Cosme de Liz Lisa Jenne ♥

Who doesn't love flowers? I'm sure no one needs an introduction to the ever-popular sweet girly 109 gyaru brand Liz Lisa right~? ♥ Finally they've come up with their own cosmetic line, called "Cosme de Liz Lisa Jenne", and the packaging sure lives up to the Liz Lisa image!

Lip gloss in 5 colors, retailing at 2,625yen with tax each.

000 Aurora Lamé, 010 Jewel Pink, 020 Pink Beige, 033 Jewel Orange, 011 Rose Pink.

The cap is gold, has "Liz Lisa" on the side and the highlight: a pretty rose!

Eye color in 5 colors, also retailing at 2,625yen each with tax.

The inside, it appears to be a powder shadow.

Though the material of the casing looks...cheap/non-durable :(

Kind of like cheap light plastic, but I cannot be sure without seeing the actual product!

Fancy exterior with intricate swirls and patterns all around.

One thing that bugs me though how "light plastic" it looks...

The rose is pretty though!

010 Sherbet Pink, 011 Fantasy Rose, 020 Nudie Beige, 023 Brown, 970 Shiny Gold

3 cheek colors, retailing at 2,940yen each with tax.

Inside the case.

No mirror on the lid, instead you see the underside of the rose.

Outside casing is ever so princessy! ♥

Left to right: 010 Baby Pink, 011 Coral Rose, 033 Orange

And finally, saved the best for last: pretty pouch and mirror! ♥♥

The mirror retails for 3,045yen with tax.

Its the fold kind that you can prop up on a table~

The make up pouch retails at 4,095yen with tax. The interior is sooooo pretty! ♥

I love the floral print.

The slot compartments can fit glosses or brushes,

there's a flat zip compartment too,

and of course the main pouch compartment.

Pretty heart zipper and pink lace details! ♥

So what do you think of Liz Lisa's new cosmetics line?

I think the rose is pretty, but sadly it's a tad impractical on the cheek and eye colors. If you're the kind who'd bring them around, the rose might come off in your bag if you're not careful, seeing as how it's just glued onto the top of the plastic cover...Though they'd look great if you want to display them you your dresser! On the glosses they're alright due to the shape, I like the shape! What's bugging me is that the material for the gold and clear parts look like the kind of light plastic that could crack easily...But I don't know, I haven't seen the actual product so I can't make an accurate statement. *crosses fingers* Though for the gold accents I'd rather go for Les Merveilleuses Ladurée...super gorgeous and unique packaging styles! Plus their macarons are my favorite in the entire world~ ♥

The pouch is *really* pretty though, the more I look at it the more I want it!

Can't believe I'm still a sucker for pretty pink floral prints^^

Danggit, just when I think I have too much on my shopping list, more things come out (*´д`*)

Anyway, for more images and details you can visit Liz Lisa's webpage for this line!

Or, you can just spend hours drooling over all the other pretty Liz Lisa clothes and bags!

EMODA Eyelash ♡

EMODA, a popular 109 mode-kei brand, recently released a line of eyelashes.

They started going on sale 4/23, but have been available for pre-order in Japan since last month.

Looking at their designs is making my July shopping list grows longer and longer...(*´д`*)

In total, there are 6 types - 4 upper lashes and 2 lowers lashes.

All retail at 1,260yen for 5pairs.

Packaging-wise, it's simple and minimalistic, in line with their brand's concept.

From some angles the packaging just looks cheap (black paper and white plastic?)...

but I cannot make a definite comment until I see the actual product!

For the price, it's pretty decent, compared to Liz Lisa or Dolly Wink,

which cost the same but come with only 2 pairs.

To be fair though, Liz Lisa lashes are awesome and have great packaging!

Anyway, onto the lashes!

Daily Eye - in box

Daily Eye - as worn on Matsumoto Ena, producer of EMODA

Bottom lash is Natural Eye.

I love this look~ (♥´౪`♥)

Added these two to my shopping list!

Daily Eye - closed

Dolly eye - in box

Dolly eye - worn

Bottom lash is Feminine Eye.

