A look back into 2013…

Time awaits for nobody and with that, 2 months passed by me in the blink of an eye since my last blog post. As we enter the second month of 2014, i thought it was about time to get back into blogging before my laziness got the best of me.

Looking back, 2013 was indeed a great year, filled with both good and bad times, a balance much needed in order to appreciate even the simplest of things in life. Great adventures took place such as discovering new eateries in the city, spending quality time with loved ones over family gatherings, catching up with friends over coffee by day, and cocktail by night, and spending some alone time by myself to do things i enjoy. Celebrations were in full swing with Chinese New Year, Mid Autumn festival, birthdays, and friends from across the globe coming to visit. Of course, a trip back home to Denmark to see my friends and family over Christmas and New Year, was the best and perfect way to end the year.

I am grateful for every moment shared with my nearest and dearest, as well as every single new friend i befriended, and new experiences that i encountered over the year. Here’s a quick glimpse into my 2013.

My first experience of indulging in a box of macarons from Laduree in Hong Kong, as my BFF knew my love for these gems and gave them to me as a surprise. Trying on my new American Apparel nail polishes and kicking the new year in style with some glitter. As every year, there were gorgeous flower decorated at home to welcome the Chinese New Year. It was also another year of festive Chinese decorations and flowers seen everywhere in the city, and firecrackers could be heard from a distant in our village back in Shenzhen, China. A free heart shaped cookie gifted to me from a staff at Pret A Manger, upon my routine morning coffee run there, really touched my heart and it’s such small gestures that really gets to me. The perks of living in a small city like Hong Kong, are discovering new bars, such as the recent Lily & Bloom, in Lan Kwai Fong, which serves absolutely divine cocktails. The bartender was ever as friendly and surprised me with a cocktail that wasn’t on the menu, when i asked for what cocktails to recommend. My all time fave Japanese Pop singer, Namie Amuro, who i have adored since high school, was finally coming to Hong Kong for her ever first concert, for her 20th anniversary Asia Tour 2013. I was standing and dancing, and singing all the night long to her good old 90s songs, such as Body Feels Exit, Can you celebrate, Dont wanna cry, and many more.

Audrey Hepburn fever in full swing after watching her movie, Sabrina, and spontaneously bought her book “How to be lovely”. The book  is an easy read and great way to look into the life of this stunning and iconic lady during her time. Furniture and home decor shopping is one of my fave past times and i was beyond excited when i spotted these wooden alphabets in the home section of Cotton On. I am still deciding what alphabet to get and in what color. One of my good old friend from Canada was in town, which offered the perfect opportunity to take her around the city, which we both grew up in. A visit to the Man Mo temple seemed like the ideal thing to do after brunch’ing in the area. It was truly fun to rediscover Hong Kong and explore around like a proper tourist. Mothers day was celebrated over steak for dinner and some lovely flowers to surprise her. Topshop had finally come to Hong Kong, where i received their goodie bag with a lipgloss, leaflet, and a magazine. Getting all dressed up in my LBD (little black dress) with cute ruffles and a red clutch, to meet some friends to try out this new Italian restaurant on a Saturday night.

Getting into healthy mode and enjoying my morning hikes again, where my surroundings consist of  lovely flowers and a beautiful scenic view of Hong Kong. That very moment of reaching the top, and breathing in all the fresh air and having the sun beam on my face is priceless. One random trip to Starbucks for my cold lemonade and i met a complete stranger, whom i disguise as Mr. A here, happened to be from my home town, Denmark, and the rest was history. I arranged for a trip up to the peak with Mr. A, upon his request,  and it was an experience that was absolutely unforgettable and worthwhile. We had some delicious steak over red wine, where the night ended with this breath taking night view of Hong Kong, with all the sky scrapers lit up in unison from afar. Celebration for my birthday with close friends over a nice meal and great company, and a surprise of two mini birthday cakes, which just completed this special day of mine. One of my good friend from high school, being as thoughtful as she always is, got me a Tiffany jewelry bowl for my belated birthday. It’s a perfect storage space for my precious Tiffany necklace and bracelet. During the mid September month, along with the moon being fully rounded in shape, it was blatant that Mid Autumn festival was upon us. With my sister and her boyfriend in town, we decided to visit the local Mid Autumn Festival market in Causeway Bay. A market packed with people taking photos everywhere, we patiently savored the moment and enjoyed the sight  of beautiful lanterns designed in all sorts of form, such as dim sum, lotus flowers, Chinese goddesses, and etc. A weekend getaway from the busy city to Lamma island. The peaceful and scenic view of this island, which is only an hour away by boat, never fails to refresh my mind and soul.

