The Joy of Buying Korean Cosmetics

. . . are the trial sized freebies! And the more you buy, the more freebies you get!

The above are just what remained of what I have already given away. Yes, I would like to believe that I purchased a lot of skin care items, mostly cleansing creams and bottles of toner. A whole year supply, hahaha! Initially, I only planned to get myself one or two of each kind but blame it to those "service" (Koreans' term for free items) I always leave the shop loaded.

The shops that I patronized in Myeongdong were Etude House, The Face Shop, Nature Republic and Missha. It seems like all the Korean cosmetics shops are concentrated in this area. Others that I did not buy from which I might consider trying on my next trip to Korea will be Laneige, Holika Holika, Banila or Skin Food. Anyway, I notice that they offer the same things. Maybe they will only differ in efficacy or what works well for one's skin.

The important thing right now is I am so happy with what I bought and of course I am looking forward to using those free masks and creams and if it works, I will definitely buy the real size next time. Good advertising!

The Face Shop's Green Tea Body Perfume Mist

One of my favorite scents for body spray is green tea. It smells fresh and not that stuffy compared to those sweet smelling perfumes or colognes. Aside from Elizabeth Arden's green tea spray, I have never strayed from that brand until I went to The Face Shop one day and stumbled upon the Green Tea Body perfume mist. I must have been so devoted and satisfied with EA that I never ventured to set my nose to other brands.

As you can see from the photo above, the bottle is not fancy -- the design looks like just one of those low end cologne in the market -- which may have kept the price down for a good quality product. For P423 or P430 you can score this 100ml body spray and smell like you are still wearing the less affordable Elizabeth Arden!

What draws me to try this is because I read in the literature covering the bottle and I quote, "The antioxidant-rich Green Tea and Lavender water leave your body healthy and glowing." Antioxidant. Green Tea. Lavender. Healthy. Glowing.

Funny but those words may mean nothing to others but I feel a strong affinity to words that have health connotations. Yay.

Jollibee's Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ

Hey, I was like craving for something today and I have this enticing burger commercial running on tv. It was showing images of a juicy 100% beef patty on a burger bun, topped with bacon strips and lots of mushrooms and covered with velvety cheese.

Oh, it's Jollibee! Good thing there's a store near our place so I had to ask someone to buy it for me.

 After devouring the sandwich, I just need to say this plain and simple. YUMMY.

The price is worth it, I think I paid like P129, not sure but it's more or less around that.

Quite satisfied. Burp.

The Revamped Face Shop Shangri-La in Pictures

The Face Shop in Shangri·La is back with a new look and hopefully with new stocks and promises of skin care miracles.

Omg, Kim Hyun-Joong is just Adonis personified. He must be one of the million reasons why Faceshop brand is so widely, or must I say globally used?

I noticed that Natural Story is added under the clean and simple The Face Shop signage

Oh, and they're celebrating their 10th anniversary!

How about giving away these uber chic carry-on cream/lotion to celebrate a decade of cleansing, beautifying, moisturizing body and skin the natural way? ;-)

How to go to Shenzhen from HongKong Airport by Train

Early this year my planned trip itinerary was Shenzhen-Hongkong-Macau. Four days in Shenzhen by myself and another four days in Hongkong with my travel buddy slash colleague, Rainby. While in HK we did a day side trip in Macau and that may probably claim another page in this blog one of these days.

Meantime, let me tell you how I navigated my way from HK airport to Shenzhen.

*  Take the Airport Express line and get off at Tsing Yi station. You are now at the Tung Chung line (orange in the map). If  my memory  doesn't fail me, the fare might be from HKD42-48.

*  From Tung Chung, the next stop will be Lai King (Tsuen Wan line, the red line in the map). It is only one station away as well but the travel time is less than that from the airport to Tsing Yi.

*  Next stop from Lai King is Prince Edward (Kwun Tong line is in green) and guess what -- yes, get off at Kowloon Tong.

*  Finally, you reach the blue line, East Rail line which ends in Lohu and you're on your way to Shenzhen.

I believe there might be a simpler way to reach Lowu from the airport but personally this the most cost effective and 99% free of the probability of getting lost especially if one is a firs timer.