Tokyo

This is long over due but since so many pictures has been taken, I decided to post them up anyway whether people will read them or not.

My 2nd trip to Japan in a year and this time was to Tokyo. Didn't do mad, crazy shopping there but it was still good.

Our main intention was actually to visit Hakuba, Japan. It is about 2 hours via bullet train to Tokyo and an hour bus ride to Hakuba.

Hakuba is a small, sleepy town during spring, summer and autumn but once winter arrives, the entire place comes alive! In Sir Knows-A-Lot's mind, it is the best place to ski. Niseko is just too crowded and tourist-y and since both Hakuba has the soft powdery snow as Niseko, it was a heaven for skiers.  We went during autumn and it was beautiful. The mountains and the scenery was amazing.

Arrived in Narita Airport and stayed nearby at the Toyoko Inn. The room was as usual tiny but clean and comfortable. We chose to stay in Toyoko Inn since it was close to the Narita Airport and not too far from the train station where we will be catching the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hakuba.

Didn't know where to hide the luggage.. 

Breakfast was provided but didn't have much of an appetite so I only took some buns and a couple of coffee. 

Saw some interesting adverts on the train magazine. Some compact powder to cover grey hairs? Sorry the hair looks seaweed green, the magazine didn't agree with the lighting...

Looks really painful and silly. Not sure if it works but damn it was NOT cheap.

Not too sure what is the name of the restaurant anymore. I cant read but I think this was somewhere in Tokyo during lunch time. Was walking around aimlessly when we decided to try it out.

After the 1 hour bus ride where I feel asleep and felt as it I was magically teleported to Hakuba.
The map of Hakuba area. It's a very small town that you can't really get lost in. Plenty of shortcuts and beautiful scenery. It's a pity the map was not that accurate. We got a better map later on.

We're hereeee! 

We stayed in Allure. It was a small B&B ran by an wonderful Australian couple. We were the only customers since it was 'off' season. The rooms were about USD150 per night + breakfast.

Fabricated toilets. They all look the same and comes in the same size!

Saw some interesting mushrooms outside the OneHakuba. Just had to go closer to inspect and take a couple of pictures.

Thought someone dropped some Cheezels on the ground. On closer look, they were some kinda mushrooms too.

I have no freaking idea what is this..

The entire town was eerily quiet since they don't expect people to start arriving till Winter but there was still a few restaurants operating. One of them was a Mexican Restaurant called Uncle Steven's. I never had Mexican food before. Sure I had some nachos in Chilli's but that hardly count right?

Onwards with the orders! The food arrived pretty fast too. I mean we were the only customers but the food was still fast :P

Does not taste too bad actually. Nothing I couldn't handle *puffs chest*

Definitely should NOT have ordered that much! We didn't realise how big the portions were. We ordered about 5 dishes for a little under 10,000yen (RM400)

Tokyo

We decided to head to the Tsukiji market on a Tuesday and when we got there it was surprisingly quiet. We found out later that Tsukiji market closes on Tuesdays.

We couldn't believe our luck.

So Sir Grumpy went looking for breakfast instead. He had something in mind and was eager for me to try. Upon arrival, Sir Grumpy ordered sushi set for 3,150 set of sushi. It was absolutely fantastic. the tuna was odorless and fresh.

To me, Tuna has a very distinctive smell and taste of blood. Sir Grumpy explains that if Tuna is drained of blood properly, the meat wont have the distinctive order and taste. Interesting.

 For years I have always pestered Sir Grumpy about Uni (Sea Urchins) I have seen enough on TV to know that I wanted to eat them. They look so delicious! Sir Grumpy had always rejected my request because Uni don't come cheap.

This time, he granted my request.

Once was enough.

Uni are taste very creamy and 'fishy' in a way. Unfortunately, Uni entered my list of things I-Dont-Wanna-Eat-Raw-Again along with squids and prawns.

Had to take a picture of this; a small ball of rice wearing a Tamago helmet. AHAHA!

We had plenty of other things to eat and I left the place a lot poorer since I had offered to pick up the tab for that meal.

We chance upon some seafood stall on our way back and the oysters called my name. I floated over in a trace to see all the lovely, fat oysters.

I drooled. Sir Knows-A-Lot generously offered to pay for my oyster. I chose a small sized oyster and damn, it was the best oyster I have ever had in my entire life.

The meat was fresh, slightly creamy, firm with a slight 'crunch' (no I didn't eat the shell) and my biggest regret was not emptying the stall.

Some random shop we passed by

I had to take a picture of this. These are small edible cakes! Arent they the prettiest cakes you have ever seen?

