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So I have yet to revive my laptop memory TT_TT Been super busy running around and doing some errands, can't believe my trip will be happening in less than two weeks >___< woooottt!!! So lately, I have been addicted to Korean skincare XD Ever since Jenny took me to Galleria to show me where she get her skincare and cosmetics from. Finally I can see the cute packaging in person! But... that's for another review.

Today, I'm doing a review on cleansers ^^ I only started using cleansers the past few years (ever since my flawless skin went haywire in first year uni) and have stuck by St. Ives Apricot Cleanser. I used their apricot scrub before and thought I give the cleanser a try. It's perfect for my skin- didn't give me any irritation, reddness, itchiness, and it cleans pretty well (altho it may not work on everyone). After cleansing, my skin feels clean and free of oil and dust. However, all goood things must come to an end, my lovely cleanser has gradually diminish and it just so happens, I was at J-town looking for my magazine.

After looking at numerous facial cleasers on the shelves, I decided on the naive facial cleansing foam in the green tea flavor.



From the packaging, it says the cleanser composes of 100% natural ingredients

naive is actually a Japanese drugstore brand- from the company Kracie (Kanebo), that said, here are my ratings below:

Smell: ♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥ (3/5)
Since it's the green tea edition, I thought the cleanser would smell like green tea (kind of like the tea you brew) but it's actually a very faint smell. It doesn't smell bad or anything, but I thought it be nicer if it had a bit heavier smell when you're washing your face.
Cost: ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥ (4/5)
It costed me $10.16 CDN so it's reasonably price for a Japanese product. My friend- who brought the peach edition said it costs less than her Neutrogena sunburst cleanser. For me, I wanted to try something new and I think it's worth $10 compared to the cheaper St. Ives
Value: ♥♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥ (5/5)
For this cleanser, you don't need to squeeze a generous amount, unlike my St.Ives one. You squeeze a pea-size amount onto your fingers --> blend it with a bit of water and it erupts into a huge paste for your face. That said, since it's in a paste-like texture and more concentrated, I don't have to worry about missing a spot when I'm cleansing unlike the St.Ives one where the orange spots might miss a spot.


this is what it looks like- concentrated and thick


gooey-like texture, a tiny bit thicker than toothpaste

Verdict:
It cleanses very well I must say. Whenever I'm messaging it on my face, the feeling I get is when I wash my oily dishes with detergent and the clean polish feeling after you rinse it with water. Some people may find their face a bit parched or dry afterwards, but that's what moisturizers are there for =D It does leave a cleaner feeling compared to my St.Ives- kind of like a deep cleansing pore freshness. So I definitely recommend this! Remember: this is for OILY SKIN!

Well, I was planning to do some reviews but seems like my precious laptop has decided to die on me right at that moment... -____- in other words, WINDOWS VISTA HAS KILLED MY LAPTOP!!! Argh... must find a way to retreieve my harddrive tho =( Tons of irreplacable pictures, manga, drama... etc... TT___TT Thank god I got a netbook just in time, it was the HP model I was stalking waiting for to go on sale ^___^ It's a rose color and it has a newer processor (N570 vs. N550). I'm quite happy with it since my laptop only lasts for 30 mins on battery power... o_O;;; Although I can't watch HD content on my netbook, it performs my daily tasks perfectly~ after I upgraded from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Pro. Of course, a new netbook means a new way to personified it =D Hehehe... keyboard stickers are a must since the keyboard is black -___- It's not as bad right now, since I'm at home but when I resume school; eating, typing, commuting... ya... aint so pretty o_O;;; so I decorated it with a set of stickers I got from LJ. Then the front was also personfied with a skin as well ^O^ I actually took before and after pictures but laptop... *shakes fist* Hopefully I can get the content out by tomorrow >___< A bit tired right now~ night night~

P.S. (epic dimsum lunch with Yueyue, Jess, Nat, and Pman XD Pman n his questions XDDD - chicken breast????

It's been quite a while... O_O six months to be exact. A lot of events have happened over the past six months, so to summarize:

1) Acceptance into the Law Clerk program: YAY! I got accepted~ hehehe~ so 3 terms (that's right, t-h-r-e-e straight terms) of pure law clerk studies x___x According to the school's website, most of the instructors are lawyers... so English whipping time O___O!!!

