Eyeliners

I had been searching for a replacement liquid eyeliner since my Japanese one has been running out slowly but surely (I've been using it since mid-2010 though!). I purchased one from Sasa when I went back. Now she did tell me that this wasn't the no.1 product she would push, but she had sold out of the other Asian favourite so dyamn, I went with the Eyeliner injection instead.


I told her I had a really hard task for my eyeliners and that is, it must be smudgeproof and long lasting. I find it annoying to reapply/refresh my eye makeup throughout the day. Firstly, the eyeliner is difficult to apply anyways when you have Mascara on. And my eyes secrete so much oil throughout the day that I almost always end up having panda eyes by the evenings.

She recommended this:

It was promising, being a really thin tip and all, but somewhere whilst transporting the product in my travels, the cover flew open in my makeup pouch (The injection mechanism makes the cover fly open at the touch of a fly) and the liner dried up before I ever got to use it. So DISAPPOINTING!

So I trooped to Priceline one Thursday and put loads of sample streaks of different liquid eyeliners on the back of my hand and then proceeded to rub them out. Guess which one stayed on? The Revlon Colorstay! It just wouldn't budge even though my hand had become quite red from the rubbing.

Funnily though, the salesperson observing me advised me to try the Maybelline EyeStudio Master Precise Ink Pen Eyeliner because it was finer and a thinner tip, which she suggests is easier to manouver and better for smaller Asian eyes. There weren't any testers though, but there was a sale that made it $7 cheaper than the Revlon purchase. So I readily went along with it.

The verdict? I am very happy with it. A couple of tips from my trials though, draw with shorter strokes to avoid mistakes, and allow time for it to dry as it would smudge quite easily right after application. Once you are used to it, the fine tip is very easy to control and the liner stays on all day and doesn't smudge.

I might one day still try out Revlon, but for now, I have found a trusted friend in Maybelline.

La Bodeguita del Medio - A Cuban restaurant behind QVB

La Bodeguita del Medio was a place that I was excited to try out since it opened its doors last year. Somehow, it never quite eventuated until now. We were there early on a week night so the restaurant was bare, although the troops at the bar got tables a lot later in the night.

$10 Cuban cocktails were the go for the night and we all started with a round of Mojitos for the table. Limey Rum, the drink was refreshing. And with eagerness we poured over the menu.

For Shared Entrees, we had:

Ceviche del Dia

Fish of the day with fresh lime, chilli & coriander $16

 A very sour dish, but actually a great way to open up your appetite, if you weren't already ravenously hungry. But the fish was firm to the bite and a good dish I'd revisit anytime.

Panceta de Cerdo

Roasted pork belly, compressed watermelon & white balsamic foam $17

 Watermelon was an interesting accompaniment. But the pork belly was done well with very good crackling.

Terrina de Chorizo

Chorizo terrine with pea puree & sautéed baby carrots $18

 I think this entree got devoured really quickly, and it was good earthy flavours of terrine mellowed by the sweetness of the peas and carrots. The Entrees certainly were good, which meant the shared Mains had to work harder to hit the spot.

Pastel de Cangrejo

Crab pie served with homemade crusty bread $31

 I picked this dish and so was rather disappointed that the bread was larger than the pie. The flavours were decent, with every bite of the pie filling full of crab, but it didn' have the wow factor after all. On the other hand, what I did not expect was for the crusty bread to have the texture of toasted brioche, and that was something different.

Ropa Vieja de Cordero

Yogurt braised lamb, black bean vinaigrette & steamed yellow rice $30

 I remembered only the saltiness of this dish. The lamb was overcooked, so it was chewy and I liked the rice, but the overpowering black bean saltiness did me in really. Especially when all I had was a mojito to wash this down with. My saltiness and sournes palate gave way at this dish I am pretty sure.

