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! :(

Outfit

Zara top, grey Uniqlo cami, green Zara TRF shorts, vintage bag

Ignore my yucky eyebags and pimple. This is what I wore in October for a visit with my dorm to the Hong Kong Arts Centre for the Popping Up exhibition, as well as dinner and shopping with Chloe in TST. I'm already missing the sunny weather for shorts and short sleeves. When it's hot, I want it cold, and when it's cold, I want it hot. Well it's kind of in between hot and cold. I want proper cold weather with coats and gloves and many layers of clothing.

Anyways, I love this vintage bag that I got in Prague when I went to Europe with my friends. I still remember making it my goal to go vintage shopping and come back with loads of vintage goods. But stupid me, of course everything will be relatively pricey. However, I'm glad I came across this bag.


It's big enough to fit all of my things in. And there are pockets in the front and back on the outside. And there's also a smaller one on the inside with a zipper. The only problem is that being vintage, it's got all these makeup stains on the inside. Its kinda gross, but in a way weird to think about what the owner was like.



And of course, a trip out will not be complete without me spending money. I have always had a thing for basics and this top from H&M just couldn't pass! It's super soft and convenient for when I don't feel like thinking about what to wear. Plus it's $79.90!


Lastly, to complete everything, I had to be a stalker of course and take pictures of this girl. Though individually, the pieces she wore were okay, I wasn't really feeling her overall outfit choice.



It's kind of hard to see her complete look since I could only get shots of her from the back. But is it just me, is it not weird?

What's that?

Qu'est-ce que c'est?


Yes, the ring I just posted about!


So happy to get my hands on it! It was HK$39.9. Not bad :D

Other than that, nothing really out of the ordinary happened. Just my shoe broke, no biggy.

I was walking in Uniqlo and it just broke... -_- I've only had these for half a year, too! :( It must be all those times of having my flip flop stepped on by everyone..

This seems to always happen to me. The other time, I was in Shatin and boarding the train to go find my grandma in Kwun Tong. It was super crowded on the train, and I stepped on, but then got back off cause there was no space. And right when I was getting off, my shoe fell off the doors closed. So then I tried to tell the lady to give me my shoe at the next stop. Luckily, I found it at the next stop, but had to endure all the embarrassment and stares while waiting for the next train to come to get to the next stop. Silly old me.

So, went to H&M to find some shoes. Luckily I had someone to hold on to while I slid my foot on my flip flops all the way down from the 3rd floor of the mall to the first floor.

And now, I have some new shoes to wear in the winter (HK$129). I guess it's somewhat a good thing my flip flops broke, since I was meaning to get a new pair of shoes. I left my converse in Beijing and really don't want to wear my Nike's anymore. Originally, I was planning on getting the grey pair of sneakers from H&M but they didn't have my size. They were also cheaper too! :(

I really do have the worst luck with shoes. I have photos to prove it...

I think it's partly because I walk super fast. I just have a problem with wasting time walking slow.


Sad face. Only had these for about half a year too, just like my Havaianas! And this happened around October. I haven't worn them since.


Before...


After..

And another time...

I was going to class and the bottom of my shoe fell apart, so I had to slide my feet on the ground outside (impossible). Maybe I should convince my mom to invest in quality shoes for me!

so cute!

This is so cute! I was just going through my receipts (yes I keep my receipts...hah) and I found this one from Monki a few weeks ago with its little characters. I love the colors and the illustrations.

I mentioned in my previous posts that I was going on a shopping trip, mostly for vintage shops, after I was finally free from my never-ending workload. And I've procrastinated on posting about it, but finally, since I'm posting about the receipt, I might as well post about the trip.

First, we stopped by H&M. I feel like I shop there at least twice a month..really does damage to my wallet. But I just can't help buying one or two things from there each time, whether it be accessories or basics.

Though Hong Kong isn't that cold to wear hats in the winter, I got this beret cause I lost my old one :(


Again, HK isn't cold enough for leather gloves, but I'm going back home for winter. Well Shanghai isn't really my home, seeing as I've lived in Beijing my whole life practically. But my parents just moved to Shanghai.


I've been having an obsession with rings recently. I think it was after I saw Lisa O's post on rings, which reminds me. I was looking through H&M's upcoming products that they'll be releasing and this one looked pretty cool.

Gonna be on the lookout for it :)

Had lunch after at Ajisen Ramen, a delish spicy fatty beef ramen.


