Sydney, Australia Spring 2011: Day 9 Gold Coast, Moreton Island

Whoops, so excited blogging about my Taiwan trip that i totally forgotten about my Aussie travelogues!

After White Water World on Day 8, we changed to another apartment also located at Surfer's Paradise, but the building is much more posh with modern furnishing. So happy because all the accomdations we found are generally under AUD90-100/night. Well worth the money really. You can search on stayz.com.au for holiday apartments to rent no matter which part of Aussie you're in.

So we were suppose to wake up at 5am which is around singapore's 2am? wth and craaaaawled up and prepared for the tour, again minimum makeup since we're going snorkeling so.. pointless right? haha





After preparing and waiting for the lovey dovey couple to prepare i walked past the balcony and saw this.



Freaking gorgeous sunrise!




The tour guide came to the area to pick us up and it was about an hour ride to the port here we will be taking our cruise to the Moreton Islands.

Booked the tour via http://www.viator.com/ you just key in your destination country and the region like select gold coast and all the tours for gold coast would pop out!






It's my first time taking such a cruise, i've always read about it in books and stuff like cruises that transports vehicles and all!




Freezing cold regret not bringing a thicker jacket! I was like oh f cold cold cold cold how to go snorkeling ltr so damn cold! I thought i had enough of the cold weather in Sydney and i'll be warm and toasty in gold coast now lol





Had a yummy warm beef pie for breakfast and warm myself up. heh

Oh while we were on our way to moreton island we past by this entire patch of sea it was INFESTED with jelly fish, like seriously the whole sea that area was PACKED with jellyfish. The cruise was going on quite a fast steady speed and speedy past the jellyfish but the jellyfish doesn't seem to get lesser or end!! It's prolly like a couple of km before we past the "sea of jellyfish"



Like this but really packed together, so freaky!

For a crazy person like me, it still terrifies me to see the whole sea of jelly fish, freaky! Imagine diving without a wetsuit or something stupid and you suddenly find ourself in this "sea of jellyfish" prolly will get stung to death.




Finally reached and we were suppose to get to the bottom level where the vehicles are and get on our 4WD transport to get around on Moreton Islands!

Cold cold cold cold cold. Brrrr



Here we are at Moreton Island!



So basically, decades ago the people here decided to sink the ships couple hundred meters away from the shore and so all the corals and fishes would start "hanging around" the sunken ships and now people have snorkelling tours around there.

Quite interesting yeah to have purposely sank ships to create and encourage tourism.




Our tour guide figuring out our wetsuit size and handing them out!



Fishies, Here we come yo!







She damn zai hahah after snorkeling her falsies and all was still on!


Lunch time!



After lunch we got on our 4WD ride and got ready for a BUMPY ride to the sand dunes where we were gonna try sand boarding! Hahahah





Btw it was REALLY hot! like feet on the sand you go AH AH AH HOT! kinda hot. And we had to walk a looooong way to the sand dunes plus holding our boards, quite an experience i must say.



Lol nothing's more torturous than climbing the sand dunes because every step you climb up you feel like you're sinking in and going two steps back, mad exhausting!



So our tour guide told us to wax our boards, and showed us how it's done!

Hahahah watch jessica's video of her in action to get how it's done, it's really fun thou
Ate a shitload of sand probably, half dead from climbing the sand dunes but i went for a 2nd time hahahah so fun!





End of the day of our tour in Moreton Islands! It was ok, didn't think that it was really worth the 200 over AUD thou, but i really enjoyed the sand boarding hahah, if i could do all sorts of crazy activities in singapore you're see me being crazy like this every day.



♡ Loves, TheLuckiestChick.

Sponsored Advertorial: Triumph Spring Collection 2012: Sexy Cushion

Triumph has just recently released their Spring 2012 collection: Featuring... Sexy Cushion!



For the Spring collection, they are available in an assortment of fresh spring inspired shades from zesty coral and citrus, through to cool aqua and moody blues, crafted with exquisite lace details makes it oh-so SEXY X FRESH X SWEET.





Its unique Memory Cushion cups are soft to the touch, which makes it so comfortable to wear, they are made from technologically advanced memory foam, highly durable and will not change form even after many washes.