Stashing up on my fashion magazines to stay updated on the current fashion trends. Enjoying a quiet weekend on my own over brunch at this new restaurant i discovered, with my fave eggs benedicts and a cup of cappuccino.  I always think that “me time” are very vital and precious, and it’s a good time to reflect on myself. Lying in on a lazy weekend and catching up on my fave old American series, Sex and the City, is the best way to combat the cold winter season. Doing research at home for my up coming Europe trip with a friend, to London and my home town, Copenhagen. Started my health morning breakie at work again, where i have oatmeal topped with a lot of fruits and sunflower seeds. At the Christmas market in Tivoli in Copenhagen, where i was in awe by the sight of this tree filled with hearts and this Christmas tree behind it.

May this year bring everyone even more happy memories and fulfilling experiences to live by. Happy New Year and welcome to 2014!!!

Photo credits: all photos by me

March Love 2013

Attending my fave J-pop, Namie Amuro’s 20th Anniversary Asia Tour, her first concert ever in Hong Kong. The night was filled with dancing, jumping, along with singing and screaming to her old 90’s classic songs such as “Can you celebrate?”, “Respect the power of love”, “Say the word”, and many more. Celebrating a dear friend’s birthday on a relaxing weekend over Italian food, and surprised her with a birthday dessert platter. Friday night drinks with friends in town from Canada, accidentally discovered this stylish and chic bar, Lily & Bloom, that serves exotic and extraordinary cocktails!

Getting my hearty and healthy breakie back on track at work, with raspberry yogurt mixed with blueberries, strawberries, and pumpkin flax granola. Trying out my new cosmetics, the Jill Stuart custard lip pot (#C4, chocolat custard) to welcome spring time! Gently I blend this in with a clear gloss to give that extra shine. Doing a bit of good deed and contributed to World Vision for charity.

Spotted this cute floral summer dress and knitted cardigan, and got it in a heart beat for my friend’s recent new born baby girl. Started picking up on reading again. My current read is “the kite runner” and the occasional “fifty shades of grey” for my lazy read days. Spring shopping in H&M and got myself this sleeveless burgundy top with gorgeous lace detailing on it.

I am blessed for each and every day that was filled with love, fun, laughters, and sharing special moments with people I love and care for. You are my March Love 2013.

20th Anniversary Namie Amuro Asia Tour 2013

Namie Amuro has always been one of my favorite Japanese pop singers, where i started following her music way back in 1996. She is finally holding her very first concert in Hong Kong for her 2013 Asia tour, and tonight is the night!!! I absolutely love her, not to mention her pretty face and great sense of style!!!

I’m on the bus going to Asia World Expo where the concert will be held at so I’m super excited as I write this post now!!!! I gotta admit, waiting around 17 years to finally see her sing live is such a thrill, just all that anticipation and knowing I’ll hear her sing in less than 8 hours is so surreal!!!

I just wanted to pop in and share this great news of mine and i hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!! I know my weekend will be fabulous with Namie in my agenda!!! Here are some gorgeous photos of Namie Amuro so please enjoy.

Jill Stuart & Esprique – precious gems

Living in a bustling modern city like Hong Kong, where the next beauty and fashion finds are to be discovered as soon as it’s released in the market, it’s no wonder that glamorous ladies are seen everywhere. Not too mention the many successful and career oriented ladies that are dominating the job market, to fulfill such impulsive splurges.

While I’m not one of those top notch CEO or Director, though I wouldn’t mind the salary minus the stress, I surely do have my impulsive beauty shopping splurges once in a while. As a little treat for myself to celebrate the end of 2012, I purchased some cosmetics from Jill Stuart and Esprique, two brands that I’ve never tried before. My friend’s friend actually works in the cosmetics industry and was able to hook me up on these products at a cheaper price but the down fall is that they’re not the newest collection, which doesn’t bother me at all.

