Influenster recently sent me their Bite Voxbox for review. In it were two lipstick samples and matching lip pencils to go with it.
The lip stick colours were Honeycomb, a nude and a darker brown called Whiskey. They both went on very smoothly and the pencils were super sharp to create a fine lip line. I was a bit shaky so I had to do it a couple of times. I love the dark one for a goth look.
I’ve been feeling exhausted lately so I decided to start tracking my sleep again. I used to use Sleep ++, but it required manually starting and stopping your sleep sessions. I’d often forget to turn it off in the morning and it would drain my battery.
AutoSleep is different. It tracks your sleep automatically by detecting when you’re heart rate is lower and there is hardly movement while wearing the watch. It also knows when you are charging your watch so it’ll use the time between phone glances as your sleep time. That way it tracks every day automatically, whether I remember the app or not!
I saw a cool coaster tonight at Wenona Lodge by the #On The Table campaign. This one was by musician and artist Lido Pimienta. I think it’s awesome that they are using art that goes on every table to promote awareness on consent.
Ramen is such a comforting winter dish, and with so many places in Toronto, I’m eager to find the best broth. I think my favourite so far is Hakkaido Ramen Santouka.
I went there for the first time yesterday because the line always looked too long, but we were lucky to be seated within five minutes. The line is mostly caused by the fact the restaurant is pretty small. It’s easier to go as two people (or less).
They specialize in Tonkotsu (pork) broths that are handmade in house. I had the Spicy Miso ramen which had chilli oil added to the broth for a spicy kick. I also added a perfectly soft boiled egg and a side of Tokusen Toroniku, their signature pork cheek that was super delicate and melted in my mouth.
Nash ordered the more traditional Shio Ramen, which was like a warm hug you could drink. I don’t think there was a drop left when he was done with it. He also had a side of gyozas which were nicely panfried.
To drink, I tried Ikezo’s sparkling yuzu sake drink with jelly in it. I was a tiny bit skeptical of shaking it (in fear of an explosion), but it was fine. The drink is almost like a dessert.
I love pork broths and Santouka really reminded me what an awesome one is like, when I don’t have my parents to make me soups anymore!
Last week, for Chinese New Year we cooked a turkey for some reason. Chinese people don’t traditionally eat turkey in general, but I think Mom really wanted to cook one.
Do you have food traditions that you usually follow and it would be weird to break?
My friend had a Thera Cane at their house and somehow a group of us sat around using it and slowly one by one my friends all started buying one. I knew my time would come and it did. I ordered one on Amazon.
It looks like a super ridiculous stick thing that you could probably plant tomatoes with but the knobs are great for deep pressure massaging. This helps get me through the day between massages, which I get once a month to ease my anxiety.
The Thera Cane comes with a book of helpful diagrams of positions and pressure points. Some are a little bit more advanced then others. I use it mostly on my shoulders because that tends to be where my body is the most tense.
Now that I’m getting older, I totally appreciate anything that helps take away aches and pains.
It was announced last week that HMV is closing all it’s stores. It wasn’t really that surprising but it marks the end of an era. In Canada, it’s one of the last standing chains where you can buy physical music, though this fact may be arguable since movies, video games and merchandise have taken over in the past few years.
Physical music still holds a special place for me. I still get excited looking at the packaging of music and the magic of pulling something randomly off a shelf. Playlists don’t really have the same magic. It’s actually fun when you are restricted to the things you own. There’s an intimacy with a record (I collect vinyl) that is super special to me.
I’m lucky enough to have a record store within walking distance from where I live. I visit it frequently and I even tweet at them to hold records for me to pickup. Independent record stores are becoming a rare breed, but it’s important to support the ones that are still living. Let our art, like books, still live in the physical realm.
Tiana Feng 