Snippets of our honeymoon ~ Koh Lanta, Thailand

We tied the knot one year ago on 5/3/2012 where we signed our nuptials, but we had our wedding reception on 2/2/2013.

Anyway, back to our honeymoon.I always wanted our honeymoon to be on a beach with clear blue ocean and we decided on Koh Lanta, Thailand. It's a remote island close to Krabi (a popular destination which we decided to avoid).

Travel date: 2/4/2013-2/6/2013

We flew in from Kuala Lumpur (that's where we had our wedding reception) to Krabi and took a taxi from the airport to the ferry port. You would think taxi from the airport is safe. WRONG!!! The taxi took us to a different port where he probably had a deal with the ferry operator. We didn't realize at first as everything was in Thai and the ferry operator kept trying to sell us tickets. We decided not to buy the tickets as it seems odd. There was no one besides us at the port. I would expect the port to be bustling with passengers etc. We walked around the port and saw a sign with a different port name that we had originally wanted to go. We confronted the taxi driver (yeah, he was sitting on the bench outside chatting with the ferry operator) and with his frustrated face, drove us to the correct port. I was a bit scared to be honest. who knows if he'll drive us to a secluded area and rob us. I was snapping a ton of photos with my phone of the driver the car etc. just in case. Thankfully everything went well from there. It kinda dampened my mood a little though. 

The ride to Koh Lanta is definitely an eye opening adventure.To exchange passengers, the ferry would stop in the middle of the ocean and long tail boats would come side by side and the passengers would just climbed over the ferry to the long tail boats and they would passed the luggage over. If you take a wrong step, you'll end up in the open water. They seemed like pirates to me ;D. Anyhow, Koh Lanta is the last stop and we didn't have to go through that.

I miss Thai Iced tea.

We stayed at Twin Lotus Resort in a beach front bungalow. The architecture and decor is a blend of modern minimalist with some traditional Thai culture. The service was great and the staff was friendly. Landscaping was beautiful, amenities well maintained, free bicyles and kayaks for guests. I would definitely recommend this resort.

The kissing swans are so cute. 

We swam, cycled, drank fresh coconut and relaxed by the beach. 

                   

                           

We had dinner at Time For Lime, a Thai Fusion restaurant which also offers cooking classes. The dining area was on top of a tree - sorta like a tree house. The food and drinks was excellent, the atmosphere was perfect. 

                             

We were spoiled by the delicious buffet breakfast provided by the resort. There was Thai fried rice, pad thai, congee, omelets to order, various pastries and tropical fruits etc. They changed the menu everyday. Why can't the hotel's in the states serve decent food besides bacon, eggs and waffles? 

                               

                             

The most exciting part being on an island is the lack of traffic. We rented a scooter for a day and explored the island. mr. adventure was of course being adventurous while I was holding him tightly and screaming at him to slow down. Well, I never rode in a 2 wheeled vehicle moving faster than 20mph. 

This is how you buy gasoline in Koh Lanta. 

                 

The seafood at one of the local restaurants are fresh and extremely tasty. Living in Central Texas makes me crave seafood all the time. Coincidentally, there was a carnival and night market nearby while we were there. 

                           

Next stop Bangkok - a shopping heaven~~~~

I started blogging at my other blog cushycottage. Check it out if you're interested in DIY, home decor and home improvement. 

Happy Saturday!

Haul ~ Michael Todd True Organics

Michael Todd's skin care line has taken over YouTube and blogs. I've seen them over and over as everyone's monthly favorites. I've been thinking of trying them and have checked out some products that I want to get from the website. As I was glancing trough my emails 1 morning (I have an an email account just for newsletters), I saw that Michael Todd was on BeyondtheRack. BeyondtheRack is a flash sale website similar to HauteLook. I quickly picked up some items that I originally wanted before they ran out of stock. They were discounted up to 60%. Amazing score!

Since I have oily acne prone skin(bleh), I picked up products that gear towards combating my skin type.

1. Honey And Oat cleanser - seems to be everyone's favorite
2. Pumpkin Nutrient-Rich Facial Mask - it feels weird applying pumpkin pie on your face.
3. Kaolin Clay Detoxifying Facial mask
4. Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub
5. Antioxidant Carrot Multivitamin Serum

I'm going to try them out and give a full review later. I'm hoping they're not overhype and works well on my skin!

