Hong Kong (Part 2)

Summer in Hong Kong continued...

My Dad comes from Sai Wan (otherwise known as 大浪西灣) which is a beach in Sai Kung, Hong Kong. So every time we go back we go visit my uncles and chill on the beach. We had didn't have a lot of time, so this visit was short but that did not stop those mosquitos biting me to death! I always love relaxing on the beach and swimming in the sea, its always been one of my favourite places.

(Side-note: Always be prepared, leggings do not protect you! So always bring the mosquito repellant with you.)

On our way home, we had a first-time experience of being stopped by the marine customs police. Our boat driver was super chilled though and handled it with ease and we were on our way.

My Dad then had to leave to head back to England because he needed to go to work but I stayed on for a little while longer. After resting for a couple of days, I arranged to met up with a good friend and we went to Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛). It was a great day to go because the sun was shining and the sky was clear. We took cable cars to the location so we could see the wonderful sights before we got there.

 The hot weather was definitely a plus but it did make climbing all the stairs to the Buddha a lot harder. Like usual though, it was all worth it as the view from the top was break-taking. The clear sky allowed us to see far into the distance and appreciate the height.

On our way back, we had splurged a little more to ride the Crystal Cabin cable cars which had a see-through bottom floor. We rode the car with an Australian tourist and his friend and we all took turns taking crazy photographs with the awesome floor. It was an adrenaline-kicking experience and a scary thought to know that it was just acrylic holding us up but it was so worth the try!

Something I love about being in Hong Kong is that the night is as alive as the days, shops are still open and there's a food shop around every corner with all the cuisines you could think of. So after my friend and I finally decided on having Korean food for our late afternoon lunch, we headed to the streets of Hong Kong in search for some last minute purchases, a new laptop (for him) and a bubble tea, which I had been craving since I last had one in Sheffield.

The rest of my days in Hong Kong were spent shopping for little presents and eating food (no surprises there). I went to this amazing Korean/Japanese buffet and since we were dining with the co-owner of this branch (who continuously refilled my slushie drink), we got the chance to try as assortment of their popular dishes. Left that night with a food baby that literally lasted for days.

With a bit of miscellaneous finish, I've just included food from hotpot and a famous won-ton shop (which I unfortunately forgot the name of).

My time in Hong Kong really flew by and before I knew it, it was time to return home. Even though I had so much fun, I was more than ready to head back home to my friends and family. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to go back with friends and share what Hong Kong has to offer.

Have you ever been to Hong Kong? I'd love to hear your opinions about places you've visited!
I've just recently taken a city break to Barcelona so make sure to look out for that!

Love Anna x

Hong Kong (Part 1)

Summer in Hong Kong

I'm writing this post much delayed after I went to Hong Kong but considering my blog is still very new, I'm playing a lot of catch up! Hong Kong has also been featured all over the news, so in a bid to show my love for the place <3, I decided to post this.

 I actually flew out to Hong Kong after finishing my finals, to join my Dad for a two-week break away. Despite getting bitten like crazy by mosquitos, I had an awesome time visiting lots of different attractions and eating lots of yummy food.

I had arrived in the evening so whilst adjusting to the humidity, my Dad and I took a walk to Sai Kung pier that was gorgeously lit up by all the buildings. We also watched all the locals sitting on the side catching squid with their little buckets.

When in Hong Kong it's always nice to wander the streets and indulge in lots and lots of food, which is exactly what I did (therefore you can tell this post will be food picture heavy!). I also developed a craving for this amazing fruit, mangosteen, that a family friend brought for me practically everyday. Its such a delicious fruit and I miss not having it all the time.

Since it was my Dad and I's first holiday together ever, we decided to do it the tourist way. On my second day back, we bought ourselves (many) tickets to Ocean Park and headed for a day of fun! My Dad had grown up beside the sea so he absolutely loved the sea life attractions and was once again a kid for a day. He was overly excited about the water fountains in the centre and ended up taking about 50+ photographs purely of them. Later on, we enjoyed a short but sweet performance by dolphins and took many photos. There's so much to see and do in Ocean Park and there definitely was not enough time in one day to visit it all. But of the places we did manage to see, the large fish aquarium was definitely our favourite by far. It was so weirdly thrilling to be so close to all those fish, sharks and stingrays.

