Kota Kinabalu Trip: Essence Cosmetics, Book Haul And A Near-Death Experience

Hello there..

This is a quick post on my trip to Kota Kinabalu for 3 days and 2 nights. If you've been reading my blog over the past year, you'd know that I'd always post about my KK trips. It has kind of become a tradition of sorts. Even though it might typically be the same 'plot' (dim sum lunch, Starbucks for tea time then sushi for dinner), I'd still document the trip because Kota Kinabalu is my happy place and I'd like to look back and remember the fun I had.

So true to 'tradition' my sister and I arrived at KK in time for a late lunch. We ordered dim sum and ravenously tucked in. Dim sum is always best enjoyed with a friend(s) I think. Kalau makan saturang tidak best. :)



Our first purchase went to Padini. RM15 per pair! I snapped these babies up for work and play. Isn't the hot pink simply gorgeous? It has really comfy padding in the sole too.



After window shopping to our heart's content, we settled on demurely Marine hunk people watching over a Starbuck drink of our choice. I chose the Raspberry Truffle Frappuccino. In Venti Size of course.



The 'damage' on Day 1: Pants, bibs and books for Sophie. Okay, I confess that the color pencils and cupcake activity book is mine.  Sophie's pants were on sale for buy 1 free 1 at RM15 and the bibs were RM11 for 3.







Day 1 closed with us ordering room service of a Club Sandwich each. Sorry, no photos are included because we were so hungry we didn't even care if  we wouldn't be able to produce a photo as proof in this instance.



Day 2 started off with a buffet brekkie and proceeded with me almost being run over by a huge bus near the hotel on my way back from Suria Sabah that afternoon. No photo of the near accident as proof but I was so shaken that I just ate Cheddar crisps and crackers dunked in Nutella for lunch. What? Stop looking at me with those beady judging eyes. I almost died okay.

Bought Raspberry Kit Kat and Pepero for the fam. The tea was my attempt at leading an organic and balanced life *chortle*.



Apparently, Harris Bookstore is moving so they had a clearance sale with books dropping prices from RM35.90 to RM12/RM10/RM8 or getting a 50% off original prices for non-members and 70% off for members. I initially picked about 10 books but eventually just reduced them to the selection below. I am after all, trying to de-clutter my stuff and believe me, I fully intend to pass on the equal amount of books to better homes once I come back from my trip in shaa Allah.



Bought a few stuff from Watsons. Love the Ellips hair oil, bought the Vaseline and plasters for my foot blisters, wet wipes for general use and a few items from Essence Cosmetics. Again, 4 cosmetic items coming in, 4 items will also be going out to better homes in shaa Allah.



Who doesn't love Daiso? It's so easy to get carried away in that darned shop. I love the one at 1Borneo, it's so organised and spacious. The one at Suria Sabah gives me a headache. Anyways, I got a small clothes hamper, brush hand duster with pan and a floral spectacle case for myself, a back rest for my mum, and a fishing toy set for Sophia.



We discovered that if you are from Padang Bandaran, you can take the Sepanggar bus to 1Borneo at the bus stop near KFC. There's no need to go all the way to Wawasan Plaza. If you use the City Bus the fare is RM1/pax and if it's the big blue and white bus it's RM2/pax.

The night ended with us eating instant noodles for dinner using bowls as well as plates (to cover the bowls) borrowed from the hotel cafe. It made me remember the good old student days at the hostel where instant noodles were a life source.

Day 3 and Alhamdulillah, with Rizqi so generously bestowed upon us we had an awesomely delicious lunch at Nagisa restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu. I ordered the Sashimi Set (RM65++) and my sister ordered the Sushi Set (RM70++). The view was gorgeous and we wished that we had more time to enjoy the meal at a leisurely pace.



Happy to be able to bring a small piece of the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu experience back home to our parents and Sophia to enjoy. These chocolate chip cookies were purchased at Mozaic at RM28++ and they have about 1 month shelf life.