I’ve heard of the brands Jill Stuart and Esprique for a long time, and was always curious about their cosmetic products. So I took the opportunity and bought an eye shadow palette and lip gloss from Jill Stuart and another eye shadow palette from Esprique.

The packaging of the Jill Stuart products has always been quite girly and I admit that I do fall for this trap, I mean, who doesn’t??? The eye shadow colors are really shimmery and I am super excited to try them out. I absolutely love how its palette looks like a jewlery box as well (as shown in the second photo abo

I also got the custard lip pot, which is a lip gloss packaged into a cute pot. Although I normally don’t go for lip glosses that require using my finger for application, due to hygiene reasons, but I found it too cute to resist! I really like the small detailing of the red sparkly crystal like decoration on the lid, it just adds that bit of glamour to it.

The Japanese cosmetic brand, Esprique, which not everyone may be as familiar with, is another brand that has caught my attention a few years ago. My favorite Japanese pop singer, Namie Amuro, is the sponsor behind this brand, and being her fan for more than 10 years, I had to support and try out Esprique.

I really like how their eye shadow palettes have step by step guidelines using English alphabets along with an image, teaching you how to apply the eye shadow. The packaging of this eye shadow palette is less girly but I actually prefer the selection of colors over the Jill Staurt eye shadow palette. I’ve not tried any of these products so i am really looking forward to see what these beauty gems are all about.

For details on the products i purchased, please see below:

• Jill Stuart illuminance eyes, model # CC917A
• Jill Stuart Patisserie collection, custard lip pot, model #C4, chocolat custard
• Esprique Precious dress on shiny eyes, by Beaute de KOSE, model # C-3

What are your favorite cosmetic brands that you turn to?

Looking back at 2012…

As we enter the second week of 2013, I cannot help but think how fast the time is moving. It feels like only yesterday that I was still in beautiful Vancouver having a lovely Christmas holiday with friends.

If I had to sum up 2012, I would say I had a pretty fruitful year where I accomplished a few new years resolution that I had set out earlier in the year. One of my biggest accomplishments was joining Toastmasters, where I conquered my fear of public speaking. This opened doors for me to other public speaking opportunities, such as being the MC for my company’s annual dinner at the Four Seasons hotel. I also made 2012 my traveling year where I traveled to Beijing, Europe, and Canada. It was the best thing that i could had ever had done, with special and memorable moments that will always stay with me. Of course, there are also the smaller things but that means just as much to me, which I enjoyed throughout the year. Such moments that I truly appreciated were the quality times spent with friends and families, high tea’ing over hours of rambling with girlfriends, a trip to Paul Lafayet for my macaron fix, pampering myself with a new manicure or just simply buying myself a small gift to brighten my day.

Here is a sneak peak into my 2012, and i know 2013 will be just as good, or even better.

Beautiful flowers, kuamquat (tangerine) trees, and delicious Chinese treats were everywhere during Chinese New Year, where families gathered together to watch fireworks, as a way to welcome the year ahead. I had the opportunity to be the MC for my company’s annual dinner at the Four Seasons hotel,which was an unforgettable experience. Got spontaneous one day and decided to try a new Israeli nail polish brand, Laka. The numerous choices of colors lured me to their mini express manicure shop, where I purchased 3 lovely colors in green, pink, and lavender. Took BFF to the luxury Armani Aqua restaurant to celebrate her big 30, where it served a mixed fusion of Japanese and Italian food. It was a lovely and chilled night where we laughed non stop about anything. Finally went to a live jazz performance to see the talented English jazz singer, Clare Teal, who sang with such passion and lit up the entire room. I got to speak to her in person while she signed her latest album “Hey Ho” for me, and she is such a down to earth person.