Dolly eye - closed

Glamorous Eye - in box

Glamorous Eye - worn

Bottom lash is Feminine Eye.

After how many years and how many brands, I still like upper lashes like this...

Gradated length and gradated density = ♥

Cool Eye - in box

Cool Eye - worn

Bottom lash is Natural Eye.

Cool Eye - closed

Natural Eye - in box

I really like the look of these on Matsumoto Ena, they look so natural!

Feminine Eye - in box

Giveaway Winner ♡

Dear all, thank you all for entering my giveaway~ ♡

Dear winner,

Please claim your prize by sending an email using the address stated in your entry, to ciramisu@gmail.com with your name and mailing address~♡ If I do not receive your email by 27th Apr 2300pm GMT+8, I will draw another winner :)

Congratulations Kelsey ~!! ★☆★

--------------------------------------

In other news, I'll be finishing my internship/attachment in 7 weeks, so soon I'll get more time to update after I finish my report^^ After it ends I'll be off to Seoul for 10days in June and Kansai for 10days in July. Looking forward to and am excited for summer! ♡

Enoteca L' Operetta - Singapore Restaurant Week

The 2nd last week of March was Restaurant Week in Singapore, and what happens is that lots of fine dining places have special lunch and/or dinner menus which you can try for S$35~S$50. Totally worth it! So this time we tried dinner at Enoteca L'Operetta, an Italian restaurant located in Boat Quay.

Capesante di Hokkaido al Forno con Burro Aromatizzato ♥

Oven-baked Hokkaido scallops with mushrooms and butter ♥

The scallop was large and succulent, and the mushroom flavors were saturated and simply scrumptious!

Salmon carpaccio ♥

It's forever delightful to indulge in salmon :)

Prosciutto di Parma! ♥

I looooove prosciutto, haven't had good ones since Italy!

Fettucini con Ragu di Kurobuta e Porcini ♥

Fettucini with pork and porcini mushrooms

Grilled seabass

Crispy and delicious!

Rigatoni con Salsa Pomodoro e Crema d d'Anatra Affumiciata

Rigatoni with tomato sauce and smoked duck

Pan-seared veal

Tiramisu~! ♥

One of my eternal favorite desserts,

I had a ton of these in Italy, my favorite's still the one from Pompii!

They had various paintings on their walls, saw this one of Venice,

and realized that I took a similar picture when I went there hehehe:

Okay, so there weren't as many gondolas present in mine but hey, it's the same view :P

Part of the Singapore River at night.

I love the sight of light reflected in water ♥ Or any reflected light for that matter; I find myself fascinated whenever sunlight hits my bling and reflects multi-colored light spots on the walls/floor!

Ahhh, eating all this Italian food made me think of all the delectable dishes I had in Italy/Spain in summer 2010. Prosciutto in Singapore is too darn expensive and not as soft/tasty as the ones in Italy! :( Though too much ham made us end up looking like balls of ham! >< But I miss Sepia a la Andalucia (cuttlefish cooked in garlic and olive oil) the most, and Pulpo a la Gallega (octopus cooked with paprika and potatoes) as well! Squid and other cephalopods are something I can never say no to!

Toyama: Where Japan goes to relax!

Whilst rearranging some things in my room, I came across a bag of stuff from last year's trip to Chubu and Hokuriku. It reminded me that there were some pictures I meant to share but never got around to uploading^^

Tulips.

This is a kami-fuusen (紙風船, Japanese blow-up paper balloon), with motifs of Toyama on it. There is a city in Toyama called Tonami, and they have a tulip park which hosts a Tulip Fair every year (around end April~early May). But I went in late-July so sadly I never got to see it...

"Toyama: Where Japan goes to relax!"

Toyama's tourism slogan.

When I arrived at immigration at Nagoya's Chubu International Airport, in my immigration form I put the address of the hotel I was going to be staying in at Toyama, and the immigration officer spent a good few minutes questioning me as to what I would be doing in Toyama^^ He commented that it was unusual as not very many international tourists head there. But it really is relaxing; away from the hustle and bustle of a densely populated city.

Plastic bag with images of Toyama.

Toyama-limited Hello Kitty handkerchief~!

