LeSportSac Mooks 2010

I’m slightly puzzled as to why I didn’t write a review on the LeSportSac Mooks 2009, even though my sister and I bought all 3 colours.

I even took one of the pouches to Japan as it could contain my bare essentials of camera, cash and transport tickets.

I am still puzzled… But…

It’s 2010, and here’s the review of the LeSportSac Mooks 2010!

From left: Black glitter, 35th Anniversary and robbin egg dots.

We purchased it in all 3 colours once more. Not because we were so crazy over it, but because of a miscommunication.

I personally prefer this year’s pouches to last year’s for its practicality.

Zips replaced Velcro’s hooks and loops for the pouches’ openings. I like!

It’s also a tad bigger. Love love love the compartments inside.

Here’s the 3 pouches upclose…

This is known as the 35th Anniversary print, which was voted by Japanese customers as their favourite prints. If you have been staking out at Kino, you probably have realised the distinct difference in the number of mooks for this print and the other 2.

Well, apart from being a popular print, the reason for the distinct difference is that there was a serious quality issues with this print. Heeding my sister’s advice, I got one of the sales staff to open the mooks for me. And to my horror, the mook had a bad stitching issue. So I got the sales staff to open another one for me, and it was also crumpled!!! I asked the sales staff to open another one for me and she responded: “I only can open one more, you must understand that this is mass manufactured.” I crossed my fingers, and prayed hard that the next one will be a-okay. Thankfully, it was.

This is known as the robbin egg print. I love this print. So sweet I’ll have toothache! This is for my cute days…

Perhaps one day when I’m visiting Universal Studios, I shall carry this and wear my Alice in Wonderland outfit. =D

Originally, I got only 2 of these prints, as I did not know what the black glitter’s material was like. One for my sister and one for me. But, when I saw it being reviewed on other blogger’s site, I knew I had to get it.

It’s in glossy print!

Without the glossy prints, there is simply no ooomph factor.

A good lug-and-go wallet. And it reminds me of their glossy collection last year which I was not able to lay my hands on because I was too late!

For a GWP, the pouch is worth every cent of your money. Considering that the smallest pouch that LeSportSac sells retails for $35, this pouch is incredibly worth it for $27.90. It looks good and it feels good.

Removing #32

So what have I been up to for this entire week? Well, I had my wisdom tooth removed after feeling spurts of pain throughout the weekend. Well, it was a good call, because the gum area at the roots of the tooth was infected. Who knows what would it have become had I wait it out for another week or so.

So there I was, sitting in the dentist chair on a hot Tuesday morning. I told the dentist, “I’m not exactly enthusiastic to have it pulled out, but I have no choice because it freaking hurts!” He sent me to take my lunch first on the advice that, “You won’t be able to eat much in the next few days.”

I walked to my alma mata, SMU, to have a quiet last meal before removing the tooth.

I’m usually all excited when I see half-boiled eggs and kaya toast with my all-time favourite Milo - everyone needs their coffee to stay awake, I need my Milo to stay awake.

But not that day. I stuffed the half-boiled eggs into my mouth and barely touched the bread.

I did people watch though.

The smart business suits and thick make-up is something I do remember. Everyone tries to outdo each other with their grown-up looks. It reminded me of the days where some students played politics and that was the part I didn’t like. But that’s life there. And I got used to it.

But as I stared at the people in the small eatery, typing away at their lappies and being awfully engaged in deep conversations; I kind of missed the days where my friends and I stayed till the wee hours of the morning to get our projects done.

Good ol’ days.

Anyway, I went back to the dentist, endured 6 jabs of anesthesia, some drilling and tugging to obtain a very pretty #32. The dentist said that it was surely one of the most unique wisdom tooth as he has never come across one with criss-cross roots. I was impressed. (I’m not going to put up a picture of the tooth, as I don’t think it’s wise to shock my readers)

But I’m now one happy kid with one less bothersome tooth!

Bare Escentuals Mineral Makeup

Just recently, during a mini chit-chat over food, my colleagues commented that my complexion is pretty good. It sure made my day! Besides religiously using sun screen and keeping my skin moisturised every single day, here is my secret to great looking skin…

Bare Minerals.

I’m a huge fan of Bare Minerals. I did my first review of its basic kit here. After 8 months of using their foundation, I’m still in love with their products. In particular, I’m totally in awe of their mineral veil. I can use my liquid or moose foundation instead of my regular Bare Excentuals when the occasion calls for it, but I cannot go without mineral veil.

I am almost through with the mineral veil and in a bid to reward myself after three weeks of hard work in the office, I headed to Sephora for some retail therapy…

I originally wanted to get myself just a tub of mineral veil and the foundation. After all I am still on my save money campaign.

However…. one tub of mineral veil retails for $58 and a tub of foundation retails for $48.

HORRORS!!!!

And a new set of  the basic kit retails for $115.

-______________-

Hmmm, so I got myself a basic kit instead.

The basic kit has undergone a revamp. So this is the updated kit.

