10 Souvenirs to get from Bali & Singapore / 2017 Souvenirs Hauls

I finally have all the photos I needed to make this post happen, I have been meaning to post this forever! So here are they *drumrolls*  hauls I got from my recent trip to both Bali and Singapore. While I mentioned these two places, I did the majority of my shopping in Bali because things are cheaper thanks to the lower currency as compared to in Singapore. There were a lot more interesting souvenirs to shop from Bali anyway hahahah

#1 Bamboo Straws

I first found this being used in one of the warungs I was dining in Nusa Lembongan (if I remember correctly) and thought the idea to be novel! This simple bamboo straws are the answers to reducing the use of plastic straws.

I was glad when I heard Starbucks making an initiative to stop using plastic straws by 2020. Wished all consumers can do so too! To purchase these bamboo straws, check out Bali Life Bamboo Straws. There are several other other options like this foldable, metal straws from Lazada.

The whole climate change, pollution, and going greener for the sake of the environment has been in my head for awhile. I do agree us Malaysians are not giving back enough to the environment. Sure, we do plant trees, but air pollution from the One-Car-One-Driver concept especially in KL, not recycling (yet), not completely cutting out of plastic are definitely not helping our environment. 

This National Geography cover totally depicts our problem with plastic.

 Then of course, I read articles online saying plastic straws and bags make up a big percentage when it comes to polluting our rivers and seas then lead to animals like our fish, turtles and just everything in the ecosystem! So, join me in my

#BambooStrawsMovement!!!!

I have to admit it didn't occur to me until when I was at a restaurant in Nusa Lembongan was using bamboo straws. That totally pique my interest, I had to check with the waiter where I can get them. But then I didn't know, so now that you know, you can get them in Kuta or Ubud. Definitely, definitely get these when you are at Bali! They make cool souvenirs and help save the environment at the same time:DD

  

~♡~

#2 Get an entirely new attire!

This was exactly what I did! I bought two longue pants from Singapore's Little India, a halter tie-dye dress and printed skirt from Bali.

#3 Accessories

This bracelet is something I purchased from Matahari department store which I'm super loving! Told my BFF I got this for under RM10 and she remarked on how it doesn't look cheap LOL

I saw these rattan weaved bags with the insides decorated with batik, so pretty!!!

Unfortunately, it's above my budget, costing close to RM300 at Matahari department stores in Kuta. By the way, you hear me mentioned this place a lot in this post because I actually prefer shopping at the department stores or art markets who affixed price tags on their products. That way you won't get extorted _ I've dropped by several small art market and stalls selling souvenirs and the shop keepers were very keen on overcharging me. This is one annoying issue in Bali IMO.

My pretty, pretty batik and rattan handbag~~

#4 Kopi Bali or Luwak

You can find plenty of these in Art Markets in Bali. I got mine from Matahari Department Store's grocery section. There is an aisle dedicated for coffee alone and you'd be spoil with options!

#5 Local Snacks

 I dunno why, but these are super addictive!!!! Couldn't stop eating at all!

#6 Magnets

...because my family & I collects them :)

#7 Handicraft wares

From cups and plates made out of coconut shells, wood or shells to woven table mat and the list goes on! Coconut shells cups/bowls for my bestie because she asked for them.

#8 Homemade Soaps

I purposely bought homemade soup because I needed something with brightening effect in hope I can get fairer before my sis' wedding. Unfortunately, I only used for over a week! It slipped into the toilet bowl when I was using it (T___T) 

2016 Taiwan Hauls

I want to get started with my vacay bits but decided to share with you my haul first LOL

Let me start with the ones I posted on Instagram just recently. Sent this via po stage to my family back home cuz I won't be going back anytime soon and some of the stuff I really wanted them to try before it expires LOL

The two items in red are teas which I got from Maokong. Dad's been obsessed with tea apparently so I got him and mom more. Then clockwise from top left are magnets, birds' nests, Taiwan instant coffee, some ginger tea cubes, Taro/Yam cakes and pineapple squares.

Also got myself luggage stickers! They're so cute I want moreeeeee!