Easter came before i knew it, and a short trip to Beijing with my BFF was arranged so we could visit our dearest Ms. C in Beijing to keep her company. We did all the things a tourist could do – ate their local Peking duck at the infamous “DaDong”, boat pedalling in the Summer Palace where we saw the sun set, and of course, went to the Forbidden City to admire their historical Chinese architecture. It was my first ever gift giveaway to celebrate my blog’s 3 years anniversary finally , where i presented a lovely Parisian themed calender, lip gloss and nail polish set. Reading mode was back on track and i bought 3 books to help kill time for those long train rides going home. Took mom and dad out for high tea at “The Parlor” on Mothers day for an relaxing afternoon and got her a lovely bouquet of red roses. My fave Japanese pop singer, Namie Amuro, had released a new album called Uncontrolled, and i bought it the minute i found it. The song “Love Story” is super good.

Light shopping spree for no particular reason, got some colorful flats and the SATC movie version DVDs. I practically lived on the SATC series during my studies in London and how i miss those days. Beautiful fireworks were up in the air at Victoria Harbour to celebrate the 1st of July, to commemorate the hand over date of Hong Kong from the UK to the Peoples Republic of China in 1997. My dearest BFF, Ms. C, came to Hong Kong where we all celebrated her birthday at a Japanese restaurant and enjoyed some delicious plume wine. A new scent, Hermès Jardin Sur le Toit was introduced into my new perfume collection, which added a nice and refreshing touch for the summer days.

Traveling mode made it a memorable summer, where i celebrated my big 30th birthday with my families back home in Copenhagen. I felt so blessed that the people i care and love for, were there with me on my special day. They prepared the traditional Danish birthday cake along with the Danish flags decorated on it, where it was enough to serve 25 people!!! Family trip to Europe included our home town, along with London and Paris, which proved to be the best family trip ever. Enjoyed a lot of Parisian macarons and pastries, gazed upon the “La Tour Eiffel” in admiration, revisited old places during my studies in London, such as China Town, London Eye, the shopping zone “oxford circus” and especially Primark, and feeling like a kid all over again in the M&M shop at Leicester Square. Caught up with friends after Euro trip and got treated to some lovely belated birthday drinks in Lan Kwai Fong, talking the night away and with a lot of will power to not get drunk, lol. My first every macaron making class was arranged by my BFF as part of my birthday present, where i failed terribly. But they still tasted good!

October and November were busy months with families visiting. Took my brother and his family to go on the Ngong Ping 360 crystal cable car to go see the infamous Tian Tan Buddha, located at Lantau island in Hong Kong. The crystal cable car had a glass bottom floor, which allowed us to see everything below our feet as we crossed mountains and land. My younger cousin was in town for her 26th birthday, where we celebrated in style with Thai food and wine. Trips to Lan Kwai Fong with my cousin for our cocktail fixes was like a revisit back to the good old times when i used to be a regular there. A visit to Paul Lafeyet for my macaron craving after a bad day at work made everything all better, at least for that brief moment as i slowly savored an Earl Grey flavored macaron. Finally opened the new Gucci perfume i got as a birthday gift from my family and was filled with excitement as i always do when putting on a new scent. I had the honor of being the mc for my toastmasters club’s 3rd year anniversary dinner and was presented with the Brand Building Award, for my contribution to the club as a Vice President of PR.

Busily setting up the Christmas tree and gazing at beautiful Christmas ornaments as the count down for Christmas began. Christmas shopping spree was in full gear, where i bought gifts for families and friends. Laduree finally arrived to Hong Kong on Dec 1st, 2012, and the que was pure madness! I been told that people had to wait for 2 hours and i have yet to try their macarons, and that shall happen after the frenzy dies down.

My last minute trip to Vancouver to spend a hopefully white Christmas with my two BFFs. It was an unforgettable Christmas where i met such great people and enjoyed a lot of delicious food at Christmas house parties, did a road trip to the states for some outlet shopping, experienced my first ever Tim Horton’s latte, visited the Granville market which was filled with fresh produces, their local maple syrup, and beautiful Christmas decorations, and spent quality times with my BFFs where we would talk til 4 or 5 in the morning almost every night! The trip ended with a sad good bye but a bottle of ice wine and ice wine chocolate truffles that i purchased at the airport, was a sweet reminder for me to take home.