Cazuela de Cuba

Cuban casserole with pork belly, chorizo, fresh scallops, black beans & long grain rice $32

If the previous dish lost me, this one was the star of the night. We all enjoyed this casserole hands down. It reminds one of a paella with its flavours, but it was a generous dish with flavour and portion and even though we already had pork belly earlier on in the night and the pork belly in this dish was really really chewy, we still could not fault this dish and would have eaten this on its own.

I think we each had another round of $10 cocktails including the cocktail of the week/month? (I can't quite remember which) which was a daiquiri, basically a different presentation of the mojito it tasted like. I suppose I had enough of the sourness that night.

We would have gone for desserts if we didn't feel so overwhelmed with the flavours that night. The Service fell down between entree, our second drink order and mains, so we gave up and kissed each other a goodnight before it turned sour like our dinner.

I was glad we tried it, but based on the food, I am not in a hurry to visit Cuba anytime soon. Am not sure the food quite agrees with me, although of course that is not the sole reason to visit a country. Or is it?

Do you believe in Star-crossed lovers?

No really... How many times have you had to try and give a good friend (who's had their heart broken) some story about why they should not give up on love or why someone is their perfect someone and is waiting for them?

My latest story is about my real life idol who I always share with my gal friends about because she is our Singaporean Carrie Bradshaw. She is only nine years older than me but has really captivated my imagination of the world I wanted for myself when I grew up.

Because I wanted to emulate her beauty, I used her favorite cosmetics, SK II. Because I loved her jet-setting life, I studied international business. Because I adored her style and self-confidence, I always followed her antics with the greatest interest even if she was a very private person. After several relationships, and a severe battle with depression, I see her soar again now with a story that inspires my friends who at this age want to give up hope that they might ever meet Mr. Right.

My idol met her love not too long ago and will get married this year. He's bought her a penthouse and a Cartier ring and an apartment in Paris I believe the rumors were. I was so happy that her Happy Ever After was looming as we had never gotten this close before.

This isn't the princess's dream though. It isn't something you read to little girls at night. For who ever went to bed thinking one day that she will grow up to become the stepmother? You see, her package comes with kids and that she had to wait patiently for his family to accept her before all this could happen.

I suppose this shows that sometimes, the package might not come the way you were looking for, but if you kept an open mind, you'd find your Mr. Right-for-you in a way least expected by you. I mean there is no hard and fast rule as to what Mr. Right should be like, or which pool you'd find him in.

I found mine in a man who was the shoulder I needed, the strength that I lacked and the patience and wisdom of the world I never had. I was looking to play the field when he asked me to go out having been hurt in the previous two relationships and sick of it. But S was to me all those years ago, like the pastel blue unicorn I found at school that had broken off someone's pencil, an alluring piece of throwaway that I kept because I was sure I'd need it someday but was not sure right then what I'd need it for but I didn't want another to have it. Thankfully, I was curious to see what we could have and I was curious to see if He could teach me to know that Love, you know, that as Carrie puts it," Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient , consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love."

I imagined that one day I may find out that our paths have crossed before and some sign would show that we were just meant for each other. Now, it just doesn't seem so important anymore as I know our Love is just what we want to make of it.

Ebay listings and musings of life

Shopping has no more lustre whilst I am paying off my London tickets and dreaming of Boxing Day shopping there.

We did go shopping today for a MacBook Air and so Mr. HEA will not be after me for attention for the rest of the day, I'm sure.

My OOTD: Zara Studio metallic Grey Knit, Skinny Jeans, Vincci Patent flats and Printed Nine West Scarf

Outfit I tried on at Portmans: Pastel Colour block bandeau skirt; Candy collared Silk Blouse. Matches my shoes perfectly, but I didn't like the transparency of the blouse and the way the skirt accentuated my hips.

Moving and pottering about the house has been the other main focus of the days here recently. Albeit being freezingly cold, I was able to tease some colour from the garden from the Begonia, the Geranium and the Azalea bush.

I've also put in some lavender cuttings in a pot and scattered basil, parsley and coriander seeds into the garden bed behind the kitchen despite it being absolutely the wrong season to do so. Hopefully some will germinate when Spring comes and the place has been rented out. I just know I won't be here to reap the fruits of my labour, but the tenants hopefully will appreciate it (if the seeds take off).