You get 2 foundation colours, 1 mineral veil - love love, 1 concealer brush, 1 kabuki brush for applying warmth.Oh you also get a sample pack of prime time.

What you don’t get in this updated kit is the skin rev-er upper and the full coverage kabuki brush. Instead you get the much raved about bisque and a handy kabuki brush instead. Honestly, I do think that this updated kit is way much better. I didn’t see much difference with or without the skin rev-er upper. And, the handy kabuki brush is definitely something I welcome.

Here is the Skin rev-upper. I haven’t been using this for a couple of weeks now, but my skin still looks a-okay.

So you get a much better package. =)

Don’t believe, check this out. On the right is the full coverage brush and on the left is the handy kabuki brush.

Bare Minerals also carries eye shadow colours, perhaps one day, I’ll cross over to get myself their eye shadow starter kit. But for now, I’m happy with my NARS and M.A.C.

You can get your Bare Minerals product at all Sephora outlets. Bare Minerals also now carries the Matte collection. But I prefer the originals as it is much easier to pull off and blend.

Remember, less is more!

Club Monaco Jewelry Spring 2010

Oh Club Monaco has done it again! They are making me drool all over their latest accessories. Grr…

I want that pearl medallion!

This adds instant glam to any of my outfits.

This just screams insane bling chick. I like.

And my rocker self is dying to have one of these.

So pretty!!!!

They look so delicious!

I think it’s high time I visit the store….

Clothes for sale on E-bay.

Hello! Remember that my resolution for this year is to be neat and tidy?

Minimalism is the way to go!

My sister and I have cleared our closet, and this is probably the second last batch of clothes that we will be putting up on e-bay. At least for some time to come.

So do check it out here!

In the meantime, it’s crunch time at work, so I’ll be pretty busy trying to keep up with my work schedule.

Till then, hang in there! And have a happy weekend!

*I’m looking forward to uploading my pictures from my US and Canada trips.

Peace out.

Witchery

Hello Witchery!

One of Australia’s major brand has descended upon our lovely Ion shopping mall.

Frankly, I’m thrilled to know that many major labels have decided to open flagship stores in Singapore. It adds so much colour to our local shopping scene.

On the retail side, I love shopping at Zara for its affordable quality clothes that is tres chic. I also heart shopping at Uniqlo for its simple design and well made clothes. I adore Club Monaco - I’m in love with anything Canadian - this brand makes superb fashionable clothes with an eye for classy designs. We even have Victoria’s Secrets!

And how can we forget the major make-up superstore Sephora! I salute this shop for bringing in my beloved Burt’s Bee and Bare Minerals.

On the accessories counter, I love shoes by on peddar - one day I’ll buy myself a pair of nude Loubs. And now, I can count Witchery as one of my favourite haunts for well made leather shoes - I indulge in leather shoes for my feet.

I purchased this pair of black patent leather shoes. They were oh-so-comfortable and wonderful. And they don’t bite!

Check out the other shoes that Witchery carries…

Say hello to the flats.

And say heeee-lllloooo pretty heels and wedges…

Prices are in aussie.

You can find witchery @ Ion Orchard.

Turkey - Istanbul Part 3

Rounding up my stay in Turkey… the Bosphorus Cruise. This cruise trip takes you from the Sirkeci Station at Istanbul out to the black sea. We didn’t exactly dwell in the black sea per se, but we went far enough to see for ourselves how the black sea looks like.

Waving goodbye to the port at Istanbul.

Up next is the Ottoman Imperial Palace - Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinsk. It looks pretty grand… You can also stay here at a premium.

Now, this building is known as the Dolmabahçe Palace. This is the final place where Ataturk resided in before he passed on.

Chugging up the river, we come across the famous Bosphorus Bridge.

With the Ortakoy Mosque seated beside it.

Looks gorgeous under the noon sun. This scene strangely reminds me of Sydney harbour. (I shall get around to blogging my trip to down under)

Moving along, from afar we spy the Rumeli Hisari, a huge fortress guarding Turkey.

I can imagine the number of soldiers who spent days at this fortress.

Soon, we passed by an Albanian Village, Arnavutkoy. The pretty water houses that we see here are known as yalis.

Please indulge me as I show you the many pictures that I took of this photogenic water village.

Not too far away, a hill side covered with clusters of housing. What a stark contrast to the water city.

The last stop at the end of the Bosphorus river… Anadolu Kavagi.

We took yet another steep climb to the top - it could rival climbing up to Tokapi Palace.

I had quite a lot of fun snapping shots at this site.

This was not some random hole that we found. This is the hole to get through if you want to explore the fort.

And look… I did see the Black Sea in person!!!

We were very lucky to have such great weather.

On cloudy days you can’t see that far into the horizon. Yes, we were very very lucky indeed.

Now you can’t exactly see how nervous I was taking this shot, but trust me… If the wind was any stronger, I would have fallen down the cliff.

And I just had to make my friend take this shot for me.

By lunch time, I was famished. We ate seafood at a restaurant near the port.

