32 Degrees

In this 32 degree weather, I wore a sweater.

Monki Sweater, Zara Tank and TRF shorts, Necklace from Panjiayuan Market in Beijing

Tell me I'm the smartest person on Earth.

My day was first spent Yumcha-ing with my grandma, then off to meet my boyfriend to go to Ap Lei Chau's outlet/warehouse shopping. My boyfriend has to be the best boyfriend to agree to going there and watching me shop. We went to Horizon Plaza where there's the Lane Crawford Warehouse, Joyce Warehouse, I.T. Outlet, Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet, Armani Outlet and many more. I have to say it wasn't the best idea to go since I'm not a rich bitch and I don't have a high paying job. But nevertheless, I enjoyed digging through racks and racks of clothes and looking at shoes. There were a few Alexander Wang pieces at the LC & Joyce Warehouse for around HK$1000.

Next we headed to the Prada Space Outlet located in South Horizons' Marina Square. This was probably the highlight of the whole Ap Lei Chau trip, as the stuff in the shop was actually a lot newer and nicer than the ones at Horizon Plaza. I feel in love with the black Prada Cervo leather tote with side zippers for around HK$7000. But being poor me, I only got to drool over it. For more details about Outlet shopping in Ap Lei Chau, check out Butterboom's posts here, here and here.

Lastly we sat down for some dinner at Taco Loco in Soho for some good old Mexican, a great change from eating my grandma's food everyday (not that I'm complaining!). And now there's only one day left of the weekend, and it's back to work!

Oh, dropped by Cher2 in Causeway Bay yesterday, a nail polish store which has branches in Central, Causeway Bay and Mongkok. They offer nail polish brands like Essie, OPI, ORLY, China Glaze and Jessica at a lower price.

Got myself Essie's Da Bush (left) and Topless and Barefoot. Can't wait to try them out. Also got myself Revlon's Steel-her Heart a few weeks ago at Sasa. Yay for a 5% student discount!

And lastly, I can't wait for this! I really want all three.

Image from Refinery29

I'm a Junkie

I've been super lazy and tired on weekdays, and on weekends, I tend to just laze around or go shop. But today I had a sudden urge to blog. I have a confession: I've become a cosmetic junkie! I blame it on my internship. I'm currently working as a summer marketing intern at Mary Kay, a direct selling cosmetic company. Most people probably have never heard of them since they use the direct selling route, as opposed to the traditional retail route. Over the past few days, I've attended two skin care classes and done tons of browsing and research through magazines and competitors' websites. All this marketing has just made me want to buy buy buy. What amazes me is that a month ago, I couldn't care less about cosmetics! I have THE worst skin care/beauty routine. In fact, it's pretty much non-existent, only including buy-one-get-one-free Natio Gentle Foaming Facial Cleanser, Muji Light Toning Water and Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturing Lotion. All the products I use are mostly purchases from my sister or mom, gifts from my Aunt or random discount buys from Sasa.


Me (left) & the other two interns. Taken with my shitty Nokia 2.0 MP camera, first skin care class using the Mary Kay Clay Mask!

What really opened my eyes (and wallet) to cosmetics was definitely attending skin care classes. Depending on the topic of these "classes", you learn the basics about skin and the full routine and steps you should follow, how to apply products and you get to actually use it on your face. More importantly, these classes are free and they really try to emphasize that they aren't going to pressure you into selling. While they may still try to subtly sell to you, its definitely less pushy than the sales you encounter in Hong Kong. The ones I attended were both for skin care routine, which includes five steps (Cleanse, Exfoliate/Mask, Toner, Moisturize, Protect/Sun Screen). We tried out their Botanical Customized Skin Care line and their Clay Mask. After really learning more about skin care, it really made me buy some Mary Kay products or run down to Lane Crawford or Sasa to buy masks and try out different brands like Origins, Nuxe, and Dermologica. Not to be biased because I'm working at Mary Kay now, but their skin care products are actually quite good! You can actually see the results of the Clay Mask whitening, tightening and lifting the skin! They also do a lot of research and consumer studies to support all their product claims.

Here are a few of the products I'm currently lusting over as I am (im)patiently waiting for my mom to come down to Hong Kong so I can make use of that Lane Crawford and Sasa discount of hers!

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:

Pretty much the whole Aveda Botanical Kinetics line, Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel

Aveda Intensive Hydrating Masque, Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask, Nuxe Masque Frais Hydratant

Mary Kay Botanical Customized Skin Care Mask, Kiehl's Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub, Aveda Deep Cleansing Herbal Clay Masque

On another note, over the weekend, I paid a visit to Langham Place to shop for some Monki and Kiehl's. Monki was having a 50-75% off sale, which was AWESOME. The sale section was around one third of their whole store, I think a lot of the stuff I wanted was still regular priced. I ended up buying a white holey sweater (HK$250 to $125), a pair of jeans (HK$250 to $125) and a pair of boots (HK$400 to $150), which altogether cost me HK$350! As for Kiehl's, I got my boyfriend some skin care products and got myself the Ultra Facial Cleanser. Here are two of the photos I took that day, more on my camera that I still haven't uploaded yet.