2) Graduation: finally got that expensive piece of paper! And it was a boiling day to get it too! Argh... we had to wait inside these rooms that had no air conditioning...horrible... on top of making us walk bake across the lawn (from the opposite side of the ceremony hall) @____@ Some girls were sinking into the mud with their high heels (don't really understand why they want to wear stilettos- esp. when you know you will be walking around) and the rest of us were just melting -___-;; The best part of the day was seeing my family ^^, friends, classmates, and the post-grad dinner with Ruju, Sin, Chammy, Jane, Lynn, Yueyue, Jennifer, Gowth, etc. @___@ Yup, big group~ The food was delicious as well >___< should post up pics... hmmm... (P.S. Thank you Chams and Yueyue for holding onto my stuff during the ceremony >__< <3)

3) End of the summer trip decided: A four day trip to the states with eight of us in total ^^ It's a bigger group compared to last year- unfortunately, Ruju and Gowth can't join us this year TT___TT But the process of registering for the trip was definitely nerve wrecking XD We had to get everyone confirmed within a short period of time (the fact that Yueyue was in Asia and fb-restricted made us even more anxious) due to the fact that there were only ten spots left! O___O! Oy~ alas, everything has been registered and we're ready to go! Super excited =D

4) Went to semi-formal at school: Hahaha, the mission to dress up and chill altogether (before school ends) finally happened! Although the process was quite tedious and hectic. The tickets were "sold out" due to miscommunication which resulted in a thesis paper drawn up by our lovely Chammie XDD Oh how I love the girl（*´▽｀*） The evening was great except for Yueyue's friend who can't keep his legs or hands to himself except for some overfriendly? people... can't believe we went bbt drinking in our dresses at 12am XDD Best part of the evening was the sleepover and me- being the paparazzi that I am, took so many pretty pictures of everyone.. （＾ｖ＾）How else can we explain and get away with making ramen at 4am cuz we were hungry XDDD

That's the three major events that happened during the past six months~ The rest have to do with skincare, cute characters, and hauls. XD The latter is expected since it's summer- tons of time to look --> research --> and compare online~ The only object that derails from my usual hauls is a netbook. Been researching about netbooks since I got my acceptance, my poor Toshiba laptop is gradually withering away in battery life (1 hr! Not even depending on how many programs you're running) and it's a bit of a hassle to carry lug around. I think four years of weightlifting this baby is adequate~ That, and there is no plug-guarantee in all my classes either o_O;;; (Heck~ I don't even know what my classrooms look like) I remember when everyone fighted for the plugs in the AA lecture halls or the H/B-wing rooms (four plugs in the whole classroom!) XD If anything, university has taught me to show up even earlier and guard the door for the good of your benefit~ ^^;;;

Hmm so what have I been hauling? I did another Gmarket Haul (surprise surprise -___-)- mostly hair accessories this time. Usually people haul skincare/cosmetics/clothes from Korea, but I am completely the opposite XD I haul for the most irrelevant things~ So, shall we begin?

The Accessories: I can see why Aznavour hair accessories are more expensive compared to regular ones. In case you didn't know, Aznavour is a brand that specializes in hair accessories (hair -ties/clips/bands) and they are often seen in Korean dramas (which is where I first saw them). Their designs are generally very cute and simple, although you may see some designs with tons of bling (crystals) as well. This is my first time getting them actually, they look a lot nicer in person. The pictures I saw on the site brightened the colors quite a bit- and it made the resin look a bit... fake? Of course, like I mentioned, it's a lot nicer in real life. I will post up a review on these products later ^^

Gold Stickers: Ever since Gmarket Haul #1 earlier this year, I have been obsessed with getting these gold stickers! They are sooo cute and shiny *O* This haul, I had more time to search around and I found new designs that came out ^_^ They were representations of England/Italy/Japan/Paris/Germany~ Of course, I got the Paris and the English one, as well as Germany and Italy because it was just too adorable >___< And the happy clouds and the pig with the sack of money. The pig just screams me XD I can imagine Yueyue saying "this is sooo youuu"



Note: These things stick like super-glue! Once you get it on a surface, you can never pry them off! O___O!! Not even with water or anything >___<