Then we finally went to do the vintage shopping. Started out by going into the Hollywood Road/ Soho area. Along the way, we passed by a huge crowd. Being true cantos and seeing a line, we went and lined up, since we found out it was where Hong Kong's first milk tea originated.



My friend, Dawn, at the back of the line.


So when we finally got to the front, we realized the line was for eating at the place. Some stupid guy had said that it was the take out line. So in the end, we just stood outside and ordered from a guy who looked too busy for his own good.


Yayz to milk tea. I'm wearing my Zara trench coat, H&M grey long sleeve shirt, H&M Sqin jeans, Pedder Red patent bag, and silver chain from Beijing's Panjiayuan market.

Next, finally onto vintage shopping. We first stopped by Vintage HK.


Bunch of little earrings.


I thought this tooth necklace was super cool, but I wasn't willing to a few hundred HKD on it.


A bunch of vintage rings, again hefty price tag. But they were definitely pretty.


A Bottega Veneta for a few thousand HKD.


I was falling in love with that cute little bow ring and the aviators ring with the black stars. Looked quite cute, but I just felt like that might be something I could find in China. The prices ranged from 150ish to 200ish.


I also thought this skull necklace was kinda cute, and those bone earrings. I kinda never really wear jewelery, despite the fact that I still buy it.


I wanted that chain bracelet, but again, too expensive (around 200-300 HKD) for me to consider.


Super cool vintage watches and other accessories. Few thousand HKD for the watches. Maybe in a few years time!


Vintage sunglasses!

After Vintage HK, we headed to Armour Antique. There was a huge range of gorgeous jewelery, except most of it was above HK$1000, clearly unaffordable for a student like me.

Lastly, we headed to Select 18 to end our vintage trip. It was the furthest away and took a bit of time to walk there. I think one of the satisfying things about going to these little shops is the process of finding them and then finally finding it and discovering a bunch of hidden treasures.

It was definitely fun looking at all the jewelery on this shelf. There was this one tiny purse (can't see in this photo) that I was considering getting, but I thought I probably wouldn't use it too much since it was too fancy and I got 4 new bags this summer.


Bags, and bags, and bags, and more bags! I think they had a second hand Balenciaga at the store.


This shop is literally packed with stuff, not that I'm complaining. Though there weren't that many people after awhile, it was still hard to get around cause there was only enough space to fit one person on the sides. But I definitely think it's worth it.

I didn't take any other photos cause I was too busy digging through all the stuff. Another section was at the back, which included a bunch of menswear, as well as sunglasses. They were pretty awesome, but I'm guessing they cost quite a bit.


These are the pair of earrings I came home with, they cost me after 180 (there was a discount on most items), I think it was about 200 something before.

The owner, Thomas, also said that he had a bunch of Topshop stuff that he didn't take out, so I definitely have something to go back for! There's also a website, which includes an online shop.

Finally, went to Mongkok to meet up with Chloe and another friend for dinner. Since Dawn and I got there early, we decided to stop by Monki to check it out. I didn't take any photos cause it was super crowded in there, that I just wanted to look and get the hell out after.

I found two pieces I liked, one was a tank dress & a black slip that I ended up getting.


The tank dress (HK$150) was something like this. Well, not hard to understand what a tank dress is... I didn't end up getting it cause it seemed kinda baggy near the arm area.


The slip, HK$200. I've been meaning to get one of these, and since I was already spending so much that day anyway, I decided to get it.


Their character is super cute! Loving the design aspect to the brand/store concept, they really emphasize on the artsyness.

To end the post, more food! We ate at 西門町台灣麵食 Seam Eett Taiwan Noodles, super high rating on Open Rice (one of the greatest creations in HK).

鸡丝粉皮, in other words.....vermicelli with shredded chicken? well according to nciku.com, 粉皮means sheet jelly made form bean/sweet potato starch. Yeah, no idea. But I love the peanut sauce.


What Dawn, my other friend Katic and I all had. One of my must haves for Taiwanese food, 卤肉饭. Basically minced beef with rice. So much more than it sounds. The sauce is delicious.


What Chloe had, 牛腩面. Beef tendon. It had a lot of....tendon.

So much other stuff to post....too lazy and no time. 3 group projects for Marketing, Management and my Mandarin language classes. So many deadlines to meet. Hopefully I'll have some time to update soon.