a blog Made in Sydney, Australia
This was actually my super duper belated birthday dinner, a friend gave me a $100 visa (thanks you!) to initially eat at The Alibi Darlinghurst but uh… I think it closed down before I had the chance. And then I was told of The Devonshire! Which I’ve not actually heard of before, but which has one hat, in Surry Hills. 🙂
Do you like food? Do you like UNLIMITED AWESOME food? Then read on.
Continue reading “The Best Sydney Japanese Yakiniku Buffet Places”
A quick post! There are loads of tips and tricks for any Apple Device, particular its OSes, but for now, these are the ones that I know of and constantly use.
Tapping the Top Bar will scroll back up to the top of the screen.
Double tapping space bar when typing will give you fullstop.
Double clicking Home button while in lockscreen will pull up the Music play menu.
Double clicking Home button while in home screen will pull up the multitask bar at the bottom.
Pressing the On/Off button together with the Home button for a few seconds will start your iOS device – if it dies on you and pressing the on/off button no longer works. This is a must know if you don’t have access to Internet or anything to google about it. Otherwise if it really dies and this doesn’t work -> Take it to Apple’s Genius Bar.
Sliding two fingers from the middle of the keyboard outwards will split your keyboard in two, making it easier to type in landscape mode.
4 or 5 finger pinching the screen will bring it back to Home screen. I prefer this over actually pressing the Home button to avoid breaking it later, those Home buttons are the least durable.
4 finger swipe side ways while in an app will switch between your active apps.
4 finger swipe bottom to top will bring up the multitask bar.
Charging iPad Mini through your PC via USB actually works despite what it says on the screen, haven’t tried with the iPhone.
Do you use any of these? Do you know of any others?
Tip: This is best viewed on a computer because I decided to put things in tables.
Admit it, we all love online shopping and sticking the middle finger up to our Australian retail stores and their ridiculous prices. I mean, I don’t want to but when a game I buy is $50-60 online compared to the $120, I kinda do get a bit upset sometimes or you know, when almost everything is 150-200% more. But at least for the most part, I am only buying small items. My larger purchases remain here in Aussie land. 🙂 I SUPPORT YOU AUSTRALIA, but you just suck sometimes.
So I’ve compiled a lovely list of websites I tend to throw money at, keeping in mind that shipping fee or free shipping is important to me because we’re so ******* far away and delivery times is based on my own experiences to Sydney.
I have a big thing with skincare so I’ve used most of these websites for skincare rather than makeup, but I do see a lot of them providing a really broad range of stuff too. Most of these sites sell the same brands and products.
| Website | Ave Shipping (days) / Fees | What I think |
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10 / Free! | This is probably the thing that started it all, I was pretty impressed with the range of brands they have and this is also where I got the ‘Emu Oil Eye Cream’ from. They have pretty good navigation and easy to use site but unfortunately for them, they don’t ship a lot of brands out to Australia so I no longer really shop with them any more. Great site otherwise.Bought: Emu Oil Well, MD Formulations, Caudalie, Weleda, theBalm, Stila, Bareminerals |
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12 / Free | I’ve only purchased from here once, buying some Pai muslin cloths and a lip balm. No issues with this site, just not something that has the brands I tend to look out for.Bought: Pai, Dr Hauschka |
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8.5/ Free! | They have REN products, like, cleanser at <$20 vs our $40!? :O I find they’re also the cheapest site with sales all the time. I’ve already made 3 purchases with the website since finding out about it a couple of weeks ago. The GBP is better than Euro at the moment so purchase in that currency. Probably my favourite right now.Bought: REN, Caudalie, Keratase, Weleda |
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 14 / ~$5AUD for up to 2kg | This website offers all the French brands that are focused on sensitive skin! Avene, Nuxe, Vichy and La Roche Posay.Bought: La Roche Posay |
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 11 / Shipping fee | I bought some real techniques and eco tools brushes from them and that’s probably the last time I buy from them. Not that there’s anything wrong with the purchase, it just doesn’t have the stuff I want! 🙂 And also because the website’s a bit ugly.Bought: Real Techniques Brush, ecotools and Weleda |
Playstation 3 games, nuff’ said. Also visit http://www.gamecafe.com.au to search across the multiple different gaming sites.
