Boxing Day 2013

New Town Plaza, Shatin

After having some crazy fun in the past few days, I decided to stay home on the Boxing Day for some good rest before going back to work tomorrow. 

It's a lazy day - I slept till noon time and got up for lunch, followed by grabbing a takeaway coffee and getting a new book. 

AND NOW I am sorting out my study notes. I have been typing my own notes for exams and very often I handwrote remarks after printing the stuff. 

And, I insisted not to throw them away before I add those remarks into the softcopy too. So, I am doing this.

To be honest, the chance for reading those notes again is very low, however, I just think I have to do it. A waste of time that it could be, this is one of the things which just makes me feel right. 

Melo Spa at Hyatt Regency Shatin

Probably one of the best spa experience that I have ever had!

I visited Melo Spa at Hyatt Regency Shatin in mid-August, thinking that I deserved some good treat after some hard work in the office. So I had this 4-hour Vitality Spa Package which was simply, amazing.

This is the treatment room - probably the largest treatment room in all hotel spas in Hong Kong.   

The package consisted of 5 treatments (info provided by Melo Spa):

Melo Signature bath (30mins)
It is the energising whirlpool with a blend of aroma sea salt (lemon and mandarin), helps to uplift and tone the skin.

Melo Marmalade Body Polish (60mins)
It uses fresh Sha Tin Pomelo rind blends with brown sugar and citrus essential oil to slough away the dry skin while restoring hydration. The perfect accompaniment to any body massage or facial!

Melo Signature Massage (60mins)
This is Melo Spa's signature massage which uses the Vitality essential oil blend with lemon, orange and thyme and followed by heated herbal compresses that relieve tension and soreness, which relaxes tight muscles and awakens the spirit.

Melo Signature Facial (60mins)
This is the Spa's signature facial which uses the organic product from Hungary named EMINENCE. Natural organic plant extracts and essential minerals help promote cell regeneration and provide antioxidants. This facial offers a wide of cleansers, tones, exfoliates, masques, serums, eye creams and moisturizers to target the specific skin care needs, leaving the skin healthy and radiant.

Eye Bright (30mins)
This treatment uses EMINENCE products as well and it deeply hydrates the delicate skin around the eyes, erases fine lines, and reduces puffiness and dark circles while gently exfoliating the skin to leave the eye contour smooth and firm.

Believe it or not, the day after the spa, my colleague asked me if I have lost weight - the spa does help ease water retention!

Taipei - W Hotel

I have been a big fan of W Hong Kong (and many other Starwood hotels such as St. Regis) and I was told many times how great W Taipei is. It didn't take me too long to decide that this is the hotel I should stay.

Hotel entrance

The check-in was quick: do remember to sign up as a Starwood Preferred Guest before your visit to enjoy complimentary in-room wifi at W Taipei. The registration is FREE and there are different privileges that you may be entitled to, simply by being a member (vs many other similar programs require certain amount of accumulated spending). For example, my room was upgraded when I was staying at Le Meridien in Paris last Christmas.

This is where I am sitting and writing this blogpost. If there's one thing that I should be unhappy with this room is this orange blanet - the fabric is too rough.

I LOVE big beds! I am still deciding which one I should go for tonight!

Shampoo, conditioner, body butter, face wash and body wash are Bliss products which I used a lot when I was a frequent Bliss spa visitor in Hong Kong.

I visited Woobar in the afternoon for a lychee martini - NTD380 plus 10%

Bar on the 31/f floor - the view is so so but the mocktail that I had was good - NTD320 plus 10%. I met a staff called Patsy there and she's very nice. I hope she'd be visiting Hong Kong soon. 

And somehow they knew that it's my birthday and they sent me this lovely cake. 

My experience in the hotel so far is great - everyone I met, including the receptionists, waiters, guest service officers, is helpful and attentive. I am hoping that the weather will be fine today so I can enjoy a drink by the poolside. Fingers crossed!

Taipei - the basics (part one)

Ok I have spent 30 minutes with the introduction but I cannot write a good thing - so let's make it practical and straight forward!

Visa
The application cannot be easier - I have it done online within 10 minutes but remember to bring the printout and carry that with you all the time. I was asked to show the paper together with my passport when I was checking in the hotel.

Taxi from the airport to the city
You pay for the convenience - the fare was NTD1,260 for my trip to my hotel at Xinyi District. Not cheap considering how much people in Taiwan make on average.

Watch out for part two on public transport.

朋友

我本來想睡了，但朋友跟我說了一件事，我覺得應該把此事的learning記下來，共勉之。

其實我們大家都活了這些年，都應明白世上有好人，亦有壞人，也要明白天是要一點時間才可以「收晒啲壞人」（地球的好人很多，但壞人也不少！），所以更要學懂不要將壞人說的話放在心上，要「左耳入、右耳出」。

生活的難處已經夠多，真的不需要太在意一些人的說話，一些傷人利己的說話。

祝大家有個快樂的星期一。

beautybay.com and aromatherapy associates

I bought this Aromatherapy Associates Essential Skincare Introductory Set today at the Mira Spa. Before I made the purchase, I found that it's available at beautybay.com and I was annoyed to find it costs $170 less online - $490 at the Mira Spa and $320 online. However I do want this for my Phuket trip next week so I had to pay this price. 

LESSON LEARNT - must check beautybay.com before making any skincare/cosmetic purchase!

I bought some Urban Decay products from this website before and I have to say that it was a fabulous shopping experience - wide range of brand and products (many of which are not available in HK) and the delivery is SPEEDY - it takes 7 to 10 days only.  

I got to know Aromatherapy Associates through my facial treatment at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, and since then I bought some of its products from time to time. It's my first time getting a full set of skincare products and watch out for my review after my Phuket trip! Stay tuned!

又一年了。

又一年了。

這陣子無故記起，為甚麼那天晚上我爸會接我回家，因為我爸只會在日間接我，晚上都是我自己回家的。那一次，大概是因為SARS肆虐。

這樣，就十年。

The first two months in 2013...

It's been quite a while since my last entry and life in the last two months was filled with lots of fun.

The highlight was definitely two friends visiting Hong Kong from Bangkok. Alice was my flatmate when I was studying in the UK and we hadn't seen each other until my visit to Bangkok in September 2011. She was visiting with her boyfriend and it was so much laughters and we chatted a lot about "the good old days". One of the most memorable bit of the days was our fight against a middle-age male flatmate who said we should follow his instruction because he was a cambridge graduate!

Time for dessert....TBC...

My Christmas/New Year trip 2012/13

I had 4 resolutions for 2012 and unfortunately I only achieved one of them, and that's the Christmas/New Year in Paris and London.

I hadn't been to the UK and Europe again since I graduated from uni and this is my first long haul trip in the past 6 years. I am truly glad that I had this holiday to leave work and study behind to have some time for myself. To reflect and refresh.

In the next few weeks I will share my trip experience and hope people who are planning to visit London and Paris may find some of the tips useful.

Cheers,
miss p