Hong Kong Hauls

Here are some of my hauls from Hong Kong, which I separated into Beauty, hair, skin care and makeup. And the last few photos are bags purchased from a bazaar.

Here is my entire beauty haul (above photo) from stores such as Sasa, Bonjour, Mannings and Colormix which are located at Causeway bay and Jusco at Mongkok. I thought I would have ended up getting more items but I was really able to stop myself from grabbing everything I see and stuck with the things I need. It was really overwhelming to shop at these stores! There's just so much to try out :D Also, I noticed that the prices of the items are different at each store, so it is best to check out the prices before purchasing.

HAIR HAUL: (From left to right)

Liese Bubble Dye in Chiffon Beige and Sweet Apricot (Mannings)
Tsubaki Water (Only HKD79 at Mannings vs Sasa HKD99)
Tsubaki Treatment (Mannings)
Aquair Deep Moist Treatment (Mannings)
Hair clips velcros (Sasa)

SKINCARE HAUL: (From left to right)

Cherry and Strawberry Masks in packs of 10 (Sasa)

Hada Labo Vitamin C Essence (Sasa)

Biore Cleansing Oil (Mannings)

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel (Only HKD240 at Bonjour vs HKD300+ at Sasa)

DHC Lash Serum (Mannings)

MAKEUP HAUL: (From left to right)
Eyelash case (Jusco)
Dolly Wink Mascara (Sasa)
Liole Mascara (Sasa)
Eyebrow Mascara in brown (Sasa)
Eyeliner pencil in brown (Sasa)
MAC Fluidline in Dipdown (Sogo)
MAC lipstick in Ruby Woo (Sogo)
MAC Eyeliner Brush (Airport)
EOS Lipbalms (Colormix)

Aside from beauty hauls, I also bought myself new bags! All of the bags were purchased at Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay. I actually got myself only 3 bags but I will also show you the ones I got for my mom and sister. I have been looking for a brown satchel backpack for the longest time! I was about to buy a black one from Timesquare that was more expensive and its a good thing I didn't get it since I found the perfect one at a better price (HKD150) ! The one on the right is a simple beige sling bag with boho cut-out details. I love sling bags and I usually it on the weekends since its light to carry around and hands-free. This was only HKD130.

Animal printed totes for my mom (left) and sister (right). I really loved the taupe color and I thought it would suit my mom but it seemed like she liked the one for my sister instead. The totes kinda resemble a Phillip Lim bag eh?

I was debating whether to get this simple black and gold tote or not and finally gave in at the last moment. This was the priciest among all the bags I purchased but it was kind of worth it since the material is of good quality. 

Phew! Finally done with my travel series! Only a few days left for October and I still want to post a DIY entry before the month ends! I will try my best to squeeze it for Halloween! :D

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Hong Kong (3 of 3 parts)

Day 3 in Hong Kong was a day dedicated to food and shopping! Our day started early at 9am and ended at 12am!! Yes, poor feet..my feet felt very numb at the end of the trip and my (big) toes were bruised because of the extreme walking. I will have to wait for months for it grow out...Moving on, here is a walk through of our day.  

Breakfast at this Chinese place that my cousin chose somewhere at Causeway Bay. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant is but the food was not spectacular.  

Each of us had fish congee.

First dibs on the iPhone5!! Kidding! This was a sample handset at one of the telecom stores. They did not sell handsets alone but bundled plans.  

We grabbed some puddings from Milk Top Pudding, located at the basement level (grocery area) of Sogo in Causeway Bay.  From L-R, Milk Tea Pudding, Cookies and Cream and Original Milk Pudding. I ordered the Milk Tea Pudding, it was smooth and tasted just like milk tea, not too sweet. I loved the bottle so much that I even brought it home with me. I might make a DIY out of it but I am not so sure what exactly yet.

Lunch at the famous Macau Restaurant located at Lock Road, TsimSha Tsui.

Portuguese Egg Tarts! I wish I could have bought more but I did not want to carry it with me the entire day. It may have crumbled with all the walking we did that day. 

Pork chop buns! Another specialty of the restaurant. I've seen this featured on TV and I was so happy to finally try it! I thought it would have tasted dry but it didn't! The bun and pork chop was crunchy and tasty.   

Fried Pigeon. Whenever we eat at Chinese restaurants with the lazy susans, I always dig in when pigeons are served, so I was really excited to try this. The photo above is already 2 orders of pigeon, the serving is small but I think that's what makes it good. I could easily eat the entire plate, with the lemon and salt sprinkled all over..*drools*. An order of pigeon costs about HKD35.

We walked and shopped around Tsim Sha Tsui after lunch. I have to say, there's soo many clothing shops! Not the luxury shops but the side with smaller clothing stores, where Cotton-On is located. Cotton-On was HUGE! About 4 floors I think. Cotton-On recently opened here in Manila and its so much smaller when compared to HK. Plus, the items for sale in HK are actually the regular priced items in Manila! That is how behind the items are. Right beside Cotton-On is an alley filled with food stalls. I chose the stall with a long line, selling spicy fishballs for only HKD10. Tip to travelers, go with the flow, try out food stalls/stores with the longest line. It usually means its one of the best locally.     

8 pieces of fishballs swimming in Chili sauce (oil) topped with chilli powder. EXTREMELY SPICY 辛辣 !!! I love spicy food but even I found this extremely spicy..still happy though and I am glad my stomach handled it well since dinner has yet to be served.

We decided to have dinner at Wah Kee Snacks, a food stall located at Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui. Since there was no tables, we ordered for take out and brought it back to the hostel. 

Tons of street food to choose from! This was one of my favorite moments! It feels so cultural :) 

 The old man starting to cook our orders. Of course, we had to have it with curry sauce :)

Dinner is served! Hotdogs, chicken wings, fish balls, beef balls, chicken balls and barbecue!!!