| Website | Ave Shipping Times / Fees | What I think |
| OzGameShop | 14 / Free | Probably bought most of my games from here, however it isn’t always the cheapest in comparison to Zavvi/The Hut |
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14 / $1 to $2 | Pre-ordered Ni no Kuni and received it 2 weeks later as expected. These guys are actually the same people as TheHut below. A lot of other people say they’ve had trouble with them, but since I’ve received mine, I’m fairly happy. |
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14 / $1 to $2 | Ah, the big TheHutGroup. LookFantastic is actually also under this group and I have the same things to say about it as Zavvi. It’s probably worth checking their other websites out. |
| Website | Ave Shipping Times / Fees | What I think |
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10 / Free! | This is a given. If you don’t know about it then thank me, thank me now! It’s great. It’s a book store and it’s great. They have a .com and .co.uk site; in most cases I find .com cheaper than .co.uk and the easieast way to check is just to replace that bit in the URL when you’re viewing a particular item. Easy.Bought: A shit load of books, including piano books and manga. |
| ebay | Everyone buys from ebay.
Bought from: special_spice (Revlon Lip stuff), accessorieswhole (Skin79) and sgpstore1 (for SGP Spigen products) |
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| catchoftheday.com.au | Yes! I have bought stuff from catch of the bloody day. I recently purchased the L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream from them which I thought was pretty weird but nonetheless they were the only ones selling it. So there you go. |
You’re probably wondering where the fashion stores are, you know, there’s a shitload, like asos, net-a-porter etc but I generally don’t buy clothes or shoes online just because I find it incredibly hard to do so and have found I return more than 60% of the time. And also because I am visiting the states soon so I am going to shop myself crazy there instead.
Other tips include searching online for discount codes, you’ll find them, trust me. And also use your 28 degrees card to shop for things that aren’t in AUD!
Enjoy and let me know what other awesome websites there are. 🙂
Warning: this will be a fairly gamey, geeky post.
First of all I was able to listen in on most of the “Playstation Meet 2013” live event announcing Sony’s Playstation 4 yesterday. I also read up on it from various forums and blogs. And then I saw this video that just about sums everything up in 3 minutes. I fucking love this video and you should probably watch it to find out why.
Anyway, here’s a few key points I learnt yesterday:
Point #1 – that there are a bunch of useless people out there who need to STFU about
Point #2 – that there are some pretty cool games coming out and I am excited about
Cool games and all but then I realised they were going to be released for the PS3 and other platforms anyway, so what’s my purpose in buying the PS4 then? Where are the exclusives? Where is Final Fantasy Versus? WHERE IS THE LAST GUARDIAN?
Yeah, I mean, the graphics were good for some of these trailers and demos, but they were only a bit better than the best of PS3, until I saw this.
Woooowwwww, that’s amazing. They should make a Game of Thrones PS4 game with that kinda quality. I’ll play it.
Point #3 – that they didn’t forget about the PS Vita and it was a good thing I didn’t sell it
The best bit being remote play, where I can play PS4 games on my Vita away from the TV. This will be super useful since my mom uses the TV fairly often.
Point #4 – that I really didn’t give an ass about the specs, I just wanted to know about the games
Point #5 – that I will probably buy it anyway, eventually; particularly if they have really awesome exclusives, but it seems like they don’t, so far anyway. E3 will tell
So basically my biggest lesson yesterday was that I probably shouldn’t go around reading people’s stupid comments because I went from pretty excited to pretty angry. A bit ironic here but eh.
I’m melting…
I only read a few out of the 60 before I had to stop before I bawled my eyes out. Will have to continue this at home in case of embarrassing myself crazy.
I’ve been meaning to post this some time ago primarily because I really want to show you this really ugly photo. Ho ho ho.
I hate covers in general. I prefer having my Apple things as they were designed – NUDEEEEE and pretty. So with the exception of a Smart Cover which can be easily removed every time I use it, I only ever have screen protectors and body films on. Most people can’t tell I have anything on my iPhone, but it’s covered back and front. And so is my iPad Mini.
I bought this, Spigen SGP’s Invisible Shield!
There’s also an ULTRA COAT version which wasn’t available at the time and is the shiny, glossy version as opposed to this matte one. Having seen some videos of the Ultra Coat, I gotta say I prefer the Matte version. This is the brand I use for my iPhone as well. They give you different options and I normally opt for the Ultra Crystal screens that do not change the display at all, it’s also the thickest but isn’t fingerprint-free. I’ve dropped something sharp and very heavy on my iPhone screen before and it ended up denting the screen protector but nothing on my actual screen. Awesome stuff.
