How to do a Vacation-Ready Makeup for your Year End Travels

Time really flies, isn't it? It's coming to the end of 2019!

I bet many of you have planned for a year end vacation to somewhere nice. For some of us, getting away to nearby countries such as Bali for the weekend may be the most doable option right now. Whatever your travel plans are, I have a easy glam makeup tutorial just for you!

Simple, Glam, Vacation Makeup Tutorial 

: click below :

Just click on the video and it will take you to my Youtube channel. 

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Products featured in the video:

Milan Travel Tips & Shopping Itinerary under 48 hours + My Personal Updates for 2nd half of 2017

It has been too long since I wrote anything personal...and I kind of miss connecting with my readers like this, so here comes a post to tell you what I had been and will be up to, for the second half of 2017!

3Day Milan Trip

I followed my partner on his flight to Milan last month (For those who are new here, my hubby is an airline pilot.). We had 3 free days in Milan; as it was a last minute decision for me to join him, I actually didn't prepare a proper travel itinerary. Honestly, even if I do have time to plan a scheduled trip in advance, I wouldn't do it. I am all about #YOLO, you know. Haha! Readers who read my previous trips' notes will know I am quite spontaneous, and well... probably a bit messy.

Shopping in Milan

If you're short of time and have only 48 hours or so, I suggest you banish the thought of sightseeing or taking day trips at all. 

JUST . FOCUS . ON. SHOPPING .

Milan is THE capital of fashion & shopping. Sure... New York, London, Paris, Tokyo have been nominated as fashion capitals as well; but in my humble opinion, MILAN IS KING (Of Fashion) and everyone else is at most, just a Queen. Okay, maybe Paris is on par.

Shops are all over the city and walking streets are longer, busier and more colourful than other cities. This can be a bane if you are short of time coz you will get distracted = waste precious hours.

So, where do you go shopping if you only have 48 hours or less?

Pepperkoko GSS 2017: Promo code FAITH10

Advertorial

Great Singapore Sale is round the corner! Are you excited yet? 

GSS is the time I stock up on my clothings, especially Summer wear since it is all year round Summer in Singapore. Recently, I was introduced to a popular online shopping site www.pepperkoko.com.sg. Pepperkoko Singapore spoils us with a wide range of apparels with styles adopted from the Taiwan, Japan and Korea’s fashion scene, with quality & comfort at pocket-friendly prices!

Why shop at Pepperkoko Singapore?

1. Affordability - average of SGD20-40 per piece of apparel.
2. Good quality and comfort
3. Items arrive accurately as depicted on the website
4. Fast Shipping - within 2-3 days
5. Woman apparels, lingerie, shoes, accessories, kids wear, mens wear - they have a huge variety!
6. Sizes go from S to XXXXL!
7. Ease of use on the website
8. Returns within 14 days. More HERE.

I ordered 3 pieces of apparel and 1 necklace (Total cost = SGD105.40). ALL of them exceeded my expectations in terms of quality, comfort and how well they fit me.

Destroyed Denim Jacket + Layered Tulle Long Skirt Suede

Button Down Peek Shoulder Drawstring Dress 

New York Travelogue and Travel Tips, From a Singaporean Perspective

Spring 2017 has arrived.

But the beautiful snowy Winter scenery of New York City has yet to fade in my memory....

Just want to share some tips on travelling in New York before I totally lose the momentum of blogging about this trip. Sorry folks for the delayed post - it is already Spring season now; hopefully when you get to travel to New York next Fall, this can come in handy. In fact, what I share will probably be universally useful, no matter which season you decide to visit the Big Apple. Also, I can't seem to find much informative, comprehensive, right-from-the-heart personal sort of travel blog posts about New York, especially by Singaporeans!

Please click HERE for printable full copy of my personal travel notes for NYC.  Do keep in mind it is far from a professional itinerary - just some very real, raw (read: messy) notes that I refer to while in NYC.

MY TRAVEL NOTES

I spent about 6 nights in New York, and 2 days of being 36000 feet up in the air.

Flights from Singapore to New York are horrendously long, especially when there is a transit stop, like my flight (Total flight time inclusive of transit = 24 hours. Zomg). My flight was as usual, by Singapore Airlines (SQ26), with a stopover at Frankfurt. You can choose to stay overnight at Frankfurt hotels before embarking on your NYC adventure... unlike us; but too bad we did not have the luxury of extended annual leave.

