Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Essence SPF50+ PA+++

It has been quite an interesting experiment with this Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Essence SPF50+ PA+++. I bought it back in May and started testing it along with several other sunscreens, Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50+ PA+++, SunPlay Super Block SPF50+ PA+++, Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Milk SPF50+ PA+++, and Allie Extra UV Gel Mineral Moist N SPF50+ PA+++ for the face, and Skin Aqua UV Moisture Gel SPF32 PA+++ and Nivea Sun Protect Water Gel SPF30 PA++ for the body.

This Sara Sara Essence is a newer release and I picked it because according to what I read, it has stronger UVA protection (indicated by PA) with Tinosorb S, an ingredient common in European sunscreens known for much stronger UVA protection than American sunscreens, which focuses on UVB (indicated by SPF) and pretty much ambivalent when it comes to UVA. 

Taipei Eats - Zhongxiao East Road area (忠孝東路, Picture heavy!)

Hubby and I haven't explored the area around Zhongxiao Road (忠孝東-西路) much. We've only been there a few times to shop for knick knacks for the apartment or to meet up with friends. It really helps to have friends wherever you go, because thank goodness for their recommendations that you are never bored.

That said, I have to admit our first visit to the area was a complete failure. We exited MRT Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (忠孝敦化站) and after wandering around aimlessly for about an hour we randomly picked this Sichuan restaurant. I was iffy about it the moment we entered the place, because it was too, umm, poshy. I was right. It was alright, not terrible but not good either, and expensive as hell. A bad choice all around, so I didn't bother to take a picture of the place because I'd never come back.

Pickled cucumbers and plum juice.

Spicy diced chicken with bone in and "Sichuan style" beef noodles that was actually regular but meh beef noodles at 3x the price. 

Dessert was on the house - coconut jello. It was okay.

L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm SPF15

Keeping with my goal to pack multi-purpose lip items for Taiwan, I also took these L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm SPF15 with me. Yep, all 8 of them. Because it's hard for me to pick just a few, so much for packing light :P

L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm SPF15. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

These are tinted balms in a nice lipstick-like gold twist up bullets with square base. They don't have that substantial weighty feel like Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter (precisely the reason I did not bring Revlon with me!), but they aren't plastic-y or tacky like the Maybelline ColorSensational Pop Sticks either. I would have preferred a smaller and more slender round tube like Sephora Hot Hues Neon Lip Balm, but if you didn't know better, you'd think I was swiping on some high-end lipstick and not a drugstore lip balm!

Left: 118 Pink Satin, 218 Rose Elixir, 219 Plush Plum, and 318 Heavenly Berry.
Right: 418 Caring Coral, 518 Tender Mauve, 818 Nourishing Nude, and 819 Caramel Comfort.

Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Peeling Gel

I first read about Robin Niu from Rouge Deluxe's Kose's Talk Show with Niu Er post. At the time, I was one week away from moving to Japan and trying a new Taiwanese brand was the last thing on my mind. But I'm in Taipei now and seeing Niu Er's skincare brands everywhere naturally makes me curious. Since I needed a peeling gel at the time, and Watsons was (and perhaps still) having this promotion for buy one get one *almost* free (see below), I picked up this Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Peeling Gel to try. 

Day Trip to Tamsui, New Taipei (淡水, Picture heavy!)

Yet another long post.

My cousin Q. is finishing her last year of college in Taipei, and so after having not seen each other for many years, we now get to hang out every now and then in a city unfamiliar to the both of us ^.^ One weekend we met up for a day trip in Tamsui, and she brought her classmates with her, all 10 of them. Yep. That's how they roll I guess xD Hubby and I were a bit surprised at first since we weren't expecting a giant get together but we all ended up enjoying ourselves so much we forgot we were moving about in a big mass LOL! 

It's so so convenient to travel about here in Taipei, as there are subway, bus, etc., to every where. It is cheap too, and public transportation here costs less than 1/3 of what it does in Japan! The nearest MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) station is literally outside my alley, and I'm on the Red Line, which goes directly to Tamsui in about 1 hour. So yeah, I just got on the train and that was that! Super nice...

A farmer's market and a human statue at the start of the Tamsui Old Street.

Taipei Eats - Heping East Road area (和平東路, Picture heavy!)

Disclaimer - another long post ahead of the shops along Heping East Road where I live!

I mentioned in my previous Shida Night Market Eats post that we don't have a functional kitchen in our Taipei apartment, so we eat out 2 meals a day, 7 days a week, which is why I'm gaining weight even though I walk 2+ miles every day to school T.T Anyway, in addition to the night market, we pretty much just randomly pick any stores, shops, carts, stands that looks good.