Shibuya

 Don't ask, I don't know.

It was surprisingly not cheap. 

A souvenir I got for 100yen.

You put in 100yen and a small amount of copper ball is flatter and a Hello Kitty design of your choice is stamped on it. It pops out of the machine fresh and hot.

Shinjuku(?)

Ate at the Cococurry. A curry house that allows us to select the level of spiciness. Being the arrogant fool I was, I obviously choose level 9. Afterall, I have an unbelievable tolerance and love for chilies. Death sauce in Mexican Restaurants? No problem!

My farts could set my jeans on fire.

I didn't know they use pepper to bring up the level of spiciness rather than chillis. I hate food with an overdose of pepper cause it numbs the tongue and all taste is lost. Well, it was like eating a bowl of pepper paste with some meat in it.

It was spicy alrighty. I sweated and sweated.

Kumicky Eyeliner 

Haaa, this is the interesting part. I saw this in some shop and decided that it looks pretty interesting. It was slightly cheaper than my Dolly Wink at about RM40. It comes in only one colour; chocolate brown.

Kumicky!

Comparison between the Kumicky and the Tsubasa (Dolly Wink) 

Both had very firm yet gently felt tips that had gave us good control. The Dolly Wink tip was slightly thinner and thicker but they were both good and easy to draw with.

Colour comparison. Dolly Wink comes in both black and brown but I got the black one. Kumicky only comes in chocolate brown.

The water test. Pass!

Both eyeliners did not budge an inch and with that I was SOLD. I went around looking for another one and got myself TWO Kumicky eyeliners. Whee!

Before you run to the nearest online shop to buy them, please do read below.

After the water test, I used them on my eyes a day after I bought the second pencil. I absolutely regret it. The eyeliner formula seems very 'watery' and I found it extremely hard to get an even consistency over my eyes. 

That is not the only problem. There has been many many times when I find my eyeliner MIA and it is frustrating! I will stick to my Dolly Wink and Etude House Oh my Eye eyeliner both being much better that this. This turned out to be my most regretted buy. EEW!

Asakusa

Asakusa, a Buddhist Temple dedicated to the Bodhisattva Kannon also known as the Goddess of Mercy to us Chinese. It was packed to the brim with tourist from all over the world. We even spotted a few Malaysians there. How did I know? Malaysians tends to have a 'distinctive' accent and our grammar is uhh...one of a kind?

Had lunch nearby in a famous restaurant. There was a long queue by the time we got there a little before 12pm. While waiting in line, we chatted a with a nice elderly Japanese couple. Okay I was kidding, Sir Know-A-Lot was chatting, I was just nodding my head politely clueless. 

We ordered the tempura set and it was delicious. Especially the side dishes and soup. Found the tempura a little too oily for my liking but it was still delicious!

The wait for the food was horrendous. Unlike Malaysia, everyone waited patiently and never once demanded to know where and when the food was coming. They chatted, sipped beer and just waited. Amazing. We shamelessly asked the waitress about our food and kept looking at them. AHA!

Narita airport's Hello Kitty shop. I saved all my money for this place!

We arrived early for our flight and before checking in our luggage visited the Hello Kitty shop. Bought tons of souvenirs mostly chocolate mochis and butter cookies for family, friends and colleagues.

Bought some Hada Labo BB cream that has still not reach our Malaysian shores for Pinky Doodle Doo. (I bought this in my previous Kyoto trip and it turned out too dark for me so I gave it to my sister. She loved it) The Freshel BB cream can now be bought at Watsons (BAH!) and discounted Hello Kitty noted pad, eye drops for a friend, green tea latte, make up remover that came free with something or another that I have forgotten about.

Overall this trip to Tokyo and Hakuba costed us much more than our trip to Kyoto, Nara, Osaka. The timing is one factor. We went in Autumn instead of winter. B&B in Hakuba are extremely expensive (to me anyway) and while Kyoto had a fantastic bus system, in Tokyo we mostly took the trains. Truthfully, I was much happier in Kyoto than in Tokyo.

Sadly, we will not be going back to Japan again till 2014. we have a big trip coming up and since that trip is bloody expensive, we won't be doing any travelling for the rest of the year.

Going to Tokyo, Japan

It's been less than a year since my last trip to Japan so I am extremely lucky that I'll be heading there again tomorrow. This time I'll be going to Tokyo. The city of my childhood dreams.

We'll be visiting only Tokyo and Hakuba - a ski resort (No snow yet though just to have a look around) will come back with the pictures then. Again, I am bringing along a limited amount of money, so let's see how I stretch it this time around since part of Sir Terrible Memory's birthday present this year is all the Choco Cro he can eat.