All vegans pardon Ganny’s shirt.

Lunch was sumptuous. My tummy was happy and so was I.

On the way back, we saw more sites.

This is Beylerbeyi Palace.

And this is the Maiden’s Tower.

When we docked, we explored the nearby market.

Leeches for sale. Said to help people with blood clots. I’m serious.

Duckies for sale…

And last but not least, we made one final stop to the spice market to grab some tea.

This place sold more than just spices and tea. They sold non-perishable items as well.

Well that pretty much sums up my trip and stay in Turkey. See you at the next destination! =)

Flowers around a Carousel

Taking a break from working too hard… I went on a mid-week shopping break with my sister.

I’m a huge fan of handmade jewellery. I adore handmade trinklets, especially those where the craftsman have to make from scratch.

This was what I got from Lemon Chiffon during my last trip.

Unlike most handmade jewellery in Singapore where the maker will buy parts to make the accessories, this was thought up by a Thailand designer and was specially made.

I heart the whimsical feel.

During my last trip to Lemon Chiffon, this was also what I got…

So pretty ain’t it? Just right for Spring…

Ah, I just need laced nude heelies with these…

Turkey - Istanbul Part 2

On day two of our stay in Istanbul, we explored Istanbul’s most famous palace - Tokapi Palace. This place once hosted state banquets and royal entertainment. It is not difficult to figure out why…

This place is glittering with gold all over the place!

It is not difficult to reach this palace. You can reach it by taking a street car, but you have to walk up a steep slope to reach the entrance of the palace. After exploring countless of ruins and sites, I was definitely not keen on climbing up this slope.

But the sight of Tokapi palace sure made up for the efforts.

Yay we finally reached the entrance!

The first sight we saw was this pretty courtyard.

The first room we went to was gold plated!

Oh-my-gosh.

Okay, maybe not the entire room… But this was glitzy enough to make me go wow.

Check out the intricate details of the door frame.

By the way… we haven’t even stepped into the inner courts of the palace. Can you imagine the grandeur inside?

A friendly guard stands in front of the entrance to the inner court.

Inside the inner courts, we found the library.

And this building (I can’t remember what it was)…

And pretty flowers…

I know you are probably wondering when I would stop raving about Tokapi Palace… But I am genuinely amazed. So here are more pictures… Lol. Check out the details of the tiled wall…

Love the colour and the design. True blue effort.

I believe this looked prettier in its glorious past. I imagine little fishes swimming about.

Living here is definitely royal treatment.

I realise I have a gazillion more photos on Tokapi Palace. But it is grossly disproportionate to the other parts of the trip… So I shall end my Tokapi Palace visit with this one last photo… =)

I can forgo having a chandelier in my bedroom, but if only my room was even half the size of this…

Up next, Turkey day 3!

Turkey - Istanbul Part 1

What a restful weekend.

It was deadline after deadline for this entire week; lack of sleep or… sleep, what sleep? I crawl out of bed by 06 00 and pop out of the house by 06 30 to trawl through the sluggish traffic.  When it rains, I feel the traveller in me is dying to fly away with the wind and anchor myself in some foreign land and be buried in that excitement.

Oh bummer…

I hope Turkey is exotic enough for you to feed your mind on this very blessed Good Friday weekend.

We hit the pave road of Istanbul on 2nd July 2008. By now my baggage was weighing about 15kg and I felt strong enough to carry it up 6 floors - I have to anyway.

Blue mosque was first up on our itinerary. This is where I felt the great divide between men and women.

There were places where men entered that women cannot step their foot on. This is a custom that all have to abide by. But we were lucky that we were allowed to take snap shots of the interior.

I was intrigued by the lights. I liked that it gave the hall a glow.

My friend Ganny liked the interiors as well. She had an obsession with taking pictures of her feet and the textile…

I prefer Hagia Sophia by a mile. Pardon me looking a little unkempt here. It’s a rough trip - no manicure or facial - just the essential and the sun tan.

It was difficult to take proper shots inside the hall as it was too dark.

Paintings were well preserved.

Yeap, it’s me and my corn. And me with no make-up! Again! For my vanity sake, I should quit taking such pictures…

Along the way, we saw pretty flowers… What a stark contrast to the stone floor.

We found our way to the Kapali Carsi or Grand Bazaar. This is a must-go for all tourists. This is the place where you can buy all your souvenirs and have a peek at the Turkish crafts. However, this is not the place to buy your sweets and snacks. You go to the spice market for that.

This was the place where I found my turkish lamp that is crafted from broken pieces of coloured glass. This lamp has been sitting comfortably on my table since then. I just love the exotic feel of the lights as it bounces off my room’s walls.

This is also the place where you buy all your touristy outfits (a.k.a t-shirts) and glass wear. I bought a pair of turkish tea cups and saucers and tea spoons. They have not been used since.

Talking about tea cups… Turkish is famous for its apple tea. My friends and I fell in love with the apple tea after indulging in it every single night at the basement car of our youth hostel…

We played backgammon and sipped tea.

So rustic.