Always Hungry

Migration.

2009-10-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

It seems that blog migration is inevitable to me after all. Of course, it's happened before.

I tend to "move" my blogging elsewhere after a certain period of time. For Blogger, it's been a little over a year already! I still remember my old spam post hehehe. I have already moved onto Tumblr, mostly because I can't write long posts anymore, and because it's easier for me to write smaller, but more frequent posts. To blatantly state it, I am lazy.

If you still want to read snippets about my life, http://stephaniely.tumblr.com.
Yay for psuedomicro blogging!

P.S. I still have good eats, including a recipe. Mmm food.

Take care, my dear readers. It has been fun.

HOME SWEET HOME!

2009-08-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm home from a really long trip. I will blog later. I'm not dead yet!! :)

干物女Himono Onna

2009-07-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

This past week, I was watching a J-Dorama called "Hotaru no Hikari" or "Glow of the Firefly." In this drama, an interior decorator named Hotaru Amemiya is respected by her coworkers for being efficient and having good working habits. However, whenever there are company get-togethers, she does not attend them; instead she'd rather go home, eat junk food, and read manga all day. She also does not have a boyfriend, so she doesn't care how she dresses at home; you can find her in the grossest t-shirts with old stains and rips. In fact, she's so sloppy that she passes out underneath newspapers sometimes. In this dorama (which was based on the manga), this description is called a "himono onna," or "dried woman."

I can totally relate to this character, minus the lack of a boyfriend hahaha! Instead of going out all the time, as long has there is a manga/drama/fanfic/book/video game to look forward to at home, I'd rather be home than anywhere else. One of my guilty pleasures definitely includes lounging at home in my most comfortable (sometimes the most ugly) clothing!

After I have finished watching Hotaru no Hikari, I switched from Asian drama to an American television series called "True Blood." It was based on the popular series of novels called The Southern Vampire Mysteries. For anyone who hasn't heard of this HBO series, it takes place in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, when the vampire population had made their existence known to the world. Many vampires face discrimination (how ironic it being in Louisiana) and persecution from the humans (and of course vice versa), however there are some "bad" vampires that prey and feed on human blood... So how do they feed? The Japanese created synthetic blood (they invent everything!) for the vampires to drink so that they don't prey on humans, but of course, nothing can beat the real thing. :P Sookie Stackhouse (portrayed by Anna Paquin, who is Rogue in the X-Men movies) is the protagonist, as well as her vampire boyfriend Bill Compton (some British actor). Lots of ass and titties, gore, but very funny at times!

I have a fetish for any romantic genre media relating vampires. None of that lame Twilight stuff, I like the more raw stuff, if you know what I mean ;) There are only two seasons out so far, and just to put it out there, in one of the episodes when Bill goes shopping for clothes, he was at the Forever 21 at the Santa Anita Mall! I get impatient when I have to wait for new episodes to be released - especially if I know that it's based on a book/manga. Then I'd want to go search for the book/manga online and read ahead. Blarghhh it's so bad! :(

Anna Paquin is pretty, but I can't help but stare at the gap between Sookie's front teeth...

Mmm, Alexander Skarsgård. Why are the Swedish so much better looking than everyone?

Which are some of your favorite dramas/television series? :P

(P.S. I haven't been blogging or getting anything done because I have been streaming videos on my laptop all day... /sigh.)

My Favorite Anime/Manga

2009-07-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky"

FACT: I am a Japan-aholic. I love all things Japanese, one of them including anime and manga. This blog post is mainly my anime/manga ranting, along with food porn and Oscar :)

Every year around this time, I secretly browse through various pictures of friends who attended the annual Anime Expo (a.k.a. AX) , which is a super-hyped convention for fans of Anime/Manga/etc., and their photographs of cosplayers, which of most were really bad at it, but there were a handful who were very good at becoming their intended characters...

Being an ex-avid-rabid anime fan, I'll admit that I've NEVER been to AX before. Why? Because it IS a super popular event, there are thousands of sweaty anime nerds standing/crowding together under the hot summer Southern California sun, and as I recall someone telling me that there are more and more people attending every year. That is a recipe for a slightly claustrophobic Stephanie...

I have this secret desire to cosplay my favorite anime character myself, but I am too shy to do it. However, if I rally enough friends who will commit to go as a group with me, then I will cosplay for AX 2010!

Who do I want to cosplay as? My favorite character from my favorite manga/anime of all time, of course! Osaki Nana from NANA!

Mika Nakashima acting as Nana couldn't be any more appropriate in the live action movie. She's so gorgeous!

I have a small interest in punk culture in its entirety. Aside from that fact, I love Nana's personality and character. Looking and having punk-ness flowing through her veins, she is a badass chick with a voice that can move crowds; an overall strong female figure... Underneath that appearance is a woman who is a lover to the man she loves, a friend who does not judge her friends but supports them no matter the circumstance, and can be vulnerable just like any girl.

I found many good Nana cosplayer photos, and they have inspired me to start. The only thing that irks me is that I'd probably have to go buy a wig for Nana's bob, or I'd do it the easy way and cut my own hair... She has a porcelain white complexion, VERY skinny, and piercing eyes. Eesh, sounds like it's going to be difficult.

So I want to dress like a (poser, if you will) punk girl, and let's say Nana is out of the picture, especially with those issues. My second choice would be Misa Amane from Death Note (one of my favorite manga/anime).

She is what I would describe as a cross between an angelic and gothic/punk girl. She is blond in the anime and manga series, but in the live action movie, she is portrayed with Asian black hair (by the adorable Erika Toda!). Misa is an idol who is popular with her sweet and cute appearance... except no one realizes that she also has a death notebook, and a dark past.

Erika Toda!

Her outfit looks like it would resemble that of what Nana wears. Look at her hair, look at her bangs. She is adorable. This cosplayer is the best I've seen on Google Images!

Decisions, decisions! :( It's okay though, I have one year to decide what I should dress up as!

My question for you is, what is YOUR favorite anime/manga/character? Sailormoon used to be my number 1 favorite as a child. As I started to branch out as I got older, I got into the more mature stuff. Nevertheless, I love the shoujo genre!

If you guys enjoy watching Asian dramas, NANA is like a drama infused with music and not your average girl-falls-in-love-with-boy kind of protagonists. WATCH IT!! Lots of mature themes too, mrawr! ;)

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Nails of the week: Inspired by watching the lovely Narita's youtube channel. Lots of nail tutorials, go check it out!

Strawberry cream danish from Little Crescent after going to the dentist. Delicious stuff, and the cream had a light hint of almond... very delicious!!

Eerie picture of Oscar with a shadow casted over his face. Still a cutie though.

Happy Thursday!

2009-07-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

The weekend is already near, and yet I'm blogging about last weekend.

First, I would like to share with you the first plumerias that have bloomed, of the season.

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I went to the mall with my mom on her day off last Friday. I went into the Body Shop and came across these cute oil burners for only $3. My mom really liked the Satsuma scent, so she immediately picked up a couple of oil burners (one for me), a scented oils gift set that included all of the scents that were available so it would give us a chance to sample them all, and since we needed to spend $30 in order to get $5 off, I picked up some Seaweed facial cleanser because I was running out at home. After I presented my Love Your Body card, the cashier told me that I could pick out anything in the store because I have earned a free $15 to spend in the store. I immediately picked up the Seaweed Toner and another bottle of Satsuma oil. Along with a 10% discount for using the card, my mom only spent $30 for everything!

Now that I have an candle oil burner in my room, it smells like Satsuma all the time. Chillin' on my couch with Oscar sitting next to me, browsing blogs on my laptop, listening to my favorite music, sipping on some Jamba Juice, and to top it all off with the sweet fragrance of Satsuma oranges! This is the lifeee! I'm also glad that this summer isn't so scorching... yet.

July 4th was of course, Independence Day. It was my little cousin's birthday, so we decided to celebrate it on that day as well. I helped cake her, but she got me back. And she anticipating for my upcoming birthday...

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On Sunday, my parents and I went to Little Tokyo, mainly because Marukai sent my mom a scratcher coupon to use. My mom and I are frequent visitors to this place, but my dad rarely has time to go.

We made our first stop at Marukai. The first section we went to was the health & beauty section. My mom stocked up on my mom's favorite Lux Shampoo, which was going for $18 per set, which includes shampoo, conditioner, and pack( wtf is that ). We just picked up everything that we needed at Marukai, including candies and snacks for our trip to Canada! The total came up to be around $200 of candies, snacks, and beauty products. My mom let me scratch the scratcher to see how much of a percentage we get to deduct from our purchase, and I got 15%!

Beauty products, including Gatsby hair wax for my brother, buying more Mandom makeup remover (which was $10.95!), SANA Soymilk stuff, and other things I can't remember.

This Lux "Super Rich" shampoo set makes my hair incredibly silky smooth, soft and fluffy. My hair stays oil-free for the whole entire day, as silky as your hair came fresh out of the shower (After being dry of course!).

We went to eat at Hibachi BBQ in the plaza, mainly because my dad does not like eating Japanese food, and the last time he was at the restaurant was when my parents started dating! They served Korean food. It's funny how many Korean ladies think I'm Korean once they start speaking Korean to me!

Dad said to me, "Can I eat now?"

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We ended our trip with some CeFiore frozen yogurt, which I personally think is better than Pinkberry (located across the street LOL). Right now, they're having a promotion for the summer, which is a small size of flavor yogurt, with any toppings, for $2!
I don't have any pictures of the yogurt (since I eat a lot of yogurt hehe), but here is a silly picture of my dad using his spoon to point at things...

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That evening , my sister and I made red velvet cupcakes (again!). This time, we used the cake mix and store bought cream cheese icing because she already bought it and we were too lazy to gather ingredients. I also wanted to use my new pastry decorating tips, and here are the results. The cake tasted more chocolate than I expected, but it wasn't bad. I also think red velvet cake made from scratch tastes a WHOLE lot better. A LOT better. What I don't like about red velvet is that you have to use artificial red food coloring. I don't like the idea of ingesting all that artificial-ness.

