leica

The mr is obsessed with cameras. he was so excited when he bought his leica and I don't understand why because for me its really just like those oldie cameras that you find on Surry hills market. The above are some of the photos that we took using that grandpa of a camera.. I think it looks pretty cool.. like a subtle version of instagram (just with real actual camera) I feel a bit weird because I can't see what the pictures looks like straight away.. and then I realize that it has been that long since the last time that I used or have someone take my picture with an analog camera. The above pictures are taken in a place called Magic Point (when it was still warm enough to be barefoot).. it’s quite a scenery isn't it. On one side you've got a rocky edge and the sea and at the other side is all green and grassy (Sorry for lack of better words) It's nominated as one of the 'getaway places within Sydney' by SMH few months and I agree with them, the place is really peaceful and it gives you the sense of being somewhere far away from the city whilst it is actually just 20 minutes from the CBD. 


Here's the outfit talk - this is basically all I wear all winter and probably the direction I am heading at. I think I've gone past that phase of buying everything that I think is 'OMG SO CUTE' and have become someone that shops more wisely with much less impulse-induced purchases- which I am proud of!


Have a good weekend everyone xxxxxxx

Priceline beauty gift bag!!

Holy sheet.

I receive an email few days ago from Priceline about their skin care gift bag. You basically have to buy $50 worth of products from a list of brands (Palmers, Sukin, Dove, Biore etc) and then you'll get your bag'o'goodies. My kiehls blue herbal face wash is running out so I decided to try and swap my skincare routine products to Sukin. Not that Kiehls is bad, it's just that they are so pricey... and honestly I have no idea if it actually make much difference with my skin. I actually got less breakouts but I'm not sure if that's because of the cleanser or because I started using Benzac AC as spot treatment again.

Anyway here is what I got!!

So to make up for the $50 I bought the following Sukin products: Rosehip oil, cream cleanser, face scrub, body scrub, eye cream, toner. I didnt buy the moisturizer because I know there's one inlcluded in the giftbag ;) They are also having 3 for 2 promotion for Sukin, so all the 6 turns out to be $62. 6 products for $62! ain't that amazing. That much money can only buy me a bottle of kiehls cleanser and a toner...

(if you don't live in AUS and think WTF that's too expensive, that can't be right.. no no Kiehls, and most other overseas brands are ridonkulously overpriced here)

I tried Sukin's face scrub in the shower today and oh my gawd it's amazing. Rubbed and scrubbed for 1 minute and my face is as soft as a baby's bum (maybe not quite, but still). I don't know what I have been scrubbing my face with in the past few years. The scrub texture is actually really creamy, creamier than I thought it will be. I love this and actually can't wait to use it again.. there's no feeling like touching your face and comparing it to your other body parts, and then realize that your face is oh-so-smooth.

I have the rosehip oil and the eye serum on my face right now.. I have been wanting to try the rosehip oil but I have been too paranoid to try it (I have been having troubles with pimples since age 13, so I am heaps cautious with what I put on my face) so far its pretty good.. the oil sinks right in and it doesnt feel greasy like when I use bio oil on my face (dont know why I did that, it was crapola) I will report about this in my next post.

Anyway I'm pretty happy with the gift bag.. they have plenty of moisturisers (Dove, Palmers, and Vaseline) as well as hand cream (nivea, and the one on the left of biore cleanser.. ) and both of them I use a lot... Other than these you get a paper style face mask (the one on the far left) and a face mask with cereal on it (on the right) There is also a witch and OXY blemish stick, Avene water thing, Yes to carrots face wipes and a lip balm. I think I won't need to buy any more skin care product for the rest of the year! 

xx

The white shirt

I have been ooh and aah-ing over A.P.C's work ever since my bf introduced me to it through his enthusiasm to their New Cure Raw denim. I still don't get what is up with raw denim as to me it's all the same- but what I love with A.P.C is it's simplicity and high quality fabric. I purchased this shirt last thursday from Barneys NY. It came to my work place on monday but I received it just yesterday because mr postie dropped my pack to the wrong office! boo. The DHL people was very nice and fixed it quickly though. I'm still very happy with the shipping, 4 days from the US, how good is that.

