seventytwo.

majolica majorca pressed pore powder.

for those of you who have not heard of the majolica majorca brand before, it’s a japanese makeup brand by shiseido, and i believe it’s meant to be more affordable and geared towards a younger crowd than shiseido, but i still don’t think it comes cheap. the pressed pore powder shown here is about 550NT at a run-of-the-mill drugstore in taiwan (i purchased it at watsons).

i’d heard of the brand before and i was attracted by its pretty packaging, so i went for it even though i couldn’t read any of the instructions printed on the package. i’m addicted to oil control powders because my t-zone gets pretty shiny fairly early on in the day (my typical go-to fixes being mac blot pressed powder and any shine-control sheets) and i wasn’t disappointed by this pretty powder. as far as shine control goes, it works at least as well as my usual mac powder. i’ve been traveling between taipei and shanghai this summer, and both have ridiculously hot and humid climates (i think shanghai, where i am right now, may take the cake). however, even with all the humidity, my skin manages to look okay if i’ve used one of these powders on my face.

have you ever noticed how some asian girls, the ones who know how to apply makeup really really well, appear to have skin that can’t even be described as flawless, because it’s even better than that? haha. well, i’ve never really been able to achieve that wonderfully fresh look, but i feel like the majolica majorca powder has helped me get further on that path than i’ve ever been before. aside from shine control, it doesn’t have much color (only comes in one shade), but it has this lustery skin brightening effect without looking shiny. it’s pretty great and makes your skin look nice and energized.

this compact comes with a cute little soft sponge applicator, but just as with my mac powder, i prefer using a big face (kabuki) brush to apply. it’s more even coverage that works well for my goal of shine-control.

i highly recommend this powder for anyone who wants to try it. it’s definitely something i see myself buying again in the future.

seventyone.

bali, indonesia.

talk about your tropical paradise. we took a 5 day, 4 night trip to bali before charles gets tied down with school for the next couple of years, and it was rather wonderful. everyone there is so friendly, and all the hotel staff spoke english. we didn’t venture out of the resorts much, but here’s a review of the places we stayed at.

ayana resort and spa

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located about 30 minutes south of the airport, this resort is truly a one-stop island fun destination. previously the ritz-carlton, ayana covers a vast area and includes 5 restaurants, multiple wedding pavillions, at least 4 pools, an award-winning spa, a putting golf course and a private guest-only beach (kubu beach) among other things. it’s also a convenient place to stay if you’re considering venturing out of the resort grounds and exploring local bali.. i believe it’s not too far from the bustling town of kuta. the resort includes many regular hotel rooms and also villas that seem to stretch out forever in every direction. we stayed in a hotel room, but i bet the villas are to die for.

here’s some highlights we enjoyed during our 2-night stay at ayana:

padi: main restaurant. the breakfast buffet is served here, and it is majorly delicious. you could potentially eat any or all of your meals here, as it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

dava: be prepared to walk a long way (in low light) unless you live in a villa, since this place is hidden within the villa maze. i believe it’s only open for dinner, except for special spa treatments that include afternoon tea that take place at dava. however, it’s a very nice restaurant; beautiful, classy with good food. it overlooks the exclusive cliff villa pool, which as a really great intricate design.

kisik: our favorite dining experience for the whole trip. with sand underfoot, on a cliff overlooking the ocean and salt water pool, how could you not feel like you’re in paradise. the setting is like a fish market. pick your own seafood from the displays and dictate how you’d like it prepared. the meal comes with soup, salad and rice. it was the best bouillabaisse i ever had.

rock bar: next to the salt water pool. we didn’t eat here but it is beautiful, especially for sunset. it has a crazy lift elevator that takes you down the cliff to the bar and the salt water pool.

sami sami: italian fare near the main pool. we didn’t eat here, but i find no reason not to assume the food wouldn’t also be delicious, haha.

spa: voted best spa by a travel magazine (i forget which). i can see why.. it was awesome.

salt water pool: on the lower level near the rock bar. hands down, best pool i’ve ever been in! nearly all the pools are infinity pools and this one is no exception. there was great poolside drink and food service, and the scenery was just without parallel.