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For those who haven't tried or even HEARD of Tumblr, I suggest you give it a shot, especially for those of you who enjoy looking at pictures instead of reading, or if you don't mind a small amount of text at all. Because I am a visual person, I love looking at pictures! However, that doesn't mean that I don't love to read (limited to the things that I want to read). I like to post some inspirational quotes, pictures, and text. It is merely random stuff that I wish to share with people (who read my tumblr, anyway).

Some of my favorite tumblr blogs include the ones featuring pictures of food (http://gluttonisabliss.tumblr.com), architecture (http://architectureblog.tumblr.com), interior design (http://homesweetstyle.tumblr.com), love quotes (http://quotewhore.tumblr.com), and so forth. Lots of inspiration for my future dream home... a girl can only dream!

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Does anyone know what happened to Kalila? Tell her I miss her, because she's gone now. I hope for the best for her!

There is a new blog directory that was created by Miss J.Rose, so check it out if you haven't already! Thanks for taking the initiative! :)

http://www.jroseonline.com/2009/07/what-happened-to-directory.html

It's Strawberry Season!! and Summer 2009... so far.

2009-07-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty preoccupied with things that come up, with that said, I tend to procrastinate on blogging. Finally, my blog entries become so long that it becomes mundane towards the end... up until the photos, anyway I think. So what have I been up to? Enjoying my summer, of course! This post will be filled with pictures!

After I finished my last final, I spent time with the boyfriend. During my stay, I attended his friends' wedding, which was held in the bride's back(front?)yard. Sounds kind of lame, but it was a huge backyard with a 10-yard diameter pond. There was a field and stable behind where we were seated for their horses. Oh, and a pool behind the house. I love attending weddings; I love that glow that the brides emit on their wedding day. It truly was a beautiful event. I regret not taking pictures with the groom and bride though.

There was a Korean marketplace near where the BF resided, so we decided to head there to look for ingredients for thai tea. There was an Amore nearby, and to my surprise, my boy suggested that we check it out LOL! The lady that helped me out was really nice; she saw me eyeing the Laneige products and asked me if I wanted samples. I immediately said yes! She gave me Laneige Basic Care and Water Bank samples, which included the emulsion(wtf is it?), toner, essence (wtf is that?), "Designer Eye Cream," Strawberry Yogurt mask, Water Sleeping Pack mask, foundation/concealer, and some Korean shampoo. I was overwhelmed with all of these samples, but of course I couldn't wait to try them.

As soon as it was time for bed and for me to begin my beauty procedures, I used the emulsion, skin refiner, essence, and eye cream. My skin became instantly smooth, so soft and supple. The next morning, I found my boy feeling my face because he was amazed about how soft it was LOL! I went through the same procedure, and by the end of the day, my face was surprisingly in the same condition as when I first applied it. I was expecting my face to get super oily, but alas there was little oil, if any oil! Too bad I ran out of the samples, but I will keep my eye on these products for a while... :3

I played with a Konad stamping nail art set that belonged to his brother's girlfriend. Not bad for my first time, huh?

During one of our morning walks, I came across lawns full of tiny little frogs. I did what I do best: I picked it up!

I love my boy's freshwater aquarium, especially since it's filled with many plump sterbai corycats! Cutiessss! In the morning, you can see them play and frolic! It makes me want to start one, but I'm constantly moving and I'd have no way of feeding them every day.

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A few days after I arrived home, I spent a week cleaning out my room, which includes sorting out all the old clothes from my closet and dresser, and my messy desktop. I took out a huge trashbag of... well, trash, and two trashbags full of old/outdated clothes and purses that I will probably never wear again. Can you say yard sale?!

On my mother's day off, she took me to get my long overdued haircut! Guess what guys, I got bangs now, albeit it is quite fobby but i haven't had bangs in years! I'm having lots of fun with them. Now I can *try* to pull off a cutesy summer look. What do you think of the bangs? :X And since it's been two weeks since I got my hair cut, my hair have grown out a bit.

During the couple of weeks, I met up with some of my close friends. What did we do? Purikura and cupcakes!! And other delicious things, like tres leches cake from Perfectly Sweet. I think that's going to be my new favorite bakery, although it was priced at $4.50, considering $3 cupcakes, it's pretty much a deal. To my surprise, it wasn't too sweet like other tres leches cakes I've tried. The cake was moist and smooth... delicious!

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And for the rest of the week, I made this yummy strawberry snack. I used ripened strawberries because they smell the most fragrant and full of that delicious strawberry taste. Spritzing some fresh lime juice, it created a medley of aromas and tastes. Then adding a pinch of sugar to enhance the flavors. It vaguely reminded me of a margarita/strawberry daiquiri... in fruit form of course! My mom could not keep her hands off this bowl of fruit that I made for myself... hahaha!

My mom finally made one of my favorite Vietnamese dish of all time, bánh xèo! She said she's going to make it when I come home, and since I'm finally home... Nothing beats mama's home cooking.

That pretty much sums up what I've been up to during the time I was missing hehe. I'm surprised that people haven't already started to unsubscribe this blog, so thank you loyal readers! <3

I've been MIA... Giveaway winner

2009-07-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Pardon my (almost) month-long absence! There were lots of things going on prior today that I had to take care of, that I couldn't find downtime to blog. First and foremost, let me get the giveaway out of the way.

Twelve lovely participants entered this giveaway and I enjoyed reading every one of them! Unfortunately, there can only be one winner.

I asked my boyfriend to choose a number between 1-12. If there are any complaints, it's his fault!

ichigo bby (12:50:02 PM): babe pick a number from 1-12
X(12:51:17 PM): 9

Number 9 entry, Pop Champagne, is the winner! Please e-mail me (stephhh.ly@gmail.com) with the address where you want your prize to be sent to. Congratulations!

There's so much stuff to blog about, but I will save that for a separate post. Thank you for participating, ladies!

Blog Sale Directory

2009-06-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Kalila is so brilliant, she created a blog dedicated to listing ongoing blogger sales.
For those of us who are blogger sale trolls, this is a very convenient way to readily see all the current blog sales in one place... damn sales are urging me to purchase more things I don't need!!

http://beautyblogsaledirectory.blogspot.com
http://beautyblogsaledirectory.blogspot.com
http://beautyblogsaledirectory.blogspot.com

I sure as hell did right when she first announced it!

Thanks Mrs. Kalila! Thank you for taking your time to create and compile this!

Giveaway Extension

2009-06-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Good evening.

I have decided to extend the giveaway date from June 8th at 12:00AM to June 16th at 12:00AM. There are too many things going on this week (i.e. finals preparation, moving out, etc.) for me to readily ship out the prize because I am still in the process of gathering more goodies.

What's in it for you (if you haven't already entered), and the lovely seven people who have already entered so far? In addition to what's already listed in the original prize list, I will add in my favorite lipgloss, MAC Plushglass in 'Ample Pink.'

Again, the giveaway has been extended to Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 12:00 AM PST.

If you haven't already entered, the info for the contest is here if you are interested.
Have a good night! :)

Narita's Super Duper Giveaway!

2009-06-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Giveawayssss are awesome.

Narita is having one on her site and there will be 3 winners. More chances to win, right? I'm not that big on MAC products yet, but I'm definitely giving them a try. Oyy, I hope my cosmetics shopping urges don't come back! This will sort of help keep it stagnant.

You guys should join too!

CLICK HEREEE

Thanks Narita!

Happy June!

2009-06-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

I could go for a delicious cupcake (or six cupcakes) right about now...

In the midst of packing, cramming for finals and whatnot, I find myself quite relaxed from all that tension. It is almost that time of the school year when I pack all of my belongings here for my journey back home. I've only got a couple of weeks left here until the Spring quarter ends. Heck, the desk in my room, stand, and wire rack has already returned home. The rest of the stuff is going in Sterlite storage bins, all ready and packed for Fall quarter. And because I have no furniture left, I am using a storage bin as my laptop platform right as we speak (or type). Talk about ghetto living! I just hope I don't develop carpal tunnel in the future from typing un-ergonomically. /knocks on wood.

Yesterday, my parents announced to us (my siblings and I) that they were planning a trip to Canada. The reason? My grandmother is aging... so it's best that we go visit her! Besides, I haven't been in Canada in a couple of years, lest visiting my family there in about four years! If you guys haven't visited the country before, I highly suggest it. It'll be the closest a person can get to pristine nature. This time, since I'm over the age of 18, I look forward to ice wine tasting, Banff hot springs, and being a tourist in the Ice Fields of Alberta! I also want to go to this mall in Vancouver that has this store named Stitches so I can buy $2 clothing! Woot. Now I wish I had a DSLR camera to capture the beauty of nature... one can only dream.

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As a past time, I enjoy watching Asian dramas (which girl doesn't?). The ones I'm currently watching are "Atashsinchi no Danshi (Japanese)" and "Boys Over Flowers (Korean)." I used to be a hugeeee Japanese dorama junkie, but not so much anymore because I don't have as much downtime as I used to. "Boys Over Flowers" is a Korean adaptation of the original Japanese "Hana Yori Dango." I personally enjoyed the Japanese one more, but the Korean one has different plots and filler stories so that prolongs the drama a little (typical Korean drama).

I took a stroll down Memory Lane and decided to re-watch Sailor Moon. I absolutely ADORE(d) Sailor Moon!!! I was watching the dubbed version (the version they used to air on American television) and it was so bad haha. If you listen closely, Luna has an accent of an old British maid; Molly has a Brooklyn accent; and so forth. I suppose as one grows older, he/she will start to notice all the little details that he/she missed as a child. As children, we were so naive, huh?

My favorite Sailor Scout was Sailor Uranus/Tenoh Haruka/Amara. Why? Because she's a tomboy and she kicks major Negaverse ass. She's a lesbian, but I don't judge. Who is your favorite?

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Look of the evening...?

My go-to look doesn't consist of lots of makeup; I just fill in my ever-so-light brows and ocassionally some light blush and mascara. Unfortunately, I don't always have the time to do a full application. But this is an example of how I would look like with more stuff one ;) Camera ho time!

