Chef Zhao Bistro, Mountain View

Prior to our trips to Mountain View, I solicited restaurant recommendations from friends who live and work there. When asked what kinds of food hubby and I like that we don't get much of where we live, both of our answers were: good Chinese food, preferably the spicy and tongue-numbing variety. We got three recommendations in return: Chef Zhao Bistro, Chef Zhao Kitchen, and Hunan Impression.

I checked them all out online of course. We were planning a mini reunion just like those we had in Taipei with our college friends. With everyone's work schedule, Hunan Impression was too far out of the way and so we were left with two Chef Zhao restaurants. Since I was just down the street from Chef Zhao Bistro wandering around downtown Mountain View, hubby zipped back from his office to meet me there for a quick lunch as soon as the place opened at 11:30am.

Alexander's Patisserie, Mountain View

Upon exiting Maison Alyzee, I promptly crossed the street for Alexander's Patisserie. Talk about a literal patisserie face-off--they're staring each other down from across the street. Fine with me though. More patisseries means more sweets for me to enjoy ^.^

Maison Alyzee, Mountain View

As hubby and I grabbed a quick snack at the Hong Kong Bakery & Cafe, I couldn't help but notice Maison Alyzee right next door. After he left to do work stuff, I went in to check it out despite having had a snack. I could never pass up a patisserie. There's always room for desserts in this tummy ^.^

Mountain View, California

Last year, hubby had to make a few short work trips out to California, once to SF in late July and twice to Mountain View in the fall (beginning of September and end of November). I tagged along each time and took some photos while wandering about (and yes, I'm still perpetually behind on posts...).

Both of the trips were super short. Each time, I had just a couple of hours in the afternoon to explore and get myself some snacks while hubby got some work stuff done, then we met up with old friends for dinner and went home the next day. So I ended up just wandering up and down Moffett Boulevard/Castro Street (downtown Mountain View) and took pictures of the shops that caught my eyes (mostly food :P).

Clarins Men Line-Control Balm

Been using this 50mL/1.7oz. pump bottle of Clarins Men Line-Control Balm for several weeks now. Yes, it's actually me who's using this balm and not hubby. I bought it for him of course, but he thought it was too rich and moisturizing and passed it on to me :)

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Absolute Serum

After finishing Clarins Double Serum, I moved on to this 30mL/1fl. oz. pump bottle of Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Absolute Serum. I've seen line brand around aplenty. My local Whole Foods has several shelves of their products and several blogs I read also reviewed a few things here and there. Naturally, I got curious.

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm Part II

Through various purchases I ended up with a bunch of sample tubes for Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, five 5mL/0.17oz. tubes and one 30mL/1.06oz deluxe travel tube. I emptied the little 5mL tubes into a glass jar and have been using it a few times a week, whenever I go out during the day (will elaborate below).

Estee Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Radiant Energy Lotion

Along with Estee Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Radiant Moisture Creme, I started using one of three 30mL/1fl. oz. travel-sized bottles I got of Nutritious Vitality8 Radiant Energy Lotion. There are two versions, Fresh Moist and Intense Moist, and the ones I have are all Intense Moist which I happen to prefer. 

Origins A Perfect World for Eyes

Started on this 15mL/0.5fl. oz. pump bottle of Origins A Perfect World for Eyes after I ran out of Kiehl's Rosa Artica Youth Regenerating Eye Balm.

Actually, I was choosing between this and the Eye Doctor cream. I needed a thicker cream for nightly use and didn't want to open both just to check their texture. This is how I keep my skincare fresh. I wrap them up with saran wrap and don't touch them until I'm ready to use them. So I chatted with an Origins rep and he confirmed the Eye Doctor was indeed the lighter cream of the two.

Soap Crazy Part XIV

Another year, another Soap Crazy post :) Since the last post, I set a goal to use up all the leftover soaps purchased from Etsy years ago. Not because I don't like them anymore but because, well, they're getting old. We've been moving around and each move put a space of 1-2 years to these soaps, so no more. I was determined to get through them all.

First up are several remaining bars from Fresh & Clean. I have a (bad?) habit of saving the best for last, and of all the soaps I bought from Etsy, I liked those from Fresh & Clean best.

- Cherry Almondine Shea Butter Sugar Scrub Soap: Despite the name, this particular bar had no cherry or almondine. Instead, it had a lovely and warm milk and oatmeal scent. The sugar scrub didn't work at all as it just melted along each use, leaving no scrubbing effect. Then again, the bar was meant for the shower and not hand-washing so we didn't use it as intended anyway. Unfortunately, half way through the soap turned in a pile of goo. Hubby got so disgusted he threw it out :(

Ole Henriksen African Red Tea Face Mist

Started on this 118mL spray bottle of Ole Henriksen African Red Tea Face Mist a few weeks ago after finishing up the Pick Me Up Face Mist so here's a short review.

Estee Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Radiant Moisture Creme

For a while, Estee Lauder was really pushing this newish line of Nutritious Vitality8 supposedly targeting Asian skin. The line came out a few years ago and has gone through a few reformulations and name-changes. I'm not sure about the order of things or whether they're the same collection even, because they're all in similar-looking red packaging. But I've seen a bewildering variation of Nutritious, Nutritious Vita-Mineral, Nutritious Radiant, Nutritious Rosy Prism, Nutritious Vitality8, with the latest being Nutritious Super-Pomegranate just released on EL website.

Through various purchases I ended up with four 15mL/0.5oz. jars of the Radiant Moisture Creme, including one jar from a Detox + Glow Set.