NOW for the iPad, the screen is easy to install, like any and because I’m awesome. So much that you can’t tell. BUT the back however… isn’t flat and glass… the film isn’t hard!! Anyway, I thought I was really awesome at applying these things so my first go turned out like this…. and cringe you will
😦 The instructions tell me bubbles will go away in a day or two. The next morning, it didn’t really look any better so I decided to re-apply it, because the film, unlike the screen protector, is reusable. I redid it in a half-assedly manner I guess, since I kinda gave up already and it then looked like this
Heaps better right? I wasn’t going to peel back a 3rd time… so I just gave up then. I was really sad because I believed in SGP! And sad because I could have done a better job had I followed a youTube video. -_-
But lo and behold, a few days later, it looked like this
Hell yeah! The bubbles were gone and the only thing left was dust I caught from my second application and the screw ups that scarred it from the 1st. Given a brand new set, I’m fairly certain I can get it to look perfect. Faith in SGP restored and now happily flinging my iDevices around without worry, and also enjoying the original weight it should be.
I’d show you what the front screen or my iPhone looks like but…. it’ll just look like it’s nude so no point there, with a few scratches. And you know, it’s always really cool when people tell me or ask me why I don’t protect my iDevices. Well, that’s because I already am.
So there you go, Spigen is definitely my go to brand for all my small device protection. They don’t just do iDevices, they do everything so if you’re looking for something similar, go check them out. This set was about $30 and totally worth it; I got it from their eBay store (sgpstore1).
[UPDATE]
I did my sister’s one and it basically looked like pic 3 first go and better. I think the trick is to, well follow the video instructions, BUT also use a crap load of the spray included onto the sheet. 🙂
We had two dinners to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. 😀 There’s a reason but you’re not interested in that, you’re interested in what we ate right?! Because food.
We went to Prime Steak Restaurant at the GPO Martin Pl for a fancy candlelit dinner and a not so fancy dinner at Jean’s Chilli Chicken at Eastwood Hotel. They are both awesome.
No one seems to know about this restaurant and yet, I think it has the best steaks in Sydney. Better than Rockpool Bar & Grill, better than both Kingsley, better than any other place I’ve been to. And the quality is oh so consistent because I’ve been there a few times in the span of about 10 years. The same ole tastiness. I feel better knowing it’s been awarded Best Steak Restaurant consecutively for a while though. Might also be because it’s really hidden away downstairs in the GPO. 
The steaks. They have mainly the Black Angus steaks and Wagyu. F1 Wagyu, a hybrid and the Full-Blooded Wagyu of which they say is only available in 3 restaurants in Australia, two in Sydney and one in Melbourne.
The hunbun and I shared the Grain-Fed Black Angus Scotch 300g and the Full-Blooded Wagyu Fillet 180g. The latter being double the price and a bit more… :O Yeah, they’re pretty pricey.
We also ordered a scallop entree which I thought was decent but nothing too special.
The Angus Scotch is so, so juicy and fatty and flavoursome. So flavoursome. And that, my friends, is the main difference between Prime and other restaurants. Not only does the quality of the meat need to be awesome, it needs to at least taste like something. Other restaurants are bland, bland and bland despite it being Wagyu or not *cough* Rockpool. Though having said that, I’d probably go for something like the Fillet or something else next time because at the size of 300g, something so completely fat and juicy was a bit too much for me near the end.
The Full-Blooded Wagyu? Perfect. Did I mention they were both cooked perfectly to the Medium-Rare that we ordered? Yeah.
The difference between the two steaks are obvious, the Wagyu was better in the “this feels awesome in my mouth”, “omg the quality” and “I want this to be the last bite”, but otherwise it wasn’t largely more yummier than the other such that it makes the Angus seem bland, it’s just… different. You need to try for yourself.
Both dishes came with sides and the many sauces which we got to choose a couple of.
Service was also great. I thought the waiter sounded like Hiccup from How To Train Your Dragon, no really.
If you’re in any way interested in steak, then I advise you try Prime at least once! 🙂 They range from $55 to $125.
This small Korean eatery is within Eastwood Hotel/Pub. It’s weird, but I trusted the boyfriend. The main thing to order here is apparently the Chilli Chicken BBQ dishes that come with a bowl of mixed rice in seaweed, which you then use your BAAAAAAAAAARE hands to turn into riceballs. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on, but turned out well.
