Magical Skyscraper Land: Hong Kong

Hi guys,

You have probably noticed from my Instagram that I recently went to Hong Kong for the first time ever. It was a short trip, but it certainly didn’t lack in anything.

So here are my tips for what to do in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is just a short fight away from Singapore, making it a prime spot for any city lover residing in Singapore.

I had to take this huge suitcase with me for all those new and cool things I was gonna buy in Hong Kong. And yes, this was very clever!

Tip number 1: Bring an extra suitcase

Hong Kong was always at the top of my list and so I was super excited to go there. Cant say I started planning for the trip far ahead, it was all very last minute.

All I knew was that I had to try local food, check out the malls and walk around Hong Kong for as long as it takes to form an opinion of this awesome city.

Getting there was fast and easy. The airport is as efficient as Changi and there was no taxi queue so we literally walked right into a cab. And I gotta say it didn’t take long to impress me. All those green tropical hills, islands and light fog was quite enchanting. I love the feeling of space in general, but this just seemed like another planet. The skyscrapers hiding behind the hills, endless bridges, islands, I felt like I was high above the ground even though I was in a cab.

Tip number 2 – do take a cab from the airport, you wont regret it.

Another thing that struck me was construction work everywhere. I am not complaining here, I just didn’t expect to see as much road works and construction sites. Hong Kong is definitely still growing at a really fast pace.

As we got closer to the hotel, it felt much more like a city and less of a magical skyscraper land. We stayed in Central area. Boasting more mirrored glass skyscrapers than I could possibly imagine, Central is paradise for the modern architecture lovers as well as members of the skyscraper appreciation society like myself. LOL

The area also has a lot of restaurants and shopping malls. So plenty to do here.

Waking up to this view felt truly magical.

My tip number 3 – if budget allows, stay in Central

and enjoy what it has to offer. I loved how everything was walking distance (relatively speaking). I enjoy walking and the weather was perfect so we walked all around Sheung Wan and Soho areas.

Navigating around a new city is always a pain, so our first stop was a 7-eleven. Got the SIM cards, activated a data package and off we went.

Tip number 4 – get a sim card and stop yourself from getting lost!

We got ours in a 7-eleven inside one of the metro stations (MTRs).

First things first – I really wanted to see Sheung Wan and Soho. Partly because of the history of the areas, partly because of convenience we went there first. I gotta say it is a very eclectic place. Just a crazy mixture of everything. Imagine walking down the road and seeing a traditional chinese medicine store next to a designer boutique, then a calligraphy store and then a deserted shop and an expensive restaurant. I was constantly like “What the hell”. In other words: unpredictable, must see, quirky, do not take it too seriously.

Tip 5: walk around Sheung Wan and Soho. Wont take long, will no doubt surprise you.

If you are a big fan of shopping malls and just cant get enough, you should definitely try IFC. It is a lot of walking, a lot of designer stores, the biggest high street names as well as an unusual amount of mid range stores, which are so rare. You will need deep pockets if you want to buy several pieces here, but if you have saved up for a quality piece this is a perfect place.

If you have a day or more to spend on shopping, you should head straight to Tsim Sha Tsui or TST. This whole area is basically one giant shopping mall, incredible variety of items, lots to see and just an incredible experience all together. Miles and miles of walking in and out different stores will definitely tire you out, but hopefully you will pick up some awesome stuff along the way.

Tip 6: wear your most comfortable shoes. They are your best friends in HK.

If this is still not enough shopping for you, try Times Square and the surrounding area. I found a lot of quirky Japanese items in this area 🙂

In terms of food Hong Kong is no doubt a paradise. With so many amazing restaurants to choose from, we were really lost and decided to go with some recommendations first.

Mott 32 was amazing. I love the dark lounge atmosphere and it is always nice to be escorted to your table by a beautiful hostess.

The food was delicious, modern Chinese is the best I can describe it, traditional flavours with a modern spin, well presented and delicious. Had crispy duck and these little pork and cucumber rolls.

A very romantic place, perfect for a date with your loved one.

Now the next place was really quite something. I wanted to try local food from the start and what is better than a traditional tea house? One of the oldest ones in Hong Kong – Lin Heung Tea House in Wellington street. It was definitely an experience…first of all you kinda have to wash your own cups and chopsticks here. Secondly, you have to speak Chinese to order. Thirdly, all tables are large and round and so you have to just join people at their table. Only locals here, I haven’t noticed a single tourist. The food is all worth it though, the pork soup was delicious, the egg noodles where the best I had, dim sum was full of flavour too.