Zhang Mama Beef Noodles (張媽媽牛肉麵) is the very first shop we had lunch at the day after we landed in Taipei ^.^ We didn't know at the time, but this shop is actually a bit more expensive, about twice as much as most noodle shops and we paid around $6-7 (NT$180-200) for each of our bowl of noodles.

The red braised beef noodles (left) was decent, but not the best. The light broth beef noodles turned out to be disappointingly bland. I guess now I know that "light" really means "no taste" LOL! Won't make that mistake again :P

Braised beef noodle with tomatoes and Braised beef soup.

Clinique Chubby Stick

Traveling isn't easy, especially the packing part. Most airlines now allow only 2 pieces of check-in luggage weighing no more than 50 lbs. (~ 22.7kg) each for international travel (unless you fly first class, in which case it'd be much cheaper to just courier the darn luggages). And while packing for the few months we'll be spending in Taipei, hubby went even further and limited each of us to just 1 piece of luggage. Cruel, I tell you. Cruel. But fine, whatever. I wanted to save room for new Taiwan additions anyway :P *muahaha* Shh...don't tell him I said that xD

Clinique Chubby Sticks Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm

Top to bottom: 04 Mega Melon, 05 Chunky Cherry, 06 Woppin' Watermelon, 07 Super Strawberry, 12 Oversized Orange. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Needless to say it was exceedingly difficult to pick what to bring with me to Taipei given the little room I had. Adding to the challenge was that I did a whole lot of cosmetics shopping before moving home from Japan (who wouldn't?!?), so all the sparkling newbies were equally beckoning. In the end, I decided on, well, non-Japanese balm-tints, either in a twist up bullet, like the Sephora Hot Hues Neon Lip Balm or Maybelline ColorSensational Pop Sticks, or in a pencil form, like the Stila Lip Glaze Sticks minus the sharpening. I figured balm-tints are meant to be travel-friendly, as in you don't really need a mirror to apply them. At the same time, they are multi-functional, [supposedly] providing moisture, a hint of color, and sometimes even a sheen. 

Which brings me to these Clinique Chubby Sticks, which I've been eyeing since they first came out. Living in Japan didn't do much to stop me from picking up a few to try, thanks to the internet, because I would never buy non-Japanese brand cosmetics in Japan anyway. Why pay double, triple the price? :P It took a few months for me to gather the mini collection below, with the two at top being GWPs and the three full sizes. 

Mooncakes!

Last weekend was the weekend of Mid Autumn Festival, and I got to experience a bit of the culture here. So apparently, in addition to sipping hot tea and nibbling on mooncakes while viewing the moon, folks in Taiwan also has a tradition of barbecuing. This "tradition" is rather a young one, having been started in the mid 80's, and according to my Mandarin teacher, from a barbecue sauce commercial. I'll ask her for the link of the youtube video and will update this post with it for you to see. 

But yes, walking down the street here in Taipei, you will see people barbecuing with their family out on the side walks right in front of their homes. It was actually kind of confusing, since there are also street vendors who sell grilled things on the side of the road and sometimes it's hard to tell which is a street vendor with a host of patrons gathering around him and which is an actual family barbecuing with their loved ones. Hubby and I joked around and dared each other to come up to a random party, sit down, and just start ordering xD Of course we didn't pull the stunt, but the reaction would have been hilarious to see! ...Or not -.-' We're so immature, I know.

My mooncake plate ^.^ They're mostly Taiwanese style with just one tiny squarish Hongkong style (middle row, right) one mixed in.

Mod's Hair Aqua Clear Reset Shampoo

I know I get bored easily, because there's always at least 2 different shampoos and 2 different body washes in my shower ^.^ That said, one of them, however many, must be a clarifying shampoo. I have oily scalp, and without using a clarifying shampoo at least once or twice a week my hair just feel really gunky and heavy even though I wash it every day. 

Here in Taipei, in addition to Asience Shine Therapy Shampoo TW and Tsubaki Shining Shampoo, I also bought this bottle of Mod's Hair Aqua Clear Reset Shampoo. This is not my first time using this shampoo, actually. I have used it way back in 2005-2006 when I was working in Japan. I wanted to try something else, but there was not really many choices for clarifying shampoo, at least not apparent to me. This is a Japanese import with a Mandarin-language sticker taped over the original Japanese on the back of the bottle.

Shida Night Market Eats, Taipei (師大路夜市, Picture heavy!)

Here's your warning - long post ahead!

Hubby and I live about a 10-15 minutes walk from Shida Night Market (師大路夜市), and since we can't cook in our tiny apartment (we don't really want to, why would we?), every other night is a leisurely stroll in search of good food to eat.