The Coconut Room - Red Deer, AB

Cafes like these are all the fad these days. I'm not a big coffee drinker, prefer to get my caffeine fix from some good ol' green tea but I've heard from many coffee drinkers that they love going to the Coconut Room for 'Real Coffee'. I stopped by here with a friend for lunch when I  heard they have a great lunch menu! I wasn't expecting much for their lunch menu, knowing it was more of a cafe with pastries, but they really only had three meals to be served for their lunch. We had the coconut curry (Which i'm starting to think its one of their most popular dishes) and what I believe was called the burrito bowl...

Its a very open space, with a small gallery in the corner.. did i mention it on top of Sunworks? Nice to do a little shopping on your way out! Their plating is simple yet fitting for the atmosphere. A bit expensive for what you get... but you pay for the quality not quantity.
Didn't find much special about the burrito bowl, pretty generic in my opinion. The Coconut Curry on the other hand, I can see why most people mention this dish when they talk about the food there.
Its a pretty tasty dish, very sweet.. what i love about this dish, is that they put a dollop of coconut on top of the curry, so you can mix it in or add a little to each bite. Both dishes are very hearty. They offer a mason jar with cinnamon sticks and apples... Personally, I didn't like it but it's nice to see that added touch.

They do offer many soups and salads, all of which sound very tasty. And they have a large selection of home made pastries. I've seen from their facebook page that they do offer a changing dinner menu, all of which looks pretty tasty and worth the try. 

If you like coffee, a quiet atmosphere, do not want gluten in your pastries, want into that whole healthy raw food or want to try out one of those trendy cafes that are popping up everywhere than this will be your place. Or even if you just want a decent snack while you are in downtown, try their coconut curry.

It's a quaint little cafe, I'm glad I tried it out. Doubt i'll be there again soon, or often... not really my type of restaurant but It's definitely worth it to stop by and check it out. 

Oh Customer Service Pt1

I decided to document my experiences with what I think are some crazy ass people. Good way to get out the frustration. Seems like these past couple of months, I just keep randomly getting angry people.
Maybe its the weather....

1) Boiling Water Lady
There were two of them that night, two old ladies. And i swear they are off their rockers. They weren't friendly to begin with, one of those people that never return a smile...
It started with the tea... let me start with that for hot water dispenser. Hooked up to the wall, automatically dispenses boiling hot water. Sorta like one of those coffee makers you see at a restaurant, and they have a red little switch above where you put the coffee filter and it dispenses hot water...
So they asked for tea, I proceeded to bring out two cups of hot water, tea bags on the side.
When i come back a few minutes later to take their order, one of the old ladies asked if I could bring her new water and to make sure it's boiling. I looked at her and had to keep my face straight. When I poured that water, i remember seeing steam.
I asked her friend if her water was hot enough since it came from the same dispenser, and she replied "Oh yes, mine was boiling"
What the frack you old cracker?
They had ordered spring rolls. First off, i've never have heard of anyone saying spring rolls being spicy unless it says so in the name. Nor have i ever had spring rolls that were spicy.. anywhere. And being asian, i have had my fair share of eating spring rolls.
Anyways, the lady with the normal hot water told me it was so spicy, she could not handle it.
Long story semi short, I pretty much just gave up on them.

2) The I'm Changing my Story Lady
At the till, I was taking a payment for another customer who had a unfortunate experience with his food, great guy. I gave him a discount on behalf of his bad experience.
The lady behind him, whom was my customer, overheard. I had checked on her party throughout the meal, and they all said everything was great... no complaints whatsoever. After the man left that I discounted for, the lady started complaining about her food.. evidently expecting a discount as well.
If there was a problem, you should have addressed it when I checked on your party multiple times so I could have found a solution, not at the end.
Sadly, there are always people like this that just try and get a deal.

Make Up Forever - Smokey Mascara

Received this mascara as a gift with my purchase. Its a more dry formula which i usually do prefer. It is not a flakey dry formula. It says it will curl,volume, lengthen and give intense pigmentation. Quadruple threat. Who doesn't want lashes like that?? It didn't holy my curl perfectly but it didn't deflate it either. I didn't notice much volume but i did notice a bit of umph with my length. And with the intense pigmentation, I didn't notice it my lashes being darker then with other regular mascaras.