kubu beach: there’s a shuttle from the hotel’s main entrance that takes you to kubu beach. it’s also walkable from the resort, but even if you’re up for the walk, honestly the signage is very lacking and you’ll probably get slightly lost (like we did). luckily a hotel driver passed us by and was kind enough to pick us up and drop us off at the top of the kubu beach stairs. it was 185 steps down, which was fine.. but the 185 steps back up to the shuttle stop was a little killer. the beach is worth visiting, though.. really beautiful and serene, and since it’s a resort-exclusive pool, not much company.

kisik beach and the salt water pool to the right, all part of the view from the kisik restaurant.

seafood market style selections at the kisik restaurant.

us at kubu beach.

view from the rock bar.

alila villas soori

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after our stay at ayana, we drove 2 hours north to alila villas soori. this is a newer hotel than ayana, and it consists of only all-pool villas. this place may as well have had the word “exclusive” stamped all over it. i felt like a celebrity hiding out on vacation, haha. we had a beach front villa and the back of our villa opened straight into.. you guessed it.. the beach. the beach was absolutely stunning.. black (volcanic) sand made it really special, and the sand was the finest i’d ever touched. there were tiny little crabs running back and forth between holes in the sand all the time.. it was so cool.

there was free resort-wide wifi at alila which was great. internet of any kind cost a ton at ayana, so we were feeling a bit disconnected from the world there. alila villas soori is a much smaller resort than ayana, but it’s good for a secluded getaway, especially for couples. the spa was still wonderful.

restaurants: the main restaurant is cotta, which serves indonesian and international fare. coast is closer to beach than cotta but probably shares the same kitchen as cotta. they’re pretty much the same restaurant with different menus. they use ”ingredient driven” cuisine at coast. drift is a lounge we walked past all the time but i never saw anyone in there.. not staff or guests. lol. a lot of people eat inside their villas here because the villas are just too nice. we did kill one cockroach in our bathroom the second night, though.. i guess there’s only so much you can do when the resort is on a tropical island and every part of your room connects to the outdoors.

tanah lot temple: the most visited temple in bali is a 20-30 minute drive away from alila villas soori. it’s probably the only place worthwhile to visit when you’re staying at this resort because it’s just so far away from everything else. please note that even if you wear a sarong you can’t actually go into the temple, it seems. so even if you visit tanah lot, you’re basically just standing on the cliffs and beaches there, gazing at the temples. they sell clothes and souvenirs outside, though.

the black sand beach was a nice backdrop for all the beachfront villas.

ask and you shall receive. the hotel helped us arrange a guided beach horseback riding session. my butt hurt after the hour, though

so that was our bali trip! we had fun, and i think bali is worth it to visit at least once. what a beautiful place!

seventy.

just downloaded the wordpress ipad app. updating should be easier now. i want to do a new blog.. american girl in china. still deciding if i’ll just retitle this one or start a new one altogether. stay tuned..

sixtynine.

okay okay. so the months pass by really quickly when i check my blog and realize how long it’s been since the last time i updated. the next time i feel like time’s been passing really slowly.. i’ll check my blog. haha.

i didn’t update after charles left for taiwan because i felt really sad. i still feel sad but it’s time.

i’ve just been going to clinic, seeing my friends, hanging with the nephews.. not too much exciting stuff to report. as usual, i’ll just post some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

i got this fortune cookie when i went to eat dim sum with bev, johnny & the kids. i like how it says nothing at all, basically.

we went to dinner at porto alegre in pasadena (love brazillian bbq!) to celebrate jen's birthday last week. that's me, heang, jen & brian. peter's taking the picture.

we're allowed one "personal day" off from clinic while we're at school, so heang and i took off the same afternoon and went shopping at south coast plaza. jennell met up with us after work and we ate at anqi, the sister restaurant to crustacean. it was good!

me and jennell this time. i'm realizing i wear the same color clothes often.

some of the delicious food we ordered. it's all tapas style, asian fusion.

