Birthday moments, Thanks everyone

Thank you to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me. It was definitely very memorable.
Here are the random moments of my Birthday bash.

One of the dish that I have ordered during my bash. Nachos, we just love nachos but this nachos taste more like Chinese stir fried than Mexican. 

Huge Caesar pizza. It is so much bigger than my head.

Definitely a 4 person portion. 

My Tiramisu Birthday cake. 

Thanks everyone for celebrating my last birthday in Moscow. 

Birthday dinner

My birthday falls on the 23rd, it is a Friday and thank goodness it is a Friday because if it wasn't I would not be able to celebrate my birthday on the day itself with my busy schedule.

This time for my birthday, I went to Gin no Taki Japanese restaurant. In Moscow, this is my favourite sushi chain restaurant. It is located at Tverskaya Ulitsa. Really close to Red Square just a few streets away.
Gin no Taki was so crowded that day thanks to the fact that is a Friday night and everyone wants to chill after work. We had to queue up for a good 20 minutes or so before we could get ourselves a table.

It has not been long since I went there but I realized they changed up the menu and many of the delicious sushi rolls have been taken of the menu which is really disappointing.

Deep Fried Sushi Roll.
I think deep fried sushi rolls is pretty much a thing in Moscow because many sushi shops do serve a fried sushi roll. I guess it is for those people who wants sushi but do not eat it with raw ingredients.
But doesn't take the fun out of sushi?
Deep fried sushi is not my favourite but I won't say I hate it. It is just not my cup of tea because I like my sushi to be well, sushi.
Still it is great to spice up the menu.

Three sushi sets and two sashimi sets.
The sashimi set is so itty bitty. I should have expected that but I just didn't trust my sixth sense and just went and ordered it and regretted it. It is so tiny, I do find ordering it worth it at all and not to mention the sashimi isn't fresh. In Moscow, it is hard to expect fresh seafood/fish.
The sushi does not disappoint. I still really like my sushi from this shop.

Aburi Salmon Roll.
This taste really good too. Nothing will go wrong with salmon. In case you did not know, salmon is my topping of choice on my sushi.

This time I did not have dessert because I didn't find their dessert menu really special, I love their homemade ice cream but everytime I dine here that is the only dessert I order, I kind of got bored of it. I would rather save the money and hop on Magnolia Bakery and feast on their pies and banana puddings.

I am also leaving the link of my birthday dinner last year at the same restaurant right over here.

A random selfie before getting ourselves seated.

My birthday cake before the clock strikes 12 midnight. 

FOTD - Birthday makeup

Time really flew by so fast. I can't believe this is my last year celebrating my birthday in Moscow. Next year, I am gonna be back at home celebrating with my family.

Now here's my birthday makeup.

My makeup base is the Etude House Face Conditioning Cream to give my skin some hydration. It has been really cold here of late and I can feel my skin has been drier than usual. So a good moisturizing for the skin is always great. No one wants flaky makeup.
Lately I have using the Rimmel True Match foundation a lot, this time like no other, I am using this foundation. It has been my go-to foundation for the past few months. I would say this is one of the best drugstore foundation I have ever came by. It has a beautiful dewy finish which gives my skin a healthy glow and the coverage is medium and just right for me. To set the foundation, I used my favourite powder, the MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Naturals.
To cover up my dark circles, I use the Maybelline DreamLumi Highlighter Concealer.

My brows have been better than ever. Thanks the Maybelline Brow Satin. This is currently my favourite brow product from the drugstore. With it I am able to get my brows in shape so effortlessly. To lighten the colour a little, I topped it up with my Kiss Me Heavy Rotation Brow Mascara.
For my eye, I used the Rimmel Mono Eyeshadow in Gold Rush to give my eye a beautiful shimmery champagne gold base and blend the inner crease with the darkest colour on the Catrice Absolute Nude Palette. It is my birthday, I can go crazy with the shimmers on my eye. My eyeliner is the Maybelline Master Precise Eyeliner in Black. Mascara is the L'oreal Volumisse x4 for both my top and bottom lashes. I did glam my eyes up with false eyelashes too.

My blush is a Daiso Blush in Pink. Bronzer is the bronze shade in Flormar Terracotta Powder in Dual Gold and highlight is Essence Sooo Glow in 10.
For my lips I lined it with Essence Lipliner in Satin Mauve and top it up with the Rimmel Long Lasting Lipstick in Asia.This Rimmel lipstick shade is absolutely gorgeous. It is pinkish brown shade.

Travel Diary in UK: Edinburgh: Along the streets of Royal Mile

Rise and shine , Edinburgh. We started our day strolling from our hostel along Princes Street for some morning shopping routine. One shouldn't miss out Princes Street if you love shopping. No street is better for shopping in Edinburgh other than Princes Street.

Along the way, we bumped into the Scott's Monument and snapped a few pictures of it. Such a majestic and beautiful monument.

We headed to the Old Town and stroll along their alleys. Edinburgh's Gothic architecture flavour just makes you feel like you are in the 18th century Medieval English times. It just feels so surreal to walk and stroll along the alleys and enjoy the city.