So fresh and so cleannn~

And then ta-daa!

I'm jumping on the beauty blogging bandwagon, if you didn't already notice. The majority of my lovely readers are beauty bloggers, so it's fair right? Are they REALLY here for food? Who knows! You guys tell me.

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Thank you to those who have already participated in my giveaway!! You guys rock!

Don't forget to join my giveaway! I'll be really sad if there aren't more people participating so don't leave me hanging!

Can you really resist those eyes?

Stephanie's First Giveaway!! :)

2009-05-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Why helloo there! I hope the headline caught your attention!

I am doing a free giveaway to help promote my store! If you want to participate, just make sure you follow all the rules below, or your entry will be voided.

Giveaway ends on ~~Monday, June 6th 12:00AM PST~~
Tuesday, June 16th 12:00AM PST

Rules
+ Open to anyone to participate (girls and guys), including my international readers ;)
+ You must be subscribed to Always Hungry (http://chefstephly.blogspot.com) and Steph's Stuff (http://stephsstuffstore.blogspot.com)
+ You must make a post on your blog including the following things.

Write about your favorite jewelry item and why it's your favorite. If you don't wear jewelry, then please write about your favorite fruit! Tell me why it's your favorite. Either one or the other, or even both if you'd like ;)
Include a picture of you wearing your favorite jewelry item (just because I like eye candy ;) )
There should be Always Hungry's and Steph's Stuff's URLs somewhere on your post, saying that I have a giveaway going on.

+ Please link your blog post by commenting on this post, and include the e-mail address that you wish to be contacted with when you win.

Prizes
Because that's the incentive of participating, right? ;) For now, there will only be one winner. Depending on how many people participate, not only will I have the incentive to increase the prize size, but I will list a second winner as well. I'm not expecting this giveaway to be big, but with every 25 people that participate, I'll add another winner hehe. So tell all your friends!! :) I'm including MAC Plushglass in Ample Pink in the love pack hehe.

The prize will include some kind of item that's not listed in my store, as well as a pendant. It's really a surprise, but I'll give you some hints: cosmetics, and yummy snacks! Don't worry, it'll be somewhat generous!

Sounds easy right? I hope you guys have fun with this, and good luck!!

Memorial Weekend 2009

2009-05-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

Why did I title this post this way? Because it is also known fact that Stephanie goes to Las Vegas every Memorial Weekend. /shrug.

I went home with Joan on Friday, and left for Vegas on Saturday morning. I was hoping for some sales, as I was on a quest to find some new shoes (Rainbows, cute sandals, sneakers) to take advantage of the cheaper tax. I am especially in dire need of new flip flops! Alas, I have failed, after two outlets and a mall. There weren't any shoes that I liked, not even Rainbows that fit me!

What did I find instead? I went to the CCO at The Fashion Outlet, and picked up some eyebrow shader in Porcelain/Browning. I don't love it, but I'll give it another try. The next day, I found MAC Hello Kitty's Pink Fish lip tint at the mall!! YAY!! They are sold out in many of the MAC stores I visited in Southern California, and I was surprised to find some in Vegas. My heart was beating really fast when the makeup artist, whose name was 'Stars,' pulled out that box. I bought it in a heartbeat! Hehehehe! I love the product, by the way. It makes my lips look so cute! :) Finally, a LeSportsac "makeup bag" to organize all the necessary stuff that I bring with me everywhere.

I also took further advantage of the cheaper sales tax by replenishing my facial wash stock by shopping at The Body Shop, came with a gift after $30 purchase. It is a necessity.

Despite the fact that I went with my family, I had a great time with them. When we were bored, my sister bought internet (which was free for the first 20 mins or something) and streamed Obsessed on my laptop LOL. My brother and I went shopping at the mall, then walked home in 90F+ weather back to the hotel before heading out to a buffet for dinner. When we were bored, we played YuGiOh cards with each other hahaha (yes, I used to own them when they were in)! It sucked because I used one of his decks, so he knew what every card I was using...

I also cam-hoed with my family... and of course updating my Twitter via phone. So if I didn't reply to your tweets right away, you'll know why now.

My mother and I in the car. People say we look alike, but I highly disagree.

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I ordered the Dariya(?) hair patch thing to see what the hype was about... waste of money, if you have longer hair (including making me look ridiculous!). It does keep the strays out of my face, when my hair is up. Otherwise, they're no better than a hair band. I was walking around the house with them on, and my parents thought I've went mad hahaha! I love receiving weird looks from my parents whenever they experience my weird antics.

Oh, and my experiment with zebra print. Not bad for a first timer, huh? I showed my mom (she loves zebra print) because I knew she'd want 'em too hahaha.

That's all folks! Now I need to start on my Art History paper, which I foolishly deleted most of the pictures from my trip to LACMA before uploading them. RAWRGLRGLR.

So I herd you liek mudkipz...

2009-05-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Hello there. It's been awhile, Blogger, but I don't intend to leave you like I did when I left Xanga for you! (LOL what am I doing personifying Blogger?)

Lately, I wasn't in the mood for blogging. First of all, I was busy playing with my camera, taking pics of the stuff I listed for my store! I finally have stuff listed on the site! And I will list more things after I fix up some of the broken ones so that I don't sell broken stuff. Thanks Annie for "reviewing" my stuff!

http://stephsstuffstore.blogspot.com

I think I wanna do a small giveaway to help promote my sales... What do you think?

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I was also going home every weekend because there were always things coming up for me to attend to during the weekends (i.e. Mother's Day, little brother's birthday). My weekends are always, always busy and it's unfortunate that my usual weekend consists of two nights and two days. I'm telling you, it's not enough time for me to even relax!

What have I been up to regardless? Creating and eating food, of course! In addition to playing with dogs, dyed my hair, visiting an art museum, all that fun stuff!

For my brother's birthday, I baked him some Red Velvet cupcakes and a cake. I can say that it was $3 quality!

What foo? Who has the Chinese eyes now?!

Cupcakes a-baking!

Mother made cookies for me! They're made of coconut, raisins, cranberries, walnuts, oatmeal, super ripe bananas, and molasses. No sugar or eggs added! It tastes soooo good, I wish I had pics of it.

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I dined at Universal City's Hilton Cafe Sierra, which was a seafood buffet. We made the mistake of going there the day before Mothers' Day.
I ate my first raw oyster, guys! It tasted like cooked oyster, but slimier. Here is a video of my experience that my friend, Mr. L, kindly shot.

From Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City Cafe Sierra

Shark fin soup, lobster, scallops, abalone... every Asian's edible fantasy all on one plate!

My friend's dog Skippy! He's got a nasty temper for such a bite-sized dog! So chubby, that it's adorable. Courtesy of Mr. L!

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I think I have become a cupcake monster! In two weeks, I have visited two different cupcake bakeries that are located around my hometown.

One is in South Pasadena, called My Sweet Cupcake. The shop itself is quite pleasant with its 1950s interior decor. The cupcakes were soooo decadent and moist, I'd say that I'd drive here instead of driving to Santa Monica Blvd. for Sprinkles! The price is also $2.50 for one, so it is a cheaper alternative to Sprinkles. Red velvet is a must! And so is chocolate covered strawberry! Mmm...

The other cupcake bakery is in San Marino, called Pearl's Cupcakes. It's located in a non-conspicuous area so that you don't even notice it unless you're looking for it. The view of the name is blocked by the shadow of two trees. The decoration on each cupcake is quite adorable, but I think I'd rather have cupcakes from My Sweet Cupcake. Each cupcake here costs $3. The red velvet was too dry and chocolatey, but strawberry was delicious! I love how the frosting is actually light whipped cream with some strawberry flavor!

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My nails needed to be did again, so one night I decorated my nails... I only showed you my right hand because it looks nicer than the left! I wish I was ambidextrous so I can make nails on both hands look good!

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This past weekend, I went to LACMA in order to complete my Art History assignment. I was supposed to choose one work of Southeast Asian art and write about it. I chose this one... I'll let it be up to your imagination on why I chose this particular one hehehe.

Japanese Pavilion from the outside.

Lamp posts with the friend in the middle.

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Memorial weekend is coming up! Do you guys have plans? I'm going to Vegas (again!) hahaha. Shopping time!!

Tagged, and ONLINE STORE?!

2009-05-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by the loverly Miss Kalila! A more of a mid-week post hehe.

Okay, here's the rules:

1. Respond and rework: answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight other people.

What is your current obsession?
My current obsession is Restaurant City game on Facebook hehehe!

What are you wearing today?
Navy blue tank top with heather grey cardigan and charcoal-colored shorts

What’s for dinner today?
Hmm.. Mama Stephanie's dumplings perhaps?

What would make today special?
I would think that anything out of the ordinary would make the day special.

What would you like to learn to do?

I would like to learn how to manage my time better haha!

What’s the last thing you bought?
Strawberry charms... you'll see why later on hehe

What are you listening to right now?

I'm listening to my professor speak about Chinese handscrolls.

What is your favorite weather?
Autumn weather has the best breeze. It is also more chilly than hot. Nice cuddling weather /wink

What is your most challenging goal right now?
Acheiving A's in all of my classes... I am a full time student after all!

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
She is a terrific person! She's one of my favorite bloggers hehe.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
There really is no place in the universe I'd rather be than to be at home.

What would you like to have in your hands right now?
Orange Dream Machine smoothie from Jamba Juice!

What would you like to get rid of?
Everything that is troublesome.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
I would go home to my family...

Which language(s) do you want to learn?
German, French, Korean, and touch up on Cantonese and Japanese.

What do you look for in a friend?
A friend can be a total dick, but as long as she/he has a sense of loyalty and trust, then it's all I ask for.

Who do you want to meet in person?
I would love to meet Martha Stewart and have lunch with her! No, make lunch, and then eat it!

What’s your favorite type of music?
I listen to more Asian music than American mainstream stuff. However, it really depends on my mood because I listen to a variety of music. As long as the music have a combination of feel-good vibes, and sometimes meaningful lyrics.

