Hong Kong | Harlan's The One + D&G

Located at The One on the Kowloon side, Harlan's has a spectacular view of the Victoria Harbor. I'd highly recommend to people wit ho have never been to Hong Kong to come grab a drink at night, or possibly a romantic dinner for two, despite the time I went it was foggy and the tea set wasn't as yummy as I wished. Anyway I brought my brother's awesome camera to take pictures and lets not let them go waste, neh?

At the end of the day? I am happy that my tea loving friend Suki didn't follow my recommendation and wasted her time here. If you're into afternoon tea as well, make sure you check her blog out (HERE).

If you happened to know little about Hong Kong news, you probably know about the incident that happened at the Tsim Sha Tsui Dolce&Gabanna. Since we were walking pass it, we took a picture because we can take picture in any public places in Hong Kong, regardless of what nationality we are #insider.

Walking with Buddha - visiting HK in the traditional way

If you asked me what represents Hong Kong the most, I'd probably say International Finance Center in Central, Element in Tsim Sha Tsui. But hey, don't forget the fact that 3 sides of Hong Kong is surrounded by water. With most of the development on reclaimed land in the city, a lot of places in the New Territories and millions of small islands are left untouched.

Ngong Ping is a small village on Lantau Island, and the Ngong Ping 360 tourism project that was built a few years back with cable cars take us on a 25 minute journey overlooking Tung Chung Bay and the mighty Tian Tan Budda Statue. (Read more HERE) With my experience, Hong Kong is almost always gloomy. The day spent outdoor was so beautiful and couldn't be better!

We took the newer cable car that was clear bottomed. The British lady sitting next to us realized it was glass all of a sudden and freaked out. she kept saying "don't your stomach feel funny?" no wth haha.

After we arrived the village we just followed the crowd and talked towards Mr. Budda, who is sitting atop 268 steps. Little tired but able to experience what Mr. Buddha sees everyday? So worth it!

my very asian friend haha jk

We made it to the top and the view is spectacular! No wonder Mr. Buddha doesn't want to move. Surrounding him were a few smaller goodnesses tributing things Mr. Buddha has been lemming #notintendedtobeafactualstatement

Walking back down is the village centered with Bo Lin Temple. For whatever reason I have actually never been to Bo Lin Temple! I knew nothing more than people come eat veggie dishes-_- In addition to all the overly fertiled flowers set up for Chinese New Year, it is just so colorful. Here is this picture of Tedi and incense that are bigger than Tedi

On the way back it was more foggy but it was one of the prettiest scenes I have seen in my life. It reminds me of the never-ending Sahara Desert besides we were 50 feet of the ground and were looking at mountains instead. I could not believe I could see a natural scene like this in Hong Kong. Now I could die without regrets.

I will save some stuff to show you in later on posts. By the time this is up, I will be spending Chinese New Year with my family on a vacation in Nepal :) I am actually leaving now but to those of you who do celebrate cny, happy new year! 新年快樂，心想事成，龍馬Drink神，恭喜恭喜

Review | Revlon Age Defying Foundation

I thought, why not give myself a new face in to kick off the year. Nice skin is needed even if the world is ending to get the priority to embark onto a spaceship, agree? #ProblematicBlackHumor #iAlwaysSay


I stumbled upon and was drawn to this foundation awhile back because of the name Age Defying - automatically aka more nourishing,  but didn't pick this up because 1) my "high end foundations are always better"religion 2) couldn't test out the color. However, I decided to give it a go when I saw this again from the last CVS sale. Reference HERE.

First Impression: I thought it was going to be too dark for me but it actually foams up into a lighter mousse once blended.  Its very very light textured, almost like an emulsion or serum that is tinted. 

Pros:

- super dewy finish

- light to medium coverage 

- SPF 20

- nourishing (+!) with Botafirm - an exclusive line-inhibiting complex of botanicals and hexapeptide that works with the skin's natural proteins to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles. The products also have vitamins, antioxidants and varying SPF levels. 

- drugstore price

Cons:

- medium lasting power, about 4 hours

- too moisturizing for oily skin

- no pump 

- color match, damn you drugstore products

On my skin under natural light | completely unedited as other review pictures

above | with Revlon Age Defying foundation alone

below | with Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder, Nars Orgasm blush

I dotted it all over my face and blended it with my finger tips. As you can see the darkness around my nose and mouth, undereye dark circles are not entirely hidden with its light coverage. It also leaves a very dewy finish (which I love but big no no for oily skin type).

I am really picky about what I put on my face these days, esp face makeup, that's why I pretty much stopped wearing foundation since last year to stop the harm, and have looking for cosmetics that function as skincare. If you can get over the fact that this foundation is targeted for older skin and bear the risk of finding a perfect match without opening the bottle, I highly recommend it specifically for this kind of super dry winter day that you just want a little bit of coverage that doesn't suck the moisture out of your skin.

Best of 2011 - Restaurants Roundup Rawr!!

Any foodies out there? Seriously why am I putting a list of my favourite restaurants for different food categories, its making me so hungry! Yet I am so proud of having the chance to try so many good restaurants in the year of 2011.