The Taro cake is a MUST try. I had some last year when my ex-colleagues bought some as omiyage from Taiwan. I LOVE IT! So much that I brainwashed my ex-roomie and my friends whom travelled together with me to get some. Thankfully you can get this at almost everywhere like in Taoyuan Airport, Taipei Main Station and almost all touristy places. Even the night markets! Initially we wanted to get the ones from ShanMai (there is a branch in Taipei Main Station) but was too rush so we bought some random brand. Tastes equally as good!

Chia Te's pineapple cake is a must try too! I thought they tasted much more buttery and liked it but my parents said it tasted almost like the one in Bukit Mertajam. Worth trying! Last but definitely not least is the TaiYang Bing or Sun Cake. Didn't buy some back but it is good. Super buttery!

When in Taiwan, buy lotsa tea LOL. Bought Oolong, Tie Kuan Yin, Ginger (My fav!) and Blooming tea ❤❤❤

So I got back and was so eager to try the ginger tea so I used a cube which makes about 3 cups or more and drank them myself.

Immediately I felt myself warm up and a while after I finish the tea I got nosebleed... (>___<) Hahahahha.

Reminding myself not to drink on hot days...

I also got some Tie Kuan Yin tea nougats from Maokong, which IMO tasted wayyyy better than most nougats I tried in Malaysia. The taste of tea is so-o-o defined, Chinese tea lovers will love it!

I also got tons of_like thirty_ beautiful hand painted postcards from Maokong. Distributed to my colleagues and friends. These are the ones I have left, which will be given to my friends and family hahahaha

Aren't they prettay??

Next up are cosmetics and beauty products, mostly masks and stuff from Naruko. Taiwan cosmetics are quite popular in Malaysia and my friends been raving about Naruko so when I told them I'll be going, I got a list of to buys since they're much affordable there.

These are the items I bought for my friends.

#Naruko Bird's Nest Mask

Another brand was L'herboflore, which my other friend recommended me to get. I found a counter at K-Underground Mall and as you can see, sapu (Malay for sweep/swept) quite a lot from the counter.

Let me tell you something super annoying that happened when we went to purchase the L'herboflore masks. So my friend Amelia and I went there solely to purchase the masks and were browsing the many choices deciding to buy before we were cornered my sales personS bombarding us with all the products. At first, I thought they were very helpful and friendly, trying to get to know where we were from after noticing my ineptness in handling the language and letting us sample some mini masks.

This mini masks. Aren't they cute?

But after a while, they level up their games and introducing us the other many, much more pricey products trying to sell them to us to the point it got very annoying.

And the most annoying part?

They said if you buy this set, we will give you like X number of masks for free, whispering the words to my ears. Saying stuff like, this is specially for you girls. So our identity as tourists actually is advantageous, huh. Mind you, there was no poster around stating this sorta deal. Aha.

And you know, I'm the type who DON'T like close contact with some people so the whole whispering act annoyed me more.

Like seriously. One other friend managed to duck another (Yes, they have that many sales people) and just hid somewhere. She observed that when a sales person is unable to convince a customer, they obtain help from someone apparently more senior/experienced to try to preach the customers.

Very questionable work and business etiquette.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE SALES & DISCOUNTS and I'm in LOVE with L'herboflore's products, I just don't like how they operate...I would actually buy more too if not because I've spent on SK-II recently. Same goes to Amelia (I intro-ed SK-II to her before our trip LOL).

What do you think? Have anyone experienced the same when shopping in any of their outlets in Taiwan?

If you're ok with these overselling sales people, just make it obvious you're no local and you prolly able to snap the products on pretty good bargain prices. You so-o didn't hear this from me.

Another tip: Purchase minimum 20 sheet masks for discounts!

Last but not least, I got myself this alpaca magnet from Taipei Zoo, cuz alpacas are cute LOL.

Because I only brought a carry on with me, I had to buy another luggage (the one in the picture above) and actually filled it up with all my haul LOL

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Ukiyo-e's 31-Day Luxury Blend Essence Charcoal Mask Review

Happy weekday, I hope you're happy hahaha. Mine was rather hectic so much that I was doing some work on Sunday (Saturday was my day out)...