What is your dream job?
Honestly, my dream job is to be a pâtissier... but I'm not that good to immediately start my own bakery.

Any favorite models?
Like fashion models? I like Alessandra Ambrosio. I also like Koyuki (the girl from Tom Cruise's "The Last Samurai") for her height and traditional beauty.

If you had £100 now what would you spend it on?
£100 equalts to about $200. I would probably use it to pay off my credit card bill!

Favorite makeup item(s)?
My favorite makeup item would be my TSFI primer! Without it, the stuff on my eyes would simply slide right off

Fashion pet peeve?
When I see those shirts that say "DADDY'S GIRL" or "PRINCESS"... untastefully.

Do you admire anyone’s style?
Not a particular person, but I do admire the style that the models in Japanese/Taiwanese fashion magazines sport.

Describe your personal style:
Personal style... mostly in dark and bold solid colored tops, with dark blue jeans, and flip flops. I usually tie my hair up in a ponytail, despite the fact that my hair length is almost at my waist.

What's your favorite television show?
Recently, my favorite television show is America's Top Model. LOL.
What's your favorite magazine(s)?
Hmm I can't decide between Cosmopolitan and National Geographic!

-My own question- What are you doing right now?
Finishing up this survey! Yup.

I shall tag (the usual people I tag)
Kylie - Updateeeee!
Wasin- Too bad you're on private. I love your insightful posts! Make a new post!
Annie - Love how you update so often!

And anyone who wants to do this!

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Steph's Stuff

http://stephsstuffstore.blogspot.com

I will be opening an online store to sell a hodgepodge of mostly handmade (by yours truly) stuff. For the first few weeks upon opening my online store, I will list the bracelets (previously displayed in the last post), along with some more one-of-a-kind handmade (with love!) crafts. I guarantee that all crystals used for these crafts are Swarovski crystals.

I have these lying around, some of which are results of trial-and-error. Despite the fact that I considered them "errors," some people may find them "successes!"

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The following are just a sample of what I have in my humble inventory for now...

Glass pearl pendants in white and black with choice of crystal color.

Pink freshwater pearl earrings with dangling crystals.

Dangling purple crystal earrings.

Cheers, everyone!

Embracing Creativity

2009-04-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Try to recall your first days of school, whether it be preschool or kindergarten (I never attended preschool). You learned your ABCs, One-two-three's, nursery rhymes, and you had nap times (something we all took for granted nowadays)! My most favorite memory of kindergarten was the arts and crafts time we had. Sure they were assignments, but I never considered any art project a chore (now, some kids are really lazy). Instead, I had fun with it!

In my earlier days, I was a naive child (I suppose most children are) and wasn't very knowledgeable about this concept called "art." For all I know, I just enjoyed drawing and coloring pictures! In the second grade, I remember making lots of picture books with short stories. I wish I still had them! In the fifth grade when Pokemon was the craze, I drew pictures of Pokemon in my spare time (and I thought I was pretty darn good at it). Whatever it was, I loved working with my hands! Looking back now, I wish I had saved all of my timeless articles of precious memories. With technology nowadays, the only remnants of any recent creative work is in the form of digital photographs.

When I started high school, I was messing with Adobe Photoshop and tried to create cool looking images for my -then- website. Messing with HTML was fun, but somewhat useless at the time? It was a hobby to code and build websites back in the day; now I'm being lazy and sticking with blogging sites such as Xanga and Blogger.

In my sophomore year of high school, I made jewelery composing of mostly Swarovksi crystals and silver, which the interest was sparked from an aunt. My mom helped me sell these, as well as getting the materials for my small "business." I abandoned this hobby after a year. It became a chore for me to make these to sell. It started out as fun, but it lost its lustre.

I spent most of my high school years (and up to present times) drawing these fictional characters using only geometric figures, meaning a circle, two dots, a line, occassional curves, and rectangles. It had become a small "logo," that whenever someone saw that doodle, he/she would immediately refer it to me. In a way, it became my signature. Look at the girl on my banner. You'll see that it's pretty distinctive.

At the beginning of college, I started to take some interest in cosmetics after following Ricebunny on Xanga. Curiousity killed the cat, and in this case, it killed my wallet haha! That was also when I started to experiment with polymer clay, which was introduced to me by my boyfriend. The first thing I made was a Totoro keychain, which I later gave away to a friend. Numerous people have requested that I make something for them, but let me find the willingness and time to do so. Afterall, the results are better when I want to make it, rather than it being a chore.

What are some current projects that I'm doing? Nothing much. I'm interchangably doing clay, photography, and looking forward to learning how to crochet/knit. I also plan to take cake decorating classes. Mmm art AND food!

Speaking of photography, I really want a DSLR camera! After taking photography in high school, I want to take the content I've learned (and despite some remarks made from some students, I in fact did learn) and utilize it. /Sigh one day! For now, I'll stick with my digital camera :P

Here are some photographs of some of my previous projects!

Earrings

Hodgepodge of different stones and crystals on a silver chain.

Swarovski emerald themed crystals in an original design.

Swarovksi Jet and Crystal AB with heart clasp.

Swarovski chocolate-themed crystals bracelet.

Fish in a strawberry costume!

A brown head, and a white head; inspired from the likeness of real people.

Momo panda! See the peach?

Totoro, my first one! (and a poop on the side)!

Should I open a shop? I want to make sure the bracelets go to a nice owner, where they'll finally glisten and sparkle in the sun on the wrist of its loving owner. And I still have materials that are collecting dust. I can probably even make clay cellphone charms out of commisssion. Even if I do make extra income on the side, I have to deal with shipping and all that jazz... Rawrrr decisions decisions. Is it worth the effort?

Oh before I forget,
HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN, JOSEPH!!!!11one

zomg no wai.

2009-04-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

I created a tumblr account to post (interesting/inspirational/aesthetic) photographs/quotes/text of the day. If you like the pictures I take on this blog, then you'll probably like the pictures on my tumblr. http://haisteph.tumblr.com.

And since I'm waiting for a certain someone to arrive, I shall use my time wisely!

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First as always, cute doggy pictures!

Oscar and Bobo (Munmun's brother) frolicking in my backyard.

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Last night, I was browsing through my old albums of pictures that were stashed within lots of folders and came across photos of my adolescent days. For fun, I zoomed in on one of the pictures with a clear shot of the skin on my face and I gasped (roommate then gave me a weird stare); not because I thought the picture was horrendous, but because my skin was so terrible back in the days!

Not that I'm saying that my skin is totally perfect, and I do have those bad skin days when I just break out (especially when Aunt Flo is visiting). I can honestly say (and my friends can agree with me on this) that my skin is so much more clearer than my adolescent days. I think it's partially due to hormones being stabilized, better skin care, and better dieting.

Beware! Pictures of my face LOL. Click on the pictures to zoom in, if you dare!

Before

After

Notice the huge difference? Hehehe I am happy! I must say that the honey-aspirin mask worked for me really well! It got rid of most of my blemishes/scars and such.

I've had acne-ridden skin ever since the fifth grade. It's been over ten years now, and I'm so glad that I'm way past that stage in my life when I was (secretly) insecure about my bad skin. I remember classmates used to make negative references to my skin, and now that it's cleared up, karma bit them in the butt. Yes, they ended up getting acne hehehehe! Who says karma isn't real?

Do You Like Fishsticks?

2009-04-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about topics to blog about, and I would usually blog about my week. I don't want another typical recollection of the activities I've done over the week, but some with some thought and depth. Unless those topics get too boring to read, the I don't know. Blogging like this isn't really challenging/improving my writing skills, so what now?

I'm thinking of making a tumblr.com account because I have so many photos to post along with their descriptions, that it seems to make perfect sense to create one. I am a lazy person, and I'd rather post pretty pictures with a sentence-long description, rather than typing out a whole story (hence my weekly postings).

Who takes the time to read every word anyway?
It's okay, this is for my own reference, for when I want to browse through this blog a few years from now. By then, most likely, I'll probably have another new blog in the future (maybe when I graduate from school?). This is me, for this period of time anyway.

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My group of friends and I surprised two birthday girls with tickets to the Britney Spears concert this past Friday at the Staples Center. They were (obviously) ecstatic! I wish we could've joined them, but these tickets were first of all expensive, and hard to get.

We took them out to dinner at Little Fat Sheep, which was a place for northern Chinese hot pot. It was my first time there; as I walked into the restaurant, it smelled like faintly like Chinese herbal medicine. Later did I know that they add Chinese herbs into the delicious broth, so it's good for you. Despite the fact that they add the herbs in their broth, the herbs helped with the flavoring, and you'll be drinking the broth knowing that it's good for you!

For an Asian restaurant, their customer service was pretty good. The staff was attentive, so thumbs up for that!

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My desserts-run friend Wasin and I went to Old Town Pasadena to try some Dots Cupcakes. When we walked into the cramped contemporary-styled (isn't every trendy bakery?), there was a strong tantilizing aroma of a mixture of cream, vanilla, and flour; I didn't mind it. The cupcakes that were on display were really adorable; some had a flower-shaped fondant sprinkle placed in the center, some had regular jimmies on them. Of course, the frosting on each cupcake was decoratively spread in a tiered layer (look at the pictures for reference). We ordered red velvet, vanilla chocolate, apple pie, and strawberry shortcake. After ordering these cakes, the cashier gave us cute "bambü" forks for us to pick on our portable desserts.

Dots carries a supply of mini-sized cupcakes ($1.50) and regular-sized cupcakes ($2.75). Don't let the cute packaging and decorations fool you! Dots is no Sprinkles, if you prefer your cupcakes rich and moist. The frosting on red velvet was quite creamy (I'd prefer my cream cheese frosting with more of cream cheese taste), but the overall cake(s) (including its taste and texture) was just like any American cake.

I personally don't enjoy eating American cake in large amounts, for the cake is usually 1) dry and rough like overcooked chicken breast, and 2) too sweet (for me to say that, it's saying something). Dots cakes aren't very rich, meaning after one cupcake you'd be ready for the next one. If you don't like rich-flavored cakes, then Dots is probably for you.

