..2013 season's greetings..

My Christmas surprise for 2013!

 (Belated) Merry Christmas everyone!!

Have a good time with your family, friends, loved ones
Get a lot of gourmet food and good rest until the new year

I have been spending quality time with my parents and sister in Paris,
and also quite a few hours on my Christmas present...
the amazing, magnificent black and gold limited edition of Zelda 3DS XL
... which of course came with a download code for Zelda A Link Between Worlds

Finally

The first game I ever finished was Zelda Link's Awakening DX on GameBoy Color and the game had a huge impact on my childhood along with Pokemon Red. I am not a hard core gamer but I am very grateful I could play those games, unlike some kids that were 100% forbidden to play video games by their parents. Surely that doesn't happen anymore today?

The only other game of the series I finished is Zelda Spirit Tracks on DS, which was okay but not revolutionary... But this time everything is sublime, graphics, musics, mini-games... for people like me that never played the 1991 prequel SNES title A Link to the Past it's just a wonderful fresh experience with the guarantee to have the best of the license condensed in 20ish hours...
Which is not that bad

PS: if you live in the UK or in France you can get the bundle (the handheld console with the game) and receive a Super Mario 3D Land for free until mid January
Click here to visit Club Nintendo's website! I haven't check for other countries though.

The bundle box.

Chest-opening sound! Ta da da daaaaaaa! You can see the triforce on the top part.

Golden handheld console.

My Mii is born!

A Link Between Worlds is almost done... Next 50ish hours of my life will be on Pokemon X!

..Hong Kong getaway.. Part 2

Sasa shopping in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong island

Second part of my little getaway to Hong Kong!
Although I could only stay for 5 days, I really wanted to do the following:

1. Hike the Hong Kong trail (see previous entry)
2. Eat at my favourite sushi chain (see previous entry)
3. Get cute gifts for Christmas
4. Refill my make-up vanity
5. Get inspiration for my next dress-up games and check the latest fashion trends

Cute gifts

Generally speaking, I find it hard to buy 'small presents' in France or UK other than food such as wine, chocolate boxes and tea. Anything else starts to be quite expensive when you want to offer brands or good quality gifts (scarfs, jewels, etc.)

In Japan and Pacific Asia on the contrary there are so many mascots and cute things. You can not lack inspiration!Lately my friends are really into LINE, the Asian version of Whatsapp with cute characters such as Cony the rabbit and Brown the bear.

So naturally when I found these...

LINE character plushies selling in La Foret (Causeway Bay, Hong Kong island)

La Foret shopping mall looks like an outlet with a lot of designer shops. Despite its name and unlike Sogo, the mall is specialized in Asian stuffs and has a lot of shops dedicated to Japan, Korea, etc. It's definitely a must-go when you visit Hong Kong!
How to go there:

Name: La Foret
Address: 24-26 East Point Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Fashion trend watch

Unfortunately I didn't have time to try any regional brand, so I just wandered around. I felt totally in love with this shop in La Foret, called Sugarman. Yes I know the clothes are made for kids below 5 years old, but when I see them I feel like doing a chibi dress-up game with very colorful and hip-popish items (most people would probably think of having kids instead haha).

So cute and colorful

Sugarman shoes selling in La Foret (Causeway Bay, Hong Kong island)

Make-up hold-up

Last but not least, cosmetics hold-up at Sasa!! Sasa offers huge variety of beauty & health care products and can be found in numerous areas of the city, a bit like Boots in the UK and Sephora in France, except that you can find both Western and Asia brands there

I could easily stay a day in Sasa but I managed to buy everything in less than 1 hour!

• Dolly Wink Black Mascara 02 Volume special set
• Dolly Wink Eyelashes 10 Sweet Cat & 11 Pure Sweet
• Dolly Wink Eyelash fix
• B & C Browlash Ex Water Strong Liner (Deep Brown)
• Narisup Long Lasting Eyebrow Powder (Dark Brown)
• Angel Aqua Moisture CC Cream
• 10 x random aburatorigami (oil blotting paper) - because I can't find any good brand in Europe!

I also managed to get a bunch of green tea products and Koala's March (Lotte) at a random Seven Eleven store. A colleague also gave me some snacks and face masks she brought back from Seoul.

Sasa hold-up in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong island

..Hong Kong getaway.. Part 1

Morning view from Admiralty, Hong Kong island.

I got a last minute opportunity to go back to Hong Kong for a few days, so of course I said YES!

... and that's also why I am late announcing the results of the Sweet Lolita outfit
(if you missed that please read my previous post, 【Release】Sweet Lolita MEGA DRESS UP)

             

 ReijiNoHana wins the 1st prize, a 3 month membership to DA or any of the plushies (see previous journal)! I was totally surprised by the fairy outfit she managed to pull out from the game, and it is totally in the spirit of 6%DokiDoki x Kyary Pamyu. It's sweet, colorful and cute, plus special mention for using a darker skin color
Her creation: link

RoyalVintage wins the 2nd prize, a 3 month membership to DA! The outfit is a success in terms of sweet lolita fashion, plus I love her character's special ability, "Can cast a sweet magic at an evil person and make them good for a day"
Her creation: link

Mysano wins the 3rd prize, a 3 month membership to DA! I think shironuri fashion is a sub trend less popular than the sweet lolita fashion, but it's a she managed to make it cute and very representative of this style. I also love the flower stickers as make up
Her creation: link

             

There was supposed to be only one winner but given that the game received a Daily Deviation and the popularity of the contest, I decided to pick 3 winners

You can view the announcement here or check all the entries (more than 120!!) here.

Now back to my little getaway

Arrived on Saturday just in time for the sunset!

Went straight to my favourite sushi chain in HK, Itacho Sushi!

website link
 It's fresh, better than most restaurants you can find in Europe and you get -50% after 10pm!

View on WanChai, Hong Kong Island

And yes you can shop, eat, party in Hong Kong... but what is less cliché is the nature-part of Hong Kong, the incredible trails that allow you to see the jungle, reservoirs, beaches, peaks with stunning views over the mountains or the city...

So if one day you visit Hong Kong, even during a stopover, make sure you try the trail as some parts can be done in less than 2 hours
You'll find all the information on this website.

I managed to take a few pictures of the one I did, called Dragon's Back

 
 
 
  I believe I can fly!