I am a bit dissapointed by the fabric though, it's thinner than what I thought it will be, a bit sheer even. Definitely a white shirt for summer days. Luckily it fits well, a wee bit too long on the arms but it's fine (I have short arms). Hopefully it will last me for quite some time. (no photos yet.. sorry :P)

Now behold some food porn....

 Went to eat in Menya noodle bar, Sydney CBD last Tuesday.  I've been wanting to try since forever..... but just never made it here. It's probably because of its location; it's kind of hidden under the big BT tower building in Market St. I ordered the Menya tonkatsu ramen and the Mr ordered Kimchi ramen. I love them both equally... the tonkatsu ramen is probably the best in the Sydney, the broth is soooo rich and the slightly gooey egg completes the dish. Loved it loved it loved it.

 

 

 

On Friday I went to Ichiban Sushi Train in Mona Vale, in the Northern Beaches of Sydney. That day I thought that we're going to the $25 Sushi Choo train in the Ivy, but the mr actually meant that he wanted to go to here.. That day was probably the first time that I had an epic communication problem with the Mr.. hehe. Luckily I managed to catch the bus alright. The place is not too far but gawd damn Sydney buses took me for a ride for an hour until I reach the place. The food was worth it though... 

The place is quite new but there's already a few patrons there when we came in. When we finished the place was fully packed. The first thing I notice here is that the Sushi are not conventional... well not traditional at all compared to other sushi trains (but then again I don't go to much sushi trains) First there's chicken sushi with red rice (yum), kingfish sashimi, which is the catch of the day, which is so plump, juicy and fresh of course, then a grilled prawn with cheese and some sort of bbq sauce, as well as seafood sticks with cheese and bbq sauce (last pic). This one is my favourite plate:

Prawns and unagi. Yum. I wish I had more. The mr cringes to the idea of sashimi with cheese and mayo, but I loved it. a lot. I'm definitely going to come back. 

My Glassons order.. I bought 2x of merino wool tops that everyone have been raving about. It's nice, warm and pretty cuddly... good value as well I suppose... Loved the packaging, it's actually better than Barney's! Barney's one only comes in a dhl brown envelope thing, boo.

So there's my week. 2 more working days to the long weekend!!! Who's looking forward to it??

xxxxxx Liz

Vivid lipstick

Not too sure if my lack of happiness (as previous post) is due to lack of sunshine or not. I'm feeling ok now... funnily enough my mood got so much boost yesterday just because of some songs. I was watching The Voice yesterday and heard Delta's 'born to try' which is great (damn she can sing!) and Eminem's 'Not afraid'. I'm never a fan of Eminem but lately I've been getting back into music circa 2003 a.k.a music of my youth- they are a.w.e.s.o.m.e.  Can you believe that Beyonce's Crazy in Love is released in 2003, almost a decade ago???!

I finally plunged into the lip butter mania thing thats been going on for a while. I decided to buy in eBay for $13, which is not the cheapest but the seller is in OZ so I figured that I wont have to wait too long. I bought the Red Velvet and Sweet Tart colour.

Here's me with Sweet Tart on. As you can see its a bright bubblegum pink colour. When I bought it I'm kind of afraid that it's going to be too Nicki Minaj but I find it very easy to wear. In fact I wear this more than the Red Velvet one. Red velvet has nice dark red colour which is great for going out but IMO it's too vampy for day wear. I find it quite creamy when you use it BUT after a while it made my lips a quite dry.. so I suggest wearing lip balm before wearing this. Kind of disappointing actually.. I was actually expecting it to be like a super creamy lipstick. 

For some reason I'm a bit self conscious of taking self portraits these days.. kind of funny because when I was younger I used to be one of the vain ones who take pictures of myself all the time.. Maybe it's because of me growing up??

