Away

I am so sorry I left without blogging. I am away on another holi-holiday. This will most definitely be the last one before I embark on the journey called full-time work. Or at least I'll be busy searching for one.

Can you guess which 3 cities I am in/have been?

Dragon Tattoo collection by Trish Summerville

Following closely on the heels of the Versace for H&M collection comes the Dragon Tattoo collection by Trish Summerville. This collection is inspired by Lisbeth Salander, the character in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". The Hollywood version of the movie is due out on Boxing Day and is an adaptation of a book of the same name (First book of a trilogy). The collection will be out this December 14th.

I must say I like this collection a lot. I'm saying this not because I'm buying into the hype of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I've never read the books nor watched any of the movies (the Swedish version was released in 2009) so really, I can't call myself a fan. I hardly know anything about the lead, Lisbeth, other than what I saw in the trailer.

Even if the collection wasn't designed by Trish Summerville and was just a regular collection by H&M, I'd still be interested and would totally get some of the stuff. I truly like most of the pieces because it's stylish and edgy, but also wearable for the average consumer like me. Leather jackets, draping cardis, destroyed jeans and combat boots? Yes, please!

The prices are extremely reasonable and around the normal range I'd pay for H&M pieces so really, what's not to like?

I also love the accessories the models are wearing, but I'm not sure if those are part of the collection because on the H&M website, I can only see the earrings and leather bracelet.

I have selected a few of my favourite pieces from the collection and came up with the following coordinates.

Destroyed cardigan: £19.99

"What is hidden in the snow comes forth in the thaw" top: £6.99
Earrings: £1.99

Destroyed jeans: £29.99

Combat boots: £34.99

Destroyed t-shirt: £12.99 
Leather bracelet: £3.99

Trousers: £69.99

 Boots: £29.99

[Pic credit:  H&M]

Makeup and giveaway winners announced

Since I'm going back to Malaysia soon, I decided to do one last haul from Boots to get some No7 products (which isn't available there). We can get Stila, but since I was shopping anyway, I decided to throw in those eyeliners. If you remember my review on the Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof eyeliner*click*, I did mention I love it and was hoping to get the black version. I did end up getting Stingray (black), but also threw in Lionfish (brown).

Everything you see in the bottom right corner are free gifts. By getting the No7 Intelligent Colour foundation and the No7 Intelligent Balance Mousse foundation, I was entitled to that free pouch with all those goodies in it. Pretty good deal, eyh?


By the way, speaking of makeup, I'd like to tell you about this very awesome initiative called Give and Makeup. Essentially, what they do is work closely with two major charities; Women's Aid and Refuge. Give and Makeup does not ask for monetary donations, all they need are everyday essentials, skincare, makeup, beauty tools, clothing and baby products.
"Give and Makeup is a non-profit initiative whose sole purpose is to get everyday essentials into the hands of these women and children who need them the most." - Give and Makeup
I've just posted a box of brand new/lightly used products to them. I hope those small items can make someone smile this Christmas.

So if you find you have a brand new shampoo that was an unwanted gift or a lightly used cleanser or that foundation that doesn't match your skintone, don't throw them away, donate them to Give and Makeup. You can find a list of what they need here*click*

 

Rafflecopter has randomly picked the 2 winners for my Christmas giveaway!

Congratulations to

Allison of A Daily Dose of Anything

 AND

Jennifer of New Year. New Beginnings.

Your parcels are already on its way!

I would like to quickly thank everyone who joined and extra hugs to those who followed the steps. Unfortunately, I had to disqualify some entries because they ignored my little note. In any case, I hope you'll still stick around even though the giveaway is over ;)

Christmas package from the U.S.

Today, Mr. Postman woke me up bright and early to hand me a special Christmas delivery all the way from the U.S. I was so happy to see it was from the lovely Dorothy of Shiny Pretty Things.

She sent me so many goodies!