You know when some girls are wearing push-up lingerie, everybody can tell that they are instantly because it gives that very "squeezed" and fake look. With Triumph's Sexy Cushion, it creates a fantastic push-up effect that looks completely natural, feels sensationally soft and provides incredible support.

And it also comes with Velvet Cushion Straps which relaese pressure on your shoulders for more comfort!




I'm wearing one of the Sexy Cushion series inner wear and it's so soft and comfortable.

Wearing beautiful, comfortable lingerie makes me feel more womanly & confident. I think any girl would think the same way. So why not go for the best Triumph has to offer? (:





Other than bra sets they also have corsets from the Sexy Cushion Spring 2012 collection, so pretty i love it!




They also sent me a beautiful lacey v cut slipdress so i can look pretty even while having a good night sleep. Thanks Triumph for being so lovely!





Oh by the way, do look out for the QR code which can be found in Triumph's in-store collaterals and bus stop shelters islandwide. If you don't know how a QR code looks like:


This is how QR codes look like! (Source via: link)

Triumph will be posting a simple question on the campaign in their facebook page and 3 lucky winners with the right answer will be walking away with a set of the latest Sexy Cushion bra & briefs that is featured in this post!

Quick babes, go "LIKE" them http://www.facebook.com/TriumphSG and win the prize, Good luck! (:





♡ Loves, TheLuckiestChick.

Sponsored Reivew: Elizabeth Arden Prevage range

Elizabeth Arden recently sent me 3 products from their PREVAGE® Line.
It's basically an anti-aging range, which incorporates the anti-oxidants into the whole series of products.






You've all heard how harmful free radicals are for your skin right? Free radicals are absorbed into your body when you are exposed to environmental assaults like UV rays from the sun, air pollution, cigarette. Basically you can't hide from all these environmental stresser because as soon as you step out of your house you would have contact with pretty much all off the above. Antioxidants are substances that protect the cells in your body. Antioxidants scavenge these free radicals and bind to them before they cause damage.

So you're thinking right now, ok so what's the big deal with free radicals, if we don't have a high level of anti-oxidant to fight the free radicals what would happen?
- You get OLD. Like literally that's how lines and wrinkles appear. Uneven pigmentation develops. Skin loses its natural firmness and elasticity. Sun damage mars the complexion.

So by applying a topical antioxidant, along with a high SPF product, can help protect skin from this damage caused by free radical activity.

So what's so impressive about the PREVAGE® line is that it contains a special anti oxidant called Idebenone. Idebenone is an extraordinary antioxidant, first recognized in the medical field for its protective, restorative and corrective capabilities.

You know how people tell you, eat more berries, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Q10 etc it's great for anti-aging and preserving youth. Why? Because they contain anti-oxidants. So why use Idebenone in the PREVAGE® line?



Here's the EPF® ( Environmental Protection Factor™ ) chart:

Idebenone received an EPF® rating of 95 out of 100, higher than the other common antioxidants tested including alpha lipoic acid, kinetin, vitamin C, vitamin E and coenzyme Q10.

So it can act on all three levels of free radical assaults, working deep within the surface layers of the skin to restore skin cells. It helps prevent further damage and supports skin’s natural repair mechanisms to help address past damage, and provides the most effective and highest level of antioxidant protection available





My favorite product of all three i've tested is the PREVAGE® Hydrating Fluid (S$221.00/50ml)

It's formulated for people with combination/oily/sensitive skin and perfect for us Singaporeans who live in such humid climate, it's lightweight but hydrates well. I only needed a pump of this for my entire face. It absorbs really quickly and does not leave a sticky feeling. Right now i'm only 21 but it's never too early to start their anti-aging regime.

It's better to protect and prevent right? By the time wrinkles appear you can only do botox/fillers to effectively get rid of them, so sad!

I love the design of the bottle because you can twist and lock the pump, so it's great for travel or when you go to the gym/spa after showering you wanna apply your moisturizer but some product packaging is very stupid, don't have the lock feature even thou it's a pump bottle so the content of the product might end up all over your bag when you're traveling etc.




