Ask Tiny! - Packing for Hong Kong Part 1: Face Care & Make Up

As mentioned in my previous posts, I'm off to Hong Kong for 2 weeks *happy face*! I seriously cannot wait to get on the plane and have a long deserved break from working for almost 6 months non stop. Below are some of the things I have packed in my suitcase, and as it's mainly a trip to visit my boyfriend's family as well as shopping (lots and lots of it!), I have left my suitcase relatively empty in terms of personal stuff. Spare space will be taken up by a lot of gifts for the boyfriend's family (read more about buying gifts for partners in my Previous Blog Post!).

1. Face Care

Products for Morning & Evening Face Wash Routine

I never leave for any holiday without my morning & evening face wash products. I feel that water just simply isn't enough, especially as I will be wearing make up on some days as well. Taking care of your face on holiday is very important, especially in hotter countries like Hong Kong.

Products for Face Wash

Simple: Moisturising Facial Wash, Toner & Cleanser

Tea Tree: Moisturiser

Tesco: Cotton Pads

I absolutely love simple, and they really are kind to skin, but their products still leave your skin feeling fresh and clean. The Tesco cotton pads are also really strong as well as being double sided, and they don't fall apart very easily which is great. I'm not a big fan of Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel moisturiser, so I will probably buy a new one in Hong Kong.

Facial Scrubs & Masks

Aapri: Apricot Scrub

My Beauty Diary: Face Mask

I dislike using scrubs very often, and usually like to keep it to once or twice a week. Anymore and I feel like my skin gets very irritable. This apricot scrub by Aapri gets rid of impurities and leaves your skin feeling baby soft. I also like to pack some face masks (especially for long days of shopping) just to relax and hydrate my skin.

2. Make Up & Toiletries

Make Up

Face Makeup

Rimmel London Fix & Perfect: Primer

Bourjois Paris: Foundation

Tesco: Barbara Daly Foundation

Tea Tree & Witch Hazel: Concealer

MaxFactor: Pressed Powder

Beautyblender

The Rimmel London Primer primes my face very well before putting on makeup. I also absolutely adore the scent of the primer, I can't put my finger on what it smells like, but it just makes my face smell so good. As for the foundations, Bourjois and Barbara Daly Foundations are both very light, so light that sometimes I even forget I've got foundation on. I would definitely recommend these to people who dislikes heavy makeup as they conceal well but allows your skin to breathe. The Tea Tree & Witch Hazel concealer is also great for quick touch ups wherever your are. Of course, my beautyblender is a must in my makeup bag and you can read my review of it Here!

Eye Makeup

Etude House: Mascara

L'Oreal False Lash: Mascara

Lancome: Mascara

No.7: Pink Eyeshadow

BYS: Brown Eyeshadows

Sephore: White Eyeliner

Prorance: Black Eyeliner

Lancome: Black Eyeliner

Boots: Black Liquid Eyeliner

Eyelash Curlers

I absolutely love eye makeup as you can change your eye shape in so many different ways. I usually like to use white eyeliner to really make my eyes pop. For mascaras, my favourite is definitely the L'Oreal false lash mascara as you can see the difference in lash length when you use it.

Lips

Sephora: Pink Lipstick

Sephora: Lip Gloss

Most days, I prefer putting a bit of concealer on the outer parts of my lips and gently dabbing the pink Sephora lipstick on the inner parts of my lips to create a gradient effect. Use lip gloss afterwards to give your lips that little bit extra.

Toiletries

Small Scissors

Muji: Eyeliner Sharpner

Tweezers

Nail Cutters

Heatless Hair Curlers

Boscia: Blotting Papers

Veet for Sensitive Skin

Above are just the essentials toiletries I take with my in my makeup bag. I bought my heatless hair curlers from Sainsburys, and they are so simple to use. I can leave them on at night and in the morning I get these gorgeous natural curls! I also like to bring a box of Veet with me to get rid of those unsightly hairs that I don't want other people seeing :)

3. Perfume

Live - Jennifer Lopez

This perfume has to been one of my all time favourites and I've been using it for about 2 years now. It's perfect for all you floral lovers, and as I bought the EDP, it lasts a very long time as well. On a day to day basis, I like to spray some in my hair and on my clothes.

