FOTD : The natural makeup look

a beautiful day calls for fresh natural makeup.

Face : Etude House Face Conditioning Cream, Maybelline Dream Satin Fluid, Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer, Catrice Matt Plus Powder, Flormar Terracotta Powder in Dual Gold, Daiso Pink Blush

Eyes : Maybelline Color Tattoo in Creme de Nude, Art Deco Single Eyeshadow in 373, Catrice Absolute Nude Eyeshadow Palette, Essence Mono Eyeshadow in Triple Choc, Rimmel Scandal'eyes Liquid Eyeliner, Maybelline Big Eyes Mascara, Rimmel Wonder'full Mascara, Catrice Eyebrow Pencil, Kiss Me Eyebrow Mascara

Lips : L'oreal Color Riche Liquid Lipstick in Rose Melody 

Bangkok haul : Beauty Edition

If you are a shopaholic like me, Bangkok is definitely a great city to visit.

This time I have bought so many things back from Bangkok ranging from an array of beauty products to clothing items and not to forget food items too. 

Thai has a lot to offer in terms of the beauty department, from their local beauty brands to imported beauty brands from Korea and Japan that can't be found at our shore. 

The Thais take beauty very seriously. When I was in Bangkok I could hardly find young Thai girls without atleast a bit of makeup! They make it a habit to look presentable and good all time. 

Here's my haul. I mostly did my shopping at Beauty Cottage, Beauty Buffet, Watsons and also 7 Eleven.

Who thought that we could get cosmetics from 7 Eleven. 

Let's start out with the mask I bought from Beauty Buffet.

Beauty Buffet is a local beauty store. 

The one I visited is slightly small, it is the one located at Siam BTS. 

I got myself the Raspberry Yoghurt Pack, Avocado Yoghurt Pack and Whitening Facial Mask. 

Thais are really into whitening, whitening products are just everywhere. 

The Raspberry Yoghurt pack is for pore minimizing whereas the Avocado is for brightening. 

All three mask smelled so good and delicious. 

Next is a Premium Milk Honey Sleeping Mask from Beauty Cottage and Cathy Doll Snail Bright Snail Whitening Cream.

Beauty Cottage is also a local beauty store just like Beauty Buffet. The store design is really cute, it has a cute vintage feel to it. 

Cathy Doll is also a local beauty brand and its products are very readily accessible. You can get this brand from Karmart, Watsons, 7 Eleven or some local beauty store. 

The packaging of the products are really cute and fun looking. 

Cathy Doll Whitening sunscreen

I am an avid sunscreen user and it wouldn't hurt if I purchase more sunscreens especially when they are so affordable. I got mine from 7 Eleven and it is not the full size but I much prefer the mini size. It makes carrying around much easier. 

I bought it mainly because it says it is Thailand's no.1 local whitening sunscreen. 

Let's see if it lives up to its claims. 

It comes with a sample of the AA Matte Powder Cushion in shade #23. 

I do not know if I would use it since #23 might be too dark for me. I usually use a #21 or even #13. 

The packaging so the sunscreen is so cute with the pinks and polka dots. It looks like a handcream more than a sunscreen. 

Srichand Translucent Powder. 

This brand has been around for ages. It is a cult favourite for the Thai ladies. 

This brand had a revamp to attract the younger generation and yes, the packaging's vintage influence is really beautiful and it does attract me, I am sure the revamp is a good one since it attracted me and will attract packaging junkies. 

I got mine from 7 Eleven and I am kinda sure it isn't the full size since it does look small. 

I have so many powders, it is way better for me to grab the mini size since I would never be able to finish the whole tub of powder anyways. 

This is an eyeshadow from Beauty Cottage. The box packaging is just so cute and girly. 

The shade is Red Apricot. 

I really like the texture upon swatching it in the store. It is pretty smooth and buttery and it has a great price tag too. 

This is the Macaroon Eyeshadow from Beauty Buffet. I bought this mainly because it is just too cute to resist. 

The shade is Vanilla. It is a versatile off white cream shade that works great as a base shade. 

I know I am gonna get a lot of hate for getting a replica but I don't mind as the product is good quality. 

I got this from Platinum Mall. I was swatching some replica at the booth and oh my, this highlighter is just to gorgeous. The pigmentation is great, it is smooth and buttery. 