Tin Lung Heen was another restaurant we tried in Hong Kong. Couldn’t resist having crispy duck again and of course tried the dim sum too. I have to say this place is a bit overrated, the food was not as amazing as TripAdvisor promised, but the view from 102nd floor was to die for.

I have to say my favourite thing about Hong Kong is the view at night. Paired with some cocktails and a cheese platter it is truly unbeatable.

I will be back soon!

Supereasy breakfast for 2

Morning!

Just wanted to share my super easy breakfast with you guys.

Since I always wake up VERY hungry I prefer to go for an easy and fast breakfast. Most of the times I have my lazy oats 😉 

Occasionally, I want something warm and cheesy and that is when I whip out the pan.

This healthy breakfast takes minutes to prep and cook.

First of all I chop a few cherry tomatoes and some sweet pepper and sometimes sweet chilli pepper for added spice. Quickly fry it in some olive oil, literally for 1 minute. 

Then add 3 eggs, don’t worry this is for 2 people! Wait about a minute or 2 and mix it.

Then sprinkle some cheese on top, and this is a real bad time to be greedy. Its breakfast, a few extra calories won’t hurt, so add extra cheese and enjoy the taste. I have used mature cheddar here.

Give it a minute to melt, fold the mixture over itself and voila! All ready to plate up.

Throw some crunchy salad leaves, sprinkle some virgin olive oil and balsamic, or whatever you feel like having and put the “lazy omelette” on top.

Add some pepper to taste, and if you like it salty add some salt or even more cheese! I’m always generous with cheese so there is never any need for extra salt.

Bon appetit! 

Stress reliever

I know it is just the beginning of the week, but things are already going so crazy!

In this post I wanted to share with you all the best ways to get effective rest fast and what to do (or not to do) to make sure your don’t get stressed easily.

Breathe

Sound stupid, but it is actually the number one technique for stress release. Any psychotherapist will agree – a few deep breaths can go a long way.

Is it some kinda new way of breathing? You could say that, it is called 3D breathing. Here is how to do that:

Sit down with your back straight, take a very deep breath through the nose, inhale the maximum amount of air that can possibly fit in your lungs, let your ribs open up to the sides while maintaining the lower abdomen as flat as possible.

And then breathe all that air out through your mouth…..

And repeat. Repeat as many times as needed to completely calm down. But do not force yourself to breathe as this can cause lightheadedness. Go with the flow.

Feels good right?

Take a nap

If you are very lucky and can afford to take a nap in the middle of the day, well first of all – congratulations, you make lots of people jealous. Secondly, DO take that nap. Studies have shown that even a 15 minute nap (or power nap) can boost your energy levels for the rest of the day and improve your mood.

So make the most of this luxury and snooze when you can.

Hold it!

This one is really controversial, but nonetheless backed by real science: go easy on that coffee. Although caffeine is know for its energising qualities, it actually looks quite ugly from the point of view of your nervous systems. It makes you more active and alert, but that in turn can irritate the hell out of your nerves and get you more stressed.

Skipping those caffeinated drinks, your second cup of coffee or tea can decrease your stress levels dramatically.

Sleep tight

Have an important meeting the next morning? Closing the deal next day? Those sound like good reasons to be stressed. There is a way out however – get a good night’s sleep. It will help replenish those energy levels and get some happy hormones (serotonin) into your brain. You will be able to think fast, solve issues quicker and will definitely look your best.

The earlier – the better

Here is a surprise for you – alcohol actually makes you more stressed. Initially it gives you more confidence, elevates the mood and makes everything better, but it irritates your nervous system and prevents you from getting a good nights sleep. Have you noticed that every time you have drink late in the evening you wake up early? Yep, that is what I mean.

By no means do you have to stop drinking altogether. Please, I am not a monster – just try to do it in the day. So that your body get plenty of time to “digest” the alcohol and get it out of your system before you go to bed.

That way you get the best of both world – you favourite drink AND solid sleep.

You can thank me later!

Try meditation

Everyone has heard of this mystery word. Meditation this, meditation that. It is everywhere – lots of resources online, thousands of meditation apps and printed materials.

In actual fact it is just a very simple relaxation technique that incorporates breathing and body awareness to quickly calm you down.

Just try it – all you might loose is a few minutes of your time!

Have a cuppa

Don’t you find warm liquids soothing? Just the image alone should make you happier already – imagine yourself holding a lovely cup of hot cocoa or tea or anything else that is liquid-y or soup-y, warm and soothing and then you take that little sip… ahhh… bliss

Go and get yourself you favourite hot drink and let that stress drift away.

Have a blissful stress-free week!

Urban Decay eyeshadow

All you need to know about Urban Decay Vice palette

As you already know, I don’t just write good reviews. Nah-ah. Even though I always try to buy quality products, sometimes I do end up regretting my purchase. And I will let the world know about (even though some might hate me for it).