Triple Defense Shield SPF 50 PA++ Sunscreen (S$148.00 / 50ml)

Other than using a product with anti-oxidant like the PREVAGE® line, sunscreen is very important too, the innovative brush-on application is pretty interesting, you turn and click the brush portion to "On" when you want the product to be released and "Off" when you have enough product on your face and you just want to spread on the sunscreen with the brush.

Clever design, great for travel too. But my only concern is after using for afew weeks/months i'm not sure if the brush would turn gunky and gross since the product is always on it and it's on direct contact with our skin too and i'm not sure if i could wash the brush?

I would usually apply some product on my face then spread it with my hands, since my hands are warm it allows the product to be spread on easier too without pulling the skin - might cause wrinkles!

Like the Hydrating Fluid, the Triple Defense Shield is quickly absorbed with a matte finish and does not leave an uncomfortable sticky feeling, no white cast on the face unlike some sunscreens as well. It also helps to correct the appaearance of existing sun damage like fine lines, wrinkles, age spot and uneven skintone and help prevent future aging signs.




PREVAGE® Night Anti-aging Restorative Cream (S$256 /50g )

This was specially formulated to work during the night in sync with your skin's sleep cycle, as it's the time your skin is most receptive to treatments. PREVAGE® Night helps to fight the visible effects of environmental damage from the day and optimize skin's natural moisture and repair capabilities, working to minimize the appearance of lines, wrinkles, discolorations and the effects of sun damage.

Although a night cream is a very important step for anti-aging, especially if you apply serums etc at night you should also apply a night cream to "seal" the moisture in, but for my oily skin, for now it's still a little too rich for me. Probably in a couple of years this would work perfectly for me.





Hope I'll just look younger and younger after using these products! Hahaha maybe not younger and younger but lesser laugh lines/eye lines or whatever.

I've been having breakouts for the past few months so I thought I'd give Ganbanyoku Spa = Anti-Oxidant Therapy at Anti-Oxidant Centre a try!

Ganbanyoku spa is super super super popular with the ladies in Japan and finally this concept has just been brought to Singapore very recently, hopefully it will work for me and I'll have better skin sooooooon! Update you all soon if it works for me! ☺



♡ Loves, TheLuckiestChick.

Taiwan Spring 2012: Day 2 - Taipei // 五分铺. 猫空.

Back to my Taiwan Spring 2012 travelogues! If you haven't read Day 1, here you go: http://theluckiestchick-.blogspot.com/2012/02/taiwan-spring-2012-day-1-taipei.html

You can also find all my other travelogues at the top navigation panel, currently for IE users i still can't figure out the problem but it works perfectly for firefox and Safari!




Woke up at 9 plus and went to take a shower, haha interesting they have the LED light shower head, when the water is too hot the LED lights would flash Red, in between hot and cold it would flash green, and when the water is cold it flashes blue.

So when i shower, it keeps flashing green and red led lights hahahahaha feels like i'm clubbing. play some top40 hits on my iphone while im showering with the flashing lights, i feel like im in a club.. naked & wet.. hahahaha cos i'm showering duh! Somehow it sounds really dirty when you put the words "Club, Naked & Wet" together in a sentence. HAHAHAH

I blogged about how to get the best rates for taiwan hotel and the hotel i stay in on the Day 1 blogpost, so don't ask me where i stay, read Day 1! ♡





My "original" outfit of the day, haha why original outfit of the day?

Went out, realize it's a wee bit warm to wear long sleeve plus jacket plus woolly scarf, it was about 18℃ and in the noon so came back to change into the new flat boots i bought and tank top!



Seeeee! So kawaii they have doggies and kitties EVERYWHERE! Like it's a signature for every shop in tw to have a lazy doggie/kitty lazing outside the store. I guess it works in attracting people to go to their store hahaha, cannot resist going over and give the cute little beast a little pat.

So funny the retail shop owners start work late.. the doggies and kitties "start late" too, at around 11plus the shops around ximending started to open and as they draw open their shop shuttles kitties or doggies will pop out from inside the shop hahaha saw two kitties stretching their back and strutting out of the shops to laze just outside of the shop and bask in the afternoon sun. So cute. ☼



◤ Tips for traveling in Taipei

Shops in taipei generally open only between 10am - 12 noon so there's not point rushing to wake up early to prepare and rush out to start the day early because none of the shops would be open for you anyway!

