Philippines 2011

A few weeks ago I went to the Philippines to visit my boyfriend's family. He lives around East Samar. I had a 10 hour flight from Sydney to Manila with a stop over in Darwin. Followed by 4 hours of waiting to fly domestically from Manila to Tacloban. After Tacloban I took a 4 hour van ride from the airport to his home town. By the end of all this travelling I feel that next time I travel, I should not try to squeeze everything into one day just to get to my destination. The waiting and constant sitting takes a toll on the body. 

Some houses I saw whilst on the road

Church and a mode of 'taxi'

On a bridge crossing an island to another island

My accommodation, I'm familiar with sleeping on hard surfaces because my mattress at home is extremely firm and my bed back in China is those traditional wooden 4 poster beds with curtains surrounding it. 

Lagoon 2 minutes away from my boyfriend's Philippines home, the lagoon was so beautiful and the water was very warm. Just past the lagoon is the Pacific Ocean. 

The little 'huts' are for visitors to hire and have lunch etc.

Overall the non-city areas of the Philippines has a lot to offer. The air is clear and the coastal views are fantastic, however there is not much to do except swim and eat and time can go quite slow if you have no family or friends to talk to. In Manila (I did not take much pictures) the traffic is congested but the malls are HUGE!!! I've been to big shopping centres in Australia and they do not compare to the average malls in Manila. The ones in Australia are so much smaller than Manila. A store I really liked was called "Kamiseta," Katie Holmes models for them and the price for the quality of clothing is very good.  

Food wise, there is so many different fast food restaurants in the Philippines and it's so cheap! I can get a decent meal for only $2 AUD. However, shopping is not as cheap as Hong Kong. Also I did visit some luxury designer stores and they were more expensive than Australia, the service in those stores were also appalling! =( 

Has anyone been to the Philippines? Do you know of any other areas I should visit next time I go...(I will probably visit Borocay next time I go)

Update and Haul

A week ago I went to the Philippines and Hong Kong. Christmas in these Asian countries just feel more like Christmas because of the ways they decorate their shopping centres and tourist attractions. I will break my trip into several posts just to keep the posts short and sweet. For the first post about my holidays I will do a beauty haul. I got everything from SaSa, Bonjour or Colourmix. These are all beauty stockists in Hong Kong with products arranging from drug store brands to high end brands. I found that some SaSas will stock a certain brand while some others didn't.

I got mix of nail polish, a Kiss Me eyelash serum, Shiseido Tsubaki hair treatment waters (really love using theses), mixed eyeliners, Kanebo KATE eyeshadow palettes, hair masks from Kao ESSENTIAL, mascara, BB cream, MAC lipstick (in Russian Red and Creme D Nude), Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek in the orange shade, sunscreen, a box of My Beauty Diary face masks and a ZA two way face palette. Just stocking up on my favourite items and trying some new items that I can't get/overpriced online or not available in Australia.

The Hello Kitty nail polish is recommended for gradient nails and the Marcia and sasatinnie polish were 2 for $10 HKD.

I love the ESSENTIAL hair masks, I'm using the orange packaged one now but I prefer the Nuance Airy line. I use Tsubaki water to maintain the moisture levels in my hair. 

KATE palettes, the pigmentation in these are really good! I will do a detailed review on these soon and for some other product I've bought. 

Hope everyone is beating the Christmas rush and buying their presents early! Mine is all bought and wrapped. Hate finding car park space during these times. 

Errands

Almost heading to the philippines and hong kong :) just running a few errands before I head out.




Bought two large luggages for my mum. It just fits in my MINI. Had to put seats down. Also bought 10kg of milk powder for family overseas.



Got my watched fixed. Great warranty service from Swarovski. No questions asked. Just the way I like it.



Was just going to buy blush for mum. Blush was $10. For $5 more I got this pack which includes mascara, nail polish and lipstick! Score :)

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It's not just a bag, it's PRADA

PRADA saffiano lux tote in fuoco. I've had so many compliments on this baby :)

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Growing List

In 2 weeks I'll be heading to the Philippines and Hong Kong. I want to take advantage of the strong dollar and stock up on some things that have been in my mind. The list is only going to grow, much to the dismay of my bank account and bf...

NARS Turkish Delight

NARS Orgasm Blush

NARS is double the price in Australia compared to the US, yet we are on par =(

MAC Russian Red Lipstick

MAC Creme D Nude Lipstick

MAC is around $35 here yet $14.50 in the US

Does anyone know any good shopping destinations in Hong Kong?

How I clean my brushes

Lately I've been getting little lumps on my skin with the increased routine of wearing make-up. I use to never wear makeup much but feel the need to now that I'm getting older and the tone of my skin isn't as good as it use to be =(

I think a contributing factor to the lumps of my skin is my lack of routine in cleaning my brushes. Brushes should be cleaned once a week to get rid of bacteria and remove excess makeup.

I use to use the technique that Michelle Phan uses (YouTube beauty guru) where she uses olive oil and dishwashing detergent. Running low on dishwashing detergent so I decided to use baby shampoo.

This one works really well.

What to do:

1. Rinse brush with luke warm water

2. Squeeze pea size amount of baby shampoo onto palm

3. Swirl brush into palm, collecting the shampoo

3. Rinse and repeat until the suds of the shampoo turn white, meaning that all the gunk has been washed out the brush

Hope this was helpful. Baby shampoo is an inexpensive way to wash your makeup brushes

I put my cleaned brushes on a rolled up towel with the bristles facing down so the excess water drains out. Got this idea of BeautyQQ 

Wanted

In December I'm heading over to the Philippines and Hong Kong =]

I'm Planning to get this Bag
Does anyone know how much it costs in Pesos or HK Dollars? Much Appreciated