What are some of your travel favourites for face and body? Let me know in the comments below! Also, watch this space as Packing for Hong Kong Part 2: Clothing is coming up next!

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Tiny

Vietnamese Food and Bubble Tea @ Aobaba

Spicy Hue Beef Noodle Soup

Aobaba is part restaurant, part bubble tea and part Asian supermarket. They specialize in Vietnamese street food, which is deliciously tasty!! I went to the Elephant and Castle branch in London but there's also branches in Hoxton, Kingston and Dublin.

Plate of Veg

I had the spicy hue beef noodle soup which came with a plate of veg which you can pour into the noodle. The noodle itself has lemon beef broth base in which beef shin, pork ball and pork meat is cooked in. Don't worry vegetarians, Aobaba also have some great choice especially for you. As you can see in the picture above, beansprouts and other veg and herbs are included on a separate plate, and you can pour these into the noodle.

Lychee Green Tea with Lychee Boba

I also tried their bubble tea which was really nice. It's the equivalent size to a small Bubbleology bubble tea and costs £3. The best thing is if you are not a big fan of tapioca, they don't charge you extra to switch to popping bobas.

You can see their full menu Here!

For £10 for the complete meal, which was very filling and definitely delicious, it's pretty much a bargain. I really want to try out their spring rolls as well, but I guess I'll have to wait until next time!

Rating: 10/10

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Tiny

Ask Tiny! - Buying Gifts for Boyfriend's Family

I'm off to Hong Kong this Friday and as this is the first time I will be meeting my boyfriend's extended family, I thought it would be a good idea to share my gift ideas with you. It took a really long time to decide on exactly what was best for specific people in the family, but we managed it in the end. The most important thing to remember is to buy gifts that are useful but not extortionate. Spending a ridiculous amount of money on a gift doesn't result in it being a good gift, but something that the receiver really wants is.

For the Parents:

Brita Fill & Go

We bought Brita Fill & Go for his parents, as his mum is still working and his dad likes hiking. This means that the Brita Fill & Go is practical and easy to carry around, whether you're on a mountain or in the underground. Other things included an ale for the Dad as he enjoys trying out new alcoholic drinks. For the whole family, we bought a lot from Tesco, especially products which are more expensive in Hong Kong as we have a lot of empty space in our suitcases. By filling up the suitcases, it means we aren't wasting spaces in our luggage allowance, and we are buying useful things for the family which they normally wouldn't buy because of the price in Hong Kong.

You can buy the Fill & Go on Amazon.


For the Grandma:

Whole Foods Market Fruit & Nuts

As grandmas usually have to keep healthy and fit, we decided to buy her a box of dried fruits and nuts. These help ensure iron levels are good, as well as providing essential vitamins. Other ideas could be tea and honey.

The best place to buy these is at Whole Foods Market or you can buy beautifully packaged ones at Fortnum & Mason.


For the Wedding Couple:

Fortnum & Mason Personalized Champagne

Weddings are thing to celebrate, and what best to celebrate it with than a bottle of champagne. What makes ours extra special is that we actually wrote a personalized message to the happy couple. As we know one of the couple well and not the other, we wanted to make sure the gift was for the both of them, not just one, hence the choice of champagne.

Fortnum & Mason offers a selection of Champagne and Rose which you can personalize. They also offer gift wrapping, which makes the hassle of ensuring it arrives in one piece a thing of the past.


For Everyone Else:

Box of Chocolates from Fortnum & Mason

For big families, you can always buy something that can be shared between all family members. A box of chocolate is perfect as young and old love it. Biscuits are of course the other obvious choice, or you can go for small boxes of different types of wine or ale for the adults.

At the end of the day, your boyfriend's parents are not your parents, so always ask him as he's the expert. Parents and the elderly usually have a lot of disposable items already, but giving them something that is a bit out of the box and something that they personally like or want is always better than buying a generic gift that could come from anyone. Personally, I like to do all my shopping in one go, so I typically go to large department stores like Fortnum and Mason or Harrods to do the bulk. However, for more specific items, it's usually worth it to pop into a little boutique store in London's shop alleys.