Next up my non-existant "Things to Try" list is My Sweet Cupcake, which is conveniently located near my local Trader Joe's. I am having high hopes for that one!

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I don't know if I mentioned this in earlier posts, but I talk to my mother everyday, whether she calls me before I call her.

I've been home for two weeks in a row since last weekend, by the way. I called call her yesterday (Monday) afternoon because I had just finished class for the day and was walking to the trolley stop. She picked up, and asked "Aww do you miss mommy already?" Trying to hold in a smile, I immediately said "n-n-no! I don't miss you! You'll just yell at me for not calling you tomorrow!"

Mother: "Are you coming home this weekend as well? Ha ha!"
Me: "Nah, I'm not coming home-" (hears Father joke in background) "Stop coming home!! I don't want to drive you back every weekend!"
Mother: "Yeah, your dad is tired. It's okay, no matter what I love you my oldest baby!"
Me: -holding in a smile- "Aww Mommm! Okay byeee!"

I do miss my parents. They're weird, but I love them.

Must Love Strawberries, Chocolate, and Dogs!

2009-04-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Just in case you guys didn't already know, it's pretty much a known fact (among my friends, anyway) that I am a complete choco-holic and strawberry-phile! Despite the fact that I am a self-proclaimed chocolate connoisseur, I have drastically decreased my consumption of chocolate due to my fear of developing premature diabetes. It would be the end of the world for me if I could not have anymore sugar, EVER. I do require some chocolate fixes though hehe. For example, I like the holidays where stores like Target sell seasonal chocolate. They usually mark down the chocolate by at least half, so I eagerly await for the day after the holiday! Hehehe. Today is Easter, and I was planning on running down to KMart and buy the chocolate, but luckily my uncle bombarded me with hella chocolate from Germany (and a knock-off Swifter Duster for my apartment). /Drool.

Uncle also brought us some typical souvenir keychains. A funny conversation between my brother, uncle, and me while taking our pick. I got adorable miniature Dutch clogs. My brother had a choice between a tacky-colored "HOLLAND" one, and a beautiful antique-bronze finished Eifel Tower. My brother chose "HOLLAND," and this was why (it was also the more expensive one LOL).

Uncle: "Yay! You chose the more expensive one! Why did you decide to choose the HOLLAND one?"

Brother: "Because I didn't want to choose some country who hasn't won any wars yet." (My brother and I high-fives)

Don't tell me you don't get that. Shame on you, if you're not familiar with your 20th century history!

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My sister surprised me with a cute strawberry solar-powered uhh... thing with flapping leaves. Forgetful me, I was supposed to bring it with me to my apartment, but I forgot to pack it.

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I am officially sick of sushi for a while, since I went out to an all-you-can-eat place. It is pretty bomb, as yelp.com reviewers gave it 5 stars. The employees had amazing customer service: a baby was crying at another table, and the customer mother was too busy attending the baby instead of eating. One of the female employees was able to put the baby to sleep, as his parents were finally able to focus on their food. After sushi, we headed to Wal-Mart. I bought a 5-layered Sterlite organizer for my makeup hahaha. It was $6!

Because I have a lot more free time this quarter, I took out my clay and made original keychain charms. I made these both for my boyfriend, and he better like them! It's actually a surprise, but it's not like he regularly reads my blog! The red one is a goldfish in a strawberry suit, and the other one is of him and me (in my typical geometrical drawings LOL).

Thursday evenings are usually spaghetti nights for my roommate and me; if we're not making some kind of pasta, we're making some meal together. We also clean up the whole apartment that night. As I was reaching for the Lysol spray, I found a piece of Super Shammy, or commonly known as the SHAMWOW! I was not a believer of it, just because I didn't find it to work. However, I followed the instructions that came with it that tells you to "activate" it, and then voila! It absorbed water like nothing! That is the only thing "towel paper-like" about the product: that it absorbs and holds water efficiently. I wouldn't recommending it for scrubbing things. That night, my roommate and I purposely "spilled" water onto the kitchen counter and watched the artificial "chamois" soak up all the water. That night, we became believers. Here's a video made by yours truly!

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This weekend was pretty productive. I went out for Korean BBQ on Friday night (HI STEVE AND ELAINE!), and I'll let the pictures describe what the rest of the night was about... No incriminating evidence though ;)

On Saturday morning I ran errands with my mother. Luckily I didn't wake up with a hangover or anything! I was craving for some Costco cream puffs, so we got some of that. We also made a stop at the mall to help my sister pick out a prom dress. It took forever; not to mention the pains of finding the right style and color that will complement her body (she is almost a plus-size). She wanted a bright purple dress that had a slit where you can see some leg, but her other option was an elegant-looking black dress. We convinced her to get the black one, of course. A few moments after getting home, some friends gave me a call and we were originally going to Yogurtland for green apple flavored yogurt, but they didn't have it on that day. Instead, we hung out at Bin Bin Konjac for some Taiwanese shaved ice. It's much more preferable to me than Guppy House. That evening, another group of friends and I took one of my girlfriends out on a snack shopping spree as an early birthday activity! It was supposed to be a candy run (she has a sweet tooth that rivals mine LOL), but who knew she was going to buy healthier stuff as well! We then finalized the run by watching Marley and Me at my home. I didn't like the movie, by the way. Even though I love dogs, I didn't like his on-screen owners.

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I am not a religious person, but Happy Easter to those who celebrate it! I woke up and went out to the backyard where I found Munmun frolicking in the sun. I had my phone with me and took a snapshot while he was standing still. I spent my afternoon having Vietnamese food with my parents at Tay Ho. Mmm... fried yam and Bánh cuốn! We have been going there since I was born or so, and it felt really nostalgic. At the table, my parents and I were discussing about my future career and suggested about getting a license for a side job. My mom suggested cosmetology/beautician, so that I'd have some extra income on the side (plus the free haircuts my family would be getting LOL). Just a plan, but nothing permanent, although it'd be an awesome side job hehe. Spent the rest of the afternoon getting last minute groceries.

Snack Attack!

2009-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

Follow me on Twitter, if you haven't already. I update Twitter much more frequently than this blog. Join the hype, if you haven't already! ;)

Who wants to read anything about a person's school life anyway? You, of course (because that's what you're doing right now)! And at every beginning of a new quarter, I like to make little goals and resolutions for myself (in hopes that I'll keep them).

I believe all I want to accomplish this quarter is to establish better habits, and not just for academics. Of course, I have to manage my time better by utilizing my down time more efficiently, which means less time on Facebook, blog browsing (yes, believe it or not, I do it a LOT), and media, respectively. I need to develop healthier eating habits, meaning decreasing my sugar-encrusted/sugar-saturated foods intake, and more fresh/non-processed food whenever possible (or at least til summer begins). I also have to tidy up my room by not tossing clothes (but it's hard when I want to get out of my jeans, and into my jammies) all around the bedroom. So far, I can say that I've been watching my sugar intake, and having healthier breakfasts to start my day off by consuming oatmeal, whole fruits (or fresh fruit juice), and drinking green tea for caffeine intake on those groggy days. What a great start!

Another one is to finally purchase a collegiate sweater. I've got that done on Thursday! Now apparently medium size is too small, and if I washed the sweater, it would shrink (as my self-confidence has). I'm going to exchange it for a large on Monday. Despite the fact that I'm going to be needing a large-sized sweater, the design itself is fitted for a woman's body so I'm not complaining!

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I love my schedule for this quarter. On Fridays, I have class with my roommate from 10AM-11AM, and then I'm free for the rest of the day. Unfortunately for her, she had class afterwards, but with 3 hours to spare before the next class started, we walked back to the apartment. We made some breakfast which comprised of an omlette made with tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms, and toast. After our meal, she was packing for her trip back home for the weekend, and I sat in front of my laptop, planning on how I was going to spend the weekend. I looked up for some j-dorama to watch, but alas no luck. Then I looked up some new anime that I would be interested in watching, and I had found one! It's called Skip Beat, which was about a girl planning her revenge on a guy who used her for his benefit by being better at what he's achieved, which was to be famous. It's really funny and cute, but it lacks a bit of romance, but we see that romance heightens towards the end of the season. I can't wait for season two! For now, I'll just read ahead in the anime hehe.

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I woke up at around 11AM, and laid in bed for another hour while playing Scramble on my iPod (it's an awesome game/application, by the way). I had a craving for some ice cream and snacks, and after realizing that I lacked snacks, I made a run to Stater Bros. I came home with a box of orange creamsicle, strawberry shortcake, ice cream sandwiches, P'Nuttles, Whoppers (Kylie got me craving for some, THANKS.), fruit snacks, Sunny D, brownie mix, and non-dairy creamer. Rawr snack attack! But before I indulged in my new snacks, I made lunch for myself, which was BBQ pork and jasmine rice. Lucky for me, my mom portioned my side dishes for the week conveniently in ziploc bags (one ziploc per meal). Thank you mom!

I also re-watched Zhang Yimou's Hero, just because I was suddenly interested in colorful movie cinematography (and my art history professor was talking about it the other day). Back in 2002 when the movie first came out, I didn't fully understand what the movie's plot/story was about, but after watching it again today, I was enlightened! At the same time, I was in awe from the choices of colors used in each scene. If one were to observe carefully, the king and his subjects are all dressed in shades of black, as well as the structures that the king were in. The couple's costumes change, depending on the storyteller's point of view -- from red (for intensity and evoking emotions that include love, lust, jealousy, anger, etc.), to green (symbolizing the king's realization of Jet Li's assassination attempt, therefore the king's enlightenment), to pale blue/white (Jet Li revealing the truth, as well as the color worn for mourning the deceased). As you may have realized, thought-provoking films really interest me because I enjoy making these types of interpretations from my observations. Anyway, I digress. I really suggest watching Zhang Yimou movies, if you haven't already, such as House of the Flying Daggers. /drool Kaneshiro Takeshi.