On other moving news, I am finally coming to my senses and letting go of some of my luxury items on Ebay. There just hasn't been as much partying going on that I require this many bags for. I also have much less space moving in with my in-laws when Mr.HEA ships out to UK. So, if you're in the market for some vintage designer clutches, check out my listings:

Louis Vuitton Pochette Marelle & the Christian Dior Saddle Clutch is up for sale at the moment. A few more things to come after that as I keep culling my wadrobe I am sure.

Discovery of the day

If you catch the bus and you get to the last dip on your travel ten like I did this morning, the first thing in your mind when you see a potential newsagency would be to purchase a new MyBus card.

Imagine my surprise when I turned the corner on this News Stand kiosk on the corner of Martin Place and Elizabeth and realised it sold coffee and Sparkle cupcakes!




If you hadn't had Sparkle cupcakes before, you may not be lured by their plain frosting compared to the delicate and intricate counterparts available elsewhere.




Oh but give it a chance like I did on a couple of other occasions and you'll find that under its unassuming presentation, it delivers flavours true to its name and have the most gourmet fillings oozing out of its insides.

Here's the innards of my salted caramel:




I thought the soy latte was pretty good, coming out of a kiosk, but it was a novelty thing and I might not be back there everyday... picking it up as a Personal treat today though, it was sooo worthwhile. I'd recommend you head there if you were looking for a sweet treat in the morn. *wink*

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Contemporary bags lemmings

What contemporary refers to here is 'not the classic style' I suppose, or not quite the designs that have been around for ages like the Chanel reissue or the LV Speedy.
It's just that someone tweeted a picture of Bazaar's bag of the year and I just had to know what they were. A little googling led me to these:

Source

Source



Source



Source

Don't get me wrong, they are all fabulous finds and I'd use them happily if given those for Christmas. But if I were to have to save up money for a bag this year that isn't in my Holy Grail list already, and just cannot wait till I have the income to justify the purchase because then I'd be too old possibly. Something that isn't quite an investment but I'd just have to have...*takes deep breath*
I'd side eye these beauties:

Contemporary bags lemmings by happy-e-after featuring a black bag,

Proenza Schouler leather handbag / Balenciaga black bag, $1,595 / Mulberry handbag / Chanel handbag

Efforts in the home front

About a year ago, Mr.HEA and I bought what was to be our Marital Home, which I would describe affectionately to anyone who asks as a fixer-upper. The pic above is what it used to look like before the Renovators hit town (not the TV show unfortunately but my inspired version of DIY trials). Wanna see what have we turned it into one year later?

Granted, we have neither of us quit our full-time jobs, not had much budget (planned a wedding in that one year), and are both novices at renovating. And yet, I would proudly show it off like a parent, what the house looks like today:

We've replaced the mailbox with one with more charm,




given the house a fresh coat of paint, and tidied the garden up with more succullents and shrubs that I have previously had. I can't wait till the plants we've put into the garden bed establish in the garden, to see the flowers all out in Spring/ Summer and to take more pictures of the plants then in full bloom (which includes snapdragons, geranium, roses, a begonia, and peace lilies).

  They aren't much to look at now so i am really anxious. Hope to have more posts then!

It's all about the hair today

Frizz be gone! Unholy frizz be gone!

In the madness of work, winter and visiting cousins (meaning we are out almost every night), little mundane self-care routines have fallen on the wayward side and I have showing roots and an over-tired style. Didn't help that we ran out of conditioner either, and hadn't found the time to buy more.

One look at my crazy hair in the lift mirrors when I was leaving work in Friday made me determined to set things straight. So I went to the nearest Priceline to me and walked straight to the haircare section.

