Oh My Darling! Chloé Mini Fragrances-Chloé Parfum, L'eau de Chloé Perfume, Love Chloé Perfume & see by Chloé

I do not think that I will be loving the use of fragrances / perfumes until I have tried the luxurious fragrance sample from Burberry. I had the 1st bottle of perfume from Body Shop- White musk Perfume given by my friends during my 24 year-old birthday. Admittedly, finding a fragrance that is not overwhelming and suits your personality could be a great challenge. It's a daunting task when search for the most suitable perfume as I don't wish to be smelled like giving people (myself) headache. Instead, it would be great to be smelled like "Oh my darling" if the perfume is applied. I personally like the fresh floral or fruity scent which brings reminiscent of love and hint of sweetness.

This's going to be the 1st review I wrote about my new perfume collection- Chloé Mini Fragrances which I had bought from duty-free land; Hong Kong with a good bargained price. The fresh, floral scents of Chloé miniature set has been lingered in my room fragrantly. You could imagine that a rose garden happening in my living area now. The miniature perfume set look so pretty displayed on my dressing table, hence I just had the thought of writing a review about each mini fragrance of Chloé ! 

Chloé Mini Perfume 4 Pieces Gift Set includes:
- Chloé Perfume 5ml Eau De Parfum
- L'eau de Chloé Perfume 5ml Eau De Parfum
 - Love Chloé Perfume 5ml Eau De Parfum &
 - see by Chloé Perfume 7.5ml Eau De Parfum.

Each limited edition Chloé fragrance is housed in the most alluring glass faceted bottles. These little bottles are miniature replicas of the full size which not only makes them a great way to sample the fragrances, but also adorable to be displayed and brought along for outing or travel. 

The ingredients

1. Chloé Eau De Parfum

A single spritz of this perfume could last for the whole working day of mine. Chloé Eau De Parfum which have top notes of pink peony, freesia and lychee providing a light freshness to the signature Chloé scent. After the initial floral assault, I like the light floral scent with roses blended with the base notes of Virginia cedar, amber and honey. The fragrance is very versatile and it doesn't overpower, suitable to be used on workdays.

2. L'eau de Chloé EDT

L'eau de Chloé EDT has the pleasant peachy citrus scent running through it. The composition of top notes contributed by grapefruit, citron, bergamot, peach and aldehydes possesses reminiscent of refreshing lemonade-like scent followed by a light yet sweet touch of natural roses and elegant veil provided by patchouli. The citrus kind of scent lasts for a short moment and moves on to the hint of floral undertones contributed by the roses. At first sniff, it's not the type of fragrance I would like as the floral or fruity scent is very light in which the sweetness doesn't linger for long duration. The progressively rose note is what I like after all. It somehow likes a refreshing version of fragrance that reminds me of holidays. :)

3. Love Chloé

As the name of this fragrance, Love, Chloé has a fresh, romantic, feminine scent.  Love, Chloé was developed by perfumers Louise Turner and Nathalie Gracia-Cetto; the notes include orange blossom, pink pepper, iris absolute, lilac, hyacinth, wisteria blossom, heliotropine, powdery musks, talc and rice powder. In short, it's sensual, musky floral with a noticeable hint of orange blossom. It has very good sillage and makes me feeling elegant when apply this fragrance. By the way, its powdery scent reminds me of facial powder.

The longevity of Love Chloé  is great which I do not have to think of re-spraying. The scent blooms steadily throughout the day with a soft floral scent to embrace the loved one. Hmm.. sounds perfect to be used before attending romantic dinner. 

4. see by Chloé

The bottle is adorable. Styled like a vintage bird cage and a ring of the cover has let me thought of wearing it with a necklace. Okay, it's a wrong idea as it's heavy!  Distinctively from the another three perfumes, see by Chloé has the top notes of bergamot and apple blossom and heart notes consist of jasmine and ylang- it mellows and vanilla to anchor its base. Well, I still prefer rosy smell instead of jasmine scent anyway. The longevity of Chloé Eau De Parfum is better compared to see by Chloé. For me, it takes some time to be smelled comforting and familiar.

So, have you tried any of Chloé Fragrances?

What's your favorite scent?

Last but not least, Merry Christmas！

Unleash the Passion for Travel & Food in Hong Kong & Macau (Day 3)- DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store 點點心點心專門店

Talking about dim sum, it's like an exquisite specialty of Chinese food that shall not be missed out when came to Hong Kong. Most of the Hong Kong TVB drama had featured the dim sum breakfast session where baskets of delicate dumplings were seen accompanied with a teapot of hot tea.The diversity and sheer number of Hong Kong dim sum restaurants is stunning, such as One Dim Sum, DimDim Sum,Duddell’s, Tim Ho Wan, Lei Garden, Luk Yu Tea House and etcetera.