Ingat kami makan jak kah on the 3rd day? Oh tidak, tidak sama sekali. Before we had our lunch we went to The Body Shop to buy shower gel for my sister and eye gel for me. Turns out both of the items were under a buy 3 free 1 item promo. I decided to buy the Wild Argan Massage Soap which I had been eyeing for a while and so my sister chose a mini Vitamin E moisturizer as the free item. Since our purchase was enough for us to get a 50ml shower gel for free, I chose the Wild Argan one to try.



Was that all? No, sorry dearies but we're almost at the end I promise. Hehehe... Again, Alhamdulillah I was abundantly blessed to having a high end lip product of my choice being paid for so I chose Chanel's Rouge Allure Gloss in 16 Extase. I also got the Le Jour set sample to try which I am so excited about!



We boarded the bus back at noon and our trip came to an end. Alhamdulillah, we made it back safe and sound. I hope you enjoyed this little recap of the trip. I certainly enjoyed sharing it with you.

What's your fondest memory while on vacation? Do share in the comments section below. Toodles!

Project Less Stuff Less Stress 1.0

Hello hello dearies..

I have been thinking of de-cluttering my makeup collection and room in general the past week and I finally had the chance to do it last Sunday. I had concentrated on getting rid of my non-beauty items first because I had to make room for a new tv that we are getting just for my dad. While I have put aside some makeup items that I know I can do without, I know there's more.

I must warn you that my makeshift vanity area was very messy and out of control. Also, my furniture are very old. In fact, they are older than I am! So you will see battered and scratch-riddled pieces rich with family history and not pristine Ikea furniture. :)

Are you ready? Have a look at the before photo:

Disaaasssterrrr... And this is just my 'vanity'.

I had to sort through a looootttt of things from clothes to accessories, body care, crafts, etc and it took me the whole day. All in all I did enjoy myself although there was a moment early in the evening when I actually felt absolute panic settling in.

It was caused by seeing a pile of stuff on the bed and realizing that not only do they belong to no specific category, there was also no place to put them away. I felt like I was merely moving my stuff around and not getting rid of enough which is crazy since I have 2 full plastic bins worth of junk to throw out, 2 bags of clothes and accessories as well as a box of baby clothes to donate.

Whaaaatt the???

Some of the junk lurking in my closet: Video cover pencil case (doesn't it bring back memories?), clasps I used to collect to make my own necklace, 1 cent coins that are no longer in use and a mountain of baby clothes (and a sprinkle of adult tops).

Here is the after photo:

Tadaaaa...

I still have a lot of stuff because not only is it a work in progress (to be resumed after work and on my next day off), I am also retaining things like body care and skincare that I have accumulated over the years to use them up. I am thinking of doing a Project Use Up 10 Items which essentially is pretty much the same as a Project 10 Pan but it's a mish mash of makeup, skincare, hair care and body care and it will be about using up products instead of just 'hitting pan'.

By the way, I had visited Youtube to find ideas on how to go about my cleaning/clearing project and was surprised to find that a lot of makeup gurus/junkies on there have actually jumped on the de-cluttering bandwagon although they mainly concentrate on cleaning out their makeup collections. Apparently, it has become a trend of sorts.

One Youtuber stood out above the rest however. Like me, she did not only go about clearing out her makeup pile but also all the unnecessary stuff in her house. I really like her because she is pretty brutal and very logical at the same time. If she haven't reached for an item in a year, the color doesn't suit her or the smell irritates her, she chucks them out either by donating to her local women's shelter or giving them to friends and family to enjoy (even high end makeup!). As for non-makeup items she either throws them/donate or sells them off at a yard sale. She really got me pumped up on doing this project.

Are you happy with the way your room/house is at the moment? Or can it use a bit of spring cleaning? Share your thoughts below darlings. Till the next post, toodles!



Love,
Phy