So today’s review is about Vice eyeshadow palette by Urban Decay. Well we have all heard about their nude palette and there is no denying it is a best seller. 

However, this is a different story. I bough it a while back and have had enough time to form an objective opinion on it since then.

Ok lets start with the good things:

Colors:

The color selection here is pretty amazing. This is why I bought this platte in the first place. It covers your nude looks, you can easily do a smokey eye and it has some more for party eyes. All the right ones are matte and all the right ones have light reflecting particles. Fantastic. 

Millie agrees with me and loves the color range too, she also decided she should be the centre of attention in all the shots from now on. I cannot argue with that 🙂

Moving on to staying on:

With my MAC paintpot these shadows stay on pretty well. Even in very hot humid weather they will not let you down. Meow to that!

Comfort:

These eyeshadows have not irritated my eyes or skin, never had any issues, no allergic reactions, no redness, nothing whatsoever.

Will also do nicely as an arm rest…or paw rest for that matter. 

The packaging is great as it has a great big mirror and a double sided brush of decent quality. One side is for applying or dabbing on the color and the other – for blending it in with the rest.

So you don’t need to use your fingers)

And now to the annoying things:

Durability:

This is where I have a serious issues with this palette. On many levels. Firstly, when I dab the shadow with the brush far to much eyeshadow clings to the brush. So I have to shake the brush off or even dab it on a tissue. There is also a lot of loose shadow that spreads out around the palette. So the colors get mixed up a little and I keep having to blow the loose shadow off. This is all wasteful and annoying. Does is happen with other shadows? Yes sure, but nowhere near as much!!!

Another thing – whole chunks of eyeshadow separate from their square and fall off. A tiny drop will do serious damage and you will loose a lot of eyeshadow after a bigger one. Happened a lot to me. I do drop other palettes too, I am not just clumsy with this one. And I have to say the others cope with drops infinitely better. This one annoys me a lot.

Application:

Most shadows are hard to blend without the primer. Vice by Urban Decay is impossible to blend without the primer. I think it has something to do with how loose it gets, because it means that it is very uneven on the brush and therefore unevenly applied to the skin. It is not a big deal, because you should always use a primer, but it is good to know all the details anyway.

Thanks for reading my review and I hope you found it very useful! 

 P.S. Special thanks to Millie for modelling for this post 😉

Celebrating in style

2015 is an extra special year for so many reasons. One of which is Singapore’s 50th Birthday.
This amazing country feels like home to me even though I have only lived here for 3 years.
I wish Singapore the most beautiful birthday ever!

Happy 50th Birthday Singapore!

Lets all cheers to the prosperous cosmopolitan Singapore!

With love,

Beauty products you can easily save on

Have you ever tried to calculate how much money you have spent on your beauty stash?

Well, even if you are not a beauty junkie, I am sure it is a considerable sum.

We are talking $500 or even more.

So clearly it is important to consider the effectiveness of our beauty products and think about what kind of products we can save on.

Toothpaste and toothbrushes

There are a lot of myths out there about the magic properties of toothpaste. I gotta say, toothpaste in itself doesn’t really make any difference. Unless you have severe tooth sensitivity it is probably not worth it to splurge on it. After all, toothpaste is a necessity and necessities should be very affordable.

Toothbrushes may seem like a super important tool, we all want the perfect smile, right? Well here is what my dentist said about expensive toothbrushes:

“…a complete waste of you money, moreover electric toothbrushes can damage your enamel”.  

Yep, all those high tech ultrasonic electric NASA developed fit for a Queen toothbrushes are just that – a waste of money. The toothbrush he recommended was a simple old school brush costing only a couple bucks. The only special thing about it is that it has 0.01mm bristles.

Shampoos and conditioners

Having tried a super wide range of shampoos and conditioners costing anywhere between $2 and $60 on my hair for years I can confirm that none of them stand out when it comes to results. Some are more foamy, some smell much better, but overall they are all the same. It would take me a year to remember all the brands that I used, but here are the most famous ones: Sunsilk, Herbal Essenses, Dove, Gliss kur, Tresseme, Ojon, Kerastase, Phyto, Fructice, Pantene, Head&Shoulders, Palmolive, Wella, Redken, Shauma, Aesop. All the same. Can you save lotsa money on that? Most definitely. 

Shower gel

Much like shampoos and conditioners, shower gels are all alike.

Unless you want to pay $$ extra for a special smell you like, don’t fall for the marketing. 