DimDimSum was named one of the top 101 places to eat by the 2012 Newsweek Foodie Awards, Time Out Hong Kong named it best dim sum in 2011, and it’s part of the book “Where Chefs Eat — The Ultimate Insiders’ Guide” in year 2013. While Tim Ho Wan is considered as the cheapest One-Michelin Starred Dim Sum Restaurant, we had opted for dining at DimDim Sum since we could try Tim Ho Wan's dim sum at Malaysia or Singapore.

After purchasing Ocean Park Ticket at the nearby 7-11 outlet, we waited outside of DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store; Wan Chai on the hunt for the plumpest dumplings (siew mai, har gao), tastiest buns (char siew bao,polo bun, egg custard buns) and Hong Kong styled Chee Cheung Fun. We were the 1st batch of eaters on that morning and we were provided aplenty of time to decide our orders after being seated. We decided to order most of the foods which had recommended by the foodies' blogs and websites.A bill was given right after the ordering process.

The large display of the dim sum

Some of the promotion notice and newly created dim sum

Unexpectedly, there's no waiter pushing steaming carts piled with baskets of dim sum here. I wasn't sure if this was due to lesser customers at that moment. The dim sum were served within few minutes after the tea were served. 

Polo Bun (Pineapple bun) baked with a layer of sweet crumble atop its buttery bread dough.
3 polo bun per serving and all were bites-sized version which were so adorable.
I wished the polo bun were in bigger size.

I grabbed a great heap of the crunchy polo bun and I was amazed by the rich taste of egg custard and pineapple slices as fillings. The best polo bun I ever ate at the moment! 

A closer look for the filling of polo bun! Yummy!

So, that's the highly recommended 真係菠蘿包!

 Pan-Fried Radish Cakes 香煎蘿蔔糕

Pan-Fried Radish Cakes 香煎蘿蔔糕 with the chili sauces

The pan-fried radish cakes (also named as turnip cakes) were one of the excellently executed staples. Each bite of the pan-fried radish cakes had shredded Chinese turnips mixed with balanced rice-flour batter. Dipping the piece of pan-fried radish cakes added some kick onto it. Crispy on the outside and soft and delicious for each bite of the radish cakes.

Cheung Fun 脆皮鲜虾肠 or literally called as ‘intestine noodles’ as translation.

Usually it's filled with prawns, barbecue pork or meats and served with a splash of fried dried shrimp chilies, shallots, onion oil and soy sauce. Surprisingly, there's no soy sauce being served together with this cheung fun here.

The deep-fried crispy prawns were wrapped with the soft, translucent rice rolls.
It came to our surprise that it tasted so delicious!

Photogenic egg custard bun in cute piggy shape 金沙肥豬仔

I had a small bite on the egg custard bun and enjoyed the yellowish egg custard oozing like lava from the bun. Creamy, salty-sweet and it tasted best when it's served hot. 

BBQ Pork Buns (Cha Siu Bao)  巧製叉燒包

The filling was sweet barbecue sauce together with the light sauce rendered from the fat of the pork ribs accompanied with some hints of yam sweetness. 

Pork Dumplings with Crab Roe (Siu Mai) 蟹子燒賣皇

The iconic dim sum staple which was the 1st recommended dim sum on the menu. Steamed pork dumpling with prawns, wrapped in a yellow, dough-based wrapper and topped with orange crab roe. The freshly-made siew mai were often tasty and I enjoyed each bite of chunky pieces of prawns. 

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) 晶瑩鮮蝦餃

Similar with the siew mai, nothing sums up the simple perfection of dim sum more than fresh steamed shrimp dumplings. Big, fresh prawns wrapped with the soft, translucent skin which it did not tear apart when we picked it up by using chopsticks. 

Braised chicken feet

 I wasn't a fans of steamed chicken feet but had given a try when I was in Hong Kong.
The tender chicken feet were well marinated and I loved the assortments of peanuts.

Mushroom buns 牛肝菌花菇包 ; the new dim sum of the shop.

Fluffy, soft bun with mushroom slices as fillings.

Despite of the cute, creative outlook, I personally didn't find it special. However, my friends were delighted of the mushroom buns.

The mushroom gill of the shiitake mushroom-looked bun.

