Travelogue: New York, Life watching and Awkward Gazes

I have found that travelling to the same place twice always brings about a different perspective because you notice things that were once unseen to your mortal eye. This past week, going to New York I decided not to engage in shopping activities (understatement of the year) but rather artistic endeavours. Mainly staring at artwork, people and sentences in books.

Please note that this will be a three part series of posts based off three of my favourite things.

Food. Art. Books. 

Chapter 1: The vegetarian chronicles.

Being a faux vegetarian (I occasionally eat fish and other pescatarian-like foods), one of my favourite restaurants of all time is Pure Food and Wine, a vegan restaurant around Union Square off of Irving and 54th Street. In a nutshell-like description, the food is raw, organic, gluten and dairy free, fresh and leaves the feel good feeling of full but not too full. And by raw I mean that nothing is actually cooked.

So, lasagna, a full bowl of salad and sushi.

Lasagna without cheese or meat. Questionable but actually yummy.

For non-vegan "pure" food appreciators, I imagine this must be hard to stomach. But really though, the cheese and meat is instead replaced by hummus, zucchini, tomato paste and non-cheesy pesto.

Here's why the sushi was the highlight of lunch. The "rice" not actually rice. It was coconut flakes disguised quite artfully with only what I thought was a slightly lighter version of rice. AND absolutely nut free.

Kale, wakame and avacado salad which surprisingly was the largest portion of all.

When I decided to limit my meat intake 5 years ago, one of the edible 'meat-fillers' that I am always looking for is a good falafel. TAIM , a small chain of two restaurants in NY's West-Village and Nolita has been coined "The Best Falafel in New York" , "Tasty Specimens" and "Elating" by Serious Eats, New York and The New Yorker

Besides being extremely yummy, what makes TAIM great is their strictly vegetarian menu coupled with gluten free and freshness.

   Vegetarian love,

   S

Tried and Tested: Daily Moisturising

Hello spring!

Still remember last year's Easter was freezing and it snowed in April.

Global warming alert!

I love everything about spring: perfect weather (warm enough to ditch the puffer yet somewhat cold that requires layerings), flowers starting to bloom across St. James' Park, and more sunny days!

Anyhow, the seasonal transition has been drying up my skin, badly.

 Background story: I was born with very dry and scaly skin = snake skin. So I've been best friends with moisturisers since I was 4. My skin looks all right now (16 years of dedication, beauty doesn't come cheap/easy) but whenever I skipped the routine for a day or two, especially in London where the weather is horrible, it started to become scaly again and sometimes hurt.

  So, I'd like to share my daily moisturising routine from top to bottom which I personally think works well so far.

FACE

1. La Roche-Posay Hydraphase UV Intense Rich

My all time favourite in London. It is a long lasting moisturiser that has SPF 20, which is perfect for London weather. It rehydrates my skin while protects it from UVA rays that harms and accelerates skin aging. UVA rays is everywhere, even when you're indoor. It has a creamy texture like other moisturiser but it's so light and smooth you wouldn't realized it contains sun protection (normal sun screen is usually cakey and clogs pores, sometimes it feels like you're tiger-balming your face with that little icy burning sensation).  It is made for sensitive skins (paraben-free) so it won't cause any irritation to your skin even if yours was ultra sensitive. It worked well on my skin. I would have used it as my body moisturiser if I wasn't on student budget.
 

LIPS

2. Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm & Burt's Bees Pink Blossom Tinted Lip Balm

A recommendation from a friend. My lips tend to chap quite easily and sometimes bleeds in cold and windy condition. The beeswax lip balm is loaded with coconut and sunflower oils, rich in vitamins and essential fatty acids. It is 100% natural and helps nourish, condition and soften lips. I literally saw and felt the difference in seconds after applying it on my lips. It first gave a peppermint tingle (more like a bee stinging kind of feel I would say), which might be discomforting for first time user, took me a while to get used to it. The Pink Blossom Tinted Balm is an alternative when I want to have a more complete look. It gives a soft sheer pink to my lips that enhances my rather dark lips colour besides conditioning and moisturizing. The downside is, like any lipsticks, it stains my teeth.

 

 

HAIR

 

3. Moroccan Oil

A very good treatment oil for all hair types that makes my hair looks healthier and less tangles. Usually use it after blow drying my hair but sometimes I use before blow drying as heat protector. It absorbs pretty quickly and one pump is enough for mid length to long hair, more would feel/look a tad too oily. If you're someone who doesn't like greasy texture, this is not for you. Try something lighter like hair serum.

 

 

BODY

 

4. E45 Dermatological Moisturising Lotion & Yves Rocher Organic Oats Lotion

E45 is my latest obsession. Dermatological tested body lotion that is perfume free so it doesn't clash with the smell of my body shampoo (and you can moisturize your bf too if he thought lotioning smells/feels girly), which is great for hypersensitive skins. I always apply it right after bath so it can be more effectively absorbed, though its hypoallergenic formulation has already accelerated the process. The best thing about it is that it is ultra light and doesn't leave my skin greasy like other dry skin conditioning lotions do while giving amazing results. Similar to E45 but with a lovely oat scent, Yves Rocher Organic Oats Body Lotion was a surprise scored in Paris for 5 euros (400ml is a lot of lotion) when I forgot my lotion and my skin was peeling horribly. For this price, IT IS GREAT I MUST SAY. Its light texture (it literally slipped off my palm when my palm was just slightly moved downwards) works surprisingly well on my skin and gives an unpretentious smell (very organic, like good organic smell if you get what I mean).

 

So, start moisturising today (guys included!)!

 

 

 

Goodbye and be beautiful,

Py. 



Thoughts: Of Projects, Updates & Little Miss Bossy Boots

Hello world, S here. PY just most recently updated our dying posts with a lively array of photographs from her trip to Reading, and so I felt the need to update our blahs with a little of my blahs in the past 3 months....

Two days ago, I stumbled upon this article in the Weekend version of The Wall Street Journal, and I found a rather uncanny mini me.

See the resemblance? Indeed.

And Oh wonders of social media, a friend posted up this ohsoappropriate site on the issue.

Yes. Ban Bossy. #banbossy

The beauty of this is the alternative view that it takes on banning "bossiness" as a tool of empowerment for young girls. Maybe this is a social media hype but it is one that growing up, I am definitely on board on could happily relate to. Imagine my delight when I found more on banning bossy in ABC news 

As an almost 20-year-old, I can safely say that I was a sassy bossy little girl.

In other news, PY and I have been ardously working on our next project. More to come in the next diligent few weeks.

Enjoying a brisk walk into spring. These boots were meant for bossing walking.

Bisous.

S

Travelogue: Reading

It's been two crazy months packed with crazy amount of work, so I escaped to Reading, a town outside of the ever so hectic London that offered me a peace of mind.

And here comes the spring.

Fluffy white clouds and sunshine.

UK's weather hadn't been this lovely for a long time.

Can't get enough of London. Not.

Tradition meets modernity.

Threw on my warm uniqlo coat to cover up the much lazily pulled on sweater and tights (blacks can never go wrong) and a colour-blocked knitted scarf so I wouldn't look boring with my bare face.

Did I tell you that I love train rides?

Py.