My Chinese Shopping Experience

I had quite a few traumatic and pleasant experiences of shopping in China, but all none the less very bizarre. On the first day of being in Jinan we went to the local supermarket, pretty similar to ASDA or what not, but I had the oddest experience of my life... Being able to pick the freshest food I could want. I don't eat fish anyway which is a good job, and pretty much through the whole trip my saying was 'fish are friends' as an excuse for me not to eat weird and wonderful things out there. Don't worry, there will be a food post up and coming shortly - you won't want to miss that one out! 

So as I said above, my first day after a horrid long haul flight (I never travel well), we had a quick walk to the local supermarket (at least 45 minutes away?!). The shop looked great, they even had small make up counters in selling Rimmel and Maybelline (overpriced no doubt!) which cheered me up quite a lot. It was over several floors and pretty much had everything you needed. Not too dissimilar to our supermarkets over here nowadays but they were much bigger. After a quick browse around the store we decided to get something for dinner and a breakfast snack. And this was what scared me. 

Yep, being able to pick my own turtle to devour for tea. Quite luckily they prepare it there and then for you so it's all ready to cook. I won't lie, this freaked me out. And when I saw a woman picking up and inspecting frogs, I did feel pretty nauseous. However, nothing like having the freshest of foods I suppose! FISH ARE FRIENDS.

What did cheer me up to no end though was the price of Iced Tea. This is my favourite stuff and in the UK costs around £1.80 per bottle. This I bought for 10p, one very happy Michelle. Oh and over in China, a bottle of beer costs 18p. 18p! You call all thank me now kids! 

THE MALLS. Oh the malls. Where do I actually start? Oh yeah, on the point that I couldn't afford to spend any money in any of them? That might be a good place. Yep, malls everywhere in China are high end marketed to western folks. All the mainstream ones are anyway, unless you know where the locals shop for cheap stuff, which unfortunately we didn't have time to. But small underground malls are brilliant to go into and have a browse. These are the places that sell trendy gear and have tattoo shops, we were happy with that one! 

The stores were pretty amazing though and I took a zillion photos of pretty much nothing but escalators, stairs, and pretty things. One place I was happy about finding was the Sanrio store in Shanghai, I love Hello Kitty. I LOVE HELLO KITTY. And there was no embarrassment me spending quite a substantial amount of my wage in that store. Just look at the photo, I was one happy bunny!

The last of my experience shopping was the cultural market. Ah it saddens me that I didn't take photos but I am so glad I didn't, there were some pretty nightmarish experiences in there that I can only have nightmares about, and trust me, I do. All in all thought, it was nice, we did pick up a pretty stamp that has our surname on it which I will never use but looks nice! Haha. 

One thing that did get me so upset was seeing animals everywhere for sale. Dogs and terrapins/tortoises. All for pets may I add! But still, it was rather warm out there and I just felt sorry for every creature and wanted to take them home. No doubt they did find good homes though as there were a lot of children begging for them! 

EtudeHouse Water Color Blusher: Lilac

I've recently been inspired to change the blusher colour I constantly use. I have two Sleek palettes, one coral, one pink. And these are the only colours I will use. Lately I've seen a few bloggers embracing the lilac look and I decided to give it a try. Trying to find a lilac blusher proved hard enough, but one at a reasonable price was even tougher than I thought. Until I came across one from my favourite Korean brand EtudeHouse. I paid around £5 including postage for this product, from eBay, which was delivered from Incheon, South Korea, within a week. Pretty good I hear some of you chanting!

I always adore the packaging of their products, which is probably why I always go back for more. This liquid blusher comes in a super cute water colour paint tube! I chose shade 04 lilac, and it lives up to it's expectations. 

The application is really smooth and you only need a little as the pigment is really good. As it's liquid it's really bendable so you can have as little or as much coverage as you want. It dries to a really nice matt powder finish which I really liked. Although, it is stubborn to take off so maybe is waterproof as well. 