Some Christmas candy! Oh my God, I squealed a little when I saw the Hershey's kisses! I LOVE 'em kisses, but it's hard to find them here in England. I remember coming to England back in 2006 and couldn't believe it when I couldn't buy Hershey's off the shelves at my local supermarket. Major food culture shock (amongst other things) haha

Dorothy also gave me a Momiji doll which is insanely adorable! Gigi (the doll's name) is wearing Hello Kitty headphones! How frigging cute is that?? This is going straight to my display shelf along with my Tokidoki toys and Starbucks collectibles.

I was so happy to see the Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm. I've read about it on so many blogs and really wanted to try it. So glad Dorothy put it in there. She also kindly put in a bottle of Sephora by OPI nail polish. Although I love painting my nails, you'd be surprise to know that I actually don't own any Sephora nor OPI nail polishes. This will be my first and I can't wait to test it out.

THANK YOU so much, Dorothy! You're sho sweet. I'm glad to have gotten to know you better the past few months. See you on Twitter!
I laff you long time, tooooo

Berlin (Part 2)

Checkpoint Charlie

Entering the American sector

Getting my passport stamped

War stories

Funny hot dog sellers

Prison cell

Art on the Berlin Wall

Art on the Berlin Wall of the Berlin Wall

The other side of the Berlin Wall

Graffiti

Largest dinosaur skeleton in the world at the Natural History Museum

Berlin's cute Stop and Walk signs

Don't forget to enter my Christmas giveaway!

Berlin (Part 1)

We were very impressed with Berlin. There was so much to do and see. It's a very modern city, but is also rich in history. We absolutely loved the efficiency and how they did everything with (as a local put it) "German precision". May I also add that it was the only city (out of the 4 during this trip) where a local approached us to ask if we needed help with directions when we looked lost. Extra points for nice people!

Brandenburg Gate

Berlin Cathedral

Reichstag (Parliament)

Holocaust Memorial

Museum Island

This island is like a heaven to the boyf. It's literally a cluster of museums on a little island! You can imagine it's any history-loving person's dream. I, on the other hand, wasn't too keen. After about the 3rd museum (on same day!), I wasn't even really listening to anything my audio guide was saying haha

I mean, I like certain museums like science museums or quirky ones like torture museums, wax museums etc., but I simply cannot appreciate artefacts that are a zillion years old especially when most times, these artefacts are simply fragments of its original state. If you showed me a vase from the Mesopotamian times, I'd just go, "Brilliant!" and move swiftly on. Also, after about the 10th or so Julius Caesar statue, I feel as if I don't ever want to see him again thankyouverymuch.

I don't mean to sound like I'm having a rant because I did genuinely enjoy some bits of the museums. For example, this freaking huge altar which they moved from Pergamon (an ancient Greek city). Holy smokes now that is impressive! It is amazingly well-preserved, too!

The Great Altar of Pergamon

Looking bored

Anywayz, we also checked out the Berlin Zoo, but I'm not going to post pics of the animals because:
a) They all looked really sad and bored :(
b) You can always Google if you'd like to see what a lion looks like :)

Instead, I'll post a couple of pics of me in the zoo. Some of my friends call me Joey the Monkey, you know ;)

Oh, this one's quite random, but we had bubble tea nearly every night. We had to pass by this stall in the metro station in order to get back to our hotel, so we often stopped for a cup of yummy, chewy goodness.

Bubble tea!

Sony Center - pretty darn futuristic!

Berlin TV Tower

German food is pretty good, but like most European countries, I noticed they love their meat. I miss having currywurst as a snack. It was available every where. The one below was from a restaurant, but usually we bought those from the food stalls and had them on the go.

Currywurst - Essentially a sausage with ketchup and curry powder

Eisbein (Pork knuckle) - No, it wasn't raw

Schnitzel

Sauerbraten with dumplings and red cabbage

Manchester Christmas Market

Thanks for all your comments in my previous post! I really value your opinions and have taken them all into consideration. I'm still thinking about it, but I'm leaning heavily towards keeping the shoes (mental, I know) hehe...