Maxibon for dessert, purchased from Wellcome supermarket located right below our hostel. I wished they brought Maxibon back in Manila. We had this a long time ago but instead of the cookie sandwich part, it was a chocolate sandwich. 

Phew! Only a few shots were taken the next day when we departed, so my Hong Kong travel post ends here.  I hope I have inspired some one to visit any of the places posted. For the next post, I will feature some of the items that I purchased, so stay tuned :)  

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Hong Kong ( 2 of 3 parts)

 

The second day of our trip was spent at Ocean Park! The photo above is one of my favorite since the challenge zone or carnival area is such a happy and colorful place :D

 

 A complete photo of all 10 of us!! We are a bunch of kids at heart <3 That's me on the far left wearing stripes, I am too shy to post photos of myself in my blog..maybe I'll have more confidence in the future.

Cable cars were unavailable that day due to an event.

Panda village, where my brother lives hahahaha since he lovesss pandas!

Rickshaw displays at Old Hong Kong.

The Challenge Zone. I wanted to win that red dragon very badly! I wanted to win it for my niece since she is born in the year of the dragon and loves anything red. My brother and I spent a couple of hundreds in attempts to win it but failed! T__T For this game, you have to throw plastic balls into the holes of the grids, with each colored hole pertaining to certain points. IT WAS HARD.

The Souvenir display. I could not resist leaving without taking one with me! Scroll down to find out what I brought home with me.  

 We had lunch across the Challenge Zone. Footlong Hotdog, crisscut fries and Fanta! *burrppp*

The Ocean Theater show! Dolphins are one my favorite animals ever since I was young! I am still waiting for the day that I get to touch their skin. I wonder if it feels slimey? 

The Whirly Bird. The line for this ride was the longest among all the rides.  

The Flash. I did not ride this since I get dizzy easily. The Flash goes around 360 degrees and spins!

The Hair Raiser, one of the newest rides in the park. Its a roller coaster where your feet is left dangling. The ride is very fast and last a few minutes only. I found the ride exhilarating and smooth, no sharp turns or bumps.   

Chinese Wedding of the Departed is a haunted house show I think. We were not able to try this out since we ran out of time, hopefully next time.

Overall, we enjoyed our day at Ocean Park. The weather cooperated, being sunny all day despite the weather forecast of rain. We were able to ride almost all of the rides without the long lines. Lines were longer towards the afternoon and we were finish with the rides already by then. This is also why I have few pictures of the rides, we were rushing from one ride to another just to get into the next batch.  

Here is the souvenir I got and it had to be a dolphin :) Another keychain to add to my backpack that I carry while traveling.

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Hong Kong (1 of 3 parts)

This year's international destination is Hong Kong. Many people may think of Hong Kong as a not so foreign country since its only an hour (plane) ride away, but to me, any travel out of the country is a vacation and a cultural adventure. The last time I traveled to Hong Kong was more than 10 years when I was a kid, so technically this was like my first time since I did not remember anything back then. I make it a point to travel internationally once a year because I think a vacation is healthy (plus this is all that I can afford), and I am starting with Asian countries. This was also my first time traveling with my cousins alone and in a group of 10. I was so eager about this trip that I made an itinerary with all the best places to eat as shared by locals on www.openrice.com.

We were starving as soon as we arrived, so we headed to the nearest restaurant on the list, DELICIOUS KITCHEN.

We ordered Fried Wantons. This was so crunchy and fresh! The meat is really made of "real meat" and not just extenders, and the shrimp inside was fresh.

This was my order, Porkchop Rice, since everyone was raving about it. For me though, I did not find it extremely good and would prefer Tasty porkchop :D

My brother ordered Nanking Beef and I wished I ordered this instead. I believe that this is the dish that everyone must try! The beef is flavorful and tender, quite oily but that's what you call Chinese food :) Prices of each dish ranges from HKD 40-60.

After lunch, we strolled around Mongkok and visited the biggest Jusco (Daiso) but I was not able to take a photo of the store. 

We had an early dinner at Tim Ho Wan, Central. Tim Ho Wan is rated by locals as the best dimsum in Hong Kong which is why we had to try it. The restaurant still had a line even when we were there early. Each dish cost about HKD20 and below.

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves, the only rice offered in the menu.

Barbecued Pork Bun Pasty. THESE ARE THE BEST BUNS EVER! I could easily eat all 3 :D The bun is soft, crunchy and piping hot with barbecue filling mmmm...

Steamed Rice Roll (pork), the rice wrap was soft and chewy.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings, this was so-so for me.

We ended the first day early since we barely had any sleep the night before. Come back for day 2 and 3 posts :)

Delicious Kitchen   美味廚

Shop B, G/F, 9-11 Cleveland Street, Causeway Bay

Tim Ho Wan, the Dim-Sum Specialists     添好運點心專門店 

Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station (Podium Level 1 , IFC Mall)

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DIY FEATURE: Spike Leggings

I just wanted to share a DIY made by cousin, spike leggings. I would describe her style as rocker-chic since she is always wearing black, spikes and boots. This is a simple and quick way to revamp your old black leggings. All you need are spikes, black leggings, needle and thread.    

My cousin used a silver spike bracelet (plastic), cut it apart and sewn it onto the sides of the leggings. Spikes made out of plastic are advised since leggings are light-weight materials.

Here is an up-close photo.

I have actually seen these leggings being sold at stores and it would be a way cheaper alternative to create your own! I have also seen leggings with spikes on the knees, which seems dangerous to me. Imagine tripping and falling to your knees while wearing it :O but if its made of plastic,  I am guessing it would not hurt :P

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