Good news is even thou they start the day late, their shops generally open till pretty late like around 11-12pm, foodie places usually operate till late, if nothing is open you still have night markets etc!

So relax, enjoy your comfy hotel bed and sleep in till late while holidaying in Taipei!



OHAIYO! Despite taking our time to prepare in the morning, at 10plus ximending is still very very quiet, shops not open yet. (:



Mister Donut for Donuts, Doh!

Some special strawberry party flavor, hehe strawberries were in season so lots of strawberries food related products. Berry berry berry good, Fidel loves! ♡



Leon bought us a pair of One Piece pluggy while walking around xi men ding. Mine is Chopper (yay mitchy matchy with my iphone case that leon got for me too) and Leon's is Migiwara no Luffy!

Hehehe, so maaaaaany designs of pluggy available there you'll go nuts choosing them. Got one Rilakkuma pluggy for my ipad hoho.



◤ Makan Time!

Woots! In Taiwan anytime can be makan time! Hahahah, 走到那里吃到那里。
Go taiwan, MUST EAT/一定要吃。。。鲁肉饭!!!

Please, don't just go for any 阿猫阿狗鲁肉饭 ok. MUST go to 胡须张鲁肉饭,
PS: I repeat, MUST go to 胡须张鲁肉饭! They have been selling 鲁肉饭 since 1960, damn!
(Source via: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AC%8D%E9%AC%9A%E5%BC%B5)




鲁肉饭!!! 鲁肉饭!!! 鲁肉饭!!!

I've been craving for you for 2 years.. since '09 yo!
The 鲁肉饭 that i eat in those Taiwan restaurant in Singapore all like cheat my feeling, bluff people one. Taste NOTHING like the 鲁肉饭 in taiwan.

In Singapore, everytime i see the menu 《《台湾鲁肉饭》》, i'll be like "I WANT! 我现在就要!!不饿我也要!!" But every single time after eating them, never fail to DISAPPOINT me. ☹

Hi Mr. Beardy Zhang, ILU ♡ 胡须张鲁肉饭!!! 来新加坡开间分店吧… !



Simple pleasures of life. Everyday give me one bowl of NT$31 胡须张鲁肉饭, i'll be happy and contented as a Geese? Duck? Dog? Whatever is happy every and contented everyday de ok.


▸ 胡须张 鲁肉饭
地址　// There are 40 over outlets stated in the website but we always got to the one opposite 五分铺, when we exit Hou shan Pi MRT station, just ask anybody around they will know how to get there.
✉ //www.fmsc.com.tw/




◤ Retail Therapy, woots!

五分铺. 五分铺. 五分铺! Is a must go for shopping addicts.

Have your cheap thrills, bargain all you want there. Usually when buying 3 piece and above they would give you the wholesale rate already. But even if you buy one piece aso can try to 杀价!



Hello Leon Boy! ☺

Hahahah, Leon boy cos it sounds like Ivan-Sama in One Piece. Everybody he also call something boy. Bon-boy, Migiwara-Boy!



Hehe, blogged about it previously, click here to see Leon's 猫猫, Ninja in his kawaii polka dot bow! *melts* http://theluckiestchick-.blogspot.com/2012/03/ninja.html



◤ Outfit of the day

• White tank top from Cotton On, hand painted "Deer in a Heart", I hand painted it a couple years ago!
• Grey tattered bottom shorts from Asos.com
• Grey zipper jacket from TheBlogShop.com
• Fake knee length stockings from 西门町
• Black flat boot from 西门町 (bought it that morning for NT490 = SGD$21 only!)

Lol yeah that's leon's arm/armpit he was touching up/styling his hair.

That's what happens when we both see mirrors. Like the world cease to exist. Camwhore/style hair/touch up makeup/if nothing to do to ourselves just stare at our reflection. Hahahaha buay pai seh one.