As you will read in a minute, most of the restaurants I picked is either in NYC, Boston and Montreal, simply due to the sad but true fact that I had spent most of my time in 2011 in these 3 cities. As usual, links of the restaurants that I have mentioned on this blog will be embedded for your convenience,

RESTAURANT OVERALL

Fine Dine | Jean George (post soon!) | 1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023
Regular Dine | Stephi's on Tremont | 571 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02118

RESTAURANT WITH A VIEW
230 Fifth Ave | 230 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

FUSION
Asana | 776 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199

BRUNCH
View | Le Petite Cafe | 502 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Ambiance | Cheeky's | 622 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Decor | Restaurant L'avenue | 922 Avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Plateau, Montreal, QC H2J 1X1

PANCAKE
Cafe Luluc | 214 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

LUNCH
Aquitaine | 569 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02118

WINE & CHEESE
The Butcher Shop | 552 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02118

STEAK
Capital Grill | 900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115

SEAFOOD
Balthazar | 80 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012

LOBSTER BISQUE
Cafe Eurpoea | 3726, Rue Jean-Talon E, Montreal, QC H2A 1X9

DRINKS
Asana | 776 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199

DESSERT
Spot | 13 St Marks Place, New York, NY 10003

MACARONS
Macarons Cafe | 625 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10022

FRENCH 
Jean George (post soon!) | 1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023

ITALIAN 
Giacomo's | 355 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113

MIDDLE EASTERN
Sofra | 1 Belmont Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

MEXICAN
Taco Asylum | The CAMP, 2937 S Bristrol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

KOREAN
BCD Tofu House | 17 W 32nd Street, New York, NY 10001

JAPANESE
Oishii | 1166 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118

RAMAN
Food | Ippudo | 65 4th Ave, New York, NY 10003
Ambience | Totto | 366 West 52 Street, New York, NY 10019

VIETNAMESE 
Viet & Thai | 368 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01852

THAI
Siam Square | 84 Pleasant Street, Northampton, MA 01060

TAIWANESE
Dimsum | Shangri La | 149 Belmont Street, Belmont, MA 02478
Food | Taiwan Cafe | 34 Oxford Street, Boston, MA 02111

CHINATOWN RESTAURANTS 
Boston | New Golden Gate Restaurant | 66 Beach Street, Boston, MA 02111
New York | Joe's Shanghai | 9 Pell Street, New York, NY 10013

MOST OVERRATED
L'espalier | 744 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199

I am really looking forward to trying out more restaurants in 2012 especially venture out to some overseas ones! Who doesn't love food yet made eating healthy as one of the new year resolutions - contradiction of life fol. I'd say we skip some time and stop going to restaurants that waste our money, time, calories quota *list goes on, etc.

If you have any likes and dislikes, whether you live around my area or not, let me know! I'd love to hear about your thoughts and suggestions.

Best Makeup and Skincare products of 2011!

A series of best of whatever in 2011 is officially going to be launched on my blog. First off -  cosmetics and skincare! I am trying to include a higher end and drugstore products in every category and links will be embedded if a review has been done. Without further ado, 

MAKEUP |


Foundation Primer

Laneige Makeup Primer Serum Control

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Foundation Primer

Foundation

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua

Rimmel Match Perfect Foundation (used in THIS look)

Concealer

Laura Mercier Secret Concealer

Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer  (in Favourites of 2010 too!)

Loose Powder

Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder (in Favourites of 2010 too!)

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation

Bronzer

MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Dark/Medium

Benefit Hoola  (in Favourites of 2010 too!)

Highlighter

MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Light/Medium

Skinfood Lime Secret Shine Base

Eyeshadow Primer

MAC Paintpot in Bare Study

ELF Eyelid Primer

Eyeliner 

Gel - Bobbi Brown Long-wear Eyeliner

         ELF Gel Cream Eyeliner

Pencil - 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil

              Milani Liquif'Eye Eye Liner Pencil

Liquid - Dollywink Liquid Eyeliner

               L'oreal Lineur Felt Tip Eyeliner

Brow Powder

Kate Palette Brown Palette BR-3

Mascara

Majolica Majorca Enamel Glamour Volumn On Mascara

Eyeshadow

Rimmel Glam'Eyes Mono Eye Shadow in Spice Bronze

Inglot 

Blush

MAC Gingerly

Nars Orgasm

Lipstick

Dior Addict in 224 Tokyo

Nars Dolce Vita (used in THIS look)

Lipgloss

Banila co. Love Affair in Parisienna

NYC Lip Sliders in Sugar Baby

Lip Balms

Sara Happ The Lip Slip

Chapstick Over Night Lip Treatment

Nail Polish

Orly Rage

SKINCARE |

Cleanser

The Face Shop Pomegranate Fine Foam Facial Cleanser

Cleansing Tool

Clarisonic Mia

Toner

Lancome Tonique Comfort Comforting Rehydrating Toner

Etude House Collagen First Essence

Serum

Estee Lauder Night Repair Serum

Skinfood Gold Caviar Serum

Moisturizer

Etude House Collagen Cream

Skinfood Gold Caviar Cream

Loreal Collagen Filler Moisture Filler Night Cream

Eye Cream

Laneige Hydra Solution Eye Cream

Moisturizing Mask

Paper mask - My Beauty Diary Bird Nest

Form mask - Enzo Laszlo Hydra-Therapy Skin Vitality Treatment

I cannot believe there are so many products that I use on a daily basis without doing a review. *running away. What were your favourite products in 2011? 

Next up I will have favourite moments, favourite restaurants, favourite travel spot & other randoms of 2011 lined up. Stay tuned and have a great start of 2012 everyone <3