anqi's signature garlic noodles with lobster. it was delicious!

this saturday, bev and i attended my godbrother kevin’s wedding. it wasn’t actually a wedding, it was just a reception.. i don’t think they wanted to make a big thing of it and jin (the bride) didn’t wear a wedding gown or anything. it was at mission 261 restaurant in san gabriel, and the food was really good. everything i would want to eat at a fancy chinese dinner

with my godparents on the left and the bride and groom on the right.

ready to cut the wedding cake!

a couple of sisters, waiting around.

i tagged along to the aquarium of the pacific with bev, johnny & the kids yesterday. that place will always hold a special place in my heart. i used to volunteer there when i was in high school and i just loved it. it was too bad the lorikeet cage was closed for maintenance yesterday.. love those little birds. i just took a couple pics on my phone.

jaws! haha

charles and i also took some impromptu engagement photos right before he left. we needed some pictures to use for our save the date, so we did this really last minute. they’re not done, and i’m not ready to share them all yet, but here’s a couple..

look, we're back in high school! haha. what a couple of old high school kids.

this one was at hesse park.

okay, that’s it for now!

sixtyeight.

i had a great weekend! charolls and i headed to disneyland with bev & johnny on saturday, then we stayed overnight and went to california adventure on sunday. it was a collective 30th birthday celebration for the two of them (even though johnny’s bday is long past and bev’s is coming up) and we crashed it they didn’t bring the kids because, face it, they don’t understand yet. i personally don’t think it’s worth it to bring your kids on any big trips until they’re old enough to remember it. jack would’ve probably enjoyed being there, but he still doesn’t have great control over his emotions all the time and he was just as happy that his babysitter was coming over to play with him at home. also, the trip really was for the adults, and we would’ve been really limited on what we could do and enjoy if we had the kids around.

we got to do everything we wanted at disneyland, but unfortunately the haunted mansion was closed because they’re setting up the holiday decorations sad! it’s one of our favorite rides. we hit all the other hot spots, though. the lines weren’t too long and i think we used our fastpasses wisely, haha. we had dinner by the water at the blue bayou, and i really enjoyed it! i thought the food was pretty good and i definitely liked the vibe. i highly recommend it. the only thing i wouldn’t recommend is the finding nemo ride for anyone over 13. it’s so boring and so cramped, and the line was way too long. it was the only really long and boring line we stood in.

i really wanted california adventure to be exciting, but i was so tired from the day before that i just couldn’t enjoy it the way i enjoyed disneyland. also, i’d been looking forward to the toy story ride the most, and it was the only one that was closed!! zOmg. so sad. we got through really fast and left by mid-afternoon. bev and johnny took off a bit earlier than us to get back to the kids. my favorite part of california adventure was something they didn’t get to share with us, unfortunately.. it’s where you go in this big room and they teach you how to draw a disney character. we drew jack skellington. it’s funny.. we didn’t scan the pictures, but even though we followed all the same directions from the artist drawing on the projector, mine ended up all round and cute looking and charles’ was all professional and fierce looking. i guess that’s why i’m not an artist

charles brought his DSLR and took a ton of pictures, but i’ll just post a few down here. the rest are linked at the disneyland album in the sidebar, if you’re interested.

we were sooo excited to meet buzz, haha.

i always eat the same clam chowder in a breadbowl for lunch everytime i go to disneyland. i swear it's the best clam chowder i've ever had from anywhere. you have to get it at this place -- other parts of disneyland have clam chowder as well, but it's just not as good.

charles and i are just really glad we got johnny this shirt. a guy walked by us and was like, "and awesome you are!" haha. that was awesome.

obligatory group shot.

i've never had beignets before, and bev had been hyping them up for weeks. i wanted to try them, but i honestly didn't think they'd be that good or anything. omg i was wrong! they are SOO delicious, almost a substitute for mister donut.. almost. i especially loved the small versions perfect for dunking in maple syrup that they had for breakfast.

we took a ton of random pictures in front of california adventure while we were waiting for the park to open. here’s the result. hahaha.