Whenever I travel back to Hong Kong it always involves meeting up with relatives and so the next morning began a day full of visiting my dad's family. I met up with my auntie, uncles and cousins and we spent time catching up and (you guessed it...) eating. I literally could not get bored of all the varieties of food that was on offer, it was definitely so much better in comparison to England's finest. We went to a restaurant near the Manhattan Heights' flats called Tao Square and I could not get over their plating decorations and delicious flavours. 

We did some shopping afterwards and just loved seeing all the bright shelves and various forms of drinks that were on offer. I thought that the World Cup 2014 themes lemon teas were so cute as well.

By the evening, we were so tired but considering the fact we were being tourists on this holiday, we just had to visit Victoria Harbour and The Avenue of Stars. We could not have picked a better day to visit, the sky was so clear bar a few clouds and the moon was shining so bright. The combination of lights and calm waters made it so magical. It literally is a 'must' when it comes to visiting Hong Kong.

Also spotted a gold McDull on the Avenue of Stars!

Look out for my Hong Kong (Part 2) post with more pictures of food and places I visited.

Have you ever travelled/wanted to travel to Hong Kong? and if so where are your favourite places to visit?

Love Anna x

October Wishlist

October Wishlist 

It's October time and my first wishlist compilation! Particularly because it's been a while since I updated my make-up collection or bought new products, my October Wishlist mainly consists of make-up that I'd just love especially as Autumn kicks in.

1. Real Techniques Retractable Brushes: Kabuki Brush (Boots, £11.99) and Bronzer Brush (Boots, £13.99)

Recently, I've been rediscovering my love for bronzers and blushes and since I travel around a lot, these retractable brushes would be perfect for my make-up bag. I also love how the kabuki one is also an angled brush, as this makes it great for applying blushes and powders on the cheekbones.

2. Seventeen Cheek Stamp Blush Shades: Stare Struck and Bashful (Boots, £4.99)

The weather is getting colder and it can really drain the colour out of our cheeks, so therefore I've been very obsessed with adding a little bit of colour into my cheeks. One of my favourite products is the Seventeen Cheek Stamp and I currently have it in the shade 'The Cheek Of It' (Click Here to read my previous review on it). I've always wanted to purchase more of them though and since reading some reviews, I'm very keen on trying the shades 'Stare Struck' and 'Bashful' as they are very subtle and warm colours.

3. Nars Blush in Shade: Orgasm (Nars Cosmetics, £22.50)

I've always wanted this blusher, the shade is a perfect colour and it has a little shimmer to add some glow to the cheeks. It would be perfect for adding some warm tones to the face and would compliment some bold and daring red lips. It also happens to be Nars' most popular blusher shade, so obviously everyone else is loving this product as well! Definitely want to get my hands on one.

4. L'Oreal Color Riche Collection Privee in Shade: Eva's Barely Golden (Boots, £8.19)
L'Oreal Color Riche Collection Pure Reds in Shades: Julianne's and Blake's Pure Red (Boots, £6.99)

I came across these L'Oreal lipsticks as I wandered through Boots and since I've always been very cautious with lipsticks, I didn't buy one of my visit. However I've been in a very daring and stepping-outside-my-comfort-zone mood (led me to creating this blog!) and so I'd love to try the Pure Reds collection. I swatched Julianne and Blake's edition and absolutely loved the colours, they are so rich and soft to apply. I feel a red lippy would work well in the autumn season as well as a nude such as Eva's Barely Golden, for a more calm and mild look.

Comment down below if you have these products and what you think of them. Also let me know what's on your October Wishlists!

Love Anna x

Brussels in 24 hours

Brussels in 24 hours

During the Easter, a trip to visit a university friend in Paris turned into a short, whistle-stop holiday to Brussels. My friend and I travelled roughly 14 hours from Sheffield to meet our other friend, Alicia, in the capital of Beligum.

Functioning with very little sleep, we wasted no time in visiting all the famous and wonderful sights in Brussels. Our first stop was Atomium, which was amazing to look at but because of time shortage, we decided to not go up it and instead do an even quicker trip around Europe by going to Mini Europe, which was very fun especially when we found London!