 

 

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i heart spring tag

hi everyone! spring is my favorite season of the year and i decided to join in the fun and share my "i heart spring" tag.

1) Favorite spring nail polish?
It have to be Wet n Wild I need a refresh-mint. I picked up another without realizing I already had one at home.

2) Must have lip color?
i'm loving the orange lip color. it brightens my face and definitively my go to this spring. This lipstick is from Beauty Buffet The Bakery line in no. 10. It's a Thailand cosmetic company I believe.

3) Favorite Spring Dress?
It's hard to pick one. I got this flowery sheer dress from Bangkok. The colors just make me smile whenever I see it hanging in my closet.

4) Favorite Flower?
Hydrangea is my all time favorite flower and I have hydrangea as my bridal bouquet.I love that it's a cluster of small tiny petals.

5) Favorite Spring Accessory!
Scarf. They are so easy to make a boring outfit looks interesting and keeps me warm at the same time. Who else is crazy for cat prints?

6) Which spring trend are you most excited about?
Prints! Striped & polka-dots inclusive. I would love to wear prints all year round but they're not very appropriate (according to mr. adventure). Pastels make me giddy too.


7) Favorite spring candle?
I didn't get any candles this spring, but got a bunch of wallflowers instead. My favorite is pear from Bath and Body Works.

8) Favorite spring perfume/body spray?
I'm not a perfume collector as most perfume is too overpowering for my liking and will give me a headache. I wonder if this is related to my high school teacher. We could smell her perfume from miles away. no kidding! But Brit Sheer has been my favorite perfume.

9) What is spring like where you live?

Short! We have maybe 3 weeks of awesome weather follow by HOT HOT HOT temperature!

10) What's your favorite thing about spring?

The wildflower along the highway. It makes traffic more pleasant. We planted a plum tree last spring and it's blooming for the first time now "Happy dance." We thought it didn't survive the winter.

11) Are you a spring cleaner?

Absolutely. I'll put all my winter clothing in a box, reorganize my closet and vanity, clean and dust my entire home.

12) What are you plans for spring break/upcoming holiday?

Spring break doesn't exist in the working world unfortunately. We will probably take a road trip and have a picnic somewhere.

We will be having our first garage sale in 2 weeks in conjunction with the neighborhood wide garage sale. We'll be selling furniture, household items, electronics, clothes etc. It's amazing how much stuff we've accumulated across several years. Time to make room for new hauls.

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fashion dupe: spring sorbet necklace

I saw Jewelmint's newsletter in my inbox this morning and was jumping with joy because I bought a similar piece in Bangkok for a fraction of the price. see for yourself.

Jewelmint Sorbet Thorn Necklace - $29.99

Similar necklace from a random store in Bangkok - $5

Ok. The geometry is different and it's gold not silver, but the sorbet pink and green are similar. Good enough for me. This necklace from Bangkok has a nice weight and it's doesn't feel like it will break anytime soon. For 1/6 of the price, I'll take my chances. I know I'll get a lot of wear out of this in spring.

I found the same necklace on ebay- $7. Slightly more expensive, but you save on air fare ;)

 

 

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my first ipsy glam bag - first impression

hi lovely readers! i'm back from my 25 days awesome vacation. how often do you get to have a long vacation? once a year for me (though i wouldn't mind to have more!). many things happened in those 25 days. mr. adventure and i held our wedding reception, we met each others extended families, we went to our honeymoon in Thailand, we gave out our first Chinese New Year red packets etc. i'll tell you more in another posts. today we're going to talk about ipsy glam bag.
ipsy is similar to other beauty subscription site such as glossybox and birchbox where you take a beauty quiz and they'll send 5 deluxe/full size beauty products for you try each month. for some unexplained reason, i was never tempted to subscribe until ipsy came along. i believe ipsy is a collaboration between several youtube "gurus," which i had no idea until i checked the website again to write this post.
i was excited to check my mailbox after returning as i know the glam bag is waiting for me. it does feel like christmas opening the parcel as i have no idea what little surprises are in there.
theme: Red Carpet Ready (in conjunction with the Academy Awards i suppose)

interestingly, i have not tried any of the beauty brands in the glam bag which i don't mid at all. i'm not giving a full review as i need more time to test them out. here are just my initial thoughts and first impression.