Hopefully this would have helped you a little bit more in your gift hunt for your partner's parents, either for just a visit or for events like Christmas. Let me know what gifts you have considered or given to your partner's family in the comments below!

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Tiny

Noctural EDM at Coronet London

Noctural EDM Entry Wristband

Being a fan of EDM music, when my friend asked if I wanted to join her for a night out in London, I immediately said yes. At £12 a ticket, with opening hours of 10pm to 5am, it seemed like a bargain. The tickets could be bought online at Fatsoma, but the actual event was at Coronet in London, in the centre of Elephant & Castle.

Facepaint On & Ready to Dance

Upon arrival, you have 3 checkpoints to go through. First they check your ID, then check your bags when you go through a metal detector (it always goes off, don't worry!) and finally your ticket is taken and its barcode is checked. You can then choose to put your jacket/bag in the cloakroom for a fee of £1.50.

Friend (and random people in the background)

Inside, it was really nice, a lot of steps so be careful girlies with heels! The DJ was actually pretty awesome, and confetti was constantly dropping from the ceilings. The light display was also quite nice, and we actually took a break from dancing to just watch them. You can also choose to have your face painted for free, which you can see in the picture above, the woman was so nice and friendly. I wouldn't know much about the drinks, as we pre-drank before we got there, so pricing wise, I guess you'll have to find out yourself :)

Outfit for the Night (even though you can't see it very well...)

It was a great night, and definitely worth going again. You meet some great people but of course towards the end of the evening there were some creepier guys around. One of them actually came up to us, took his jacket off, and put it back on...and walked off...we were left shocked and confused. The other downside is that there are no seats or anywhere to sit down inside, apart from the floor, which made the end of the evening quite unbearable for girls with heels and girls without alike. I would definitely recommend them to get some chairs in.

For upcoming Fatsoma and Noctural EDM events, Click Here!

Rating: 8/10

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Tiny

Tonkotsu Ramen @ Japan Centre, London

Tonkotsu Ramen

London's Japan Centre is well known for providing rare Oriental groceries to the food market. However, they also have a tasty menu that rivals competitors in quality, taste & price. In Piccadilly Circus, you can find a small noodle stall outside the Japan Centre as well as another food stall inside before the elevator. Upstairs there is also a restaurant area where you can order food.

Not being a fan of takoyaki, which is essentially octopus within a batter and shaped like a sphere, I decided to try out the noodle menu outside. For this particular lunch, I chose to have the Tonkotsu Ramen, which was roughly £8, but you can choose to have 3 gyoza dumplings as well for the combined price of £10. I would have loved to try to gyoza but unfortunately I dislike eating too much for lunch and we were in a bit of a rush.

With the noodle, you have pork, egg & two types of seaweed, which all tasted great. I especially liked the seaweed and pork. The noodles were pretty good too. Don't be fooled by appearances, despite the relatively small ball, this was a very filling meal, I'm glad I chose to skip the gyoza that day! We sat on the tables outside next to the stall and they were very speedy with getting the food to our table. The only downside is people smoke outside next to the tables, which makes the food a little unappetizing.

Nonetheless, £8 for a meal, especially tonkotsu noodles is a good deal and I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch.

Rating: 8/10

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Tiny

Ask Tiny! - Royal Holloway's Killer Polar Bear

The Picture Gallery, RHUL

Royal Holloway, University of London is well known for it's ghost stories. In fact, every halloween you can sign up for Ghost Tours around the campus and discover the unknown horrors of this ancient university. The most famous, and recently reported by BBC, is the polar bear painting in the prestigious Picture Gallery within the Founders Building. Thomas Holloway, the founder of Royal Holloway, purchased the painting 'Man Proposes, God Disposes' along with a huge collection of rare artworks. However, this painting is what every student is most excited about whenever exams are approaching.

'Man Proposes, God Disposes'

'Man Proposes, God Disposes' depicts two polar bears eating from an abandoned ship, with what seems like blood stains in several sections of the painting. Every year, exams take place in the picture gallery, but only this one painting is covered up by a Union Jack flag. The myth I heard was that a girl who was sat next to this painting in her exam went crazy, stabbed herself in the eye, and wrote on her exam paper: 'The polar bears made me do it'. However, to this day, I'm still not sure what the underlying reason are, although BBC appears to have an answer to this in their article. Nonetheless, the reason behind why this painting causes such an effect is unclear.