o for o'neal.

c for cheng.

and johnny says, "let's all jump together!" .......... liar.

charles and i prepare for battle, just another ordinary fight.

johnny's levitating and i'm just concentrating on my hair.

anyway, there’s way too many pictures to share on here, so that’s the cutoff. click on the sidebar link, there’s so many more fun ones

sixtyseven.

quick update.

a while ago, philip sent me a link to this youtube video, saying that it reminded him of me.

obviously, i had to do it. i felt inspired and childlike this weekend so i set out for the task. i don’t have the smaller, artsy nail polish bottles, so i had to use toothpicks for the whole thing. using my left hand to paint my right hand was so difficult but i did it. it’s a little worse than the other hand, but it worked. the only thing that was annoying was that the top coat started making the colors bleed, even though i waited a good half hour after making the design before painting on the clear top. here’s the result.

be careful what videos you send me. hahaha

hope you all try it, too

sixtysix.

it’s funny. looking at the pictures from my last blog post, it doesn’t seem like all of that happened very long ago, but it’s been almost a year! i’ve had the luxury of consistently having my mom around for the last year, and i got lazy with the posts because i knew she didn’t have to read them to keep up with my life. also, school got so crazy busy that i just got out of the habit. who has the time?

i’ve now completed my first rotation at new eyes in las vegas and i’m back to school for my second rotation. hours are definitely longer here, but i guess it’s more comprehensive learning. taking it one day at a time, for sure.

in most recent news, i got to hang out with jennellypants on friday. i hardly ever get to spend time with her, in between my busy school schedule and her hectic work schedule, so it was a miracle that we both happened to have last friday off. we went to lunch at a korean place in arcadia near charolls’ house and spent the day shopping for work clothes for her. a congratulations is in order because in a few weeks, she’ll be starting her new job as assistant manager at piaget in south coast plaza! i’m so proud. anyway, we went to a celebratory dinner at katsuya in the americana at brand. charolls took some pictures of us with his new lens.

i love pictures with blurry backgrounds!

and the fountain goes.. SPLASH!

getting some post-dinner crepes. they were delicious!

the next morning, charolls and i went to bottega louie in LA for brunch. i had been excited for this for some time, since i’ve only ever heard good things about the dining experience there. jennell’s a fan as well. sadly, i was extremely underwhelmed with the food. i actually went there twice over the long weekend (i wanted to give it another try) but both times, i felt like the food was sub-par. i did enjoy the store and the environment, though. i still feel like it’s worth going there at least once, but probably not for any amazing culinary offerings.

some of the artful pastries bottega louie has to offer.

i like this photo of me carrying out some tarts for bev & johnny to try.

that night, charles’ sister katherine had a sort of farewell party at my house in hollywood. not literally my house.. it’s a club. haha. her friend funded the endeavor and i got to have some dom perignon which really isn’t very good, which is disappointing. katherine gave me some of her fake eyelashes to wear that night, and i looked completely insane in person, but it really made my eyes pop in the pictures we took. heang came out with us to join the festivities.

my battle with the fake eyelashes begins!

the result. i didn't wear much other makeup (unless chapstick is makeup) but look how long my eyelashes are! haha

charolls thinks he's so cool. i just like the blurry photo frames in the hallway.. i liked this shot.

a brother-sister pair at my house.

we are living the LIFE, man!

me & heang. thank goodness for friends.

so that was part of my weekend. bev also had a garage sale with a lackluster turnout.. i wonder how to get more people to come by. johnny’s comic books sold remarkably well, though. guess there’s more nerds out there than we thought

in other news, here’s some older shots, since, you know, i haven’t updated in a year.

grabbing lunch at noshi with jen & lana right before lana caught her flight back to dc for her next rotation.

knott's berry farm with charolls & david.

then elaine stopped by to say goodbye before leaving for her rotation in sacramento. everyone's spreading out!!

and here’s a last photo of everyone when they came to visit me in vegas over july 4th weekend.

all of us before getting into XS.

i’ll try to update more consistently, but my life lacks consistency sometimes!