Going through the alleys, we found our way back to The Royal Mile and climbed through the streets up to the magnificent Edinburgh Castle.

The Edinburgh Castle. We didn't enter the castle as the entrance fee is too expensive for our university student budget. So all we did is just snap lots and lots of photos outside of the castle.

The panaromic view from the mountain top is photogenic.  I could see snow mountains from my side.

Arthur's seat can be seen from Edinburgh Castle. We didn't manage to go there as it is really far by feet.
We traveled the city Edinburgh by feet and we do not plan to use the public transport to save some money.

Just a few blocks down the street in The Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle is The Scotch Whiskey experience. We took a look in the shop and bought some souvenirs.
There's a great selection of whiskey in the shop from every brands famous to unknown and sizes from gigantic to cute little collectible miniatures.

Along the streets of Edinburgh, I also found out my new favourite confectionery - Fudge. I like the buttery vanilla sweet aroma from this confectionery.
Definitely a very Scottish thing and one of the things that must be tried in Scotland, besides haggis.

A shot with St. Giles Cathedral.

Edinburgh is a wonderful, beautiful and lay back city. I would love to come back to Edinburgh someday again.

Around Moscow : Sergiev Posad

We bought our tickets. Now we are set to depart to Sergiev Posad from Moscow Yaroslav Train Station.
It is my first time taking a suburban train in Moscow despite having been in Moscow for the past 5 years. The suburban trains are definitely not that pretty and comfortable compared to the metro in Moscow.

Sergiev Posad is one of the golden triangle of the Moscow region.To get there you have to get to Yaroslav Train Station or take a bus from VDKHa station. We chose the former method to get there.
The train ticket cost us about 360 Rubles to and fro.
Trains to Sergiev Posad is pretty frequent and it is alright to get to the train station and get the tickets on the spot. There is no shortage of train tickets.

Yaroslav Train Station.

The journey to Sergiev Posad takes an hour and a half. There are many stops before arriving Sergiev Posad.
The trains can get stuffy along the way.

At Sergiev Posad after an hour and half ride from Moscow. 

Walking into Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
There's a fee to get into the monastery but as students in Moscow. We are able to obtain free admission.

It is a custom for Orthodox Christian women to cover their hair with a shawl/cloth upon entering the cathedral.
I brought along my shawl which I have purchased from Turkey.
They are not really particular if you enter the cathedral with/without a shawl if you are not a local but it is better to follow the customs when visiting.

Fighting against the wind.
Look at the queue at the back, the locals are lining up to collect "holy water" from the spring.

Brow game is strong : mini haul

This is a mini haul and this time I got the Maybelline Brow Satin and Pupa Vamp! Wet & Dry Eyeshadow.

I was in search of a new eyebrow pencil and it looks like I have a good drugstore eyebrow pencil that I actually got two of them in different shades. I bought both of them at separately after I used one of them I really like it and got the lighter shade.
I forgot to mention, I got in Dark Brown and Medium Brown.

The brow product comes in a double ended side. One side is the pencil.
The pencil is really thin and small, very easy to maneuver on the brows. It is said to be comparable to the Anastasia Brow Wiz.
I have not tried the Anastasia Brow Wiz so I cannot give an in depth comparison.

The other side is  an applicator with powder.

I find this brow product very easy to use and it creates a flawfree brow with a soft natural touch.
The colours are very natural, even dark brown does not look too bold on my medium brown hair. I find there is not much difference between medium brown and dark. The undertones of the brow product. Both shades leans to the cool side with the medium brown slightly more warm than the dark brown.

This is my brows using the Maybelline Brow Satin in Deep Brown.

So far, I really love this brow product. It's definitely a keeper.

Pupa Vamp! Wet & Dry Eyeshadow in 301.

Pupa is a really underrated brand that I do not see many talking about them at all but I admit they are pretty hard to find and mostly available in Europe (I have seen them in SASA in Malaysia). It is an Italian brand.

So far I have own their lip products and have been enjoying them. They can get slightly pricey for drugstore but the quality of their products have been top notch Italian style.

Pupa's packaging is not the most aesthetically pleasing. In pictures, it can appear as cheap looking with the shiny silver lid and transparent body. Actually they are not too bad in real life, they still hold up pretty sturdy.

301 is a champagne peach colour. It is very shimmery and reflective. I do not know if this is the best word to describe it. It is very hi-shine. Gorgeous colour.
Shimmery eyeshadows are my weakness. I love my eyeshadows shimmery, it just opens up my eyes makes me look more awake. The Asian eyes.
The best colour as an all over lid colour and base colour. I am thinking of using it as a highlight since it also makes a gorgeous highlight shade.

A little sad story about my phone.

I just do not know if I do not have any luck with mobile phones because I got my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 pick pocket the other day and it marks my second phone getting pick pocket.

The situation was I was ordering my meal and my friend's from KFC. The food court was overcrowded so was the counters.
We ordered quite a lot so the tray was quite full and I didn't bring a bag with me and I placed my phone in my pocket. Walking through the crowd with a whole tray of food and an additional ice cream with me, I couldn't do much. I guess someone just took advantage and took my phone without me realizing and I couldn't do much since my hands were full.