coastal scents quad eyeshadow
the shadows are all shimmery and pigmented. the only thing negative is the 2 dark shades are too similar.

pixi flawless and poreless primer
this primer is creamy and hydrating. i neither like or dislikes the rubbery texture that silicone comes with. it does creates a smooth "canvas" for my foundation. i love that it's oil-free and the shine control is decent for 3-4 hours.

pop beauty smoke lash kapow mascara
i usually need either a lash primer or a waterproof mascara for my eyelashes to stay curl all day. i'm going to try this at a later time, but don't have high hopes for this. i'm not liking the tiny bristles on the brush either.
mica beauty gel eyeliner
this came just in time as my stila smudge pot dried up even though i'm barely halfway through the pot :(
the lash card
a handy tool for beginners and for long time makeup users such as myself.
disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post and i paid the products from my own money. the reviews/impressions are solely based on my own opinion.

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Best of Beauty 2012: Makeup Edition

Happy New Year to all cushyblushy's readers!!

What happened to 2012? It just flew by, but nonetheless it was a great year and I'm ready to create more awesome memories and try more new things in 2013.

I've been extremely busy on the last quarter of 2012 which explains the lack of posts. The company I work for was downsized and reorganized. It took a lot of effort to cover up the gaps and we're still working on it. I was also traveling a lot for weddings. Mr. Adventure and I are busy planning our wedding as well. We have less than a month to go! We don't have a traditional wedding. We are already officially married on papers, but we're having our reception much later due to family and work reasons.

Anyway, back to the main topic BEAUTY. I'm sharing all the makeup products that I've discovered and loved in 2012.

Face products

• Foundation: Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation For Combination/Oily skin. My shade is 300 golden beige. This is the best drugstore liquid foundation for my super oily skin. It gives a nice buildable coverage with a natural finish. My makeup stays on whole day with a quick touch up after lunch.
• Finishing/Touch-up Powder: Mac Blot Powder in medium. This mattifies my face without packing on layers of products and keeps my oil at bay.
• Concealar: Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette. I can mix the lighter and darker shades to create a better color match for my skin tone when I'm tanner in summer. It's creamy but not cakey at all.
• Bronzer: NYC Smooth Skin Sunny Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny 720. It's super affordable, not muddy or not orange. The perfect no fuss bronzer.
• Blusher: Becca Mineral Blush in Flowerchild. I love the coral peachy shade with some golden shimmer. It's pretty similar to Benefit's Coralista which I also have, but I picked this instead because the packaging it's smaller and more compact to travel with. I want to try their beach tint. 

Eyes products

• Liquid Eyeliner: Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum, Ultra Black. This Presice brush tip applicator is extremely easy to use. I love that it's not waterproof yet smudge free. It's good for everyday when I'm too lazy to spend lots of time removing my eye makeup. I don't see any difference in the serum which promotes growth though.
• Mascara: Maybeline Full' N Soft Mascara. I love the thickening effects it gives without clumping or looking hard. The waterproof formula helps to keep my lashes curl all day.
• Pencil Eyeliner: Milani Liquif'eye metallic eye liner. I mentioned this eyeliner a couple of times before. It's creamy, glides on smoothly and gives you the darkest black. Downside, I go through this way too quickly.
• Gel Eyeliner: Stila smudge pots. It's smudge free. The contains a ton of product. I wonder if I'll be able to use it up before it dries.
• Eyeshadow: Maybeline Color Tattoo 24HR Eyeshadown. Hands down my favorite eyeshadow of the year. I use them as a primer, as a base for powder shadows or just wear them alone. They're so easy to use and last whole day. My favorite color is barely beige and the newly release inked in pink.

LIp Products

• Lip stick: Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter. Favorites of many. It's moisturizing, nice range of colors, non-sticky. For me, it's a lip balm, lip stick and lip gloss on a lazy day.
• Lip gloss: Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish. It's a nice nudy pink gloss that compliments my skin tone. It has plumping effect which I don't mind and I love the tingling feeling on my lips and the minty scent.
• Lip gloss: Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss. I got this as a gift (comes in a set), but I like the glossy finish and very fine iridescent. 

I'm going to be traveling next week to KL, Malaysia for my wedding reception and Thailand for my honeymoon. I'll find time to write about my vacation - fingers crossed :)

i 'm on instagram now. username: cushy

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