Belated birthday pressie 2012; Vintage Rose nails, Lakme eyeliner

My camera is dying on me. Or atleast the battery is. Damn. I'm going for another trip soon so money is going to be tight. Sheesh!

My belated birthday present. Much love to Sir Terrible Memory.

Many thanks to Melissa and Nick for having to lug it all the way back for me from Paris. 

Ooooo, yummy yummy chocolate from Paris. They make fabulous chocolates there, so delish! I'm surprised Pinky Doodle Doo's friend, Mel is observant enough to know I love chocolates and my sister nougats. Thankies!

Wanted to do the Little Twin Star nail art I saw on Youtube, lug all my things to Sir Terrible Memory's house only to realize I didn't own any flesh coloured nail polish. NOTD abandoned. Did the vintage rose as last resort.

I used:

The Face Shop GR501
Games Workshop Emperor's Children (Darker Pink) 
Games Workshop Changeling Pink (Light Pink)
Games Workshop Goblin Green + White (leaves)

Was browsing through the shops in Little India when I spotted this. My initial thought was this was a nail colour but there was only black colour. What kind of nail polish line has only black? On closer look it turned out to be eyeliner.

9ml - I'll be using it for years and years to come...

Cost me a total of RM 9.50 ( I jokingly ask the shop keeper for discount and without a pause he told me RM 9.50 down from RM 9.90) So I happily paid and left.

The shorter brush gives me better control but even then my lines came out a little wonky.

Pros: It's very black, cheap, comes off easily with oil base make up removers.

Cons: No ingredients listed, stings bloody hell if you get it in your eyes, takes a very long time to dry.Will smear badly if you rub your eyes.

Note the takes a long time to dry cause it really does. So far, I only use it on weekends when I have plenty of time to let it dry. Days I don't have to rush for work or rush off somewhere. So far so good.

 Knowing how much I loved nail polish, my colleague who left the company recently gave me her nail polish from Skin Food as a present.

I have never bought any nail polish from Skin Food since I think they are a little pricy but the quality turned out pretty nice. In fact, much nicer than TFS. Application was smooth and easy and this colour thankfully wasn't streaky or anything.

Will consider this brand when buying nail colours in the future.

Stuffs about Biore OPI nail polish and more

*Edit: Ehhh, I spelt Biore as Biorel, sorry about that!

I started blogging since 2008 and 4 years later I am feeling really lazy. I sit and wonder if I should even keep this going. In the end, I kept on blogging.

I have an embarrassing confession. A while ago, Caryn from Biore message me on my email saying that she has left the company and introduced to me her new colleague. I didnt see her email till a few weeks later. By that time when I emailed the new girl, I think the new girl must have left too since my emails bounced back undelivered.

In the email, the new girl asked if I could ask the winners of my Biore giveaways their home addresses. Something I felt uncomfortable in doing. I don't want to give my readers the wrong impression since home addresses can be something private. In the end, my emails never got thru.

For those that never got an email or your gift from Biore, I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.

I bought no new cosmetics and instead spent most of my money on OPI and China Glaze nail polish. Sir Stingy will freak if he only knew the exact amount.

Left to right: OPI Got a Date To Knight, Do you Lilac it? You Don't Know Jacques, Royal Rajah Ruby, China Glaze Lush and Lush, Velvet Bow

OPI in Malaysia cost a whooping RM60 (US$18~20) each and buying online is much cheaper for us. Online it cost us half the price.

Later collection:

OPI Big Hair, Big Nails from the Texas Collection

Hmm, I'm a big sucker for the jelly finish. It's so shiny and glossy. I find them irresistible. Big Hair Big Nails is a coral-ish red despite some online swatches showing them pink-ish.

OPI In the Spotlight Pink

A super sheer pink that would have been great for french manicures. Also a jelly finish. I trim my nails every single week so I won't be having a chance to paint french anytime soon.

The gold flat sparkles were bought in 100Yen shop in Japan. Too bloody expensive over here.

Tried doing a duplicate of the heart on my right thumb and it came our disfigured. Filled in the heart to make it less disfigured :P

Did this while watching the Olympics on telly. Ahh~ the slender body of the rhythmic gymnastics makes me turn green with envy.

Not perfect but it wasnt too bad for a first try, right? RIGHT???

I used disposable nail brushes I found in Daiso. Yes, I love Daiso, 100Yen shop and whatever other Dollar shops out there.