I own the original Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminator and I would say the quality is about there, it is not as good as the original but for less than a fraction of the price, I would say it is very good. 

This does not come with a shade name. It is closest to Starlight but it is slightly darker and the shimmers are not as fine. 

Back from BKK

Just came back from Bangkok, Thailand and oh boy, I just love shopping in Bangkok.

I actually bought a luggage full of items from Bangkok. I was on shopping crazy mode over there. Clothes are trendy and cheap over there so I just went crazy and snagged any piece I like at first sight. Now I have enough clothes to last me till the end of the year. 

A haul post will soon follow after I unpack my luggages and also my Thailand trip post! 

Stay tune! 

Travel Diary in UK : Manchester : A day trip

From Edinburgh we took a night bus to Manchester. It is a day trip to Manchester, we will be leaving to Birmingham at night.
Clad in our last night's outfits and dirty unwashed hair, we headed to Manchester.

For my luggages, I left in a friends' house. She was studying at Manchester at that time.

First stop, is Manchester's Chinatown for some food hunting.
We were starving since the last time we ate was last night at Edinburgh.

What's better than a buffet. Free flow of food.
Good for the hungry wolves like us and it's a great deal since this will be our only meal for the day.

We were surprised by the selection of food in the buffet. There is just too many to choose from rice to noodles to meat dishes, vegetables, desserts varying from herbal jelly, cakes, fruits, tarts, also, soups.
This is one section of the food available.

My friend's meat platter

After our meal, we headed to Old Trafford for the Manchester United Arena.

We just had a quick photo session around the arena and did some souvenir shopping.

I got a metal tumbler with signatures of the current players of that time.

We head back to my friend's place after the arena visit for a quick bath and head to the bus station to Birmingham. 

Eating out Malaysia : The Loaf

When I am back in Malaysia, I just could not resist going into any bakery. Just any. I just like the texture of bread in Malaysia more than here in Moscow. I favour my bread to be flavourful and soft.

My first experience with The Loaf was in Langkawi and during that time it was the only The Loaf store in Malaysia. After a few years, I have noticed that the bakery started to pick up and opening branches all over Malaysia.
Now, in most shopping malls, you will pass by The Loaf store somehow. It is very hard to miss. It is no more a rarity.

My dad used to work near a shopping mall then. So during the weekends, he would take us out to the shopping mall for some family time. And I, would pop into The Loaf to satisfy my cravings for bread.

The Loaf have a great variety of bread of choose from.
My favourite would be the Oyaki. It is the bread that I have to order everytime I visit The Loaf.
The best thing it comes in many flavours. 

Diet updates (after so long)

I was a chubby baby but an average child. I was pretty thin around 7 to 9 years old until puberty hit me.  I ate way too much during puberty thinking that I will outgrow the baby fats. I would eat two Filet O Fish Burgers and then go for a bowl of porridge and still be half full. My favourite 'fast meal' of those days is baked potato with cheese and egg and I would eat it for almost every lunch. With my habit of eating my weight escalated quickly and I became the chubby one in class. At 156cm I was 64kg when I was 12 years old.
I became a subject of bully because of my weight but I did not care about my weight that much. After I left primary school, I carried on my bad eating habits till secondary school. My weight remain stagnant at the high 60s till the mid 70s. I thought it was alright because I didn't gain weight, I didn't hit the 80s, I wasn't in the 100s, I am just overweight. I also thought I would outgrow my weight by growing taller. Through the years I grew 9cm taller but didn't make any difference to my stature and also overweight body.
During my secondary years, when I did my body checkup. I remember how nurses told me to lose some weight because I was actually overweight. My BMI was in the overweight category.
Still, I didn't take it too seriously but I did tried cut down some of my food portion hoping the weight would magically go away and it did not last long. I am back with my old habits, eating away. This habit did carried through to my college and university years. I did not weigh my weight then but I think I was about 72-74kg at that time.

During my third year in university, I did a weight check for a BMI and metabolism calculation for a class. My weight was shockingly 69kg. I knew if I do not do something, my weight is going to remain like this for the rest of my life and It is really unhealthy. I am going to remain chubby and I would not be able to have a nice body to wear pretty clothes and bikini for the rest of my life.

I decided to diet and I did document the diet journeys in this blog.

Looking back at my old diet post. I realize how unhealthy I am despite trying to be healthy.