The brief was simple. I needed easy application (have always had the fortune of having my roomies dye my hair before I got married), permanent colour and not going to damage my hair. L'oreal Paris's Sublime mousse caught my attention from the beginning with the words "as easy as applying shampoo".
Nothing else held as attractive a claim after that so even though the range didn't have a blue black shade which I was after, I went ahead and put it in my shopping basket anyhow.

I didn't leave Priceline without visiting the Pantene section however. Thanks to SydneyShopGirl, I was introduced to the Pantene Clinicare intensive leave in split ends fuser treatment. And I needed shampoo which was on special so I ended up lugging two 750ml bottles with me to the counter. Why pay $16 for one bottle if you can pay $10 per bottle?
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Priceline Stash

 The instructions read so easy that I was able to have my hair dyed after putting dinner to cook in the pressure cooker. I made a chunky soup with lovely legs, pumpkin, carrots, onion, tomato, capsicum lemongrass and fresh spinach leaves to be stirred in at the very end. All served with warm toasted Ciabatta.

It certainly lived up to its expectations. (I'm talking about the dye). I guess winning the Glosscars on Beauty Haven (Thanks to Tanya on Twitter that pointed me to their reviews) should have given me an indication, but I didn't even know it until I had rinsed out the dye. Some reviews mentioned the colour didn't match the box, but I think cause I was going to a darker shade, that wasn't the case for me. Generally I beleive that would happen it seems for those going for a lighter shade. It was an even application and only took 45 minutes to apply, wait, rinse and condition with the conditioning balm they provided. I didn't finish the entire bottle for my shoulder-length hair and the hair is looking glossy and healthy still (Although in the interest of full-disclosure I have applied an entire tube of Pantene clinicare on top of the conditioning balm).

This is definitely a wonderful product for a Hair-Dye novice like me. If I had a rating system out of five stars for
1) Meeting Expectations
2) Budget Pricing
3) Glam Effect
4) Easy to use
5) Good instructions
I'd vote it four out of five.

KL Haul wish list

KL Haul wish list by happy-e-after featuring mini bags

EDWARD ACHOUR cropped tweed jacket
$620 - farfetch.com

Pleated skirt
$155 - pretaportobello.com

Zara snakeskin pants
zara.com

Tory Burch ballerina shoes
jildorshoes.com

CÉLINE mini bag
malleries.com

Chanel matte finish makeup
$58 - debenhams.com

Christian Dior foundation
lordandtaylor.com

Shiseido face mask
$51 - johnlewis.com

Beauty product
bioelements.com

LONGCHAMP Le Pliage Cuir
$565 - mirabella.jp

Blog | Hirshleifer's
hirshleifers.com

I found my KL Haul wish list yesterday and I realised that I only managed to score five or six out of that list. Most of them beauty related. Shopping lost its lustre when speaking with my cousin about the cost of some of these garments when she trawls the wholesale markets in China and Bangkok and the ridiculous markups she sees in the clothes. Even though Malaysian prices were already really affordable, I couldn't bring myself to pay retail price as she gave a running commentary on how much the wholesale prices were.

Le Sigh.

Perhaps I may fare better when I am in Europe with Mr.HEA at the end of this year. But then again, under his supervision, I doubt I'd get away with much.

Random barbecue

It was a scheduled work from home day because we had some guys come in to remove a camphor laurel tree from the backyard that was growing into our deck. Mr.HEA called in sick though because he was plagued with flu-like symptoms yesterday and didn't feel all that crash hot either today.

It was really good to have a week-day in the house with Hubby, starting with making a nice hot breakfast for us before I take my seat at my study nook.

It was distracting though hearing the chainsaw buzzing, with hot tradies walking around the house. Six men turned up for the job of removing two trees! Amazing eye candy. Mr.HEA sprang into action as the thuds of branches falling onto the ground started sounding. Not like he could sleep anyhow. But I suspected by the time the main trunk fell to the ground, he wasn't feeling so flu-like anymore.

Look at how much more solar access our backyard now has! Mr.HEA proudly exclaims that our clothes on the clothesline will dry a lot quicker now, and I agree whole heartedly.