This is some Long Xu Tang but not nice one. Super sticky, no matter how you chew also stick like mad. Eat until very annoyed hahaha

Ok so this is my 2nd trip to taiwan, but my 1st trip here we stayed in taipei all the way for 7 days and SHOPPED all the way. Not sure if we're old or what, but i have like zero interest in shopping nowadays. Or maybe it's because i was working in the fashion boutique and see too much clothes until scared already. My closet is always on the brim of exploding, like open the closet door will scared my clothes fall down on me that kind. Everytime throw away clothes throw and pack until very bored of it already.

But shop so much for what! hahaha I'm so lucky that the clothes my blogshop sponsors sponsored me years ago even until now i wear also got people compliment say very nice outfit, where to get it etc.

I guess it's all about accessorising, styling your hair a little different once in a while, wearing it with different shoes would give a piece of clothing so much more character. My resolution this year is so save money and not shop so much so i gotta stick to that! ☺

So anyway, we shopping in 五分铺 for like an hour max then i told leon "i'm bored of shopping, where in taipei have i not been to? please bring meeeeeee~"

Lol i think he gave me the sweetest expression ever and told me he ♡ me so much for not being those shop like nuts always spend money on clothes and makeup kinda girl. Awwww, must be such a relieve for a guy right no need to shop with gf?! hahah

LOL! I think i really grow up already, omg i'm getting OLD! FTS! But i used to spend way too much on makeup and clothes, now i feel that there's no point buying anymore. I think my existing makeup products can last me for another few years without buying anymore hahahaha.



So back to the topic, haha told him to bring me somewhere to do some non-shopping related actitivites, suddenly a lightbulb lighted up ontop of his head and he was like 啊啊啊!!! 猫空.

So we were on our way to 猫空。 Went to the 捷运and realized 猫空 is very far from Hou Shan Pi.. so we cabbed!



Hahaha walked past this signboard that made me curious.. what 爱情片子!!!

And my suspicions were right on spot! It's a porno dvd shop, DAFAQ?!
Their porno shop can just 大大方方做生意one hahahaha!



◤ 猫空　▸　Sit back， relax。 赏花。　喝茶。




Leon told me it's the LONGEST cable car ride he has EVER took, I was like.. sure or not, how long can a cable car ride be?



OFF WE GO WOOHOO! Do you like my geeky chic look more or as i am? ✌



DAFAQ?! The cable car ride is about 4km long, it IS long!!! Luckily we had the cable all to ourselves can romantic romantic no need to awkward if other people is around. Hahaha, i started getting comfy and sittng in weird positions.



♡ Love my "fake knee length socks" stockings! hahaha

Finally after like 30-45 minutes then we reach 猫空. It's truly the longest cable car ride i've ever taken. Probably grew a little mold while sitting in the cable car. :P



It's colder at 猫空 cos it's up in the mountains! Bought a 山猪香肠 (sausages made with wild boar meat) and shared with leon while sitting at the ledge and enjoying the view and great weather.

山猪香肠 is not super yummy also leh, but everywhere is selling it so i ate afew of them throughout the whole trip because sometimes it's so cold i just wanna eat something warm! Nom nom.



Cherry Blossoms! The dark raspberry type of sakura. So pretty! Wait for my Day 3 post, the Cherry Blossoms at 清境is - oh, so... Beautiful. ❀



Found this cute cafe called 《《猫空闲，Cat's Got Nothing To Do Cafe》》
Great view by the cafe, you can see the tea plantations, cherry blossoms.. so relaxing!



Our cake has a bunny chocolate topping on it! Yummy cheesecake.



Of course we can't miss having some good warm tea in the awesome cooling spring weather, Leon had the Yuzu tea which i loved and i had the peach tea also very fragrant. ☺

I think it's super romantic for couple to come up to 猫空, 坐缆车，喝茶.




Bye-bye 猫空.
Took the cable car back down to take 捷运 back to 西门町.

Hahaha on our way to Taipei Zoo Station there were these animal paw print on the ground and we found our paw prints!



Hahahah he's born in the Tiger year and i'm born in the Horse. Miniature horse hoof prints so cute, round round one!


◤ Entertainment.. on the go!