Quoted from 點點心點心專門店:

牛肝菌 - 因色澤如牛肝而得名，出產 自意大利、法國、瑞士等國家；含豐富蛋白質、維生素、鈣、磷、鐵等礦物質；具有清熱、除煩、追風散寒、養血活血、抗流感、預防感冒等功效；適量食用可治療腰腿疼痛及手足麻木。

Verdict: Eating in DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store; Hong Kong is definitely a gastronomic pleasure with the satisfying and good quality of dim sum. All of the dim sum were very tasty especially the polo bun and pan-fried radish cakes which would had me considering for a re-visit. That's the only dining experience of dim sum during my visit to Hong Kong even thought we did include Sun Hing Restaurant (Kennedy Town) in our itinerary.Thankfully, DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store provided a pleasant dining experience with good food, service and atmosphere. As the 1st batch of guests, we enjoyed no lining up was needed after the scariest experience of queuing up for Ngong Ping Cable Car and The Peak.

The dim sum we had ordered:

點點心點心專門店(灣仔店)
DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store (Wan Chai Store)

7 Tin Lok Lane, Wan Chai, HK

香港灣仔天樂里7號地下 

Stay tuned for the next blog entries for my Hong Kong trip

10 days 7 nights Europe Trip Itinerary (11th November - 20th November 2014)

Day 1:

Checked in KLIA, Transit in Dubai Airport

Day 2: 

1. Arrived at Heathrow UK Airport at 7am 
2. UK sight-seeing tour at Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey,
3. Lunch at Chinatown 
4. Visited Buckingham Palace and No.10 Dowing Street (external view) and a two-hour shopping at Oxford Street
5. Had dinner at Kings Mall after checking-in Novotel London West.

Click Say "Hello" to London (Part 1) for more details.


Day 3: 

1. Took underground train at Hammersmith Underground Station to Westminster Station to re-visit Big Ben and House of Parliaments.
2. Took a ride on London Eye
3. Visited SEA LIFE London Aquarium
4. A great noon in Madame Tussauds London
5. Explored Underground Stations to shop at Oxfort Street.

Click Say "Hello" to London (Part 2) for more details.


Day 4: 

1. Bid "Goodbye" to Novotel Hotel and left for Brussels by Eurostar. 
2. A short tour in Brussels; Belgium - Grand Place, Chocolate shop and say " Hello" to Manneken Pis, Atomium.
3. Left Brussels to Amsterdam; Netherlands for the nice, hot dinner and checked-in Mercure Amsterdam Airport Hotel

Click below links for more details:

• London-Brussels via Eurostar
• Town Hall, Grand Place, Chocolate Shop- Chocolaterie Manneken-Pis, Manneken Pis and Atomium

Day 5:

1. Amsterdam sight-seeing
2. Zaanse Schans - Wooden windmills, barns and museums,Chocolate Factory, Dutch wooden Clogs Factory/ Showroom, Cheese Factory
3. Lunch - Fish and Chips at Van Den Hogen Restaurant; Volendam
4. Amsterdam Canal Cruise- Along Skining Bridge, Stoppera, Science Museum, Harbour, Railway Station, Gentleman;s canal, Prince Canal, Emperor Canal and stop at Gassan Diamond Showroom
5. Had dinner around Dam Square and Visit to Dam Square; Red Light District; and enjoy night scenery of Royal Place and National Monument Amsterdam.

Click below links for more details:

• Amsterdam Day Tour- Sight-seeing
• Zaanse Schans
• Volendam
• Amsterdam Canal Cruise and Gassan Diamonds Showroom
• Netherlands Chinatown and Red Light District
• Dam Square

Day 6:

1.  UNESCO World Heritage Kinderdijk for the authentic windmills
2.  Rotterdam- Cube Houses, Erasmus Bridge, Lunch @ McD Rotterdam
3.  Den Haag- The Rizzerdaal (Hall of Knights) and its beautiful fountain, Prince of William Statue; Paleis Noordeinde and Peace Palace.
4. Scheveningen- Beach
5. Had dinner at Amsterdam and visit Amsterdam Casino, Hard Rock Cafe/ Beer cafe and shops

Click below links for more details:

• Kinderdijk
• Rotterdam- Euromast tower, Central Station, Cube Houses and Erasmus Bridge
• Den Haag
• Scheveningen
• Amsterdam Hard Rock Cafe

Day 7:

Checked out hotel and dropped by rest houses for Milk/ Champagne flavor ice-cream, had lunch at Café France before heading to Galeries Lafayette.