Yellowtail. White Shrimp. Firefly Squid.

Toyama is a prefecture located along the coast of the Sea of Japan, so much of their famous foods is seafood! Seafood like yellowtail, white shrimp (shiro-ebi), firefly squid (hotaru-ika).

I would have loved to try the hotaru-ika, squid is one of my absolute favorite foods!

Kurobe Gorge Toroko Train.

I didn't get to visit this due to time constraints, but it does look lovely.

Pictures of the bridge on Kurobe Gorge, the red is such a striking color.

Right now I'm doing a civil engineering internship,

so I have deepened my fascination with bridges and their structures O_o

Gokayama.

A World Heritage Site for the traditional Gassho-zukuri houses.

To see gassho-zukuri houses, most people visit Shirakawa-go in the Gifu prefecture instead as it is more accessible, especially for non-Japanese speakers. I chose to go to Gokayama as it was more "along the route" for my itinerary, plus I had read reviews that Ainokura (a village in Gokayama) was the most picturesque of the 3 World Heritage Site gassho-zukuri villages. (The three being Ogimachi in Shirakawa-go; and Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama.)

When I went there I bought some postcard sets from the little store near the village entrance.

The first set was pictures with captions, many of the pictures have a rustic, carefree air.

The second set was a bunch of sketches of the gassho-zukuri houses. The sketches are really good!

Pamphlet on Gokayama.

Not many foreign visitors go there cos it's rather inaccessible...but it's an extremely scenic place.

Amidst flowers and high grasses, the houses look like fairytale cottages!

The different views of Ainokura with the changing seasons (taken from a pamphlet since obviously I was not there for all!)

Cherry blossoms in spring

Abundant greenery in summer

Gorgeous changing of colors in autumn

Blanketed by snow in winter

For an enhanced experience you can actually stay overnight at a residence.

It is kind of pricey and hard to arrange, but it would be a great way to fully experience the gassho-zukuri houses.

Information on the roof, which they replace every 10 years.

This was the place I wanted to go to...but couldn't access,

and thus ended up having to walk 2km uphill in the rain in the middle of the remote, deserted mountain.

I got these brochures from the store by the bus stop...where the bus comes every 4 hours.

It's the Washi-no-sato (和紙の里, Japanese paper village).

There you can experience making your own Japanese paper (washi) items!

Making 3 postcards (hagaki) will take around 20min and costs 500yen.

Making 2 bookmarks (shiori) will take around 15min and costs 300yen.

Making a whole large sheet (30cm x 45cm) of paper will take around 20min and costs 500yen.

Making a Japanese fan (uchiwa) will take around 20min and costs1,200yen.

The snow walls at the Tateyema Kurobe Alpine Route.

The walls are best seen in around April~May. Maybe even June. But by July (when I went) they're little tiny flat things that hardly resemble the high walls they once were! :(

Still have my ticket from that day.

I suppose the best times to go would be when the snow wall is still around or during autumn, when the changing colors of the leaves over the entire mountain range gives a spectacular sight. Visitors get a special "Visitor's Certificate" with 3 postcards!

One of the snow wall.

Someday I'm going to go back to the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route just to experience seeing this high wall of snow...and also to go hiking at the mountain-top! The day I went was too cloudy and all the views were obstructed :(

One of the valley.

This picture makes me want to go back again during autumn to see the changing leaves and snow-capped mountains!

And one of the dam.

Normally, on days with good weather you can see rainbows appearing near the discharge.

However on the day I went the weather was bad, so no rainbows...

I ended up buying the pictorial book, it has lots of pretty pictures of the mountain!

Shoumyou-daki, the highest waterfall in Japan at 350m.

Scenery riding the bus up the mountain.

Last year was the 40th anniversary, so there were special stamps at various locations along the route. This huuuge stamp was one of them, and I stamped it into my passport as a souvenir :)

Living in an urban city with a year-long tropical climate, I love travelling to see nature: vast expanses of greenery, flowers, blue oceans; high mountains, volcanoes and waterfalls; clear, flowing rivers etc. Looking at natural scenery and pristine nature makes me feel calm, relaxed and at peace.