Anyways, whilst in NYC, most of the time I stuck around Manhattan and the furthest I went was Brooklyn and Bronx. No time to explore out of NYC definitely; not even a day to visit Long Island.

Accommodation: Times Square, Hilton Hotel

As you probably know me by now,  the words I'd normally use to describe my preferred mode of travel are "safe", "comfortable", "travel-in-style" and "touristy"...perhaps sometimes borderline "luxury". I don't do backpacking; nor am I super adventurous. So yep, I stayed at a boring Hilton chain hotel...which is NOT AT ALL boring to me. In fact, calling the heart of the forever-vibrant Times Square your home for 6 nights is nowhere near boring.

 

Check out my view from the hotel room! 

I was put up at a room on level 36, I think. New York City is the King of Urban Jungles worldwide - no other city does skyscrapers like NYC! Hence, whichever hotel you stay, I bet you get a view not too far from mine.

Some traveller once commented on a TripAdvisor: "Don't go to New York for Applebee's, unless your home doesn't have one." Well, embarrassed to say this...but yeah, Applebee's has yet to grace the sunny shores of Singapore, so Applebee's I shall devour!! Can't help when my choice of residence is just right next to the said restaurant!

Weather: -10 degree celcius to 5 degree celcius. Rain, Snow, Wind all present.

Attire: FULL WINTER GEAR with inner wear designed for subzero degree weather!

Cutest photobomb ever!
 

We met with a snow storm which killed several people in a night! It was on the news. We didn't even know it was that dire, and just continued with our travel plans. How adventurous (when I was just saying how safety-conscious we were! LOL)!!

SAFETY TIP: Please check the weather forecast EVERY MORNING before you head out during deep winter in January! Stay indoors during the storm!

FOOD : CHEAP EATS

My travel partner is not into fine dining, so we mostly ate meals that cost below SGD40 for each person.

London Fun Things To Do (Special Exclusive: Best Spots for your #OOTD shots!)

  

London is a piece of what heaven seems like. It's got everything for everyone - from arts & culture to food & shopping, world history to amazing scenery... There is no reason not to pay the glorious city a visit (except for the strong sterling pound)! 

Sharing with you guys some of the must-visit places and some tips while travelling in London. Of course, since my country offers no opportunities for me to showcase winter OOTD, I'm gonna do so here as well! And you can reference the best locations we used for my OOTD photos.

MY TRAVEL NOTES

I am not the type who follows any sort of routine or itineraries, so I did not plan a proper tour itinerary for this London trip. Below are some not-really-organised travel notes which I actually referred to while in London for 8 days. If you find it useful for you, click to enlarge & save images. Alternatively, if you prefer a printable copy, you can download HERE.

Out of the 8 days in London, we used 2 days for road trips to Bath, Stonehenge, Winsor Castle, Stratford Upon Avon, Cotswold, Warwick Castle. I used Evans Evans Tours. You can find out more about the tours HERE. I highly recommend them if you are not driving or you prefer to have experienced guides to bring you around; or if you're like us, who simply prefer fuss-free organised tours to bring us around so we can rest and relax our minds/doze off on coaches! These London tour companies are really organised and their tour guides are super punctual & efficient with very clear & precise verbal instructions. Listening to Londoners speak Queen's English is a bliss! (Trust me, when you return to Singapore, you will feel slightly embarassed at our Singlish. No offence, haha!)

Outside Windsor Castle

Stonehenge: Travel 2 hours from London to view stones, why not?

Roman Bath House, Bath.

Shakespeare Birth Place, Stratford Upon Avon. For the literature buffs, as well as for Mr & Mrs LKY supporters.

As for bus tours, the two major operators are The Big Bus Tour and The Original Bus Tour. We opted for the latter. There are positives and negatives of our experience, so I can't exactly recommend them to you. You might be better off taking the tube (London Underground) or travel by foot. Choose a centralised location for your stay in London, it helps! We had our first AirBnB experience and stayed 7 minutes walk away from Oxford Circus tube station. THAT really saved us quite a bit on transport, bearing in mind for a week, we each spent SGD80 on tube alone (and we stayed in the heart of central London)!

Being on the top deck of a tour bus in deep winter is quite the exhilarating experience! You get an overview of the city in a couple of hours, but that's probably the only perks of signing up a bus tour.