Eletronic: A must for COWON PMP owners when travelling: an outlet charger!!! Since I was going on a trip, I knew I will be using my J3 to watch my dramas and listen to my music a lot --> a must for me, since I can only charge it via USB and I don't bring my laptop on vacations. Also got a skin cover for my future netbook ^_^ Don't want the poor thing to get scratched >___< Hmmm pink phone casing for my SAMSUNG phone (the clear one from HK was getting very dirty)

Misc.: Earrings were pretty ^^ I love the violet roses, the bling bling flower and ice cream cone XD Yes, childish I know =P Got a cute passport cover for my trip- I have a hard time finding my passport when it's in the zippered slot in my purses, it doesn't help that it's dark colored and it's super thin! So this will be easier for me to find ^_^ Yup... mostly irrelevant things~

Well, going to call it a night >___< Will blog more tomorrow =D おやすみなさい (Oyasumi nasai!)

Wahhh... it's been a while since I blogged >__< Valetine's Day is tomorrow (^з^) but no valetine for me =P Hehehe... Chinese New Year has passed, hence my Post-New Year diet XDDD In addition to that, I still have to burn off the extra calories and muffin I gained from Post-finals outings from Dec to Jan >___> Must burn it offfff!!!! (ノ><)ノ I was so sad a few weeks ago when I was rearranging my clothes and discovered the party dresses I brought two years ago are tight now! （　ﾟ Дﾟ） OMG... And there is supposed to be a formal in March -_- Well I knew I gained weight from Post-finals but didn't think it was this bad TT_TT *sigh* Time to exercise again.... btw, I brought dumbbells over the weekend >=D So going to give them a try tonight after my areobic exercise~

I finished off last term with relatively decent results (＾▽＾) Last term was a KILLER I had a full course load and it was all D level courses except for two- though they were still pretty hard. D level English courses are the killers, the amount of reading is pretty heavy~ We had to finish a thick book (400+ pages) within two weeks if not less. Dicken's David Copperfield was 800 PAGES! (O.O;) and it didn't help that I needed to read the book in order to write my paper... which was... 5000 words limit, mind you~ Was I ever glad to finish that paper *phew* Although I gave up 1/2 way reading the book in full and just skimmed it XD One of these days, I will go back and read the book in full XDD Vacation read anyone? (Although not exactly the type of book I will wanna read...) The C-level poli. sci course was pretty interesting... we had to go and volunteer for a campaign that was happening at the time. My professor was sooo niceeee!!! (#^.^#) I couldn't find a placement for the assignment so he located one for me *O* I did pretty well on the assignment despite my theory-challenged responses XDD And the final was awesome, we get to use the computers to type up our answers >D Although it felt like I was the only one typing with my excessively loud typing =_=; The C-level English course was quite odd... it was a Visual Arts and an English course which spelt= ULTIMATE CONFUSION! XD There was two professors (one from each department- I had the English one before) and the content was the class was pretty... abstract? It wasn't structured like other courses, neither was the material but it was an enjoyable course because it was lectured in a different perspective ^__^

So a new term has began and I love, love, LOVE my schedule this term! (*^.^) despite its random hours each day. Basically, I have a 3 hr lecture on Monday, 1 hr and 1/2 on Tuesday and Thursday and a 5 hr lecture on Wednesday. Early riser again for Mondays and Wednesdays -_- Although that has changed to Monday-Thursday since I've begin working out in the mornings before I attend lectures on Tues and Thurs =) Mony, ARE YOU PROUD OF ME? =D Hehehe~ This term's schedule allows me to come home and exercise and still have the late afternoon to night time to do all the things I need to do ^_^ Speaking of school, stupid UT finally sent my fall grades to Seneca... (￢_￢) even though it came out at the beginning of January... -F !!! So now waiting for Seneca to give my acceptance to their Law Clerk program *O* That's right! Here's my resolve! Going to the Law Clerk program at Seneca~ Is it great pay? It depends on your view and value. I honestly am happy with making n amount as long as it supports my living costs (i.e. housing, car, savings, money for parents, personal spendings, vacations, etc.) It's 'n' for now since I have no idea what the needed amount is at the moment. Maybe I will venture off into law school... maybe not, we shall see~