0. We ordered the Chilli Cheese Chicken.
1. Cut up the chicken!
2. Place cut up chicken and rice into bowl.
3. Mix and squish into a ball which result in…
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4. Nom Nom.
5. Make a mess because you’re a newb.
One of these is meant to serve two, but we found it’s probably suited to 3 or 4 people with maybe an extra dish.
I was worried the chicken would be more similar to teriyaki chicken for some strange reason, but it tasted like charcoal/BBQ chicken which is nom-worthy. *thumbs up* Boyfriend said their steaks and other foods aren’t very nice, so I suggest you try whatever we had! 🙂
It’s still January, I can still post 2012 lists. So let’s seeee
Check out my review here. Still loving it, still using it everyday, more so than my Macbook Air. I’m currently playing The Walking Dead and shit is scary and fun. Kotaku mentioned avoiding iOS for the Walking Dead, but really it’s just for the iPhone. There’s no issues playing on the iPad as far as I’m concerned! It’s apparently cheaper than other platforms too. $15.99 for 4 episodes, if you download the first episode now for free.
Apple TV
This was for mom to watch things from her iPad on the TV. So, so useful. Completely worth buying if you would like to stream things from your iPhone, iPad or Macbooks or even PC now that iTunes 11 has that ability. At a priceo f around $110, it’s not too bad an investment 🙂 It’s also very small and cute.
My PlayStation Vita didn’t make this list because… well, it’s collecting dust. And you know what? When something obvious like the Walking Dead doesn’t end up on the Vita but every other platform, it really does say something about it. Now I need to figure out if I can let it go and sell… :[
I really liked The Avengers. I can’t seem to remember anything else. There was the Dark Knight Rises, but it didn’t leave that big an impression for me.
Call of Duty Black Ops II Zombies was a disappointment, but I’m now addicted to the Multiplayer mode instead. Huzzah!
left to right
Just in time for 2012. This thing… is a lifesaver. Got sunburnt near the end of the year, somehow found out about this and voila, relief. Not just a sunburn btw, sunburn-turned-horribly-inflamed-eczema. Eczema people, use that sunscreen like no tomorrow and make sure you thoroughly apply it to all areas. I failed to cover all areas.
Now this spring water can be used as I did, for relief of eczema or sunburns but it also has other uses like a hydrating face mist or toner. In any case, I really like it. Refreshing and cooling.
Super lazy, tired and cbfed washing your hair? Get this. I feel sorry for the me who didn’t know about this earlier. It really works! As to the turning your hair grey or white, that’s okay, you just have to massage it through and it’ll go away.
I got the tropical flavour and that was way too sweet and vanilla, this new FRESH is nice. It’s … well, fresh and not that fragrant at all.
Discovered this from the millions of bloggers that love it. Hardly use this, but when I do, it works, feels great and doesn’t irritate for my sensitive skin. Thumbs up.
I never really did review these did I ho ho ho. I now have Honey, Darling, Precious and Rendevous. All of which I bought from ebay! I’ve never used any beauty product so religiously since I never really wear any other make up. But I wear Honey almost every day. Easy, smooth and awesome lasting power. Tick, tick and tick.
I have broken the record, broken the trend and I am so, so happy. For the past 4 or 5 years, I spent my new years and/or xmas very sick in bed. There’s just nothing worse than spending new years alone or not spending it at all. And every year, reaching up to that season, my family and I would be terrified of my health. BUT LO AND BEHOLD, I am totally not sick and was not sick at all this new year.
Not only that, on NYE, I worked, watched Wreck-It Ralph (which was really enjoyable), ate awesome dinner, took Asian sticker photos and saw the fireworks right next to the Harbour Bridge with my hunny bunbun. And so, Happy New Year guys 🙂
I never ever set these things because I’m a terrible person and I would feel bad not achieving anything I’ve set my goals for. So, in other words, I’m afraid to commit to my own words. I suck, sometimes.
But I’m ready. So *breathes in* here goes…
*breathes* ah, that was… that was difficult. Okay. I’m set. I can do this shiz yo!
There are a few things I’m looking forward to in 2013.
I’ve realised my frequency of posts will most likely be around 2 to 4 posts per month and not what it used to be when I started – because that’s just how we are, us newbie bloggers.
You’ll find I’ll probably start posting more about the geeky stuff or other random life things than the beauty stuff as I settle down with what I should be using 🙂
le geekSkin 