Friday, April 28, 2017

Storytime : Criss cross parcel

Just not too long ago, I experienced what people would call horror if you are an avid online shopper. A criss crossed parcel. Receiving a parcel that's not yours and someone else receiving your parcel.

It started out with me ordering an item from a website called Qoo10.com.my on one very fine day. I have ordered from this site for as long as I have known this site, maybe almost 4-5 years and I have never experienced any bad service from their courier service which is Qexpress and Skynet (in Malaysia). It is my first time experiencing such a mistake from them.

Actually I am not even frustrated because mistake like this do happen.
When I knew the parcel was not mine. I contacted the seller and Qexpress as there were no invoice in the parcel so I could not contact the owner. The seller and Qexpress did reply me very promptly on the issue. Later on, they diverted the issue to Skynet.
So after that Skynet did all the investigation and they did enquire me about the parcel I was holding in hand. They asked for pictures of the condition of the parcel and how they are finding the other person who was holding on to the parcel and they will the one incharge retrieving the parcel back and sending it back to the respective owner.

I kept the parcel I received in order.  Yes, I did open the box because the name on the parcel was to me and I thought it was mine till I open the box up and saw the items were not mine. I did not remove any bubble wrap or packaging from the parcel and kept it the state as how I received it.

What had angered me the most was when they found the person who was holding my parcel.
So, let's call her Mrs. N and her daughter.
Mrs N. called my mum to deliver her parcel back when we already had Skynet involved in this and she has the nerves to call my mum to deliver her parcel her?
My mum was involved in this because I got the parcel sent to her office.

We ignored her plea and we said we are going to let Skynet collect the parcel from me to be delivered to you. Simple as that.

So, when I got my items in a plastic bag instead my box, I wasn't too happy. When I opened it, to my disgust, my items has been opened. It's pretty obvious to tell that a foundation has been used.
I contacted Mrs. N telling her why was she using my items. I did it out of frustration but I don't think anyone could keep their chill.
I was disappointed that Skynet did not check the items thoroughly too. They did ask me for pictures regarding the condition of the person's items and I wondered why couldn't they do the same to mine.

Mrs. N replied that on the day she received the parcel, she gave it straight away to her daughter before her daughter left to other states and she confirmed that her daughter did not touch the items. She kept defending her daughter.
If her daughter did not touch my items why was it opened and used? It can't be the delivery man trying to open and use my stuffs while returning it back to me.
Why did she removed the bubble wrap and threw the box away because you could already see the item is not yours?


I know how protective mothers can be but it is wrong to defend her daughter for what she has done.
Maybe I went overboard with accusing her daughter but all I wanted was an honest apology and maybe some solution.

If the item is not yours, do not alter any shape or form of the condition you have received the item and leave it as it is and get to the the courier company.
Also, to parents, do not defend your child if they have done anything wrong, tell them to apologize, teach them the right way. 

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Skin talk : morning routine

I am going to get close and personal with you guys about my skin
In this post, I am going to talk about my skin condition and also my skincare routine. What I do to take care of my skin.

My skintype is dry/combination.

I am gonna insert a HD picture of my skin over here. Taken with my Samsung Camera and also my Iphone 7 camera. No filter no edit.
My skin condition looks way worse on pictures. Thanks to the ultra UD Iphone 7 camera.

Definitely not perfect skin.
Occasional blackheads and breakout on my chin and cheeks (usually during the time of the month). Huge pores and lots of blackheads all over my nose and slightly extended towards the sides of my nose. Slight pigmentation here and there due to me popping the blackheads which I know I should not do. Also very very slight freckles.

Freckles/hyperpigmentation is something I am worried about because my mum has freckles, my skintone leans fair and I live in a tropical country where we are exposed to sun almost daily. Thanks to my skin advocating on me about sunscreen since I was a child I did not get visible freckles.

So my skincare routine has many steps. I use about atleast 8-10 products for my routine.
This might be too much for some people but this is what works for me, And, I have stuck to it ever since.

I used to have acne circa 2013 and since then I keep experimenting with products and changing up with skincare and I have stuck with a 10 step skincare and it drastically cleared up my acne.
I will link my acne post here.
I have changed some of the products I have used since. Have been adding and removing products in search for things that are more beneficial to my skin and works on my skin.

Morning routine.
1) First step involves cleansing. Currently I have two cleansers in the bathroom the A'pieu Milk Moist Foaming Cleanser and Eucerin Dermo Purifier Cleanser.
I am not too particular with cleansers, as long it doesn't strips my face off all the oils and making my face feel tight and dry afterwards. Cleansers are meant to be washed off, so I don't see fancy or expensive cleansers infused with so and so ingredients beneficial to the skin. You will wash it off before your skin has time to absorb any nutrients.