So did everyone do a lot of shopping conquests for 2010??? I know I did! In fact, I overdid it for 2010 XDDD So laying it off for 2011... especially if I want to go on vacation again with mes amies this year =) We went on a 3-day Quebec trip at the end of August after our summer school was over. This year, we may explore further ^^ Maybe the Big Apple??? Anywho, I purchased a new PMP. PMP= portable media player <--- this took me awhile to figure out when I saw people on forums using this abbreviation and I was like @_@??? Of course, those who know me should know that I don't buy into any hype that happens around me- whether that is technology or fashion related and that is no exception for a new PMP either. I discovered Cowon when I was browsing through Gmarket one time when I was looking at other mp3 then (iriver). The first time I saw Cowon's PMP was the S9 I was impressed at its sleek design and its boasted AMOLED screen. There is nothing that compares to this- NOT EVEN APPLE with its LCD screen! AMOLED screens are the best if you want to watch things in brilliant real-life colors! Hahaha, I sound like I'm advertising the product and I probably will because I never understand why people are so hyped about Apple products- touchscreen, big screen, apps, etc. If you look at Asian competitors, it was discovered long ago... a good comparison is probably Japanese phones (keitai) and their ability for video-calling and a 12+ mpx embedded camera that was discovered eons ago. Anyway, the J3 came across when I was 'stalking' S9 last year and discovered it was an upgraded model from it- expandable memory, different design, 11 hrs of video playback, etc. I was sold but it was too expensive then. Finally I got it when the price dropped a little (technology prices tends to drop pretty fast after a certain period of time). Let me stress that Cowon's creative director for packaging is brilliant! (^.^)b The packaging is sooo cute and clever. So this is wat it looks like:



and when you open it up... the top part and the bottom part



underneath is the CD rom =)



and the other accessories are in the cone XD



It's a visually attractive product, even when it is sitting on the shelve. I got a chance to hold the S9 as well (since it was open package) and the curve design on the back was okay, it felt weird to me... like the potentiality of me dropping it was 90% XDDD That and it didn't have exapandable memory which was a bummer since I chose the 16 GB and may want to expand my memory for more storage. The neat thing about J3 or Cowon products in general is, they play subtitles! So that means I can watch my Korean/Japanese dramas without having to embed the subs with it (which I have no idea how to nor will I spend time to do)! Anyway, back to the screen (you can tell how much I love the screen)- I've watched dramas/anime on this and let me tell you, IT IS LIKE WATCHING VIDEOS ON YOUR HD TV WITH A HD CABLE! (^ω^) The screen delivers amazing vivid colors and the colors look really life-like and just awesome XD I can't stop gloating about it because I have never own a PMP that can do this (my old one was okay in delivering. but still can't be compared). The other amazing feature of J3 is the JetEffect 3.0 settings. OMG... it is the most amazing music/sounds you will hear (with a relatively decent pair of earphones/headphones- I used my Audio Technica ones)~



This is what it looks like next to my old PMP. I haven't brought a screen protector yet, but I did purchase a violet silicone case and attached a piggy strap to it XD The other piece of technology I acquired was a... keitai! （*´▽｀*）Finally~ After all these years of researching and waiting for the right one (at the right price), I obtained the N-03A ^_^ It is the Pierre Hermé edition phone ^^ Under $200 in Vanilla and it works fairly well. It's easy to navigate, the keypad works great even though it is flat, I like the voice mail function (which YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY FOR) it has (like most keitai), cute LED displays on the cover, overall- a really nice beginner keitai phone. The first time I brought a hypersim- it worked for a month or so and then it died -___- Now I'm using a hypersim I purchased from a forum I visit and it's been working great. Only CPR-ed once (last week) due to extensive time of losing reception [thank you school (￢_￢)] Other than that, I love the phone ^___^ I have tried watching videos on it before and it's not shabby at all, although my J3 will replace those funtions. I didn't decorate the front because I thought it will ruin the sleek design, so only the insides and a sticker on the back will do =)



Those pictures were taken before I decorated the inside and changed the phone straps. Lately, I've been collecting cute phone straps XD No longer do I want to pay $1-$3 for a phone strap that shows poor detailing (blurring of colors/faces/etc.) or breaking off after a simple tug. I discovered that Japanese and Korean phone strap tends to be more durable, whether you think I am bias towards Korean products or not. They tend to hold up quite better and the detailing in the strap is more clear and precise. I really like the ones I ordered from my recent Korean Haul Part I (as I call them)...