Took the 捷运 back our hotel in 西门町 and we saw this, super old gramps , a street artist who does human face cutouts, he's like really old but hand still super steady and really quite zai and it cost like TWD100 = SGD4, good entertainment. Hahahah





◤ Makan Time!

Yes it's nom nom time again, muahahaha :D

Went back to the hotel to rest and nua for 30 minutes and we cabbed to 寧夏夜市. Ning Xia Night Market for dinneeeeeeer! From 西门町 you can take mrt (ask the MRT info counter where is the nearest station and it's a short walk from the MRT, they tell us have to walk very far but actually quite near). Cabbing from 西门町 is about TWD100+ only so actually can just cab haha

寧夏夜市. Ning Xia Night Market, unlike Shi Lin Night Market, they have no shopping etc. Plain ol' awesome food paradise!!!! Blogging about this is making my tummy growl, so torturous! Send me on the plane to taiwan noooooooooow! ✪

1. Sashimi ▹ TWD100 = SGD$4 only. So fresh so yums!
2. Caramelized Sweet Potato ▹ Forgot how much but cheap and it's my absolute favorite. It's sweet and crispy on the outside, and soft and melty in the inside!
   
3. Smelly Tofu. 臭豆腐 ▹ I love it! I'm quite weird this way but this smellier the BETTER! Not smelly enough i don't want to eat. HAHAHAHA It's not like i have a fetish for smelly things, but smelly is just awesome for 臭豆腐

Hahaha lucky my boyf love to eat everything I love to eat. I kinda dislike people who are squirmish about food, this one don't dare to eat, that one don't dare to eat. Especially guys, ewwww man up!

OMG THIS IS MY FAVORITE!　嘉義火鸡肉饭. Turkey Rice.
This is like the 2nd must-eat after 胡须张 鲁肉饭 in taiwan. Seriously eat this one already, Singapore's chicken rice cannot compare!

We put the TWD60 there because two bowls of this awesome shit i meant, stuff is only TWD60 = Less than SGD$2.50

it's been around since 19(freaking)66. 1966 leh! 胡须张 鲁肉饭 also started in the 1960, what is this! Is the nineteen-sixties the freaking awesome food invention year?! I want to invent a time machine just so i can go back to 1960 to see what other good food are there!



I finished one bowl of 火鸡肉饭 within minutes and proudly told leon I want to tabao back another bowl to the hotel to eat for supper HAHAHAHA, he looked at me, gave me a shocked/impressed expression and told me I'm an amazing gf. ♡

Hahahahaha but of course he didn't tabao because he knew that even if he did, I won't be able to eat it when i'm back at the hotel. Which is true la, my tummy was too crammed with food to stuff in anything more hahaha he knows me the best.




▸ 寧夏夜市
地址 // Take cab, tell driver 寧夏夜市 TWD 100+ from 西门町 OR via 捷運 (中山捷運站2號出口右轉沿著南京西路直走，走一段路至圓環右轉即為寧夏路為寧夏夜市)



Omg I don't want to blog about food already, so torturous you know! Now i feel so disappointed with myself hahaha I wish my stomach is bigger and i could stuff more food in there.

I wish i was a hamster so i can keep in my cheek pouches and slowly eat when i'm back here in Singapore, but NO! Hamster cheek pouches are too small! 开分店 in Singapore please!



Back to the hotel! Hahahah look at this kawaii Chopper girl boxers Leon got me! He wanted to buy me this chopper blinged with swarvoski hoodie too but i stopped him because it's super warm and i probably won't get to wear it in Singapore.

Love the boxers to death thou, so cute! Tony Tony Chopper!



Hehehe, didn't tabao 嘉義火鸡肉饭 but i have my caramelized sweet potato which leon fed me while i watch one piece on my ipad!

Muahaha, when we were in Taiwan almost every night we went to bed with our rounded tummy full of yummy food. So unhealthy but we don't care! hahaha our motive was to stuff ourselves full of the good food then come back Singapore then starve ourselves back in shape. 哈哈哈!　疯了, I know but that's just us! haha

Ok! Day 3.. Road trip to 清境, lots of beautiful sakura blossoms. ❀❀❀




Loves, TheLuckiestchick.