My lashes didn't clump unless i was super slow/distracted and basically tried to layer my mascara. Never had any problems of it smudging on me, its a more a natural looking mascara. Find it around $27/cad for a full size mascara. Comes in different colors.

Honestly, its a pretty average mascara. It didn't do anything stunning that made it stand out from all the other mascaras. Won't be repurchasing it.

Top without mascara,
Bottom with

Urban decay Deluxe Palette

Before this I've never tried anything from the highly raved line, urban decay! So when i saw this deluxe palette floating around on sephora for around $15 CAD i picked it up to try it out. It came with a very small sample size of the urban decay primer potion for eyeshadows (not much product in it) and this palette! While reading online, apparently this palette offers the "deluxe" shadow.. which are suppose to be more pigmented vs their regular ones.
Its a neat packaging, usually urban decay has some fun snazzy packaging for their palettes and products. This one has this sort of silvery chain mesh product, which is pretty neat and on there securely.
It has a nice sized mirror in it, i don't understand why some palettes include a mirror the size on my pupil in them.. why bother?
Personally, im more of a neutral eyeshadow gal... can't give me enough of those brown shades!
But i thought it would be fun to have some funky colors in my collection... you never know ;)
Urban decay has about five colors in this palette that

will most likely not use... can you guess which ones? ;)

I honestly rarely use this palette but I don't regret buying it.

Overall, this is a great palette to get if you are starting off your collection or just want to try out urban decay products. The eyeshadows are smooth, well pigmented and do last a while without any primer. This palette has been floating around for a couple years!

Make Up Forever - HD Invisible Coverage Foundation in 128 Almond

Start of the day make up! 

The highly coveted MUFE HD foundation!  There's a reason why its so popular, its amazing. I'm on my second bottle and my sister (who i converted to this) in on her third!

Its a flawless coverage foundation with medium to heavy coverage. At first i was a bit skeptical because i've read its not that great for dry skin and meant more for oily skin... but i saw pictures of the finish and just had to try it out.
I have really dry skin and usually have to lather my face with some moisturizer. This foundation doesn't dry my skin, sure it's not moisturizing and it is a matifying foundation but it doesn't dry out my skin. As long as you have a good moisturizer on it'll still look great on your skin. If you do have flakey skin, it does show up with this foundation but it in no way enhances it like it has happened to me with other foundations....

They have an extensive line of colors, so you're most likely to find a very close match to your skin tone. It photographs pretty well and doesn't have any white cast that I've noticed. It's extremely long lasting. I've worn it for over 12+ hours, at work and then out at night and it still looks basically flawless...

Four/five hours of wear

You can find it for around $50 dollars CAD in shade 128 almond. Its about the average price for any high end foundation these days. A little goes a long way for this foundation and the price is worth it.

In the photos, i had class for half the day, then work later at night for around six hours serving. And with serving, most of the time you are running around from the kitchen to the dining area. Your make up does get a little runny from all the heat in the kitchen and the mini workout. You can notice in the photos, around my nose and forehead after a couple hours from class it was getting a little shiny. And and the end of the day it has dried up/caked up around my nose a bit and not that you can really tell in the lighting but my t-zone was a bit shiny. No finishing powder was used nor touch ups! And no primer!

The only flaw i have noticed is that it dries quiet quickly and sometimes i do not blend it out evenly enough and if you look closely enough you can see it be a little patchy/uneven however when i say look closely enough in my terms it means basically having your nose to the mirror... but other then that it's my HG foundation. I see myself having a back up of this foundation at all times. Everyone must try this foundation at some point! I think it lives up to its hype!

End of the day, around 14 hrs of wear

End of the day after school + work!

Shu Uemura - Almost 30% off + 4% Cash Back + Free shipping

Not sure if others knew but I just found out:
You can stack coupons online at www.ShuUemura.ca !
Good deal if you like their products or want to try them out.. They don't carry this brand anymore at sephora. But I believe Holt Renfrew does.

Found two coupon codes that you can apply and you can get 4% cash back with ebates!
If you don't have ebates, get it!! You earn money back for just shopping! You can check it out and if you want use my referral link below :D
http://www.ebates.ca/

Use Lightpurse for 15% off + Free shipping
Use Horse for 15% + Free shipping

You won't get exactly 30% off since the next 15% off is taken off your discounted total, but its pretty close! 
You are only able to apply two coupon codes to your order, most of the codes out there are 15% off that i could find.

