Few months ago I tried out a new product SK-II launched that targets wrinkles, the Stempower Essence; to be used in conjunction with the SK-II Stempower Rich Cream (previously knows as the SK-II Skin Signature Cream) which I'm already using.


taken with iPhone 5 (no edit)

The SK-II Stempower Essence will be available in SK-II counters nationwide from 18th of August onwards, pricing at RM395 for the 30ml bottle and RM572 for the 50ml bottle.

BUT, as NICOLEKISS readers, not only you can be the first to buy this product in advance, you will be getting a promo price for this entire set at only RM395 (the price of ONE 30ml bottle) when you present this code "sk2 kiss" when you make the purchase at any SK-II counter before the 18th August 2013.n

You will receive a voucher (after you pay) and collect your purchase on the 18th August 2013.



The SK-II Stempower Essence Kit comes with a SK-II Stempower Essence 30ml bottle (RM395), SK-II Facial Treatment Essence 30ml (RM112) and SK-II Skin Signature 3D Redefining Mask (RM60); that's RM567 in total!

AND, for presenting this code "sk2 kiss" you will also get an additional gift SK-II Stempower Rich Cream 15g worth RM156.



That's RM395 for items worth RM723!



Just present special code "sk2 kiss" at SK-Counters from 22nd July till 17th August 2013, pay and purchase, receive voucher, come back on 18th August to collect your SK-II Stempower Essence Kit and gift!

Now I need to call my SK-II addicted mom to tell her about this promo. Not kidding. 

(I'm just going to re-use this description I used on my facebook)
This is the amazing Beijing National Stadium, aka, Bird Nest Olympics Stadium; built specially for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was the location where one of the most memorable Olympic Opening Ceremonies was ever held in history. Built to resemble a bird nest as to signify the culture and odd expensive taste of the orient (especially to the more westernized culture); the structure was designed with consideration of post-Olympic use and low maintenance costs; as well as an architecture that can be viewed artistically from all angles.


whole image here






















view whole image here


see the tiny man doing a tightrope walking all the way up on the top of the stadium?
no?

It's that dot.
let me zoom it for you.




When the stadium was not in use (that's most of the days), they have performances to keep the paying tourists entertained.
















When this image was taken, I was imagining what it was like to walk through this door as an Olympian participant to an active stadium during the 2008 Olympics.

Inside the souvenir shops...


Always wanted to know how it feels like to drink of one of these cups.






The famous five Beijing Olympian dolls.


Tempted to buy this, it's actually very pretty and creative as a pendant.




Guess what this was?
You'll never guess.
The Chinese has never failed to surprise me in their business-minded tactics.

This was actually a cubic of the earth + grass of the land before they excavated the earth and turn it into a football field.

I don't know about you, but my favorite character in Marvel's movie 'Thor' was/is Loki. And as delicious as Thor himself was in the movie, Loki owned it with his devilish smile and charming good looks.



SO. HOT.

Bad boy on the big screen... hold your panties, ladies.


PS// Tom Hiddleston, please keep your hair black and long for the sake of all women's fantasies

When in Beijing, it's blasphemy not to try Peking Duck (or Beijing Duck).

So my friend and his gf brought me to the famous eatery street ( Dongzhimen Nei Dajie) in Beijing for a proper Peking duck dinner.





It was summer, hot and crowded. Lots of people waiting outside to be seated in. Just look for the area with the most red lanterns and you should be in the right spot.



He picked the restaurant Huajia Yiyuan as he claimed it was his favorite restaurant in Beijing. You see, my friend has been living in Beijing for several years now teaching English as a British and if I have noticed one thing in him, it's that he's becoming more like a Chinese and less like a British every time I speak to him over the years. He would bargain for 1 yuan for hours if he could whereas the old him wouldn't have bothered if it's 5 sterling pounds difference.

So while in Beijing, I let him make all the food decision for me as far as I was concerned.





Now I love Peking Duck, I love the British Aromatic Duck and I love most peking ducks I've tried in my life wherever I can find them.

I had, at that point, never tried Beijing authentic Peking duck; and was eager to find out what originality tasted like.

Restaurants in Beijing surprised me in lots of way. First and foremost, it's not cheap dining in Beijing. Sure you can get pretty decent affordable street food or even small eatery in the corner of every other street.

But anything slightly fancier (I'm speaking average class) comes with a hefty price. And I was blown by the creativity in food here. Some of the dishes I saw in the menu.

 
rmb218 (~=RM113)











My friend did most of the ordering, but I had to be greedy and made two orders for the table on dishes I wanted to try which proved later to be the biggest mistakes.



Soon as my lotus dish came out, I knew something wasn't right. There were color sprinkles on it.
I took a bite and I was sweetened out. It was a sweet dish! Like a dessert! I didn't know! Who would have known?! Perhaps I didn't read the menu properly? But it wasn't under the dessert section and I certainly didn't remember reading about sweetness.

Of course, I had to order a similar dish after that.



My pork ribs came with sprinkles too! And gosh was it sweet! T_T
Now this was nothing like your usual sweet and sour flavor, this was all out sweet, like candy dessert sweet. No sourness. Plain sugar baby. This was clearly a dessert dish, in meat form. ODD.

Thank god my friend ordered enough to feed a big family so we didn't have to endure my apparent bad taste of Beijing food ordering.


This was yummy. I have no idea what vegetable dish this was but it tasted good.


Soup was a staple to every meal for a Chinese, especially in Beijing where the weather can be gruesomely cold in winter.


Steamed bun served with Chop Suey (stir fried mix vegetables)

Then it was time for the main serving dish: Peking Duck - Yongzhen Dynasty Roast Duck.
Traditionally, Peking Duck is served with its signature crispy skin with little or no meat on pancakes accompanied by various condiments such as cucumbers, scallions and hoisin (seafood) sauce.

But more and more restaurants are serving the duck meat as well to prevent wastage, this is especially so in most average class restaurants.

First you have the extensive condiments served beforehand.



Two types of pancakes (one type in various colors), cucumber sticks, melon sticks, crab sticks, celery, cucumber shreds, plum jelly sticks, various sauces, etc.




pocket bread

Then a well practiced young chef came with a whole duck and started slicing skillfully away. Skin and meat falls off the bone in equal parts leaving behind a complete bone carcass with almost no wastage.







I enquired my friend's Chinese gf about eating the skin with pancakes alone; to which she said I could but it's normally too oily to eat so. I thought it odd since that was how we ate Peking duck back home.



When I took my first bite, I finally understood why she said that.

Maybe because of different way of breeding (force feeding, fattening), ducks served in Beijing were FAT. Even their skin was fatty. Almost similar to a roast pork crackling fatty skin, peking ducks here had incredibly tender meat and extraordinary fatty skin. Each mouthful was a mouthful of oiliness.

It was intense, overwhelming, and not my taste at all.

And that was generally my experience with food in Beijing. Lots of food here were either too oily, or a little bland (soup, steamed bun, stir-fry vegetables, etc). Two sides of extremities.

Perhaps it's Malaysian's rich cultural food I'm used to where one's tongue dances with all forms of spices everyday; Beijing's general of bland or oily food didn't really fit my appetite.





In my ten days of Beijing stay, I've never lost so much weight in a single trip.