Fitzroy Island. Gorgeous!

Ever been to Australia and wanted to stay there? Welcome to the club! lol

After many years of thinking and talking about going to Australia I finally visited the beautiful country. Where do I begin..Australia is a young country in the pacific east part of the world where the primary language is English. In Sydney, the country's capital, there is a healthy mix of ethnic cultures that boosts the modern city's cultural diversity. While the country's economic competitiveness at the international level continues to evolve, natives at heart seems to value family life and one's well-being over work. I absolutely love it. Play hard, work hard, and take care of yourself and others - living in the moment! What is not to love about this kind of attitude?!

So while my experience in Australia was fabulous in many ways I'd like to focus on one part of my trip. Specifically, the day I spent up on Fitzroy Island, Cairns. Cairns is home to the world famous Great Barrier Reef. It is a popular destination for many people especially divers who have much to see in the world of the sea. The Great Barrier Reef consists of many small islands and many of them do not have resorts on them meaning you must travel to the islands in the morning and leave in the afternoon to go back to the town of Cairns. Cairns is a small town and the part of it with the most bustle is of course the streets where all the hotels are.



My trip to Fitzroy began with an hour-ish ferry ride from the pier of Cairns.





 Fitzroy island is probably going to rise in popularity now that they have a hotel resort on there. The resort is brand new and while I haven't been into the rooms or the restaurants of the hotel, everything looks 4-5 stars.

One natural destination between Fitzroy and the other Great Barrier islands is the beach shores of the island is not made up of soft sand. Most of the beach shoes are made up of fossilized coral. Awesome to look at, but not so awesome to walk on with flap flops. You are better off in trainers when you're out and about on the island. The water is pristine and you'll see in the photos below just how far you can see through it. The reefs themselves are only several meters off from the shore so there is plenty to see in the water even just with snorkeling. There are a bunch of other activities you can do on Fitzroy which includes hiking, camping, diving, paddling, and more.



resort pool




the reef is protected by the government and it is illegal to remove them from their natural habitat


There are two beaches on Fitzroy. One is readily accessible just as you hop off the ferry while the other, Nudey Beach which has soft sand on its shores, requires a 30 min hike to the opposite of the island. According to the resort staff, it had been raining the entire week so we missed the super shiny days, but it was blessing that we got decent amount of rays during the hours we were there!



you can see into the water all the way to the coral from the pier

ocean trampoline


My visit to The Great Barrier was one of the most memorable parts of my trip to the outback. There is loads of information available online if you're interested in planning your own trip there. I would only suggest that as part of your research to please learn how to protect the reef during your visit. Part of the reef's viability and keeping the reefs open to tourists depends on all of its visitors. I found a great place online at Dive The Reef where you can begin your research.

Perfect 10! Eyelash Glue

Perfect 10 posts are for "tried-and-true" products that stands out amongst the rest and therefore, a product that should be shared with all. Tried means products I've personally tried and true means they do what they say they do. I also keep an eye out for products I use and are suitable for sensitive skin as well as paraben free. These products will certainly get featured on Perfect 10!


This time's Perfect 10 feature is Shu Uemura's Eyelash Adhesive.

 This is the false eyelash adhesive that I use. It's also known as fantastic in a small white or black squeeze tube. :) I've used Shu's Eyelash glue since my first pair of false eyelashes. This brand was introduced to me by the professional makeup artists I was working with at the time. They were all using this or Mac's. After having worn eyelashes using this glue for 15 hours days this is definitely a tried and true product for me.

Product Description Reads:

Adhesive for Shu Uemura false eyelashes. Offers appropriate hold and easy to remove. Suitable for contact lens wearers.

This glue can be used for other eyelashes than Shu Uemura's. It is white in color and the surface of the glue dries in 40 seconds to 1 minute so you want to work fast. This is still a reasonable amount of time though and you shouldn't have too many issues with applying flash eyelashes with some practice. The color of the glue becomes mostly clear after it dries, but it is not uncommon to see hints of white on your eyelashes (or lid if you did a messy job). Use your liquid or gel liner to conceal any white that can be seen.