Here are the old diet updates. #1 , #2 , #3 and #4 . Well the updates didn't last long because I was too lazy to update on what I eat weekly on the blog.
I thought I was healthy by cutting down the amount I eat, well, it is much lesser than how much I used to eat circa 2010 but the calorie intake is still way too high compared to how much I actually need daily since those days I do not exercise or workout or play any sports. Basically, I was a couch potato.
I used to not count calories too, I just eat what I feel like eating by reducing portion by half or what I think is reduced portion size. I still ate like crazy, munching on junk food almost daily ,I still do it till today but I am more cautious. I used to be able to finish a whole pack of potato chips, wafer or biscuits and call it just a snack. That's like probably a whopping 500 calories extra each day and 30% of my needed calorie intake for the day and I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner like a king. I used to eat one cup of cooked rice, that probably 700 calories and I do eat side dishes.
Even so, I did lose a tiny bit of weight during that year, probably only 1-2kg for the year. I did cut down from where I use to stand, probably around 160lbs or so.

Until now, after 4 years, I am still on my weight loss journey but I have got closer to my goal weight than ever. In this journey there were lots of up and downs. Looking back, I am more proud than ever to say I have did it.
I am still not the most healthy of person, I don't practice full clean eating.I still eat unhealthy food such as potato chips, cake, ice cream but all in moderation and only on days where I declare cheat meal day.

I have been more cautious with calories by logging in everything I put into my mouth into myfitnesspal and I choose the healthiest cooking method for my food by either baking or steaming or boiling them.
Also, I workout and exercise almost everyday when I can slot time to workout. Mainly cardio infused with bodyweight training for weight loss and build some muscles.
Cautiously counting on calories and working out really helped me become leaner and shed some pounds.

Now I weight about 125-127lbs. My goal weight is 114-116lbs.

Photos of me circa 2011-2012

Circa 2014 when I started to see myself losing the weight. My cheeks are not so fat as how it was before. Fats usually accumulate at my face when I gain weight.

Circa 2015. My weight has been the same but I can how my cheeks are not as fat anymore. I do not know is it the process of losing baby fat or all those work out has been paying off. I could feel my body is more toned.

Circa 2016
Through out 2014-2016, my weight has remained the same but I could even see the difference. Even, people have been complementing I have lost a lot of weight compared to 2 years ago when my weight has been the same.

Eating out Malaysia : Zang Toi Cafe

My friends and I decided to have a chat and high tea session in a secluded cafe - West 57th Street cafe or more known as Zang Toi cafe in a departmental store of a mall (Parkson of Pavillion)

I was taken away by the interior of the cafe.
The cafe is named after the headquarters of the House of Toi which West 57th Street New York.
Mr. Zang is a well known Malaysian fashion designer and this cafe is styled after his own apartment in New York.

Definitely very elegant and chic. I am in love with the silver and black combination.

Since it was a high tea session. We did not order any a la carte. We just had drinks and desserts.

Zang Toi Tea Punch.
My friend has visited the cafe a few times and she recommended the tea punch. She definitely did not make the wrong recommendation.
The punch taste so good/ It has the right amount of sweetness with a fragrant kick of fruitiness.

Pandan and Banana Cream Cheese Cake.
What a combination.. I have never tried a cake with such a combination that I thought it would not taste good but to my surprise I like this cake.
This is the cake I enjoyed the most out of all the cakes we ordered.

Lime Tea Cake.
This is just your basic tea cake. There's nothing too special about it.

Banana Chocolate Cake.
It's well banana chocolate cake. I can't say more about it.

Having a brand name punched to the cafe, one would expected that food would be expensive but to our surprise it is quite affordable. No extravagant price tag.
They carry an affordable lunch menu too.

Also, with its classy and chic interior it looks like a cafe that would serve classy Western cuisines but they do carry along authentic local cuisine such as the Hainanese Chicken Chop and Nasi Lemak. The menu is a toss between Western and Local cuisine. When west meets east.

Overall, I really enjoy the ambiance of the cafe. The Pandan and Banana Cream Cheese Cake and Tea Punch is enjoyable. I will visit the cafe again to try out their a la carte.

This is a little random but I want to mention that I got myself a pair of Zang Toi flats.

I freaking love this pair of flats. It is just so gorgeous with the silver beads details.