2) Toner.
 I have a lot of toners on my vanity but in the morning, I will reach for a milder toner that does not contain exfoliating agents or acids.
This step I use a cotton pad to apply, it is to clean off any excess dirt or debris and to soften my skin for the next step.
I am currently using the The Body Shop Vitamin E Toner, Secret Key Milk Brightening Toner and Eucerin Dermo Purifier Toner.
The Eucerin Dermo Purifier contains 2% Lactic acid which with that percentage, does not do much in exfoliating, so for me, it is okay to use it in the morning.
The reason I avoid using exfoliating agents or acids in the morning is because of photosensitivity. The thing with acid is that you are removing away or exfoliating away the top layer of your skin, your skin loses a protection barrier from the UV rays and if you are not careful, you might get hyperpigmentation. Which no one wants.
It is recommended to apply sunscreen after all the exfoliating agents and acids but I feel it is not enough to protect my skin. So I won't use them in the morning.

3) Lotion.
Lotion are technically also toners, hydrating toners to be exact. For me, this step is to replenish the moisture I have lost during the cleansing and toning process.
I will the use the Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Lotion. Just pat pat pat.
I have been using the Hada Labo lotion eversince it is brought into Malaysia. My favourite lotion, so affordable and does its job well.

4) Then eyecream. I am not very particular about eyecream since I do not have bad dark eye circles or eye bags. I just need one to keep my undereye area hydrated so they won't develope too many fine lines. I am currently using the Superdrug Vitamin E eyecream.

5) Whitening fluid/water.
I usually apply my Sulwhasoo or History of Whoo whitening fluids or water during this step. It does not make a big difference but it does help slightly fasten the lightening of my hyperpigmentation and brightens my skintone. No product is a miracle product when it comes to whitening. All takes time.

6) Here comes the Essence/Serum. Currently I am using the COSRX BHA Pore Minimizing Serum in hopes of making the pores around my nose area smaller. So far, I have been through half a bottle and I do not see any difference.Not impressed with it. I will switch up to the BHA Skin Returning A-Sol after I am done with this.

7) This step I will be using my La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo. This is my HG. I have been using it eversince I found out about it. It has really help in clearing up my skin when I had acne. I still use it till this very day to keep my skin under control and it does its job.
This is not available in Malaysia so before coming back, I did stock up a ton of it. When I run out I will switch to going to Thailand to stock up or maybe purchasing it online.

8) In this step, I will apply the Mizon Snail Recovery Gel. This product is made up of snail mucin, it promotes cell reparation, whitening and wrinkle care. I just threw this in my skincare step because I have bought a few of this gel and I wanna use it up. I do not know if this gel did anything but It did not hurt my skin adding this extra product in.

9) I will end my morning routine with a SPF containing moisturizer. Currently I am using the Kanebo Freshel UV Whitening Gel. I love how cooling and light this cream is and it contains SPF too. Just a SPF 20, definitely not enough if you are out but if you are going to spend your whole day indoors. It's sufficient.

Some of the products in my morning skincare routine. I did not have all products in this picture as some products were laying elsewhere and I was just too lazy to retrieve it.

Stay tune for my next post with my night time routine and more talk about my skin.

I have been trying and testing out more skincare products because I am searching for better products for my skin. As I get older, my skin changes and I start to find other products to cater my skin needs.
I will be posting a skincare haul with products I have recently picked up from the internet and in stores.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Eyeshadow haul : Innisfree, Elianto, MAC

I have been enjoying warmer and redder tones for my eyeshadows this season. To expand my warm tones collection, I have been purchasing new eyeshadows from Asian brands. I am giving Asian brands the chance again since they have improved the quality of their eyeshadows and the price still remained affordable. Also, I have been loving a softer pigmentation that Asian eyeshadow offers.

I picked up eyeshadows from Innisfree and Elianto.

I bought a few Elianto eyeshadows previously and I ended up liking them so I went back to purchase some more.
This time I went back to purchase two more shades.

Thulian Pink is a muted pink shade with shimmers. The shimmers aren't obvious application, it provides a satin finish to the eyeshadow.

Cocoa is a milk chocolate shade. This seems to be one of the popular shades since there were not many left at the counter and I could totally understand why.
It is a very versatile and natural shade. It is great for days if you just want a splash of colour on your lids.

I went to Innisfree the other day, I had so much fun swatching the eyeshadows and ended up with three of them.

Innisfree Mineral Eyeshadow in Matte 04.
It is the typical milk chocolate shade that is super versatile. I love the formula and texture of the Innisfree eyeshadows. They are one of my favourite Korean roadshop eyeshadow brand. They go on really soft and smooth, the texture really buttery too.

Innisfree Mineral Eyeshadow in Shimmer 01
It is a light peachy brown. I really enjoy the texture of the shimmer eyeshadows, they are just super buttery. Upon swatching with finger, they give off a wet shimmer look which is extremely beautiful.
The pigmentation is top notch too.