Click below links for more details:

• Cote France Autogrill 
• Galleries Lafayette

Day 8: 

1. Admission to the 2nd floor of Eiffel tower, 
2. Paris canal cruise on seine river- passed by Pont des invalids, Passerelle Leopold-Sedar-Senghor,Pont Alexander III Bridge, Pont de la Concorde, pont du Carrousel, Pont des Art, Pont Neuf, Ile de la cite/ Pont de la Tournelle, Pont Bir Hakeim, Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir, Pont au Change, Pont d’ Austerlitz, Pont de l’ Archeveche, Pont de Sully, Pont d’ lena; Galeries Lafayette 
3. Enjoyed dinner in Paris

Click below links for more details:

• Eiffel Tower
• Seine River Cruise Tour by Bateaux Mouches
• Chez Edouard

Day 9: 

1. Visited Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmartre, Louvre Museum, Roue de Paris- Paris Ferries Wheel, Arch de Triomph,
2. Bid farewell to the nice destinations and back to Malaysia with wonderful experiences in Europe.

Click below links for more details:

• The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris -Sacré-Coeur Basilica
• Louvre Museum/ Musée du Louvre
• Not-so-authentic Japanese Cuisine @ Higuma Japanese Restaurant
• Arc de Triomphe, La Grand Roue de Paris (Paris Ferries Wheel), Luxor Obelisk

Day 10: 

Home, I'm back to your hug :)

Europe Trip- Netherlands | Volendam

15th November 2014

The trip in Netherlands had been continued with an excursion to Volendam; which is a fishing village locating on the shores of Markermeer Sea. Volendam, another popular tourist destination in the Netherlands which is approximately 25 minutes away from Amsterdam. Tour guide had informed us that the lunch of the day was fish and chips in one of the famous Volendam restaurant. Well, the cold weather here had engendered me feeling hungry at an earlier time. It was just 11.30am.

Along the journey, a brief explanation from the tour guide:

Volendam is famous for its fresh-water fishing and the Dutch traditional clothings which are still worn by the residents here. Volendam is currently with the population of approximately 22,000 residents and most of the community’s income sources are derived from fishing and tourism.

We passed by Volendams Museum. The tranquil surrounding, the nice houses along the roadside of Volendam wasn't lost to be compared to Zaanse Schans.

The first scene we stepped down the bus was ducks floating idly on the moats or river banks. 

We wandered past on the roadway and the shores could be seen. On the right side of roadway towards the harbor, the picturesque Dutch village was captivated my attention.I couldn’t help falling in love with Volendam with the sight of fishing sail boats, yachts, quaint Dutch architecture along the streets and stylish gardens of Dutch houses. It’s like strolling along a place which you could see in fairy tale setting.  The gardens of the Dutch villages were well-designed and you could spot many Disney miniatures. 

The seven dwarfs were spotted!

The Snow White must be in the house :)

The dream houses! 

I was enthralled with the cute couples miniatures and had a photo taken with one of them. 

The owner of the house must be worried as so many tourists dropped by their houses to hug, touch and capture with their cute miniatures. 

Some of us had been obsessed with the photography session and got lost with the rest.We wandered along the street cafes spotting the possible shops with fish and chips as the main menu. We had gone past around 2-3 fish and chips shops lining along the fishing harbor. At last, we decided to snap photos while searching for the rest of the groups. After few minutes, we saw our tour guide waving hands towards us and led us to Van den Hogen restaurant.

Van den Hogen restaurant located at the strategic place of Volendam, on the Dike overlooking the harbour. It is ranked as 3rd place out of 24 restaurants in Volendam. We had Fish and Chips at this pre-booked restaurant.

Traditional costumes

I thought it was just seasoning soup at the first sight of the soup. After we asked the waitress, it was full-flavoured fish soup with plenty ingredients. We had fried codfish” mustard sauce” as our main meal which came along with sets of potatoes (roasted , chips, boiled), a bowl of cubed carrots and salads. The fish was very fresh and tasted very good. Dame Blanche was served as dessert. You could have a mouthful of whipped cream and warm molten chocolate or dipping the stroopwafels with vanilla ice-cream.

Salads

The best potato fries I ever had.

Cubed carrots.

My fish and chips.

The roasted potatoes which I forgot to capture earlier.

Dame Blanche

After tasting Dutch seafood specialties -fish and chips, we were given approximately an hour to walk around this "the pearl of the Zuiderzee". Compared to the shocking price tag at London, the shirts here were sold at much reasonable price. We managed to get two nice shirts as souvenirs. Well, we shall have taken the traditional costumes group photo.

The most favorite photo that captured by my dad.

Beauty with the blossoms of tulips.

In front of Cheese Museum

At one of the street of Volendam

Romance

Ice-cream,fish and chips, diamonds shop

I love Volendam very much. The surrounding had made me very excited, wanting to explore for more.