Makeup brushes

Well I know this one is a popular question so here is my belief about makeup brushes. Get good quality brushes that last, but don’t fall for the brandname. If you want to save money on your brushes – you can. I got my 30 piece CICI & SISI set (that includes 5 large brushes) on Amazon couple of years ago for around $90. I have been washing and drying them several times a week and they still look and feel as good as new. Before that I had another set of 15 brushes which I got on Ebay for $20. They were perfectly fine, but got lost because of me constantly moving house. The choice is yours –

you can buy a MAC brush for $90 or spend the same amount on a huge set of brushes for all your needs.

Mascara

This one is much more controversial. There are a lot of people that will never give up their expensive mascara not for anything in the world. And thats fine. What we are talking about here is saving money if you want to save it. I have to admit I use the High Impact mascara by Clinique and don’t want to change any time soon, but a Loreal mascara does a great job. The only reason i stick with Clinique is because i feel it is much easier to color my lashes with a brush that the Clinique mascara has, it is much more solid, has more bristles and doesn’t bend. I need twice as much time to achieve the same effect with Loreal’s mascaras. 

Facial Cleansers

As a big fan of Fabulous Face Cleanser by Aesop, it is hard for me to say that spending $65 on a facial cleanser is definitely splurging. Well I have to admit, it is splurging. I really can’t help it, that smell wakes me up in the morning and I would rather give up my morning coffee than the cleanser.

Another thing I will admit is that I really don’t see any changes on my skin and I fully realise that I am paying for the gorgeous Bergamot smell that I love so much.

To sum up, the golden rule for saving money on beauty products is:

Save on everything that you wash off and invest in everything that you leave on your face or body.

Personal stuff: Cats

Or how I got 3 cats after over 20 years of waiting

Hi, it is Kate here. I don’t really blog about my personal life much. Or at all. I can’t say that I am a private person, it’s just I’m not sure anyone wants to read my personal stuff. So this post is sort of an experiment 🙂

So I am totally in love with cats. Since forever. I never had a cat as a child. My dad said that if I brought a kitten home he would flush it down the toilet. So I deemed that too much of a risk. But you know, when you are a kid and you are denied something you just want it even more, after a while you want it like crazy and soon you are ready to sell your soul to the devil just to get whatever stupid something it is that you want. So I was like that with cats. I tried a lot of things:

Becoming a perfect child, very suddenly:

Doing all the dishes, dusting, helping with cooking, taking out the trash. At the end of the day asking for a cat.

Guilt trip:

Like looking at my dad with my big teary eyes and asking for a tiny little kitten

Focusing my parents minds on the right thing:

Pointing out all possible cats in the street, pointing out things that remotely resemble cats, like small dogs etc just to keep the cat topic going. “oh look a tree! cats love trees!”, “oh look a stationery store! Imagine a cat inside!”, “oh look, my history book, em…cats…don’t forget about cats!”

Being gruesome:

“oh look a homeless guy, he probably ate a cat for lunch today”

Promising the impossible:

“If I get a kitten, I will only ever get A’s in school”

Basically doing all the things that usually work super well if you are my mom persuading my dad to do/buy/fix something.

Unfortunately, none of that had any effect whatsoever on my parents who seemed to have a heart made of ice when it came to cats. So I decided to deal with the issues head on.

First issue was that according to my parents, cats are dirty. I mean, really? A human equivalent of a cat would basically be someone who sleeps 20 hours a day, walks around his home, eats from a bowl and poops in the toilet. Just how dirty can you get doing that???

Second issue:

Cats are aloof and independent. All I can add is “and I respect them for that”. What kind of an issue is that?! I mean it’s not like your cat is gonna slouch in a chair and go: “Hey, I don’t love you and never have. I’m just here for the food” or “I don’t give a tiny rats ass about your problems, figure it out ourself”.

And the last and the most resounding issue was cleaning the litter tray. I did resort to promising the impossible again, which was to train the cat to poop in the actual human toilet or cleaning the litter tray. But nobody bought either of those. Not sure I believed in that myself 🙂

So I ended up with no cat and my dream cat ended up with somebody else, most likely not giving a shit anyway if you look on the bright side.

I attribute my failure to the fact that when I was growing up there were no cute cat pics everywhere and the only cat you saw consistently was the one with bright red eyes hiding in a bush and hissing.

So anyway, now I am a proud owner of 3 lovely cats. My first is a british shorthair called Sulu. And the other two are ragdoll sisters called Millie and Kiara.

I leave you with some cute kitty pics to enjoy 🙂

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After all it is like they say: “Good things come to those who wait”. And it is totally worth it, even if you have to wait for your beautiful kitties for over 20 years.

I would love to see your gorgeous cats, do share their photos with me here or on Instagram!