I definitely think I will be rocking this look as it just adds a pop of different colour to your cheeks, looking slightly futuristic without going all out silver. As I like the formula so much I might end buying a few more in the collection. 

A little dull update from me!

This is the second dull update I've done recently. I won't be taking part in the #BEDM challenge for the remainder of the month as quite frankly I haven't been well enough to blog recently and doubt I will be over the next few weeks! 

Luckily I have some scheduled posts from China and a few product reviews to keep you all going until I feel a little more like myself again. Hopefully soon this awful morning sickness will stop because at this moment in time I don't even have the energy to get out of bed. Awful times. 

#BEDM | Best Friends | Day 18

This has to be one of my favourite posts so far, I enjoy posts where I can have a heart to heart and write about the people I love as in all honesty, I don't do them enough. Also, I don't think my best friends really know who they are, so this will be an appreciation post for them...

Yuna
Yuna is one of my nearest and dearest friends, and I must admit we are very inseparable. To be honest, since we first got to know each other I don't think a weekend has passed without seeing her. She has been a fantastic support throughout my pregnancy and the number one who I turn to for a rant. Yuna is the reason why Twitter and blogging have been amazing for me!

Daire
Daire is my looooong distance friend, I know Nottingham isn't that far away but honestly, when you have work and things do, months can pass by without sending a text message or a visit (although months have turned into years, sorry!). No matter what, Daire is always there for me, and we have one of those amazing relationships that no matter what happens, it's easy to fall back into old ways and nothing feels like it's changed. Daire is my common sense, and always puts me back on the ground when I get too excited or dreamy, and I couldn't be happier.

Wen
Now it seems like a really soppy post to put my husband on here, but honestly, he is my bestest friend. Sometimes we don't get on, sometimes we argue, but I'm quite sure 700 miles and the fact I'm pregnant might be the factors right there. Since we first met, we always said we would get married and have a family, and I never doubted him for one second. He is the only person I can truly be myself around, and  I know he feels the same about me. Big aw. I do love my husband very, very much.

I'm sorry about the awful photos guys. 

But these are my favourite ones, and why I love you!

#BEDM

Wish wish wish... Another wish list!

After seeing everyone's wish lists lately I've decided it's time for another wish list post. Now there is a slight twist on this one, as yep, I want a pram and a matching coffee cup holder... Yep, you can tell I'm pregnant. 

I must admit though, since finding out I'm pregnant I've stopped having such an interest in buying things and have become more sensible. What's happened to the old Mish? Someone help me get her back... 

You are right, that is a donut...

I'm really tempted to buy one of the Liz Earle sample packs as I want to try Cleanse and Polish, any thoughts on what this is really like? 

#BEDM | Walk To Work | Day 17

Today's #BEDM post is about walking to work, but unfortunately I don't work Fridays so I couldn't take photos of my walk to work. I work in Bradford, just out of the city centre, and there are some amazing sights to behold when I walk from the train station!

I have a nice walk through town. Firstly stopping by Starbucks in City Park, then onwards part the Media Museum. In summer it's amazing to be able to walk through the centre and see City Park full of water and in all it's glory, I must admit it's the most gorgeous part of the city at the moment, and now it's getting warmer it's always nice to have a chill down there.

The walk is quite pleasant, and normally only takes me around 20 minutes, which I do morning and evening when I finish work. It's a shame now though I'm feeling quite exhausted in the mornings!

Photos sourced from Wikipedia and Media Museum.

#BEDM

#BEDM | Pampering | Day 16

I'm not a big fan of 'pampering' myself, such as having long baths and wearing face masks, or treating myself to new beauty treatments etc, but my pampering is in food. I love my food, and I pamper myself with a nice chocolate bar or cookie, and chill out watching a good horror movie. This is my perfect way of pampering myself.

Of course I do the standard thing occasionally, such as a face mask now and then (probably every few months actually). I do tend to have baths but I can't stand being sat in there for ages as I'm more a shower bunny, although since Yuna encouraged me to try the Cussons Mum & Me range, I'm actually finding their baby bath and balms are helping me sleep a lot more.

#BEDM