Innisfree Mineral Eyeshadow in Shimmer 05
This is a golden bronze shade. This shade is breathtakingly beautiful.

At the duty free, I picked up some MAC eyeshadows and I thought I would be great to shade it in this post too.
I had plan to get more shades but many of them were out of stock. In the end, I only ended up picking up two shades.



MAC Charcoal Brown.
There's nothing very charcoal-y about the shade. It is a soft neutral brown with hints of ashy undertones.
This is the only matte brown shade left at the counter.

MAC Amber Lights.
This is one of the MAC eyeshadows that I have wanted for such a long time and I am so happy that I got it. This is such a beautiful shade.
Amber Lights is a warm golden bronze shade.

That's all the eyeshadows I hauled this time.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

What's in my bag : Beach Holiday edition

I went for a beach holiday at Tioman Island last week and I am going to share what makeup I brought along with me on the trip.
I am quite proud of myself with packing my makeup. Those days I used to bring like my whole vanity along with me, my makeup bag would be so heavy and full and I know I won't use everything I bring along with me.
Now, I just pack the bare minimums.

Since I am going to the beach. It's going to be hot and wet. I did not bother with too much.


What I brought along :
L'oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint
Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in Vintage Pink (**tester)
Vivienne Sabo Voyage Powder Bronzer
Essence The Velvets Eyeshadow in Taupe Secret
Max Factor The Falsies Mascara
Eva Mosaic Lipliner in Flirt
Innisfree Gel Liner in #9
Maybelline Brow Satin in Dark Brown
Yves Rocher Gloss in Soleil Cuivre
Nyx Mega Gloss in Beige
L'oreal Color Riche Matte in 131 Mistinguette

I packed everything light. I opted for a liquid to powdery finish foundation like he L'oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint so that I would not need for a powder and it provides a light and natural finish which is great for a hot and wet environment.
Left my highlighter at home. Of late, I don't reach out to highlighter as much as I used to. I am just having a highlighter exhaustion.
I brought 1 lipstick, 2 lipglosses and a lipliner which is a lot for just three days. I could had just went with one lipstick but me being indecisive. I just went with all these. 

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Aliexpress haul #5

I did another Aliexpress haul but this time around the haul isn't big.

I picked up two boxes of lashes and some flash tattoo.

Holiday season is here, it's time to have fun and try out some flash tattoo. I know they are like the hottest thing last summer, I am just very late on the bandwagon.

They came really crumpled but thank goodness nothing happened to the tattoos.
I paid really cheap for them, if I am not wrong less than a dollar each.
I really like the dream catcher design. Also, turquoise and gold look really good together. Maybe it is just me but turquoise and gold just reminds me so much of Greece. It might just the bracelet I got from Greece. It's turquoise and gold.

I bought two boxes of lashes.
I bought the same design awhile ago and I really love them. These lashes are really natural and beautiful, they look like my lashes but better (is there a term like this or I just made it up). The previous one, I got them in a black band and I don't really like the black band too much, so, I went back to get the clear ones.
These are 8mm long, they are great for Asian eyes. They are just the perfect length.
I have tried the 10mm ones, I find them too long if I go for a more natural makeup look but these, they will look good with minimal makeup too.

That's all I got for this time around.It's pretty tiny. I will have another round of Aliexpress items coming to me. 

Friday, April 14, 2017

Gunung Nuang hiking experience

Gunung Nuang is the tallest mountain in the state of Selangor. It stands 1,493m from sea level.
Comparing to many mountains in Malaysia, it is considered a tiny mountain. Even so, this is one unforgiving mountain to hike. It requires a lot of stamina and most important, mental strength.

There are two hiking trails to the peak from what I know, via Pangsun and Janda Baik, the latter being the easier trail.
This time I am hiking to the peak via Pangsun which is much nearer to where I live it's about a 30 minutes drive from my house to Pangsun.

So, the things I prepared before the hike are just 3L of water, towel, bread.
Also, before the hike, my friend had warned me about leeches, so I wore a knee length socks under my training pants and another shorter socks over it. All are so tight fitting, so now I can hope leeches don't find their way into my pants.

7am, I started my hike.
There are 4 important check points, Kem Lolo, Dataran Pacat, Puncak Pengasih and Peak.

The first part is the "never ending road", this stretch is nothing hard, just some steep up and down hill walk with lots of greens surrounding but you definitely will need the mental strength to push through this 5km. This stretch took me about one and a half hour.

From this part to Kem Lolo is 1.2km. It is no more a flat road but it is still considered quite an easy hike up. Took us about an hour to get to Kem Lolo.
This stretch has four river crossings. There are ropes to cling on to if you are afraid of falling into the river. The rivers aren't deep and the current is not strong. Just that, we do not want to get our shoes wet.