So what do I have planned this evening? Nothing much really; chilling at my apartment, relax with music, reading Skip Beat manga , enjoy dinner and then snacktime! Probably squeeze in some assigned reading, but that can probably wait til tomorrow (evening).

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Pasta salad Wednesday evening. Made with freshly boiled pasta, tomatoes, julienned basil, salt & pepper to taste, fat free Italian dressing, sprinkled with parmasean cheese.

Saturday BBQ pork and rice. DELICIOUS. I felt carnivorous and didn't feel like eating greens. It's okay, oatmeal makes up for my daily fiber ;)

My sister sent me a photo of Munmun and Oscar sleeping together.

Woven bracelets with Swarovski beads, one of many of my neglected hobbies (I abandoned this hobby in the 10th grade). I found these upon cleaning up my storage bins. I wanna get rid of them. Should I attempt to sell them? LOL.

Happy Saturday! And enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My Sweet Tooth Needed Attention So...

2009-03-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

I dream of the remnants of last week as its lasting effects still linger. It was truly one of the best spring breaks I've had, mainly because I wasn't at home being idle, and it also allowed me to form some revelations. Last year, I was stuck with jury duty for six days during my spring break. I got to see most of my friends, unfortunately not all of my friends. For that, I am sorry. Because there was never an idle moment, I didn't have period of a couple of hours to blog, however I wanted to because it would be one huge post if I were to post about my week all in one post. And that's what I'm gonna do.

I call this spring break my Delicious Journey, a name that was inspired from a JustKiddingFilms video. I had the need to satisfy my sweet tooth, just because I didn't have my sugar fix for weeks (I've had natural sources of sugar from fruit and juice, not that I'm complaining). I was surprised that I didn't end up with diabetes by the end of the week. Just kidding, I hope that will never happen /knock on wood. I also got to catch up with my J-doramas "Love Shuffle" and "Mei-chan no Shitsuji," both of which I highly recommend to watch. I even got to peek at some manga, alas they weren't finished with scanlating the manga.

Weekends are negligent because they are my usual dessert days.

Monday: Guppy House with the "Guppy Special" with two friends. Before dessert, they had 50 Din Tai Fung dumplings. Can you say piggies?

We ended up finishing everything, except the bottle of condensed milk. :)

An actual guppy! :O

Tuesday: A small sleepover at my house; we went to Ralph's to get some ice cream to go with our brownies and movie. We ended up watching "The House Bunny." Went to bed by 4AM. Regretably, no photos

Wednesday: Lunch with a friend in Pasadena at Sushiya. We obviously had some sushi and went for the all-you-can-eat deal. We arrived too late, so we ordered from the menu. Luckily we did because the bill ended up being cheaper than one person's price for the all-you-can-eat deal. We had Taiwanese shaved ice for dessert at Bin Bin Konjac.

I probably watched dorama that night.

Thursday: The official "Dessert Run" day with my two buddies. We drove to Santa Monica for Sprinkles Cupcakes, but before dessert we had lunch at Panini Cafe. They made delicious non-greasy looking paninis that tasted really fresh. Afterwards, we went next door to Sprinkles and purchased a dozen cupcakes (split, of course). Let me describe the cupcake, it is absolutely phenomenal! The cake itself isn't very sweet, but rich in flavor. That means you have to eat the cake with its icing in order to balance out the sweetness. Being so moist and rich-tasting, it is definitely filling. You might find yourself eating four of these a day if you're not careful!

We drove up to Topanga Canyon for scenic stops. For being a resident of LA my whole life, I had no idea such scenery existed. The most foliage I've ever seen in one area in LA is either in a large recreational park, or a nursery. Until that day, the only scenic routes that I've seen were the ones in northern California's I-5, Oregon, Washington, so forth. I had a brief high when we were going up the mountain (large hill?). After we left the hill, we stopped by the beach for 10 minutes for pictures. I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was too cold for the beach.

After we got back home, a friend was dropped off, and my remaining friend accompanied me to go return something I ordered from the Body Shop online. After I returned the items, I realized that they overlooked the fact that I used a 10% off from my membership card, so I earned about $5. With that, I treated my friend to some yogurt from Yogurtland.

I probably spent the night watching dorama. Ahh bliss.

He had Hello Kitty Band-Aids in his glove compartment!

Mmm, red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

Topanga Canyon

My first bite!

Friday: I had a hot date with Miss Kylie (visit her at kiitzyy.blogspot.com!), who is a real friend of mine. We had lunch at Bamboodles, caught up, and of course chatted about makeup! She surprised me with a gift bag full of goodies. (RAWR! I'll getchu back just you wait!) I showed her a little place in my city where the local makeup junkies purchase discount MAC items. She totally fell head over heels for the little shop. Teehee I'm glad she enjoyed it! Too bad our date was short; she had to go to work. I can't wait for our next outing!

Later that evening, I had to go to Irvine for a potluck-ish kind of hang out at a friend's apartment. I brought my mom's southeast Asian chicken curry. Mmm.. that night we had really yummy food. I wish I took pictures, but I was too lazy to. Dorothy was taking photos all night so I'll mooch off of that. Got home at 2AM, and I just knocked out.

Isn't she lovely?! :) She looks so tiny compared to the bowl!! <33 href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/SU5dw5gfpNYJ1BsBEka7LA?authkey=Gv1sRgCPTpy8y245zkggE&feat=embedwebsite">
Spicy Beef Stew with Spinach noodles.

Spicy Wontons

Me and the noodle maker LOL. He was bouncing on the noodle dough on that bamboo stick. It was a sight to see!

Saturday: I woke up early in the morning and ran errands with my mother. Saturday morning/early afternoons are usually my busy hours because I have to buy groceries for my apartment (Asian supermarkets, for the win!), go to the bank, hang out with my mom, etc. I rolled about 100 eggrolls in a period of 2 hours /bow. Of course, I brought some with me to my apartment.

Later that evening, I met up with my friend for a long overdue play date. We ate at Sin Bala for Taiwanese food because I didn't want to eat something that was heavy in oil and grease. After that, we went to his friend's house to play Apples to Apples. He hangs out with the dorkiest people, but they were really cool. What's also funny, is that the friend happens to live about 3 blocks away from my home, and I've never seen him in my life.

Sunday: Finally, the day I've dreaded the whole week. The end of my "journey."

While packing, I looked through my dusty old Sterlite storage boxes and came across a residue of my tendency for leaving short-term projects: making jewelery out of Swarovski crystals. I have so many bracelets, earrings, findings, and the crystal beads themselves left over that I don't know what to do with them.

My dad dropped me off at 3PM.

---------------

Honestly, I've never missed home like this before. Until recently, I thought about how nice it was to live away from home, to be away from everything. With this mentality, I thought I could be independent. I can read this blog's first post and see how my perspective has transitioned to the way I am now. In ways, I can be that independent girl I aim to be; however there are times when I feel so vulnerable, that I get a tendency to attach myself to something that is strongly reinforced and permanent, for example, my parents' unconditional love and support. In times when I feel like a lost child, my parents, no matter how much they nag you, no matter how much they scold you, no matter how much they call you just to check up on you; in the end, their love for their children is the only thing in this world that is solid and certain.

Although last quarter was not an enjoyable one, I'm glad that experience did not ruin my spring break. I can sort of transcend from that. I'm glad I have somewhat recuperated from a period of despair and overwhelming stress. I'm glad that I have such colorful, wonderful things in my life that (will) keep me from falling hard into the dirt, such as my family, friends, and two cute little dogs. For that reason, I feel guilty for occassionally uttering (it's a daily phrase nowadays) "fuck my life," generally because I don't really mean it. I love my life, but I really hate the situation that's going on in my life. (FYI, I started to say FML after I watched Superbad last year before it got viral). One should say, "fuck my situation" instead.

What I'm trying to get across to you, my reader, is please consider what you're saying when you say "fuck my life," especially if you really don't mean it. Nowadays, it's being used in vain (thanks to a certain viral site). Think about it this way: I said "fuck my life" in front of my cousin one day, and he snapped at me and said "Hey! Don't say that, I'm in your life!" Oh I love my cousins.

Maybe after being deep in this comprehensive thought, I've come to a conclusion that I've developed a slight separation anxiety from home, or to blatantly state it, homesickness. I figured it's a normal occurence, but normal to me? Heck, I'm the type of person who won't call home after being a month away from home! What's happening to me?

To finally conclude this long post, I shall post pictures of my cute little dogs as a relief from my emo-ness.

I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break, or maybe you haven't started yours yet. Look forward to doing productive things!

I Want This Week to be OVER Already!!

2009-03-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Like my new banner? I drew it myself on MS Paint. I want a tablet so I can draw perfect circles! /hinthint/winkwink.

Before the fun begins, allow me to mope a little by silently basking in this aura of uncertainty.

(silence)

I just have a huge feeling that I bombed the final I took today. I hope everyone else bombed it so the class curve would be towards my favor. If my guesses are correct, then I'm probably going to end up punish myself during spring break. Just a precaution to those who are going to see me during spring break.

Oh, and if you've been living in a box and have not heard of BoA, look out for her because she is a rising Asian Invasion hahaha. She is going to be at the Forever 21 in Old Town Pasadena this Sunday. Google her up for more details because I might or might not go, so I don't really care. All the Asian guys go nuts over her, so I bet there are going to be lots of fanboys /rolls eyes.

Anywho, a fellow blogger Mrs. Kalila tagged me to list ten things about me. Aww you really want to know more about me? ;) Okay, just for you hehe!

Mmm, chicken flatbread dinner I prepared for my family.

1. I love food, but what is it about food that I like? Aside from tasting and eating food, I like to cook food! Trying out recipes, and even coming up with recipes, is really fun to me. After completing a dish, it gives me a huge sense of satisfaction and completion of a goal (doesn't that always feel good?). It's a huge bonus when people try my food, and like it as well! I love baking sweets (due to my abnormally large sweet tooth) and pastries; with that being said, I want to open a patisserie (infused with other inspired sweets) after I retire just because it'd be an awesome goal. So if I still blog when I'm 50-60, you guys should come visit my bakery, which will be world-famous one day! Look out world, here comes patisserie master Stephanie!

