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.

Tsururi Brightening Moisture Series Review

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Tsururi, a newly launched Japanese drugstore brand in Singapore, believe in the Japanese way of achieving pure, clear and smooth skin using natural botanical cleansing ingredients. 

Tsururi products are specially formulated with Ghassoul Mineral Lava Clay from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Well-known for its gentle and natural healing properties, it has many known benefits including ionic detoxification, controls excess oil, brightens, exfoliates, tightens and smooths skin among many others.

L'Oréal Rouge Magique : Review, Swatches, Looks

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 Warning: Image-and-selfie-heavy post. View at your discretion. 

Nightmares begone! Sweet dreams only.

-

L'Oréal  Paris Singapore launches NEW lipsticks again! 

We still haven't quite gotten over the stunning 24K Gold lipsticks last December; yet L'Oréal outdid themselves this time - enticing us with a set of matte lipsticks consisting of 20 shades that are rather unique and unlike most drugstore lip colours.  

Fun Fact: Singapore is the first country to be introduced to their FULL collection of 20 shades this March 2017!

 L'Oréal Rouge Magique

(SGD19.90 each)

 

Enriched with nourishing oils, pure matte pigments and hydrating honey, the ultra-gliding L'Oréal Rouge Magique delivers intense matte colours onto the lips. Housed in chic metallic pink & matte black cases, these lippies are designed to capture the heart of every lipstick lover. From wearable nudes, boldest browns, vibrant pinks & reds to trendy mauves & purples - you name it, this collection owns it!

Oh, lipstick swatch rainbow is your thing? It's mine too!

Review of The Body Shop Drops Of Light™ Pure Healthy Brightening Eye Cream and Pure Healthy Brightening Serum

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Following the success of the highly-raved Drops of Youth™  range, The Body Shop introduces Drops of Light ™  skincare range for users looking for fairer & more radiant skin. This March, there has been a new addition of Pure Healthy Brightening Eye Cream to the Drops of Light™  skincare line.

Drops of Light™ Pure Healthy Brightening Range  has multi- functions to support healthy skin and is formulated to suit all skin types, even sensitive skin. Combining the natural goodness of Red Algae Extract harvested from the North Atlantic, plus the power of Vitamin C - one of the most potent skin antioxidants, this range of products targets sensitive skin that needs help in brightening and moisture. 

I tested out the Drops Of Light™ Pure Healthy Brightening Eye Cream and Pure Healthy Brightening Serum for a week and am now pleased to share my results.

I usually do not review skin care products which I tested on my skin for less than 2 weeks, simply because results don't show. But guess what, I was totally surprised by the results of  The Body Shop ™  this time round...

Maybelline Brow Wow Collection: Review, Swatches, LOTD

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 Oh wow, the press kit didn't only wow-ed my brows.

Maybelline Singapore just launched a new range of brow grooming tools, aiming to perfect your brows in a fuss-free manner.

Three products being introduced: Fashion Brow Pomade, Fashion Brow Ultra Fluffy and Brow Precise Fiber Volumizer. Behind these cute fancy names, they can be translated to brow crayon, brow pencil and brow mascara respectively.

Etude House Wonder Fun Park Collection Review, Swatches, LOTD.

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Soft pastels, shinny glitters, sweet vibrant colours - sounds like your kind of thing? Then you're in for a treat! Etude House Singapore newly launched their Spring 2017 beauty collection:

Wonder Fun Park. 

Recently I had the pleasure to attend Etude House Popup Store bloggers' makeup event and tested out the items from the Wonder Fun Park range. This fun collection is so pretty that it drives every beauty fanatic into a complete frenzy with their whimsical, dreamy, gorgeous makeup & tools! With everything from eyeshadow palettes to mascaras, glitter pigment, candy-coloured blushers, highlighters, lip colors, fragrances and beauty tools, this is the sweetest dream-come-true for any self-proclaimed Unicorn!

I do not own the entire (huge) collection, but I'd be happy to share my first impressions with what I have at the moment, which includes:

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Colour Eyes

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Candy Cheek

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Candy Highlighter

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Dear Darling Soda Tint

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Dear My Blooming Lips Talk Chiffon

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Nails Kit

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Brushes

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park My Beauty Tool Eyelashes

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Hair Perfume Mist

Equitance Skincare Review and Giveaway

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"Clear", "Bright", "Radiant" - these are some words that never fails to capture my attention. In my voracious quest for the best brightening skincare regime, I find myself always coming back to Japanese beauty brands.

Equitance™ is a luxury skincare brand founded in Japan 18 years ago. With a focus on inner & outer beauty, they have successfully combined both Eastern & Western research and practices to produce effective skincare products, especially in the department of brightening & radiance. We haven't heard of it in Singapore quite yet, but in both the U.S. and Japan, Equitance™ bagged home several awards & accolades and had been featured in the press for over the years. Its collagen drink alone broke 30 million in sales. 

To read more about the company’s history and product information, click HERE.

Sunstar Singapore recently launched Equitance in Singapore, and I was blessed with the opportunity to review their “First Ever in Japan – Effective Whitening Mechanism with Linoleic Acid” brightening skincare range. Happy to share the results on my skin, later in this post! Read on!

Besides linoleic acid, the entire outer skincare range also contains shell ginger extract and cherry blossom leaf extract.