The Christmas month also had some good news that came along with it, one of my good old friend from high school was getting married to the love of her life, at the Repulse Bay resort. It was such a lovely and sweet night where i witnessed true love between 2 people, where i was overwhelmed by all the emotions that filled the room that night. Cute “Maison du chocolat” dark chocolates were gifted for guests to take home and mini sweet bites were presented after dinner and dessert. It was definitely a sweet and memorable way to say good bye to 2012!!!

“Christmas in Vancouver, Canada – Dec 2012”

Looking back into 2012, i am truly blessed and will always cherish each and every moment that had moved my heart. It is sometimes the smaller things in life that we take for granted, which turns out to be the more important things. I hope that we will all remember to stop for a moment in our daily busy lives and remind yourself what is most important to you. With that said, I really look forward to a great 2013 and i’m sure it will be a great year and if not, i shall make sure of that. I want to say a big thank you to all of you bloggers for supporting my blog throughout all these years and it really means the world to me.

Wishing you all a happy and fabulous new year in 2013!!!!

Snapshots of my week…

I cannot believe it has already come to Saturday and like always, i just feel like there is never enough hours in a day to do all the things that i wish to do. Despite the lack of time (surely 24 hours is not enough, right?), i still managed to do a few things where i happily embraced myself in doing some relaxing and fun things, whether by myself or with my dear friends.

Here are some photos of what i’ve been up to lately and i’ve been thinking of making this “Snapshot of my week” a frequenter post here, what do you think about that idea? Would love to hear some comments to see what you all think.

I managed to check out the Marni at H&M collection with my BFF on the day of it’s launch on March 8th, and i have to say, it was purely accidental. I did not even remember the collection was being released that day until i saw this lady carrying a Marni at H&M plastic bag, and so i gave my BFF the eye and she gave me back the eye. Before you knew it, we quickly gobbled our froyo at Yo mama (our all time fave froyo place in HK!!!) quickly hit to H&M.

I hope i don’t offend any fashionistas out there but i was utterly disappointed with the collection. Fair enough, i loved the vibrant colors and asymmetrical prints and patterns, which is so Marni style but there was just one problem. Like Marni style, everything in the collection seemed over sized, which is a big no no for petite people like me, and not to mention pricey!!! We only stayed there for less than 30 minutes and left empty handed. Actually i was also surprised that there were no a lot of people in the shop but then again, it was almost 9pm so i guess maybe all the nice pieces have been taken already? That’s just my guessing though. Did you guys like the collection or like me, was super disappointed?

I’ve been trying to eat healthier for breakfast so i can look forward to a less sluggish me when embracing spring and with that,  i have found myself going quite regularly to Pret A Manger for my smooth and juice fix. I gotta say, the Flu Fighter juice and Pink Guava and Raspberry/Blue berry smoothies are my fave!!! I have also been trying to incorporate as much fruit as possible in my daily diet.

My hair is quite damaged considering the amount of strengthening and perming it has gone through for the past decade. So when my friend introduced me to the Patene Pro-V intensive treatment for damaged hair, i went straight out to buy it. That was 2 months ago and i finally managed to have some time for myself to try it out today.  Now i just gotta wait and see if it really works.

I finally stocked up on my Asian magazines as they are way cheaper than my all time fave English issues of Cosmopolitan and Glamour. I also finally saw another Japanese magazine with my fave Japanese pop singer Namie Amuro on the cover. I’ve been a big fan of her since high school and whilst her music has changed since then, and not so to my liking now, i still think she looks gorgeous!

I have been meaning to clean my room for as long as i remember and so with spring cleaning coming, what better excuse than now to get cleaned up!??!! I managed to sort out my messy desk and organized all my perfumes and beauty products, and my jewelry boxes.

Yes, i actually stayed home all day just to clean my room but i actually quite enjoyed my “me” time and boy did i need it. I woke up quite late today, where i spent the late afternoon enjoying my take away spaghetti bolognese for lunch, while catching up on my all time fave shows, Kourtney & Kim take New York and America’s Next Top Model.

