HAUL: Hong Kong and the Philippines

Welllllllll now, let's see what's happened in the expansive span of time since I last posted:

1. I started my internship.
2. Linsanity took the world by storm.
3. I started school.

Hehe, had to mention Linsanity. xD  Besides that, the other two things on my list have kept me a bit busy.  But I'm now working blogging back into my schedule!  Both this one and my reading blog (another reason I've been busier is I've been reading more! ^^)  I have quite a bit to blog about, so I should have several blog posts ready to go in the next couple weeks.  No more long gaps without any word! :]

So onto the real reason for this post!  My haul from my vacation a month ago (a month already?!)...

First up, face masks!  Pretty much all I wanted to buy in Hong Kong.  And is is all I ended up buying there, too.  Well, except for souvenirs...

I bought 3 packs of face masks and 1 pack of eye masks.  The one with the orange packaging is the My Scheming Crystal Q10 Elastin Eye Mask ($45 HKD).  Please excuse the state of the packaging; my dog got to it before I could take a picture, lol.  Next to it, in the green, is a pack of My Beauty Diary Apple Polyphenol Mask ($58 HKD).  The bottom two are both from My Scheming ($49 HKD each).  The purple one is Grape Seed Instant Brightening Mask, and the blue one is Milk Extract Brightening Mask.  I haven't tried any of them yet, but am excited to try them all!

I tried to do a bit of researching before buying, so I knew which ones I wanted.  At least, I did for the My Beauty Diary Mask.  I found a review that said it pretty much doesn't matter which mask you get, as they all kind of do the same thing, and so to just get one with a scent you like.  And ta-da...Apple!  I love apple scents, so this will probably be perfect for me. :)  The other masks had descriptions in English on them, so they were easier to choose without online help, haha.

I've heard about Asian drugstore BB Cream for a while, and had planned to buy one for myself during this trip.  I first saw Maybelline BB Cream in HK at a grocery store, and then again at Watsons, but didn't purchase because I didn't have any more room in my luggage. :x  But then, I saw it at Watsons in the Philippines!  I was so happy and bought it right away, in the lightest shade (for 249 PHP).  The packaging is different from the one in HK, though.  I will have to pick up one from HK next time I get the chance to go, to see if it's any different in formula. ^^

my favorite pair are the red ones in the bottom right

When I go to the Philippines, I always make a point of stopping at a place called 168 mall.  It's basically an indoor flea market, and I go mostly to buy accessories.  This trip, I ended up with a lot of earrings, some bracelets, and 1 ring.  Usually, I'd have necklaces too, but none of them caught my eye this time.

My cousin picked these out for herself, and when I saw them, I had to have them too!  I think she only got the colorful pair, but I couldn't choose, so I bought both.  They were only 50 PHP each, I think.

bought cuz I thought they were professional looking ^^

Yep, I went a little crazy with the earrings, haha!  But trust me, I could've done so much more damage.  There were a lot of other earrings that I really liked, and at 50 PHP each (more or less), totally could have afforded to buy them.  But I decided to show some restraint. xD

lots of bangles that actually fit my wrist!

the ring...didn't have a clear picture. :x  but this was only 10 PHP! (which is about $0.25 USD)

That's it for now~!  Hoping to get back to a more regular posting schedule, now that I'm starting to get the hang of my new schedule with school and everything. ^^

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong?!

Hello~ Sorry for being MIA!  I actually took a little vacation and went to Hong Kong with my best friend.  We also went to the Philippines, because we both have relatives there.  Actually we had decided to go to the Philippines first, because we thought it would be cool to be there at the same time, since we had never been able to meet up there.  Hong Kong was our side trip...and we just happened to be there a few days before Chinese New Year so it was totally decked out in decorations!

In addition to pretty decorations, Hong Kong has yummy food! We had HK Cafe food, Chinese food, Thai food, and even McD's (because nothing else was open...)

baked porkchop from a hong kong cafe gets an A+ from the bestie

hole in the wall thai place my cousin took us to...really good food!
tom yum was especially delicious!

When we weren't eating, we were doing touristy things.  It wasn't my first time to Hong Kong, but it was my first time seeing all the tourist sites, and it was a lot of fun~!  Stuff like...

Watching the Symphony of Lights!

HK island at night

Going to the Peak!

ride the tram...

...to reach this gorgeous view!

Riding a Cable Car to Ngong Ping!

there is a trail to hike instead of taking the cable car...but it's a pretty long hike...

and at the end, you reach ngong ping village...

...where you can see the big buddha!

And going to Hong Kong Disneyland!

disney also decorates for chinese new year! :)

red envelopes!

a cute display window on main street~

even the mtr line to disneyland is disneyfied! ^^

In addition to Hong Kong, we also set aside a day for Macau.  I had never been, so it was a nice experience. We did more touristy stuff, and I took quite a few pictures, so I'll do a whole separate post for Macau.

And of course, can't forget a haul post! I did do some shopping at Sasa.  Can't stop by Hong Kong without going to Sasa!  Literally.  It is on EVERY corner! lol

So, I didn't actually celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.  Actually, it would be kind of hard, because I think everything is closed there on CNY since it's a holiday.  I celebrated it in the Philippines instead.  It was interesting to experience Chinese New Year there!  My first time!  Lots of noise, with all the firecrackers being set off and lion dancing on the streets.  But my family didn't actually do anything special, lol.  I did get a red envelope from my grandpa though. :D (And if you are wondering, my family is Chinese, but from the Philippines! ^^ There is actually quite a large Chinese community in the Philippines. However, we don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese...we speak Hokkien/Fukien. :])

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures in the Philippines, because I kept forgetting to bring my camera out with me. =.=;;  Sorry~ I'm not really in tourist mode when I'm there, so I forget to bring it...

Alrighty~ See you in my next post!  Either a Sasa haul or Macau post~ Whichever pictures get edited first, lol.