Nivea Soft Face Cream

Hey there,

Back here with a review for my new holy grail moisturizer! The Nivea Creme line! Love the scent of it, reminds me of my childhood since my mom would always use that cream.With this product, you get your bang for the buck! A tub lasts for a very long time!
I love the original version, Nivea Creme (around $10 CAD / 200ml) which is extremely moisturizing. It was perfect for those Canadian winters when your skin takes a beating! Especially with my eczema its harder to keep my dry skin contained, this works perfectly!
For the summer I was looking for something a little lighter. I decided with Nivea Soft Moisturizing Creme for around $10 CAD/200ml. Was super happy with my decision, it was still moisturizing and had that signature scent! As well as it was easier to moisturize into my skin and was not as thick as the original.
Light weight, non greasy, sinks in easily, moisturizing and smells wonderful? HG summer item!

I love Nivea Cremes and how it hasn't changed throughout the years. My mom has used the product, and now I do... I think this shows what a consistent wonderful product this is in the market.

http://www.en.nivea.ca/products/NIVEA-Soft

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One Eleven Grill - Red Deer

I remember the days when it was the Med and I didn't mind it. Looked to me they kept the same contemporary deco from the Med. Checked this place out for a friend's birthday on a friday night and it was pretty packed. Overall great atmosphere and they do offer live jazz music on Friday and Saturday nights.

But on to the more important part, the food....

I've heard many good things about their blueberry ribs but I knew i would never be able to finish a main dish of them. Luckily they do offer an app of mini ribs that have blueberry sauce on them. Honestly I'm one of those people that prefer traditional dishes and usually dislike any meat mixed with fruit sauces/purees or even the classic combo of chocolate and fruit...
But I'm glad i tried these mini ribs. Huge serving, I ordered it with the soup and salad and thought i might have to be wheeled out of there.
The pork ribs were succulent, very tender and the blueberry sauce was not over powering at all. You'd get the hint of fruity sweetness, not over powering at all! I loved it!

We ordered the red velvet cake for desert since they were all out of the cheesecakes. Wasn't a huge fan of the cake, it was a bit too dry for me and .. the desert wasn't really anything special nor really that tasty, just tasted like a dry flour cake with cream cheese icing.

Everyone else at our party enjoyed their mains. No complaints. Great atmosphere, an interesting menu - always something to try, tasty food and decent service. A place worth trying.

Too Faced - Lashgasm Mascara

I got this in a little Too Faced Kit which had a couple of items to try out. I didn't like it at first, i found the formula too wet. But after a few weeks after the formula dried I liked it a bit better. A full size one would be around $28/cad

So i hated it at first, it was too wet. Didn't hold the curl, didn't really voluminize or thicken my lashes. But after a few weeks when the formula did dry, it held the curl better. Was easier to apply on, before while it was wet it would easily smudge.

This mascara doesn't clump my lashes at all. The plastic bristles made it easy to seperate my lashes.

But overall this mascara didn't do an amazing job at lengthening or voluminizing my mascara and i would not repurchase this.

without mascara ( I use this photo multiple times)

Sephora - Makeup Made Simple Palette

Was eyeing this "Makeup Made Simple" Palette when it came out but passed. Recently went to Sephora and it was on sale for $18 CAD from $34.

You basically get three mini palettes which are portable, they include a little travel case for a palette which is super handy. 27 eyeshadows, .028 grams each. 6 blushes/bronzers. No eye catching colors though. Super sleek packaging.

Most of these eyeshadows are pretty pigmented, comes with a variety of colors. Comes with a couple face charts that show you a couple looks.

The removable palettes that you can snap onto the compact case is a huge seller for me!
If you find it on sale I would definitely recommend you pick one up!

Side note: has anyone else seen Captain Phillips? Tom Hanks = amazing actor. 

Joey Chinook Calgary

Stopped by Joey's since we were at the mall and ready for food but didn't feel like going to the food court.

First off, rant: i'm probably the only person to complain about this but I must! I'm a petite person. And i find the seat/table height ratio at Joey's bothering. The booth/chair thingys are comfy and my feet do firmly touch the ground but when i first went to sit down, I underestimated how low it was and basically just flopped into my seat. The tables are rather high compared to the seats,  halfway past my chest high.
I'm use to tables being halfway up my stomach and barely any inches between my thighs and the table top. But there was a good 9 inches from my thigh to the table. I thought it was an awkward position. Why must you put those chairs so low and the tables so high up?