I love big brekky saturdays/sundays. There's something so relaxing with toasting a good sourdough bread (that you buy in Woolies the night before for half price of course), frying some goopey eggs and eating them while watching trashy morning show on the couch... I wish I can do this every morning! nom.

 

  

I went to Vivid Sydney on Saturday night and it was beautiful. My favourite are the lights at the Customs House and the MCA. I'm not a fan of the Opera House lights though.. I find it depressing and not cheer-y enough! There was so many people on that day and there are lots of aspiring photographer around carrying their heavy DSLR and tripods lol. We wanted to get food after but the queue was so longggg that we ended up eating Maccas.

Saw this pretty rainbow this morning! There's actually 2 rainbows if you look closely. This morning it's pretty dark, rainy and crappy. It was so hard to wake up but I manage to not do a sickie and dragged my ass to work! Not looking forward to the next few days because apparently it's gonna pour down rain. Looking forward to the end of winter though!!

Stay warm people!! xxx

I don't have the time

Managing your time is hard

.. and writing is hard too. I just realised this a few days ago. I love blogs that have good writing and content whilst having some pretty pictures, but not so fond of blogs that are too image heavy but lack of writing or stories. I thought that blogging is an easy job because all those heavyweight bloggers make it so easy.. I realise now that it can easily take hours and become a real full time job.  

Why am I talking about this - because I haven't blog as much as I wanted. My last post was posted just a few days (weeks?) ago, but it take at least a week to actually write that simple recipe post. It's only supposed to take a few minutes, 20 minutes max, but I just can't keep my mind focused on that for that long. 

Anyway, I'm writing this because I had an 'emo' moment last night.  Have you ever have those nights where all the demons just come out and make you feel like your life is utter shit?

I'm a positive person most of the time but I have those moments. I have a lot going on right now, and have so much things that I still want to do, but I don't have the time. It's frustating. I envy those people who can juggle everything all at once, how do you do that? My activity may not compare to say, working moms, but sometimes I just feel burnt out, dissatisfied, and in general, not happy.

Right now I am trying to manage to work full time, study part time, going to the gym and somehow manage to have a social life. I think my lack of social life and interactions with friends really effect my happiness. I don't meet my friends as much now because I spend my weekend hanging with the mr, which I look forward to all week (we don't live together.. yet) The thing is we have a different circle of friends and I just felt totally awkward being around his friends; exactly the same with him when he's with mine; so I am kind of reluctant in doing the 'hanging out with friends AND partner'. I really really need to work on this relationship management thing and regain my social life. 

Other than regaining my social life, I need to get cracking on the opportunities hunting too- not that I hate my job but I feel like I'm ready to move and try something new. 

All this is kind of overwhelming.. I wonder if there's actual people, something like a 'life advisor' kind of thing who can help out with my time management. I know family, parents are meant to be my 'life advisor' but my life is really different from them. well starting with, I live in a different country with different culture compared to where they are at my age and when I talk like this my mom's going to be overly worried and think that I'm going to do suicide. (I'm not by the way) 

I'm sure that everyone have felt the burnt out, or in my language an 'emo' or 'pete campbell' (mad men lovers, you know what it means!) moments. If you have any advice on how to overcome this when it happens again and maybe on time management as well, please do comment in the comments box as I will really appreciate it. 

Sorry for the rambles.. just need to get it out!! Will be a happy Liz again soon.

Have an awesome day. XXXXXXX

No brainer chicken porridge

I love cooking.

If you follow my instagram you'll know that I post heaps of food pictures; stuff that I cook and stuff that I eat. I'm not quite a foodie or a masterchef hopeful though. As much as I enjoy Masterchef, which is coming back soon, honestly I don't think I'll ever be able to cook stuff as complicated as they do there (cooking rabbit?? venison?? lamb brains?? uugh nah.) stuff that I cook is usually quick and cheap because I'm poor money wise and time wise hehe. sometimes I do enjoy a sunday full of cooking though, especially when I cook for someone else other than myself.