And yup, I'm back with another review of a product that I'm not sure if anyone heard of because you can't find it in any Malaysia pharmacies or cosmetic stores. I haven't heard of it until a few weeks back LOL. Went to Isetan KLCC the other day on the way to meet my friends and so happen I chance upon this counter (on one of the ladies' fashion floor, I don't remember) selling Japanese beauty products which I don't remember seeing. There were also a number of promoters there and several other people so I went to 'kepo' and check out what all the hoo-ha was about.

One super energetic promoter started telling me all about the products and patiently answered my questions. Out of my obsession for masks, I went and splurge on this Luxury Blend Essence, All in One Essence Mask from a brand called Uukiyo-e which costs me RM155 for this huge pack of 31 masks!

They're gonna take me forever months to finish, 4 months if I keep up with my twice a week masking (it's usually once a day for me it's back to once a day wth).

Not related to this review but together with this mask, I bought a cleanser which was also super recommended by the same promoter because of the 'high fulvic acid' content. I have not used it yet but will be reviewing about it when I do (Ov<)-☆

Mount Fuji depicted in a ukiyo-e-ish painting~! I just figured out the brand name means "pictures of the floating world" or Edo-style paintings in layman terms. I don't wanna elaborate it further here so Google it to find out more LOL.

Anyway, if you do the math, it's about RM5 per sheet which I think it's super worth it le, with all the luxury ingredients _ Gold, Royal Jelly (Me love!), Charcoal, Pearl, Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, Q10, Arbutin, just to name several of their main ingredients!

This is just one of the few choices of five different masks in huge packs that they have. I opted for this because according to the promoter, the other 2 doesn't suit my skin type. For this Charcoal mask range, there are two choices, one is made of luxury ingredients mentioned above while the other is made mostly of organic ingredients.

The content looks like this, with each masks arranged side by side making it convenient to separate one from the other. The bag is the zip lock sort so it is resealable.

The masks are like, opaque black... You can't even tell my facial expression whether I'm smiling or not. I was smiling LOL.

I didn't feel any difference until my second masks. The most obvious effect is my lips feels more plump, more like swelling after that. The lifting and tightening effect is strong with this one, oh yeah.

On the other hand, I can't really feel any difference on my face but I'm deducing that's just because I'm no stranger to tightening/lifting sorta masks. Not bragging, but I'm proud that my skin's feels pretty taut. But then, yeah, I'm still at quarter life, so thankfully my skin isn't sagging yet LOL. Gonna wanna maintain this until I'm 35 #lifegoals

The salesperson I met recommended this mask in replace my night beauty routine as these masks works as a lotion, moisturizer, all in one. After trying, I say nay, weeks ago the weather was so hot and drying, my skin felt so dehydrated. I ended up slapping on moisturizer anyway!!On top of that she recommended to mask everyday (Figures why they come in 31 sheets )! But no, ain't got no time for that.

Anyway, Ukiyo-e also have several other ranges of 31-Day masks _ one other Organic (I think!) Blend Essence Charcoal Mask and 4 others. They do distribute single mask depicting ukiyo-e-ish geisha prints. So many masks under a single brand wth right.

Eyes Coffret 1 Day UV: Base Make Review

Hello people~!

Missed a blog post last week, gomen ne. It's the peak period at work and there were so-o many things going on past Saturdays I didn't have time to blog. On top of that, I have quite a  number of videos I haven't edited from CNY to the recent Bunkasai I attended last Saturday. These will take some time to complete but I have posted a short video last week taken from the time my friends and I explored a new restaurant.

As for today I'm gonna share with you this one contact lens brand I bought recently _ Eye Coffret in Base Make. I bought this together with and Eye Coffret in Rich Make for RM90 from Paris Miki. However, today's review is just for Base Make's lenses because I haven't got the chance to try the other yet (I just bought them last week!).