My friend also invited me along to a free facial and skin testing at Shiseido and of course, i did not hesitate for one minute. The facial was done in their Shiseido booth right in the middle of the Harbour City shopping mall so that was a bit odd. But i just ignored everyone and did my thing. As expected, i ended up buying something as well, i just seem to never be able to say no to any sales people, lol. But i did refrain myself from not buying everything and only got what i needed. I bought this box of masks with 6 pieces and an anti dark circle eye cream. The good thing about shopping in Hong Kong is that there are a lot of freebies. They gave me a foam cleanser, a Brightening Balancing Softener Enriched, a day and night moisturizer, and a cute compact mirror!!!Good purchase indeed.

All photos accredited to me

Add me on Bloglovin’ to show some lovin’:)

Yes, i finally took the time out to register on bloglovin’ and added it on my blog. So please do feel free to add me and follow my latest updates:) Anyhow, i got to confess, i was having major problems adding the bloglovin’ icon on my blog but to cut a long story short, i was finally able to do it and it’s freaking 2:45am now. Yes, i was that determined to get it fixed, it just down right bothered me!!!! And that my friend, is another reason why i decided to blog twice today! I need to let off some steam,lol.

While i’m in the mood, i’m gonna post some lovely photos of my fave Japanese singer Namie Amuro too:) She is just so cute and pretty, i think anyway. I blogged about her earlier in the year so if you want to know more about her then click here, there’s a music video in that post too! As for now, hope you guys enjoy these photos as much as i do!!!!!!

Photo Source

Namie’s new single – Break It/Get Myself Back

Yes, Namie Amuro has once again come out with her new single album!!! I’ve heard the 2 songs,  Break It and Get Myself Back, and they are alright. Actually i prefer her slow song “Get Myself Back” alot more, and i love her summery look with the floral dresses in the MV. The melody was really soothing at the start and over all, it gave me a happy and relaxed vibe. Unfortunately, i don’t understand Japanese but her beauty is enough for me to admire, lol. Below are the album covers for her CD and CD+DVD. She looks absolutely “kawaii ne” (it means cute in Japanese)!!! 😀

CD

CD + DVD

Get Myself Back MV

Photo Source

Namie Amuro at the ‘World Music Awards 2010′

This year’s  World Music Awards 2010 took place at Monte Carlo, Manaco on May 18th, and with an abundant list of well recognised artists from the music business, such as  J Lo, Kelly Rowland, Black Eyed Peas, Akon, and many more. Now normally i don’t take much note of this event but that all changed when i read that my fave Jap singer Namie Amuro attended the event! I was like totally over the moon and so happy  that she had added another achievement in her music career and better yet, she received the  “Best Selling Asian Artist” award. She even had the opportunity to perform one of her lastest songs “Hide and Seek” taken from the album Past<Future!!!  This is pretty big news considering Asian artists don’t normally get recognised at this scale but i think this is changing and at a fast pace too:) And to think Paris Hilton was standing next to her on stage as well!!!  OMG OMG……gosh, i really cant hide my excitement can i, i’m just sooooo happy for her sucess and fame,  go go Namie!!!! She’s really globally exposed now, wont you say?…….lol

“Namie photos taken from the WMA 2010”

She looks sooo cute!!!

A rougher military outfit gives an edgy feel to her look:)

On stage performance

Namie’s big moment with America’s well known Paris Hilton;)

Photo Source: Namie News Network

My Easter starts with Namie Amuro

Its a Thursday night and my 5 days Easter break has finally started, and i feel completely lazy to blog tonight, lol. Soo…..as a little Easter treat, i decided to post up some wonderful photos of my fav Japanese Pop singer NAMIE AMURO!!!! For those of you who dont know her, she was a big hit back in the 90’s with songs like “a walk in the park”, “body feels exit”, “can you celebrate?” and the list goes on.  Dont get me wrong, she’s still big in Japan and continues to promote herself religiously. But I have to admit and i actually even feel bad for saying this,  i havent really been digging her music lately as her style turned towards American wannabe RnB, lol. Despite all that, she is still looking gorgeous and did i mention, she’s 33  and with a son who’s around 10 or so!!!!  Gosh….so envious, lol. Ohhhh and she’s actually one quarter Italian incase you wonder why she looks abit mix;)

One of my fav songs by her – Say the word (she looks so gorgeous in the MV!!!!)