Most pickpockets I have seen in Russia are not Russians themselves but usually foreigners from ex-Soviet countries located in central Asia. I am not trying to be racist but I have been here for six years and this is what I have observed. I noticed I passed by a few on the way carrying my tray of food. One actually got close to me, he was a cleaner in the mall, I stepped on his mop and he got so angry with me but there was no reason for him to come so close to me.
I still suspect it is him but I can't remember his face because he was covering it with a cap and there was too many people to turn back and not get my food all spilled over the floor and create a havoc to catch a glimpse of him.
Well, what has happened has happened. I am still pretty sad that my phone is gone just like that.

I never got pick pocket in Malaysia eventhough I would say in terms of safety wise, thief and pickpocket is more prevalent in Malaysia compared to Moscow.
The first time, I got pick pocket by a group of Caucasian men. I even went back chasing them and demanding for my phone back but there was no luck with my limited Russian then.

Anyway I got a new phone for now. It is a temporary one till I save up for an Iphone.

It is the Asus Zenfone 2 Laser

So far so good with this phone.
End of Ramble. 

Around Moscow : Light Festival 2015. My last Light Festival

This year is the fifth anniversary of the Moscow Circle of Light festival. I have went to previous light festivals and this year, the event is somewhat different. I should it is more grand.
Usually the festival spans for 2-3 days during the weekends but for this year, the festival last much longer, it last for a week.

The location for the festival is very extended this year. There are about 10 locations.
I went to three locations this year on the weekends.

The first place I went is Gorky Park. Just opposite the park, the projection is displayed on the Ministry of Defense building.
This projection has been awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest projection.

The crowd is massive that night. I did not take much photos that night because the projection just do not turn up well in photos. It is definitely much more impressive real life.

I took more videos that night than photos.
If you are really interested in the festival. I am leaving a link right here.

On the same night, we went to Bolshoi Theater's. Our old favourite spot.
Bolshoi never miss out the light festival every year, it's the favourite location.

The projection at Bolshoi is not as amazing as the one at the Ministry of Defense building but still quite enjoyable.

Link here! 

On the closing which was on Sunday, we went to Grebnoi Kanal and oh boy. It was so crowded. Everyone just want a piece of the fireworks show.
The closing of this 5th anniversary of the Light Festival will be held here. This explains the massive crowd and traffic.
The traffic was so bad that we walked from the metro to the location which is a good 10-15 minutes walk. They even close the roads for this event. One can imagine how big is this event.

I would say the show at Grebnoi Kanal is the best. The fireworks, fountain and fire show, just so surreal. Especially the fireworks, it was so gorgeous.
It was a great one hour show.
I just couldn't take my eyes off from the fireworks. The location from where I stood was really near the fireworks, it is so surreal to see the fireworks blooming right upon our heads.
It was like living in fantasy.

link of the video is here. 

I did not take photos this time around instead I took many videos. So, I am inserting some screenshoots of the videos I took.

The screenshots and video just do not do the fireworks show any justice.
Definitely one of the prettiest fireworks show I have seen in my life. Not that I have seen many.

This will be my last Circle of Light festival in Moscow and it has been a really memorable and enjoyable one.

My past Light Festival adventures :

2014
2013
2012

Tiny Events #9

Hello October. October is my favourite month because it is my birthday month. Also say hello to autumn. Autumn weather is my favourite weather where the temperature is niether too hot nor cold, trees turn into various shades of warmth and every leaf a flower.

" I did slightly mentioned that I have moved from my hostel to an apartment starting this semester.
Here's a view from the balcony of my apartment. I currently live on the 19th floor of the building.

So far I have been adapting very well living in an apartment. It is definitely much more comfortable compared living in the hostel. We did not mind living in the hostel but ever since the fire outbreak last April on our floor, we have been relocated various times from room to room. We got really tired of moving and decided to move out once and for all. It wasn't much to lose since we are all on our final year in university. It is a better option for us since the apartment is fully furbished, so, we do not need to spend money to get new furnitures and stuffs. It is not worth it since we are on our final year, there's no point spending anymore on furnitures and stuffs, we can't transport all of them back home. If we have opted for the hostel, we might need to get new furnitures. "

" Since we started living outside. We find ourselves cooking more and nicer dishes too.

That's Bak Choy with Oyster Sauce and Steamed Tom Yam Fish with Tofu

I found out that there's a Vietnamese market near my place and now I head over there basically every weekend to get my Asian grocery fix. This makes me so happy that now I can cook my local cuisine much more often and get a taste of home. "

" Krispy Kreme takeaway for us. A way to treat ourselves after moving.

I know I should be cutting off all the junk food since I am trying to back on track and restart my weight loss journey. My weight has been increasing. "

" My groupmate invited me over to her Eid-Al-Adha open house.

All these Malay cuisine. Rendang, Ayam masak merah, acar, nasi impit, kuah kacang. I just can't control myself upon seeing these food. I miss Malay food so much and I can't cook Malay food well to treat myself to Malay food so I went a little crazy with the food. She just cooks so well. "