Not all the above are mine, some were gifts and the Snow White and Prince- Mony and I are sharing (it's a coupling charm XD) The blue bag was a gift~ You got to love the freebies you get from Korean shops at times (＾▽＾) You can probably also tell that I've been into bear/kuma things lately... hmmm... that may be because I'm nicknamed as a bear quite often these days... it's starting to rub off on me (O.O;) I know for sure that a new fashion magazine has rub off on me ever since September. Introducing... SPUR~ a Japanese fashion magazine that seems to be oriented towards Europrean style/fashion which I adoreeeee <3 By European, I mean the classy, sophisticated, and chic styles that they portray *O* So I've been following their issues quite often, if I like that month's issue --> I buy; supporting the printing and publishing industry XD Well I shall leave now to do my exercise <3 There are some things I wanted to post up but didn't get a chance to, perhaps next time or when I'm done going through my picture transfers -_- Night <3

P.S. (I leave you with my first Audio-Technica Headphones that my dear brother stepped on... (￢_￢)... I was pretty pissed...)



P.P.S. (I changed the layout, music box, and cbox- new year, new layout ^^ and thought this one wasn't as girly =P Forgot the pass to my old cbox though... -_-)

I just realized that the korean letters didn't show up in the previous entry... Hmmm... *shrugs* Oh well, this entry is actually a recap of what happened when Nat and I went HR shoppin (I told you we have become HR addicts XD) on August 2nd. It was a pretty disgusting day (hot and humid) and on top of that, it was not a pleasant shopping experience. I actually posted this horrible experience on the Purse Forum and received similar feedback from other posters. Bottom line: YORKDALE LOUIS VUITTON SUCKS!!!! So what happened? Read on...

Nat and I made our first stop at Holts Renfrew in downtown to check out Marc Jacob bags and Alma BB from LV. Nat said the Alma BB just came out and she was interested in seeing it in real life before she decides to purchase it. So we headed towards the LV store inside HR after we went through the Marc J handbags collection. The first sales associate (SA) was really nice and professional, she told us that the Alma BB was sold out and that there is a waitlist for the purse. So we asked her to check the other LV stores in the other two HR locations in T.O. She replied that there were two that was available on the computer system (at Yorkdale) so we asked her if she can hold it for us, if we decided to go to Yorkdale HR later during the day. She said that "LV doesn't allow us to hold items for customers anymore." and apologized but asked my friend if she wanted to be waitlisted instead. Nat said that was fine and we went to OJA for lunch (we always go to OJA XD My favorite resturant! <3) PICTURE SPAM!!!







After lunch, we headed towards the LV flagship store just a couple of blocks away from HR. I have never been to the flagship stores on that street except for Coach XD And even then, I never purchased anything there- not really a big Coach fan. Let me begin by saying that the flagship store is amazing. It consists of two levels and it sells the whole LV collection, which includes shoes and clothes that you can't find other than the flagship store. We were greeted in a friendly manner (LEARN YORKDALE SAs!) by the SA lady on the first floor then we headed upstairs. Again, another SA lady greeted us friendly and we explored the place. Unfortunately, the upstairs didn't carry POLKA BANDEAU scarf as I have dubbed it, the Russian Lady Scarf XD We saw it at the HR LV store earlier but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to get it or not. Of course that was resoluted after lunch since I was thinking about it during lunch XD However, I didn't like the customer service at HR LV so Nat suggested we go to the flagship store instead since I wanted to go to Burberry anway. Boy was I happy that we went to the flagship store. ^__^ So before we proceeded downstairs, we asked the SA lady to check for us on the Alma BB and she repeated the same thing as the one at HR; saying there was no stock and that there was a waitlist. She was very friendly and smiled at us the whole time. That's what I call service, I wanted to buy the scarf from her but like I said, it wasn't upstairs- it was only on display downstairs. So off we went downstairs, the SA lady that was there was helping someone else (I wanted to her to service me as well) so I had no choice but to consult the man instead since he asked if I wanted to see something (again- this is customer service). So after troubling him (I did some purposely to see how the service was XD- I'm mean I know) with the scarf (making him untie the scarf on the purse, putting it on a darker color purse; that was around the counter, etc.) I purchased the scarf ^__^ He answered all my questions and the SA lady that was helping someone earlier also made her inputs when I asked her how you can style this. Very professional and nice (they didn't have a scowl on their faces or annoyed look).