The last river crossing, is the route to the 2nd checkpoint, Dataran Pacat. This is where the adventure begins, it is about climbing up and up. This stretch is 1.2km. It took forever. I took about an hour and 45 minutes up.
While climbing I was more worried how I am going to descend down later, because the incline is pretty steep and the red clay ground is pretty slippery. I am terrible at descending, I can climb up and it is easy for me but descending feels like a nightmare to me and my poor knees.  At this moment, my towel was so drenched.

Finally arriving at Dataran Pacat (Leech(, I would name this place Dataran Lebah (Bee) instead. There were so many bees and I dislike them. We stopped by this place to take our breakfast to give us more energy for further hike.

Everyone who stops at Dataran Pacat took a picture with this tree. So, I guess I will just follow.

Okay, the next push is to Puncak Pengasih. This moment , nightmare behinds. It was rocks over rocks. I was basically rock climbing my way to the top. It was huge boulders and steep inclines up.
Let's not think how am I going to descend later. I think I rather tumble down at this point.
1.2km feels like an eternity. I took about an hour and 45 minutes at this point.

Puncak Pengasih aka False Peak. Too early to be happy, now it is time for a downward hike over mouldy rocks. I love the trail along the false peak to the peak. All the mould covered rocks gives a mysterious and ethereal feel. I could like imagine suddenly Totoro appearing out of nowhere.


This stretch isn't anything too hard since there isn't much not a steep incline. Felt like an obstacle hike, crossing over fallen trees and big mouldy rocks (not a huge as the ones at the route from Pacat to Puncak Pengasih).

Before reaching the peak, there's a literally vertical rock. To me, it looks very vertical and gosh I didn't know how to get up. If you asked me now how I managed to get up, I can't explain. Just used some 'magic' called willpower.
I am so close to the top, I can't just give up right now.

Finally I have reached the peak.
We rested for about 15 minutes before we start our descend. We hope to reach the parking lot before the sky turns dark. Not much time to waste.

Too early to be happy because hell awaits after this. Descending is a total nightmare.
This is the time where your legs are already killing you, you are already exhausted from hiking all the way up. Now, you have to go down.
The slopes are more slippery descending, so it adds more burden to your knees.
It took me about 4 hours 45 minutes up but 6 hours descending.
At the end of the descend, I couldn't even feel my toes and knees. RIP.
I was beyond hungry and dehydrated at this point. All I wanted to do is to have a huge jar of isotonic drink, a big fat meal and sleep.
I burned a total of 4900 calories with this hike which is an impressive amount of calories with this 21km journey.

Oh yea. I didn't encounter any leeches during my hike. Maybe because it was a dry day.
Try to hike this mountain on a dry day, it's much safer without the extra slippery muddy clay grounds and also leeches.

Will I do Nuang again? Sure! but not so soon. I still need to recharge.
Easier hills for now. 

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Around Malaysia : Ipoh, Day 1 + 2

Ipoh bound to visit a friend who is currently posted there. 

Drove all the way there. 
It took us about 3 hours to get there, so it wasn't too bad of a drive. 

We started out journey at 9am, arrived about 12pm.

The first day there was basically eat, eat and eat. 
We didn't do anything really interesting besides eating. 

Our first stop is Lou Wong restaurant. It is a famous Ipoh bean sprout chicken rice shop. 
The restaurant is so packed despite it was late afternoon-ish. 

I totally forgot to take picture of the chicken. 
We were totally famished. 

I think that's all for day one. 
We ended the day with a movie. We watched Star Wars : Rouge One. 

The next day we started our day with food again. 
Half boiled eggs on toast. One of favourite type of breakfast.

Yoo tiao with Coconut jam. 

After awhile we went for Dim Sum.
I wasn't joking when i said it is going to be food overloaded. 
We went to this oh so famous dim sum restaurant called Foh San. 

To be honest, I find the dim sum to be totally average. It's so overrated, not to mention it is pretty pricey. 

'

After our quick morning tea/lunch, we headed down to Kek Lok Tong. 
It is a Chinese temple inside a limestone cave. 




After visiting the cave we had this crazy idea and we drove to Cameron Highlands which is about an hour drive from Ipoh. I will keep the post about Cameron Highlands in another post since it is not Ipoh. 

At night, my friend took us to a nice American pizzeria - MichelangelO's Pizzeria. 
This place serves nice oven baked pizza. Hot from the furnace. 


Definitely one of the best pizza I have tried in Malaysia. 
The pizza is so flavourful, there is so much topping (they aren't stingy with their toppings) and each bite is so cheesy. 

We ended the night by visiting the hot spring at Lost World of Tambun since our friend lives nearby. 
We did not pay much for the hot spring since there was an offer for it if you go at night.