There were 3 different designs to choose from but I only got the brown color lenses because I'm no fan of black lens :/

Just out of curiosity, I didn't really notice before but do Japanese have black or brown eyes or both? I mean, like why are they calling the black-color one 'Natural Make'? Any Japanese reading my blog? LOL

Eye Coffret is something I've been considering of getting for awhile now but only decided to get because I wanted to wear for Bunkasai which I attended last weekend. Didn't want to wear my specs then.

I'm actually no fan of spectacles because they hurt my ears and leave marks on the bridge of my nose and so I can't wear it for long. I still wear it because I've been lazy to go contact lens shopping. Also, now that I'm working, I want a color contact lens that is natural-looking (if not no color ones), nothing too 'gyaru' nor super enlarging.

I found several from international online site selling some Korean brand that looks really pretty but unfortunately they don't ship to Malaysia. Also I'm still waiting for Lena Fuji's RichBaby Lenses to be distributed in Malaysia, else I better faster plan a trip to Japan and go conquer Donki's contact lens section wth.

Back to Eye Coffret! Each boxes consist of 10 pieces of lens and each for one day use only. I'm loving their simple packaging. Here are the close ups.

I wore the Base Make lens for the event but it didn't turn up as what I was expecting. I wanted a brown lens that turn up lighter on my irises but instead it looked just like my natural eyes. It's not completely a bad thinglah, my friends didn't even notice I was wearing colored contacts. They were just wondering what's different hahaha.

Though I would really like something with a lighter color. Or something like my mom's. She has really beautiful, bright eyes _ black tea sorta dark brown color. I guess I didn't get that particular gene from her. But I still have pretty dark brown irises LOL, people tell me they look unique.

This is how the lenses look like on me. My eyes are sparkling LOL

*kira**kira**kira*

(It's not very obvious because it's a far shot but I am making a mental reminder for myself to take a close up shot the next time I wear it. Will post it up here.)

With a diameter of 12.8mm these lenses have slight enlarging effect. Here's a pic I took that night without one lens. Can you tell which side of my eyes without the lens?

The one on the left is without the lens and vice versa.

It really is tough to tell the difference unless you look into my eyes closely (in real life) LOL.

Anyway, these lens are awesome! I got it inside my eyes without much problems and they feel really soft. My eyes didn't feel painful or dry even though I wore it over 13 hours! As the name suggested, this lens also function to help protect your eyes from harmful UV rays! Pretty awesome stuff here, I would say.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase and if there's any complain, it's just the color. Still, definitely recommendable if you're a fan of natural colored contact lens. Can't wait to try the Rich Make lens soon! And maybe after that buy more contact lens wth. My obsession with contact lens is back hahaha

July OOTDs

Happy August, people~!

I'm back with another quick OOTDs post (*⌒∇⌒*)v Didn't get much chance to snap all the OOTD I wanted to show you this month and my last outfit shot was taken just last night despite feeling tired.. This time I'll just be sharing my 3 looks and recent additions to my wardrobe, loaded with prints (I LOVE, LOVE them!!) & denim which are definitely Summer 2015 must haves!

#1 Tribal print dress from Factorie, belts from Forever21 and necklace from Lovisa. Can you believe I got the dress on a super bargain for only RM20?! Found a last piece in my size and I didn't think twice before buying LOL.

Plus the prints are lovely I likey! (*°▽°*)

#2 Mango Florence-style printed floral top, necklace and white shorts

I'm loving the print of this top too! It's almost similar design with the dress on top since they've got contrast prints at the hem.

Oh, and it's my first blouse from Mango! Rarely bought from this brand but I love their recent boho/tribal/ethnic collection and even bought another boho blouse from the recent sale. That one I'll be sharing in another post since I haven't got the chance to wear it yet.

Last outfit for today's post which really was #whatiworeyesterday (≧◡≦) Please ignore my tired looking eyes, I was feeling super tired..

#3 Denim shirt from Cotton On which I mixed-and-matched with my skirt which I bought some time ago from Zalora Malaysia

Was hanging out around Pavillion and taking photos. They have the obon decorations around since next week it's the obon festival in Japan!

Even the decors upstairs are so pretty!

Was teleported to Chibi Maruko Chan land too LOL. How nostalgic, I used to read this manga when I was a child!