2. I play with makeup and experiment with different colors because I am not color confident enough to go out with ROYGBIV. That's why I watch Youtube tutorials and browse through beauty blogs hehe.

3. I think I have ADD because I absolutely cannot concentrate on one thing for a long period of time, unless I'm really into it. Even if I get really focused on something (i.e. playing video games), I tend to stray away and do something else. >_> As I'm getting older, I am seriously thinking that I might have it... then I'd have a supply of Adderall (and I'll become a "street pharmacist" haha ).

4. I have a huge passion for art, mainly because it is aesthetic. In my eyes, ordinary things can easily transform into something beautiful, if I look beyond its exterior and contemplate on the story behind it (I'm just speaking vaguely again...). I can literally stay in an art museum (my favorite is the Metropolitan Art Museum in Washington DC) and just stare at art pieces all day. Of course, I'd probably wouldn't speak much, but silence is golden isn't it? I wish I had the time to fully embrace my artistic abilities and develop it, but for now it is merely a hobby.

5. Traveling is definitely something I look forward to when I graduate from college and get into my career as some kind of environmental consultant position. I want to explore the rainforests and jungles all around the world! From the highest snowcapped peaks of the Himilayas to the driest deserts of the Andes (the Sahara would be nice too). I was born to venture out into the world! Now, if only I was fit enough to do so... /wheezecough.

However, I have not been living in a box. I have been outside of the state /gasp! but not outside of North America. I've road tripped around the mid-western United States, New England states (our country's initial 13 states), and Canada (BC, AB, ON). Not to mention that I go to Las Vegas way too much!

6. I love animals, but not enough to become a devout vegetarian. Sorry Kalila! LOL Don't get me wrong, but I can stand eating good vegetarian food. I remember one year when I was an adolescent, I was at Toys R Us during Christmas time. My mom asked me what I wanted, and I held up a huge book that was at least half my size to her. It was a 300+ page book full of photographs of animals from all around the world. I was especially fond of reptiles and dinosaurs ( I don't know why), but you guys remember those book club order forms that your elementary school teachers gave you to order cheap books? I always whined to my parents to order me some dinosaur books. Dude, I was/am a dork, in case you haven't noticed.

7. I am very fond of Japanese stuff, including music, pop culture/media, products, art, and the language itself! In fact, I took Japanese as a foreign language in high school for three years, and I can honestly say that I did not learn much. I learned more Japanese with spending massive amounts of time watching dorama and anime. /sigh I am such a time waster. As a result, I can only read katakana, hiragana, and minimal kanji. I do want to go to Japan one day, as it is one of my main goals in life.

8. I am a huge romantic. I am a hugeass sucker for sweet talkers, and sweet talkers do not equal to cheesey lines. I love a man who uses smooth language and wit to get a girl to become jelly in his arms hehehe. A girl can only dream... LOL I can imagine my boyfriend saying "pssh! What about me??" if he reads this haha!

9. I think I am quite an introverted girl, but I rant a lot in my blogs. That makes me passive agressive? But I do silly things when I'm bored... for example, I was bored while living in the dorms, and so I inadvertantly started some drama in my hall LOL. Oh my what a deviant child. It is a long story... but allow me to share it with you! I blogged about this in my Xanga, but I foolishly deleted it. Rawr!

I lived in a suite-type of dorm with a hall that has four rooms, two showers, and two toiletrooms. Each room is shared between two girls, thus there are 8 girls staying in each hall. I stayed at room that was at the end of the hall; the girls I started shit with stayed near the entrance of the hall. There was a shower, which is smaller, located in front of their door; the larger shower (made for at least two people) was located in front of my door.

They would always have their boyfriends staying over. I had no problem with that because I had my boyfriend over sometimes too. However, a couple would shower together at midnight every night. My roommate would already be sleeping, but I would be still awake (for whatever reason), and my desk was near the door. I would hear giggles, laughter, even slapping noises (ew). It really, really, really bugged me. They were totally inconsiderate about being loud and disruptive.

The next morning after they showered, there would be a huge puddle of water, so the custodian lady thought the shower was leaking. She called the maintenance up several times, but she didn't know the cause of the puddle. She left a sign, saying "Ladies-- Please close the shower door after you're done. Thanks!" I was being a troublemaker and stuck a post-it next to the sign saying "and two guys" next to where "Ladies--" was written. The post-it disappeared after the couple went in, so I snuck in the restroom to post another one on. After two trials, they stuck a wad of hair (probably from the drain) next to the sign. That was so disgusting! Little do they know, that I pee in the shower LOL. Also, they left me a post-it, which I have a photo of. You can read it at your own time.

Finally, one night they went to every room in the hall to ask about the post-its; I was sitting in the lounge area, my roommate was sleeping. They asked me of course, and I didn't admit it. They came to a conclusion that it was my roommate LOL. So much for escapades huh.

10. If you haven't noticed already, I play video games (but I am terrible at them). Video games are my healthier alternative to cigarettes/pot/pills, not that I've tried any hehe. It's a mean of escape from reality, so let me be! Reality is stressful and depressing. Really.

Despite the numerous negative connotations that go along with being a gamer, allow me to introduce this link here. Gamers fuel the economy, and get more dates than normal people ;)

Now, I will tag ...

1. Kylie -- If you even blog anymore!
2. Annie "Katelyn" @ Chomfifi -- Teehee, I didn't know you were gonna do all this sort of blogging!
3. Joaniers doesn't blog really blog regularly. Then again, I (believe I) probably know lots about you hehe.

Don't really have anyone else to tag. Some blogs I read are private so meh.

Let's see... I wasted two more hours for this post! Yay. -_-

Running Low on Blog Topics here!

2009-03-14T13:40:00.001-07:00

Blogging is more productive than playing WoW. On the real.

It's finals week. What more can I say? I've been meaning to blog, but what's interesting in my life right now? In addition to that, I haven't found the time at all last week, but that doesn't stop me from blog stalking other people /giggle. I asked a friend of mine for a topic to blog about. He simply said, "if your blog posts were pre-determined, then they wouldn't be very interesting, now would they? Defeats the purpose of a real blog. I like 'em random." Maybe new entries would be more frequent when Spring Break approaches. I'm looking forward to many adventures! :)

It's another quiet and lonely Saturday afternoon.
I initially woke up earlier when my iPod started to play Rie Fu on my iHome from a previous set alarm. I hit the sleep button and continue to doze off. At noon-ish, I finally woke up for sure when I heard a certain Lifehouse ringtone playing from my phone. The boyfriend had called to wake up my lazy ass. I hate waking up at noon because I know that my day has already been partially wasted (not to mention the other half of the day going to waste as well). However, I'm going to self-discipline myself by hitting the books, especially since the school library is open 24 hours for finals week. I have to take advantage of that. At this moment, I am hungry, but the Saturday blues kicked in, and I am at a lazy state where I don't want to leave my computer station just to get up and cook. Instead, I grabbed a slice of Asian jelly roll cake (you know, the one with the cream swirl in the center) that my mom bought me last week. It's still good, so no worries.

So what does this all mean?
I suppose that I'll try to post something that I wouldn't normally "blog" about just to enchance my entries a little, at least once a week. For example, my previous entry included a lame video of me trying to sell a book. Okay, I wasn't really trying to sell it. Also, in case you haven't noticed, I twitter a lot more constantly than I blog, so if you're interested in what I'm doing (you stalkers, you), be sure to follow me on Twitter (located on the top right corner of this blog).

This week, I shall take an essence of my guilty pleasure for reading/browsing/trolling numerous beauty blogs, and infuse it with my own blog. I have been wanting to do some beauty related stuff, but I'm too shy /blush. Then again why should I be? I'm already blogging about myself. 'Doh! Beauty-related topics have not always been a major interest of mine until I started college. It's not just makeup/beauty stuff, but I wanted to explore new things with the advantage of the ability of being able to easily adapt into new environments, but that is a topic I'll probably blog about later. From then on, this interest exploded into something desirable, and it eventually became a tiny obsession. However, I can say it died out a bit, but it's still lingering.

Personally, I think using makeup is an art. A face is a canvas that is ready to be made into something beautiful. One's face is already beautiful, but with one's beautiful features, it can be enhanced and defined to further beautify the features. Because makeup is an art to me, it also takes some skill to make the art look decent. With lots of practice and exposure, one can make a doodle transform into a masterpiece.

I will share reviews/opinions and show some products that make me happy (because many of us have bought things that make us unhappy LOL). This entry is more for my lady readers, but who knows, maybe my male readers might find it interesting!

And of course, I will end the blog with some random photos I took during the course of this past week (or two?). Initially, I was going to consider my friend's idea of just posting a collection of photos I took this week and not type any words aside from the title. It's kind of hard for me to do so.

First of all, the camera I have been using is from my (very sexy)Nokia N95 smartphone. It is a (just as sexy) 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens (think Sony Cybershot lens, although the line is not that great in my opinion). Consumers can readily buy 14+ megapixel cameras nowadays, but I personally think that 5 megapixels is enough for me to capture certain details of things that I shoot. However, I do want to save up for a nice SLR camera so that I can take professional looking pictures. Despite what you all say about photography class back in high school, I actually learned something with all of Mr. Levie's lectures. I (want to believe) understand the basics of how a camera works, and I want to be able to utilize it. /sigh I digress. The point of this paragraph is to explain that most of the pictures that I post on this blog are taken with my phone's camera. Sometimes it's not of complete clarity, lest I take pictures in natural sunlight, the quality is at its best.

First one up, a travel case for cosmetics from Bath and Body Works outlet.

Features: Dimensions are about 10" x 14" Black exterior, cute pink interior. Comes with three cosmetic bags with velcro strips on the bottom of each to adhere on the case.
Price: $9 at the outlet, $18 at the retail store.
Pros: I got it at a great price, not to mention the individual cosmetics bags that came included! The pink interior and black exterior caught my eye. It also came in white and green, but a white exterior gets dirty real easily.
Cons: I have yet to use this, thus I don't know of any cons. If you want it at this price, you'd have to go to the Fashion Show Outlet at Primm Valley near Vegas. Otherwise, you can go to your local Bath and Body Works and buy it for $18.