Afterwards, we went back to HR again so Nat can inquire about the Alma BB and see if Yorkdale HR still have the two in stock. This time, another SA inquired for us since the original SA we saw wasn't present. Unfortunately, this SA was horrible at customer service as she gave us attitude (evident from her tone and expression) and was reluctant to serve us until we told her that a previous SA told us there were two in stock at another location. At this point, I was slightly surprised at how unprofessional an SA can be for someone who represents LV. Mind you, the floor was not busy nor was she helping clients. So she replied that there was actually only one left and my friend kind of panicked at this point since she didn't want to go through a six month waitlist if she can purchase the purse now. So we asked her if she can hold the purse for us within two hours (which is how long it takes us to get to Yorkdale at the max.) and she replies "LV never holds merchandise for their customers. We don't do holds." That was understandable since that's what the previous two SAs told us (from HR Bloor and from the flagship store)

Here is what really upsetted/annoyed us. So we arrived at Yorkdale and as soon as we went in, we asked for it and the SAs (there were five of them huddled together) replied with that they were sold out. Of course we understood that sometimes inventory systems have errors but what made it unacceptable was when we told one of the SAs that we just went to the HR Bloor and they told us that there was one in stock on the inventory system. At this point, one of the other five SAs revealed THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAD TWO OF THEM (like the first SA at HR Bloor said) IN STORES NOW. BUT IT WAS ON HOLD. So... does that mean that all the SAs we spoked to lied or that there was some favor tricks being played?

We called Bobo (who frequents LV) later during the day and he said that they usually hold items for one day. But still... don't make us run around in circles if you know that the stock is on hold or is unavailable! Update your systems! and at least train your SAs in customer service! p(`O´*) We are really disappointed in LV's customer service (except for their flagship store) and it was definitely an eye-opener for the both of us. Especially since this is our first LV purchase or was for Nat. I am just shocked that such a high-end established brand can service their customers like this (except for their flagship store like I said). When we compared this experience with other boutiques (Chanel, Dior, Burberry), I have to say that LV's SAs are definitely not on par at all. Since LV made us so mad, we went to COACH and Nat gave her business to them instead XDDD REVENGE ON LV! as we called it XD We both brought wristlets as I have been looking for one to dress up or not. I love this design from the Poppy series (＾▽＾) I find the gold version less childish and more unique than the pink version. The purple version wasn't really my cup of tea... below are the Shopping Conquests for this trip ヽ( ´ー`)=ノ:










Sorry Nat, I didn't pick the pink design even though the girl goes OOOOOOOOoooooo! XDDD














So after we left COACH, we roam arounded a bit and found.... GODIVA!!!! (♥_♥) The display window was sooo pretty *___* As you will see below~ Nat wanted to get one of the cones so we went in and I noticed a new item on their menu- dark chocolate raspberry chocolixir drink cold. The price was $6+ tax (slightly more expensive than your regular Starbucks or Second Cup cold drinks) so I was a little hesitant to try it at first. What if it didn't taste good? Then I just spent $6+ on a drink that will go to waste (most likely) and my $6+ could have been spent elsewhere. However, I thought since GODIVA chocolates have never disappointed me before (especially dark chocolate) and it's a reputatable company/brand, it should be okay. LET ME TELL YOU, IT IS THE BEST COLD DRINK I HAVE NEVER HAD. OH MY GOD... IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOODDDD (♥_♥) --> HEAVENLY. Their drink was made with their dark chocolate and you can actually see and eat/drink the tiny crushed up pieces of their chocolate! The raspberry also complimented nicely with the chocolate as well~ Very refreshing taste and just sooo goood! Although I can't finish it (it comes in one size) so Nat and I shared it.