Angel

I fell in love with Skinny Love when I first heard it on X Factor 2012. It was sung by Bella Ferraro. Her voice was like warm tea on a chilly Spring day. Absolutely hauntingly beautiful. The song's original singer is Birdy. I didn't think I could be blown away by the same song twice in a row. How wrong I was. Birdy sang it just as dramatically beautiful. I love how the music video is just about her voice. No dancing, no running around chasing people or whatever. I think it's been awhile since a song has touched me like this. Enjoy!

Kobe 神戸

I went to Kobe during my Winter holidays but I only stayed a short while so I didn't really have time to sightsee all the spots but I'm sure I'll come again.

View from my hotel room. Concrete jungle!

 All the buildings look kind of 70ish, right? There's something retro about them. I love that they have the slanting thing going on.

Making our way down to the bay area

 Get off at Kobe Station and Harborland and the Mosaic are within walking distance. Since we came during Winter, the roads were lined with pretty little lights illuminating our way there. There's also a decently sized underground mall at the station. I saw quite a good selection of restaurants and there's also a 10 meter tall water display. I rode up and down the escalator that runs beside it just for the heck of it.

Kid's play place

At the pier/bay area(?). So pretty!

 We got here around 4pm so it was still light but we only had to wait for a bit before the sun set and this beautiful night scene came on. The spiky rooftopped building reminds me of Minangkabau houses. Maybe the architect has some Minangkabau in his blood, who knows?

Partial view of deck at the Mosaic and the cruise ship

 I wanted to take a ride on the cruise ship but we couldn't make it in time because we were too busy eating our faces off. The ride lasts for about an hour and cost ￥2100 per person. A schedule is available at the white mini steps in front of the Mosaic's deck (you can see it in the picture). The last boarding time is 7:20pm.

The ferris wheel 

 I had to ride on this as soon as I saw it. There are two kinds of gondolas; the normal one(￥700 per person) and a see through one(￥800 per person). We took the see through one. The view from up top was beautiful. You don't get to see too far out, though. I was hoping there'd be some heating inside the gondolas, there wasn't. Sad face. Cold bum.

It was really cold, by the way. I know it's Winter and cold is normal but I thought that Kobe being in the South would be a bit warmer, it wasn't. Luckily, the wind wasn't too strong or I would have frozen my butt off.

Yes, please!

 For dinner, we went to the Fisherman's Market. Apparently, it's really famous among Malaysian students studying in the Kansai area. It's an all you can eat buffet restaurant. Costs ￥2580 per person, includes drinks. The food is mainly seafood, as you can guess from the restaurant's name. There are salads, cold meats, soups, spaghetti, pizzas, crabs, popcorn, cakes, ice creams and lots more. Definitely worth it. Best part is that there's no time limit! The crabs they serve are huge and tasty. I also loved their smoked salmon and salad bar.

Bye bye, till next time.

After leaving Kobe, I headed for Okayama!

Rimmel Happy Bags

I finally caved and bought a Happy Bag or as some places call them - Lucky Bag. In Japanese it's 福袋. The one I bought wasn't like a complete surprise because they had a sample out so that we could see what we would be getting, although colours might not be the same but the item will.

There were only 2 left! Good thing I didn't miss out

I got myself a Rimmel Lucky Bag. The total worth of all the things in the bag is ￥6985 but they sold it for only ￥1995. Such a good bargain. I don't have a lot of of Rimmel products anyway so I was keen to try more of their stuff. 

Eye shadow & cheek colour

 Out of the four colours in the eye shadow palette I already have something similar to the top two colours but the bottom light shimmery grey and metallic brown I don't have yet so I consider this not a total fail. I love the shade of the cheek colour but I think it'll be more wearable in the warmer seasons.

Mascara, two bottles of nail polish, liquid eye liner, and a plumping nude gloss

 I don't really believe the hype with plumping gloss or lipsticks so I'm definitely curious as to how this one will fare. I really like the purple nail polish, so vampy.