Personally, walking into the Picture Gallery for an exam wasn't too bad, the Union Jack flag does catch your attention immediately but usually you just concentrate on the questions. Having said that, I'm glad I wasn't sat right next to the Union Jack flag though. Other stories I have heard included a ghost of a little boy running down the hallways in Founders. To be perfectly honest, having been a Founders Hall alumni, I would not like to be walking down the hallways alone past midnight again! In fact I used to sprint to the bathrooms and back if ever needed!

The Picture Gallery is open to visitors, details are Here!

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Tiny

Ask Tiny - Interview 101s

Interviews are something everyone will face sometime in their life, but there are ways in which you can make your life a bit easier when it comes to preparing for them. I've personally been to too many interviews to count on one finger, and these are some of the key ingredients I follow, no matter what kind of interview it is. Remember, interviews can also come in many shapes and forms, I have had face-to-face, Skype, phone and even a whole series of online forms. Of course, these steps work for me now, but I will need to tweak and refine these for all future interviews.

1. Be Yourself!

No one likes a faker, especially not interviewers. If you pretend to be someone you're not, either they will see right through you or eventually they will. There will be skills that you are not familiar with and showing the enthusiasm to learn is better than saying you can perform and not being able to. Being yourself also means showing off (in a non-arrogant way) about everything you're good at as well e.g. Advanced Microsoft, Excellent Phone Manner, Hardworker, etc. Sell yourself instead of promising things that you might not be able to achieve.

2. Learn Your Stuff!

Interviewers like it when you have done your further reading, it means that you are mentally prepared for the role. If it's a job interview, learn about the company and the tasks you will be carrying out. University interview? Be sure to read about the modules which is available in the university prospectus and do some research on the topics so lecturers know that you are ready to learn and do the extra mile. Also prepare for interview questions and answers, as it saves you from being put on the spot with nothing in mind. Best place to find these is Google, just practice and practice them.

3. Dress Smart!

Not casual smart, smart smart! Invest in a good comfy suit or blazer and business trousers and skirts. These will be your best friends for the first few years of interviews. Dressing smart is essential for interviews as it means you are taking the job seriously. First impressions are everything and turning up for an interview in a creased shirt, baggy jeans and messy hair is never a good sign.

My Standard Interview Outfit

4. Be Punctual!

Make sure you plan your journey to the interview location well in advance, or ensure you are set up for a Skype or phone interview in a quiet place with no disturbances. Arriving early or just on time means that the interviewer can rely on you to be on time for the job. If you are running a bit late, just phone in and let them know so they can reschedule their timetable if the interview does overrun.

5. Strong Handshake!

If you have ever go through an agency for a job, you are reminded again and again that a handshake has to be strong. Even though it is mainly psychological, by having a strong handshake, you are showing your assertiveness and confidence. A weak handshake is usually attributed to a weak personality, so work on that handshake!

6. Be Positive!

No one likes a negative person who brings the mood down. Try to be positive about yourself and your experiences, there's always another way to phrase things. Bad mouthing or being rude about a previous job would rub of negatively on yourself. Instead, talk about what you learned and enjoyed about your previous experiences.

7. Prepare Questions!

Interviews will almost always end with interviewers asking you if you have any questions. If not, you should take the initiative to ask. Not only do you find out more about the company and your role, but they will also see your genuine interest in the role. Make sure questions are appropriate, I usually like to ask what kinds of training would I be given, and the career path I might be able to achieve in that role.

8. Be Polite! To Everyone!

See that person walking past you whilst your waiting for your interviewer. He could be the cleaner, or the CEO. By being polite and positive to everyone heightens your chance of making a positive impression on not just your interviewer, but the whole company.

9. (Optional) Ask for a Glass of Water!

I personally find myself to be a lot calmer after drinking some water whilst waiting for my interviewer to arrive. It is also especially helpful if you rushed to the location in order to arrive on time, a glass of water will help cool you down!

~

Hopefully you will find these helpful. Is there something I've missed out but has worked for you? Why not mention it in a comment below :)

Tiny