waist!

~ Random food photos ~

Sugar coated strawberries! I loved these!....until this year....before, the sugar was crunchy and it would crack nicely into your mouth but now it's super sticky!!!! It sticks to my teeth, my fingers, the fruit, everything! Braces beware!

Yummy pinwheel cakes! I got custard, didn't turn out as yummy as I thought it would be =( There was a dirty glass in front of the heater-thing, my lens wasn't that dirty!

~ Outfit of the day ~

Blazer: H&M

Bustie Tank: Aritzia ( I think it's talula....)

Leggings:....Garage? Aritzia? I can't remember ><

Flats: Aldo

Necklace: Juicy Couture

Feels like forever since I've done an outfit post! I seriously need to find better locations to shoot these ootd pics, this was a last minute shot before I hopped into the car >< There's no empty wall/space in my home and more importantly no one to take my photo, guess I'll just have to invest in a good tripod =) Any recommendations?

Ignore the wrinkles please! I wanted to show you guys my favorite part of this delicate cardi! The cloud detailing!! OMG LOVE! When I saw this I had to have it, even though I personally thought it was a bit pricey for H&M but I didn't care, I NEEDED this!

~ Sneak Peek: Giveaway! ~

A sneak peek into my giveaway! Tthere will be more goodies added to this! (might need a bigger box ><)

That's it so far, hopefully I get to head to the states after this long weekend madness! Oh and still no internet at home! Bf and I are deciding where to go for our November trip , there are lots of ideas floating through our heads but nothing solid yet! Any good ideas? =D

Till next time!

~ catching up ~

2011-06-26T01:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! This is another catching up post since my internet is still nonexistent at home!!!!! T_T so sad!!! But the nice thing is that I realized Im not as reliant on the internet as I thought I was, I was able to check my email a few times a day and the only thing that I was realllyyyy missing was blogging! I finally wrote my final on Tuesday *hurray* and now I have all the time in the world to blog, awesome right? Well...one cannot blog without internet and yes, that is the missing component right now! *currently residing at bf's place for the night so I can blog blog blog hahaha*

So basically this post will be composed of random photos that have been sitting in my camera =P Hope you enjoy!

~ Japadogs ~

Japadogs are really popular in my city! Basically it's hotdogs topped with Japanese sauces/ combinations! They are sold at food carts around downtown but they also now have their own location!

Menu!

As you can see they have a few combinations, though I personally find these hotdogs a bit pricey!

Okonomi dog!!! I chose it because I love okonomiyaki sauce!!!

My first japadog! Sorry for the crazy washed out light! It was super sunny and I totally forgot to change the settings before my friend helped me snap this photo!

~ Marine Building ~

This is the Marine Building downtown, located at Burrad and W Hastings! It was a building we looked at on my Modern Architecture field trip and though it looks super plain from the exterior you must go inside!

This is the arch on the outside, it has beautiful details, this photo doesn't do it justice and it also has double revolving doors!

An interior shot of the mouldings on the ceiling of the lobby!

This place seriously reminded me of some sort of Disney building! It's gorgeous, next time you're in downtown drop by this building to have a peek!

~ Tea at The Urban Tea Merchant ~

My tea: Chilled Jasmine Queen! I'd spend all day walking during the field trip and this was the perfect thirst quencher!

The West Coast plate!

The west coast plate, there are two orders there though I believe that two people can share one order but there might be a charge for that.

Well that's it for now! The internet person is suppose to come by this Monday and fix our internet and they better be coming!!! I've had no internet for two weeks! Once they've come and fixed me net I'll be doing another post! Thanks for all the people who are still leaving me sweet comments wishing my internet gets better!

Till next time!