There were also Lucky Bag offers for Maybelline and Canmake.

Get products worth ￥5985 for only ￥1995!

Canmake blushes are a total delight. They're not overpowering and because the have a little shimmer, they bring a bit more life to a dull face. Their eye shadows are a bit powdery so consider yourself warned.

Happy Lucky Bag hunting next year!


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LUSH Shampoo ( Liquid & Bar ) Review

I started buying LUSH products maybe like 2 years ago, I think. I fell in love with the smell! You can literally smell the scent of a LUSH shop 5~8 meters away, depending on your nose's strength.

My current hair/scalp situation : I have medium length hair (they go down a few inches below my shoulders). My hair is quite thick and wavy with curls on the ends. I tend to have a bit of dandruff but it's not major and hardly noticeable. The hair that's closest to my roots get oily after a day of washing and by the end of the second day, it can feel really heavy. Since I wear a scarf, my head is covered around 12 hours every single day. Besides the slight dandruff and oiliness, I don't have any other qualms like split ends or whatever.

The first shampoo I tried out was the I LOVE JUICY liquid shampoo. I bought the middle sized one because I wasn't sure if it was going to do my hair any good or not.

From the website : from the US site

FEATURES

• Get fruity: Fresh pineapple, papaya, kiwi and mango juices saturate our fruity shampoo and leave hair clean, healthy and shiny.
• Take a dip in the sea: A pinch of salt adds a dash of volume and scoops of seaweed gel add softness.
• No more oil slick: You'll love juicy when you realize your once oily locks are squeaky clean and shiny.

My thoughts : It really does work. It does everything it says it will. After just one wash, my slightly oily hair near the roots felt light and fresh. It was so oil-free that it made my hair have more body and more oomph. The scent while it's still in the bottle is refreshing but once used on the head, the scent becomes a bit too chemical-ish. It's not a super bad or something but just not that nice. Hair feels great even after a day of wearing a scarf.

I've been using this for about 2 months now. I use it once a week because I don't think my head can handle it any more than that. I use the h&s shampoo in between this one. 

Price : 500g ¥2,600 / 250g ¥1,500 / 100g ¥800

The second shampoo I tried out was the Karma Komba solid shampoo. I wanted to see how effective solid shampoos are when compared with the usual liquid ones. The LUSH website recommends this one for dandruff related problems.

From the website : from the US site

FEATURES

• No more knotty business: Karma Komba is also fantastic for detangling wavy, curly locks.
• Lovely lavendin: Used in our entire Karma range, lavendin is soothing, calming, and works to calm the emotions.
• Flake bar: No, not the British chocolate. The essential oils in Karma Komba are also beneficial in keeping dandruff at bay.

My thoughts : This did not disappoint at all. It foamed up really well which is awesome because I do love at least a substantial amount of bubbles while I'm massaging my head with a product. My roots/scalp felt clean after just one wash. You can really see results after the first use. I also use this once a week, maybe even once every two weeks if I feel my hair and head don't really need it on that particular week. I bought this with the LUSH metal case and after the first wash the shampoo bar had stuck to the bottom of the case so I couldn't get it out, so when I use it I just grab onto the case and kind of push the shampoo in circular motions directly on to my hair. After I've built up enough foam, I'll massage it into my scalp for around 5 minutes. Similar to the above liquid shampoo, this does not smell pleasant. It has a really "organic" scent, if you can imagine that. I'm sure any of you that have tried organic toiletries can understand what kind of smell I'm talking about here. 

Side note :  Both shampoos, while great for my scalp and hair that's close to the roots, can be a tiny bit drying for the rest of my hair. My hair becomes a bit hard and feels plastic-like(like Barbie's hair) after using them but a good moisturising conditioner from mid-length of hair right down to the ends will help amazingly. 

Price :  55g ¥890