Got those boots on the right! Looking forward to the weather getting a bit colder soon! Though I do love summer.



Enough information overload for now, until next time!

Separated At Birth

 

Left: Nora Zehetner, Right: Ginnifer Goodwin

Making Use

 Chloe has her jewelry boxes, I have my corkboard in my dorm.

Amazing.

The view is amazing from my internship office. This photo doesn't really do the complete view justice though. Guess where?

accidental chinese hipsters

This is one of the most hilarious tumblrs out there. The people caught on camera here don't surprise me as much as they crack me up because Chinese hipsters are always around the corner for me. Not so much in Hong Kong but definitely when returning back to mainland. I am now inspired get Chinese hipsters in action on camera from now on!

Some examples:

classic

the son is even wearing a tail

Grandmas are the best

Follow/check out their tumblr for more: http://accidentalchinesehipsters.tumblr.com/

Working Girl

Few months ago, for my Human Resources Management Class last semester, I had a course project where we had to watch a movie and evaluate HR-related issues in the movie. And so I had the mindset that the movie would be super boring, being a movie chosen for a course. Little did I know I would love the movie. 

The movie we chose was Working Girl from 1988. Turned out that Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack were in it. The main character is played by Melanie Griffith. The plot of the movie: "When a secretary's idea is stolen by her boss, she seizes an opportunity to steal it back by pretending she has her boss's job." (source: IMDB)

Being me, I focused on the fashion rather than on HR. LOVED the bags. Here are my screenshots.

Trying on her boss' clothes

 

Love that dress, which is the one she's wearing below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So cute in those glasses!

  

Uh oh, boss is back.

 

     

From Shanghai to Beijing to Hong Kong

The past 10 days have been full of flights, pampering, rushing, resting, you name it. Super hectic and relaxing at the same time, is that even possible? I flew back home on the 28th to Shanghai for a quick trip before I started my internship in Hong Kong today, then flew back to my old home on the 3rd for a 4-day, 3-night Beijing trip. Though I'm actually from Hong Kong, I think Beijing is my real real home, since I lived there for over 10 years. Last night, I flew back to Hong Kong in time for my internship that started this morning. If I were to choose, I would never fly back the night before again.

I still have all the photos from my China trip to fix up. In the mean time, here are a bunch of photos from random events in May that I was meaning to most.

Super old nail polish that I seriously needed to throw out.

This is why. Expiry date: October 1997. My mom's old nail polish. Oh hey to my HK$50 untouched origami paper in the background :p

So far, my favorite cupcake place in Hong Kong, Sift. Check out their website, full of super amazing photos of their products that will make you drool.

Cute little box that the cupcakes are in!

From left to right, top to bottom: 2 Banana Foster's, Red Velvet, Salty Caramel, S'mores, Lemon Meringue.

If I had to choose, I'd say Salty Caramel is my favorite, but I haven't tried the Red Velvet one yet, since that was my friend's.

Om nom nom!

Between me and my boyfriend, we had 4 cupcakes and we murdered them in 20 minutes. It's actually harder than it sounds, stuffing so much sugar in your face. Well, for me at least.

Last Day of Class
This was a particularly exciting day. No more class and study break, translating to SHOPPING DAY! My friend Dawn and I went to Causeway Bay for much needed retail therapy. We first started out in Lane Crawford admiring the beautiful clothes, shoes, bags and other accessories too expensive to buy. We then moved to Lee Theatre for Esprit and Uniqlo, and then back to Times Square for Zara and later Island Beverly and Causeway Place. After shopping, we had a farewell dinner at Secret Garden in Admiralty for our guy friend going to US for exchange next semester. Last but not least, a trip to Tong Pak Fu for dessert!

 

My second time eating Auntie Anne's, but first time trying the Sour Cream and Onion Pretzel.

A J+ dress that I considered purchasing at Uniqlo, but black isn't really my color so I refrained.

Candid outfit photo! Wore my Zara blouse with Zara skirt, Pull & Bear flats, and Pedder Red bag. I am guilty of wearing too much Inditex.

 

My serious face.

Korean food. YES. How could you not love it?

 Dawn & I

I love the Korean appetizers. They're all good in their own way and I can't pick a favorite!

Rice cakes!

Korean BBQ Pork

 

Seafood Pancakes

Free soup

Stone Pot Rice

Me & Katic

Candid Dawn and Katic! Hahahahaha

I don't know why the waitress was adamant on including the table. No food left and looks like a mess!

Dessert at Tong Pak Fu in Causeway Bay

Green Tea Flavored Shaved Ice with Condensed Milk, Red Bean, Mochi and this green jelly thing

Waffles with Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream, Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce

Waffles with Strawberries, Strawberry Ice Cream and Whipped Cream, Topped with Strawberry Sauce (Oh hey, check out my submission of FuckYeahAwesomeFood's Tumblr)

That is all. Time to sleep. Gotta wake up at 7:30 tomorrow. So not used to it! :(