Anyway...here's my very first recipe. I made this few weeks ago when it was cold in Sydney. Nothing better than soup and congee on a rainy day! The mr loved this and always ask me to make them when he's sick. When I was living in Indo, these stuff are consumed at all time of the day, you can have them for brekky, lunch, and dinner. There are plenty of congee styles there is in Indo, all of them are unique and most are tasty. This one that I make is a more chinese style congee and its super simple. You can make this even when you are fully drowsy from the flu and cold.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS NO-BRAINER CHICKEN PORRIDGE


2 cups of white rice
About 2l of water
Chicken stock cubes (I use Royco brand.. South east asia style!)
Chicken pieces (amount is up to you)
Soy sauce, white pepper to taste
toppings: chinese fried bread (cakwe), green onions, fried shallots,chinese sausages, salted duck eggs etc etc..

1. first, boil water in the kettle, and then pour to a deep pan (whatever you use to make soup)
2. Drop your chicken pieces to the pan, and wait until it become all white. I do this because most of the time I use random pieces of chicken that I found on my freezer. Doing this will thaw and cook the chicken much faster, like 5 mins or so.  Take the chicken out and cut them into small pieces with a scissors.  You can leave it longer if you want and then shred them when they are fully cooked or chop the raw chicken before you put them into the pan.
3. Drop the 2 cups of rice to the pan, as well as those chicken pieces you just chop up. 
4. add those chicken stock cubes... 2-3 cubes should be enough.
5. Now boil the shiz out of that porridge. Its going to take forever (as in 45 mins plus) and you will have to check and stir it every 10 minutes or so to make sure that the rice does not stick to the bottom. When the water dries out and the porridge is not in the consistency that you prefer, add more water and seasoning.
6. After the porridge reaches the watery softness gooey ness that you like, turn off the heat, scoop them to your big bowl and garnish with chopped green onions, and all the toppings.

The above toppings are suggestion only. There are an endless list of things that you can eat with the porridge because it's technically just like rice. I like it with just chicken, chopped onion, fried shallots and soy sauce, but sometimes I add some salted fish or salted duck eggs when I have them. Just use your imagination and add anything in your porridge. This porridge is fridge friendly too, so if you make too much you can save it for the night or the next day and heat it with microwave. 

Hope you enjoy this! Now back to work.. hehe..

xx Liz

Come to mama

So I spent my whole morning being jittery in my work desk because I got a Shopbop code from vogue forums. This baby is coming to its mama now..which means that I have everything in my autumn/winter shop list now. I'm still missing a navy but bright blue pencil skirt (confusing?? well I want what Joan Holloway is wearing in Mad Men! something like this).. and I missed out on the leather look black skater skirt thing. but meh surely they'll come back soon!

The black ASOS AGGIE boots came last week and I LOVE it so much omg. I'm not wearing it today though because it was soaked by stupid Sydney rain yesterday! I'm so looking daggy this morning when travelling to work with trainers, but if that's what it takes to preserve my shoes then I'll do it!! and it's more comfortable anyway.

I went down to the South Coast on the easter break, but I'll tell about it later- pics are at the mr's camera and he needs to edit it and convert it to JPEG first yada yada. I don't get boys and their cameras, whats the point of taking pic in .RAW first when you will eventually change it to JPEG?? gahh. Here's my instagram pics for now- complete with the obligatory blogger style outfit pic muhaha

sunnies. check. dramatic background. check. the 'i'm so cool, not smiling' pout - check. thunder calves- check!!!!!!!!!!! sigh I swear it doesnt look like that bad (like a turnip) in real life!!

Pretty forest lah

Cake shop in Bowral. I feel slack for taking pics but not buying any, but we brought with us some garlic prawn baguettes for brekky. Which was awesome btw.

Wino night in our hotel/apartment. That Jacobs Creek Sauv blanc is the best cheapo Sauv blanc that I've ever had. But then again I'm a total noob in wines..

the mr went to a 'catch up' job interview today, fingers crossed that he'll get it!!

xxxxxxx