To remove the glue use an eye makeup remover or use warm water. The glue is very easy to use. It dries fast, but gives enough time for you to apply on the lashes and place on your eye with care. Well applied lashes can last over 10 hours without falling or peeling! Professionals use this and it can be removed easily from your eyes and the lash line of your false eyelashes.




taken with a normal point and shoot

professional photoshoot





Blog Stats

This is a young blog. I really don't expect many visitors, but ohhh the power of makeup! lol Skindinavia's Makeup Finish Spray is the most popular post on here with visitors across the world coming here to read this. I also see a referral site about makeup in Indonesia on the stats page. Very interesting. Gives me motivation to continue with product reviews. =)

Now what is also interesting but creepy is that there is a porn site listed as one of this blog's referral site. This means someone clicked on a link at that porn site and was transported here. I'm not sure how that could be though. The link is mostly likely not on that site anymore since there was only 1 referral from there....

Rise No. 1 Restaurant Review

I recently went on a short little vacation down south. The vacation was super, but always too short. We did however visit Rise n°1, a French souffle restaurant. There are not many of these around. Actually, this is the first I've heard of and been to one. Rise is not a restaurant with spectacular dessert souffle. It is actually a restaurant where you have a souffle as an entree and perhaps a souffle for dessert afterwards. Very cool concept. Good souffles are difficult to make so I can only imagine what it took to turn entrees (that people would eat) into a souffle.

Pistachio Souffle with Custard on top


The decor of the restaurant is French themed. The inside is dimly lit and looked very cozy. Reminds of what homes in the French country-side would look like. We sat on the enclosed patio and it was perfect. It had big top to bottom windows that let lot of light in which made it feel like you were sitting on a patio, but yet completely sheltered from the weather.



We started with the Marshmallow soup and Rise n°1 salad with baby greens, I replace the blue cheese with goat cheese, roasted pecans, Granny smith apples, and pecan vinaigrette. For entrees we had the Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle and that day's special the Crab Souffle. For dessert we shared that day's special, Pistachio Souffle. 

The Marshmallow soup were both of our favorites. The three "marshmallows" floating on top of the soup are actually really fluffy goat cheese and they were perfect with the tomato bisque. So very tasty! For the Rise salad, I especially enjoyed the pecan vinaigrette. It tied all the ingredients of the salad together very nicely. The goat cheese, as our waiter promised wasn't going to be too strong and he was right. We both really enjoyed the appetizers.

Now comes the beef of the visit - the souffles. I found out from this little excursion that unfortunately, having souffle for an entree is not for me. Please understand that I still think Rise to be very cool and I would still recommend this little gem to anyone, but the souffles were too savory for me. It reminded a bit of the feeling I get when I have risotto. It tastes really good, but I can only have a few bites. The Pistachio Souffle was good, but I also learned that I generally only like pistachios in their original form, pistachio gelato, and pistachio spread. Again, nothing to do with the quality of the souffle it is just not something I can appreciate like someone who loves souffle.
Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle

Overall, decor and food fit together very well. It's a cute place to be on a Sunday for lunch with your date, with family or as a group of friends. Casual dinning on high quality food. We would go back in again for the Marshmallow soup and will certainly try a different flavored dessert souffle next time!!!

Love it! Live it! Revamped!

Hey all!

I've revamped this blog with new everything - new template, new photos, and a new purpose. Basically instead of making this blog to be mostly about makeup and skin care I decided it would encompass pretty much anything I would like to share. I've been LiveJournal-ing and Blogging when they first became a fad and while my LJ and previous blogs are no more, I've always been writing on some sort of social media. My work blog at TVB.com is now expired since my contact with the company ended months ago so this is definitely a fresh start towards a new direction.

Drop a line whenever you're here. I am sure the blog will evolve again with time, but here's to many years of blogging!!!

 
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