Putting aside that, the food at Joey's is pretty good. Worth its price. The service on the other hand... could be a little better. 
They were adequately staffed, by that I mean i saw plenty of hosts/servers wandering around especially regrouping at the host stand. I don't mind if they're chatting and all but they could have actually been more attentive towards the guests. We were seated right away, but our drink orders took a good while. At first we thought our server was going to stop by asking for our drinks but then after a while a different hostess came by to take our drink orders (three waters). A while longer, our server came by with our drinks. And i noticed the same thing happened to other tables. It wasn't too busy in there...
Other then the table/chair heights annoyance (First time this has happened) , I get annoyed when my water/drink is constantly empty. I drink a couple cups of water during a meal and if I have to ask multiple times for more water, especially if they have looked at the table a couple of times, i'm not overly impressed. Nor am i impressed when hostesses are wandering around that are capable of filling drinks/collecting plates, or when we asked a different server for a refill but she never did return with water...

... maybe i'm a little anal about my water. :P But seriously, our glasses were empty during the entire time of our mains before we could finally get our server to refill them.

FINALLY, the food part! 

We had the Lettuce Boats with Chicken to start. They will give you extra lettuce boats if you want them too. They were pretty good, nothing that made it different for me then any other restaurant with lettuce wraps. Slightly spicy sauce, nice crunchy noodles.

I had the Steak frites as my main. Loved the seasoning and the parsley butter on top. It was very tender. Only thing is that I asked for a medium rare steak and i found it to be ... pretty rare for a medium rare. Not complaining, as long as it is not blue or well done, I will eat it! Because it was pretty rare, it was pretty juicy as well. Love the fries that come with the meals, it reminds me of the fries at earls... thin and crunchy. Mcdonalds fries except 10x better.

(after some googling on Joey's Tomatoes I found out it is part of the earl's family, which explains those fries!)

Steak Frites

Medium Rare Steak

Panang Prawn Curry Bowl

 Had a bite of my friend's Panang Prawn Curry Bowl, I didn't find it too spicy but then again I do love spicy.. or maybe my bite just didn't have any since the others did say it was spicy. Nice creamy curry. I find the plating to be a little odd with that tower of rice...

My other friend had the Chicken Souvaki and said it was decent.. the chicken was well seasoned. Personally, I didn't see it to be worth the try...

Chicken Souvaki

To conclude, pretty good dishes, the chairs and table heights bothered me, it seemed the hostesses don't do much from my point of view, my server or rather the whole team could be a more attentive. Worth the go.


Joey's AB Menu

Mr.Watch Shopping Review

Hihi,

I recently made a purchase on Mr.Watch (www.mrwatch.com) i found they had pretty decent prices for good quality watches. At first i thought this website may be fake because of how sketchy it looks but after a bit of googling, i did find a couple reviews about this site and decided to give it a go. The website itself is pretty easy to navigate.

 I purchased a sports watch of my dad this christmas on there and thought I might as well purchase a watch for myself since I have to pay $10 for shipping (no free shipping to Canada :( ) With shipping my purchase came to be around 120 USD.

It took about three weeks for it to come, which was faster then i thought it would be because of the holidays. There was a fee i had to pay upon pickup, around $15 cad so in total my purchase was $140 CAD which is still a pretty decent deal for the two watches i bought.

Not sure how the fees work... if it depends on how much the items are worth, etc... but I could see myself making another purchase in the future if its a really good deal after adding on around $40 to the price. Maybe one day there will be free shipping to Canada :P
They do have some decent deals on purchases and now i know the items are legit....

Hard Candy - Sheer Envy Primer

I've been on a lookout of an affordable good primer, who isnt? This is the first product i've tried from Hard Candy. From what i've heard, they have mostly good products for decent prices.

This is lightweight and blends in nicely into the skin. It comes out clear, except it does come out a bit.. chunky(?) from the tube but once you mix it with your fingers it's smooth.
I notice that my make up does go on smoother and last a bit longer before having to touch up.
It doesn't shine from any other primers i've tried but for its price of $6-7/cad its a good steal for alot of product.
I most likely will repurchase to have on hand. Its a good product to try out.