best beauty products review

If you could read Chinese, Kimiss is a beauty product review website that you should definitely check out!

I was simply looking for translation of a Chinese product, and chanced upon this website. This website is so well organized: by brands, by category (skin, body, lip, eye etc). There is ranking of the best products and the reviews are all clearly classified with star ratings.

awesome online shopping sites in China

I am loving my new discovery on online shopping sites in China. Nope, it is not taobao that I am talking about.

Taobao is awesome, but I just can’t figure out how to use Zhi Fu Bao (a Chinese version of Paypal) or paying via online banking. And, I can’t get the applets functioning well on my macbook. Maybe it is just me. Oh well. But good news is, I have found 3 other awesome online shopping sites that don’t require payment via external channels – I can pay for my order when I receive the courier. Sweet.

Another cookie point: If you are in China, call the customer service hotline, place your order immediately. Done. No need to register or fill up forms. I hate forms.

If you love canvas shoes, boat shoes (I adore!) or leggings, Vancl is awesome (and it is really really affordable). What’s better? Vancl just started their English site, and they deliver for FREE to some countries in Europe and US. Sweet.

If you love designer pieces, mainly by local Chinese designers, check out Chictalk. I love those jackets. I am definitely adding a few into my shopping cart!

If you love branded clothing but can’t bear to spend your salary, and at the same time don’t mind off-season range, you will love iHush. Pieces are limited though. I haven’t found something I really like yet…

Oh! Credit goes to CNNGO for writing up on these 3 websites. If you want to be in tune with what’s new, what’s in, what’s good (yeah!) in Asia, CNNGO is a great website!

Indulgence is also wellness

I can’t wait to scream out loud about a new discovery. Wellness is not all about health, appearance, beauty, and skin care. I found a new meaning to it – self pampering and indulgence celebrates wellness!

When was the last time you really splurge on self indulgence, when was the last time you felt you done something great to celebrate the love for yourself, and when was the last time you cannot stop smiling from within?

My recent business trip to Beijing, China, made me realize this – loving yourself can be such a beautiful thing. I have extended one night in Beijing after my business meetings. I have already checked out some hotels and have decided to book myself into a snazzy looking hotel, The Emperor. The tablethotels.com house the most amazing list of great hotels. In any case, The Emperor is under the Designhotels – you can start imaging how awesome the hotel is. Of course, great photos to share as you read on.

The hotel was way beyond my expectation. I cannot stop saying “awesome” as I hurried all around the room to check every single detail. A great quote by Bill Bryson, best seller writer of books on travel, can sum up my feelings.

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familar it is taken for granted.”

I have ever pampered myself with new clothes, new bags, new shoes, new makeup, but it has never felt the same as my experience staying in The Emperor. I was so tickled by small minor sweet thoughts this hotel provided – I was literally smiling into my sleep. (Frankly, I didn’t even want to sleep, I wanted to experience the feeling being in the room.) There is something amazing about the hotel and the room that simply made me fell in love with it. The wonderful pampering experience definitely lifted me from all my stress, and I was in the realm of total enjoyment and self appreciation.

I have stayed in a couple of 5-star hotels, yes, the service and amenities are perfect as well, but somehow, it lacks the personal touch, it lacks the warm feeling, somehow something is lacking.

I want to encourage you to take a step back, think about how you are treating yourself, and think about the last time you felt so extremely excited and over-joyed about yourself. Nothing beats that little bit of pampering. Look at the photos of the hotel and the room, and hope you can get the sense of how I felt.

I am not saying that such experience can only be felt when you travel or when you are in a physical space, but understanding how self-indulgence could bring about great wellness in life – go search for that! This is more than an appearance upgrade, this is about maintainence of your mental health!

I want you to be happy in life too. Cheers.

Disposable wooden chopsticks contain bleach

Yes, you read it right – disposable wooden chopsticks contain bleach. However, fret not, you do not need to start bringing out your own. Read on.

Though these chopsticks contain bleach, which is made of sulphur dioxide, it is also a common bleach and preservative used in numerous foods. These chopsticks are made in China and the purpose of bleaching is to lighten the colour of the wood.

Moreover, sulphur dioxide produces sodium sulphite and sodium metabisulphate, which are water-soluble, thus you could easily rinse them off. Well, however, it is unusual for us to practice that, especially when you are dining at the hawker centres.

As reported by Professor James Tan of Nayang Technological University’s School of Biological Sciences, there have been no long-term studies done on the amount of bleach in these chopsticks. However, since the contact area of the chopstick and food is also very small, so there is no need for a frantic act of rinsing them or throwing them out.

He added, you will probably find more sulphur dioxide in a perserved plum than in those chopsticks!

However, friends who are asthmatics should take extra care about this because a diet high in sulphite-rich foods like dried fruits or wine could trigger an asthmatic attack. 🙂

Beware and take care my friends.