Then amidst the sunshine, Mr.HEA's spirits lifts and he declares he will cook us a barbecue lunch and haply procures steak from the local butcher's. I toss a quick salad of baby cos lettuce, Roma tomatoes, basil leaves, red spanish onion, slized mozarella cheese and hard boiled egg with a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper as my only dressing. Voila! Instant BBQ (Haha, I only turned up to eat anyhow, Mr.HEA prepped and cleaned everything else)

 And what does one wear to an impromptu barbecue? Well, I was working from home and so wasn't going to play dress up, but here's an older OOTD shot from Sunday where we attended another inpromptu barbecue at a cousin's house.

Blue Blazer Jacket: SES
Grey Singlet: Zara
Red Patent Leather belt: Tory Burch
1969 Jeans: Gap
Beige and Orange Patent flats: Vincci (part of my KL haul)

Whilst munching on some crunchy Cos lettuce leaves, I couldn't help but think of where we would place our newly acquired log stools (saved from the tree) for the backyard. My thoughts keep fleeting to Dale's backyard from The Block with those pretty little cushions:

Source: The Block website

A check of their supplier's list reveals that Dale's mum made them with fabric from Spotlight. I'd love to replicate them very much, but will probably save that project for when our European adventures are over and we are back at our block.

Anyways, am really excited with the garden now. Our next plans are to pretty up the neglected garden beds. Transplanting my flailing rose plants into a sunnier spot are in order and a fresh coat of decking oil is needed for the patio I would think. Will keep you all posted with those projects I am sure.

Sunday, 1 July 2012

Bel Mondo

A delightful Sydney restaurant icon that I had never explored until Friday this week. We went for a work function and my was it a delicious wintry day in Sydney to be out of the office. Making our way down Gloucester walk, blink and you might miss this place, nestled away inconspicuously in a corner. Beyond the doorway however, is a massive space, with a well stocked bar and dotted luxury chairs and chiffon drapes from the high ceiling beams to the floor.

We are hurried along to the dining area screened behind those mysterious drapes. Drenched in sunlight, we were seated next to windows that opened up to this delightful view:

Yes the window needed a clean

 I started with a beautifully plated up entree that looked like a little garden on the plate. Although there was a distinct fishy smell as the plates were set down, the flavours were vibrant enough to the palate and was fresh after all.

Juniper cured regal salmon with alaskan king crab, orange, fennel & horseradish

 Don't fret, my stomachline didn't take all three of these mains, but I am assured by those that tried them that they were gorgeous combinations on the plate. My own gnocchi was light and fluffy with a tinge of the sweetness of the purple congo. Very pleased with my vegetarian choice. The sides we selected are rather rich, bordering on French styled cooking, I took a second helping of the mash, which in hindsight, my hips are not any wiser for and it was well worth the deed.

Pan fried fillet of barramundi with butternut squash, figs & proscuitto, burnt toast jus

Slow cooked lamb shoulder with pea & mint risotto, caramelised garlic & honey purée

Potato purée with truffle & parmesan butter &
Cucumber salad with persian feta & white balsamic made the most decadent sides

Sautéed purple congo gnocchi with wild mushrooms, snow peas & toasted almond foam

I really liked the style of desserts in Bel Mondo where almost every dessert was accompanied by a herb of sorts. My particular plate was very little sweet and more sour and bitterness, but it acted as a delightful palate cleanser and I did not feel disgusted with myself after polishing off the plate as I know I would have if I had caved for the Dark chocolate fondant with beetroot, raspberry, marjoram & cardamom that my neighbour was spooning oozes of into her mouth.

Lemongrass & bergamot parfait with black sesame ice cream, hazelnut praline

& lime leaf granita

Being teased for being a food picture taker. LOL

After the long boozy lunch, we were given the rest of the day off and because I had a do to attend at Assemby Bar, what was a girl to do with the spare time to hang out in the city? Hit up the Westfield shops of course!

Some basics for layering in winter. $60 poorer but hopefully will solve the problem of not having anything to wear!

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