The brushes were slightly stiff and made controlling the brush a dream for drawing art on the nails and doing strokes and all. Unfortunately the brush "buka bunga" or "open flower" on me before I could finish my right hand which I painted last.

Other than that

Don't ask. All I can say is that the bottom cracked. I had to transfer it out to a separate bottle. No surgical knife. Cleaver in kitchen. Went flying. Mess.

This started a make up blog, 4 years later, I ended up using less and less make up.

Bare skin with Etude House Peach Pact. Why didn't I try this earlier? It's has become my HG. It gives me an extra 10 minutes snooze time.

Cheese & Chocolate

Mooncake festival is coming up. Pinky Doodle Doo saw this and bought some for me. Not exactly mooncakes but they were Hello Kitty!

Didn't taste very good..

Time to bag the Hello Kitties cakes into my Hello Kitty wrap. Ahh Daiso~

P.s: NH Collagen Drink can be bought in Watsons and most pharmacies. Watson sells them for around RM160+ and you can get them in the pharmacies for only RM135

Happy Birthday to meeeeee, NOTD, Hello Kitty Swarvoski pen

Damn I've been lazy. Didn't buy anything fancy or new so I didn't have much of an inspiration to post up anything. I'm still trying to finish up whatever make up I have first. Oh wait, I bought lots of nail polish, will post them up in my next post though.

NOTD - Pink with glitter and diamante

Oh! I forgot, I officially became 28 on July 10 this year. Wheee! Went to work as usual and came back home to sulk since Sir Terrible Memory was in Japan on a family holiday. Yes, the lucky boy, got to go Japan again so soon after our last trip. An all expense paid trip inclusive of shopping money. (WTF!!)

I had sleepless nights for the duration of his Japan trip and even had dark eye circles which is rare for me. Luckily a few days of good sleep afterward got rid of it in a jiffy.

These cupcakes were given to us (me and my sister) from our lunch mate who coincidentally birthday fell a day before mine.

But even without Sir TM, my birthday this year was good. My lunch partners organized an outing to a All-you-can-eat Steamboat Restaurant on the 9th. That night, my sister had to roll me out of the door, into the car and home. As usual, my greediness got the better of me and I paid the price. Yes, I work with my sister in the same company but different departments :D

On the 10th, the people in the department I am sitting in banded together to throw me a surprise party. Instead of a cake, they got little cupcakes with everything they knew I love, Chanel hand bag, Chanel lipstick, shoes, dresses etc. made from sugar fondant.

Besides the cupcakes, they also got me this!! OMG!

I was really touched, I ended up crying. I love them to bits but didn't expect anything from them. I would have been happy to just receive the cupcakes.

Later, my colleagues from my department threw another surprise party for me after sending me on a wild goose chase.

Too many cakes in too short a period caused me to put on so much weight I couldn't buckle my jeans anymore. So to end the story, I am now on a diet eating carrot sticks and celery. I am not happy...

P.s: If you are confused, let's just say I work in XX dept. but sits in YY dept, has transferred to VV dept. but still does a bit of XX dept. work while still sitting in YY dept. There!

Elisa got me a Jill Stuart tinted lip balm! Whee! Thank you, Habibi! I'm a little surprised she remembered how much I wanted one. I first saw it when Elyn got Elisa a Jill Stuart lip balm and I drooled - badly.

Still no ring from Sir Terrible Memory but Pinky Doodle Doo gave me four! Hah! Thanks, Pinky Doodle Doo. So far, I have received one from Bunny, four from Pinky and zero from Sir Terrible Memory *waves fist* I'm keeping tabs!

A chunky bracelet from my department head. Thank you!

So how's my birthday look?

Plain.

I manage to meet Bunny from BunnyOnline.com last Sunday and I think even she will be able to tell you that I am very plain looking in real life. I don't have any fancy-smeancy make up or clothes or hair. I'm just the average kinda girl you see everywhere :D

Sir Terrible Memory returned from Japan a day after my birthday and he bought me Hello Kitty stuffs and a Starbucks tumbler as peace offering, Yay!

How.. manly.

I was kinda hoping for the Cherry Blossoms ones but I guess they didn't have that.

Oh happiness! A Swarovski Hello Kitty pen filled with 150 Swarvoski crystals.


A Hello Kitty Eco bag, chocolate biscuits and tissue papers (lol)

Thank you Sir TM for the gifts, I am happy for the gifts but truthfully, I am thankful you came home to me safe and sound. That, is the best gift of all.

A handkerchief from the Hokusai Museum.

Hokusai was a famous wood print artist, believe it or not the image on the handkerchief above is made using a wood print.