Notes: I believe this was an overstock item, so they were able to sell it at half the price. For someone like me who goes to Vegas all the time, I can get these real easily. My mother got mad at me for buying "useless" stuff like this, but I can carry sooo much with this bag. I have been looking for an affordable portable cosmetic bag for me to carry with me when I'm traveling, whether it be going back home, sleeping over somewhere, or even going on long trips.

The following products are listed from left to right in this picture. These are a few of my favorite skin products :D

1. Olay Complete All Day Moisture Lotion w/ SPF 15

Features: from the back of the bottle "Antioxidant Vitamin E; SPF 15; 100% Color and Fragrance Free; Dematologist tested and Recommended; Aloe; Light, Non-Greasy Formula; Non-Comedogenic (Won't Clog Pores). 6.0 FL Oz. (177 mL for you metric people).
Price: $8-$9 I think... I'm sure it's cheaper at Costco, if you plan to buy it in bulk.
Pros: It's really light and moisturizing, as well as SPF. It doesn't clog pores. For our convenience, my mom has stashed several bottles of these in the house, because we literally cannot go through the day without starting it off with this stuff! It also has a slight scent of baby powder, although the description says that its "100% fragrance free..."
Cons: Nothing wrong with it yet... and I've been using this stuff for at least 10 years now. For me, if we go traveling somewhere, and I forget to pack this, my mom would bite my head off for it because she tends to not pack something she thinks I've already packed. LOL.
Repurchase? Of course!

Note: One of my "holy grail" items, I cannot live without using a moisturizer during the day. I absolutely cannot stand having dry skin in the morning after I wash my face, so I MUST apply this.

2. Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash from the Body Shop

Features: description from the bottle "Soap-free, oil-free, and deep cleanses and conditions the skin without over drying. With Community Trade seaweed to balance and hydrate. The result? Clean, clear, shine-free skin. For Combination/Oily skin, oil-balancing lather to remove impurities, make-up and excess oil." 3.3 fl oz. (100mL)
Price: $12 at the Body Shop. Use your Body Shop card to get 10% off.
Pros: It smells really nice, like aloe? Showed immediate results after using it, but works best if you use it's line's toner too. My skin was left shineless from oil, so I am a happy customer. You also feel a slight tingle post usage hehe.
Cons: It's price is a bit much for this small bottle, but it works.
Repurchase? Probably so. I should've bought it when the buy 2, get 1 free deal was around. Oh well.

3. Vitamin E Eye Cream from the Body Shop

Features: "Helps reduce appearance of fine lines, puffiness and dark circles. For all skin types." 0.5 fl oz. (15mL)
Price: $17 at the Body Shop. Use your Body Shop card to receive 10% off.
Pros: After using this for a month now, the skin around my eyes showed slight improvment in terms of wrinkles and puffiness. The design of this tube is also quite sanitary because I squeeze out the amount that I need instead of inserting my fingers into a pot or something.
Cons: Price for this small tube... hmm I wonder if there is an alternative product that works for a cheaper price hehe.
Repurchase? Probably not, until I find a better alternative. Any suggestions?

4. Cleaning Express Sebum (Oily Skin) by Mandom

Features: description from bottle in Japanese " Kareshingu ekusuburesu. kareshingu ro-shun shibamu. Ready for bed as soon as possible!" This translates to "cleansing express. Cleansing lotion sebum." This is basically a makeup remover. 300mL
Price: $12.99 from Takeshima, or your local Japanese supermarket.
Pros: It does not irritate my eyes at all, and removes the most stubborn of eye makeup. It's apparently "water-based" as well. The pump from the packaging makes this product even easier to use! Just have some cotton pads ready.
Cons: None yet, you just have to purchase this product at specific places. Luckily for me, I live around Asian stores and is a frequent Little Toyko visitor. /thumbs up
Repurchase? Heck yeah. It's soo much better than the Sephora makeup remover (that cute blue one), because that one stings my skin and eyes so much. Also more bang for your buck.

Note: My current "holy grail" makeup remover!

The following products are a few of my favorite cosmetics that I'd use on a daily basis (with the exception of the sharpener). They are also listed below in the picture from left to right. Beware of scary close-ups on my eyes hehe.

1. The Makeup Sharpener by Shiseido

Features: It's got a little pick that allows you to scrape off the pencil liners' residue. Made in Germany.
Price: $5, at beautyrose.com with free shipping! Or at your local Shiseido counter.
Pros: It's a sharpener that sharpens your cosmetic pencils really well. It doesn't break the "lead" at all. The little pick that is neatly tucked in it allows you to scrape the residue off, which is something that a lot of sharpeners don't have (correct me if I'm wrong).
Cons: Pssh, nothing yet.
Repurchase? If this breaks in 10 years, I'd definitely repurchase. If it breaks next month, I'll consider another sharpener.

2. Long Pretty Lashes Mascara in Black 01 from Clinique

Before --> After
Features: description from website "Exclusive lengthening formula extends lashes up to 30% without flaking or clumping. Creates full, feathery, natural-looking lashes that are soft to the touch. Ophthalmologist tested."
Price: $13, at your local Clinque retailer, or at your local CCO for a fraction of the price!
Pros: This mascara does not clump at all. It really does create natural-looking lashes for me! It lasts all day and the price isn't that bad for a non-drugstore mascara.
Cons: Hmm.. none yet!
Repurchase? Heck yeah! Especially since I go to CCO every time I go to Vegas, I can get this with no problem when I run out.

3. Bad Gal Lash in Rich Black by Benefit Cosmetics

Before --> After
Features: description from website "With a big, bad brush and a rich, black formula, BADgal lash mascara is like wearing a set of false eyelashes without the glue." 8.5 g net wt 0.3 oz
Price: $19, at your local Benefit counter.
Pros: Volumizes and lengthens my lashes, as well as looking like false lashes after application. For best results, use a lash primer! My mom thought I had false lashes on LOL. The tube is quite large for a mascara tube, but it's quite chic hehe.
Cons: Does not hold a curl at all /sadface. I don't think I want to spend $20+ on mascara anymore. I'm sticking with my Long Pretty Lashes.
Repurchase? No.

4. The Makeup Eyebrow Pencil in Ash Blond by Shiseido

Features: description from sephora.com "This firm, yet gentle pencil provides true color and natural-looking definition." 1g.
Price: $16, at your local Shiseido counter.
Pros: I was not born blessed with nice eyebrows. In fact, my brows are just really light with really thin hair. As a result, my mom introduced me to the Shiseido counter LOL. Along with the Shiseido employee, we found the perfect color to define my brows without them having to look really gross and unnatural. It is slightly lighter than my skin color. This is one of the only products that my mom bought me just because she thought that it's what I really need. Shows you how much she hates my brows LOL.
Cons: Hmm.. nothing yet!
Repurchase? Definitely, when I run out.

5. Aqua Eyes in 0L Mat Black by Make Up For Ever

Features: description from sephora.com "These waterproof eyeshadow and eye liner pencils contain a unique formula that adheres to the eyelids and resists water even under the most extreme conditions, without running or fading." 0.04g.
Price: $17, at your local Sephora.
Pros: Honestly, with my super-oily non-existent lids, it's hard for me to find a pencil liner that works well, meaning no creasing and smearing. Despite it being waterproof, this stuff glides on like butter, as well as smudgable to your liking. Using an eyeshadow base is pretty much inevitable for my oily lids, but it works like a dream.
Cons: $17 for an eyeliner is pretty steep, but it's worth it so far.
Repurchase? Depends on when I run out. I'm starting to use this stuff on a daily basis.

Notes: I love this liner, a lot. Pencil liners never worked really well for me. I used to use the Loreal HIP cream liner, just because it worked best for me at the time, but it didn't look as natural as I wanted it to look, as well as constantly washing the brush used for application became a hassle.

6. Shadow Insurance by Too Faced

Features: from sephora.com "This is your full-coverage insurance policy against all fading, creasing, melting, blurring, oil slicked, and hard-to-blend eyeshadow accidents. Our silicone based eyeshadow primer transforms any eyeshadow into a perfectly blendable, color-drenched, intensified version of itself, then locks it down perfectly until you take it off. This soothing formula evens out the skintone on your lids and smoothes lines while securing a barrier between the oils of your skin and your makeup, so no shadow catastrophes will ever happen again." 0.35oz.
Price: $17 at your local department store, or Sephora. I got it on sale for $13 hehe.
Pros: My super oily lids are really a pain. Creasing became a huge problem for me, until I got this product! It prevents creasing so well for me. The packaging seems pretty sanitary because it comes in a tube. Before this stuff, I used to get primer from a pot/jar. A little bit also goes a long way.
Cons: It smells like rock. Literally. But it's not like I use my eyes to smell.
Repurchase? Yeah I would, as long as I continue you use eye makeup.

/phew There goes my ginormous list of reviews hehe. I wonder if anyone would go through all this and read word for word. Just another beauty blog entry, right? WRONG. My blog isn't centered on beauty: it is first and formost, more of a food/personal blog.

Here are some photos!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

This past week.

2009-02-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Kylie!!

Here is a series of media-related content that'll basically summarize my whole week.
I wanted to try something new, so here you go. I realized towards the end of the video, the background music got pretty loud.

Special love to my Twitter buddies. You guys know who you are.

Another reason why guys make female toons:

2009-02-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Kyu (12:54:46 PM): i sexchanged my male lock into a female because i dont like looking a guys in dresses :/
Kyu (12:55:46 PM): cuz like i felt weird having to look up his dress everytime he swam

Reading this quote really made me laugh. For those who play World of Warcraft, or just any MMORPG, you'll realize that it is a fact that many males out there create female characters. This conversation totally explains one of the reasons why they do. Kudos to you Kyu! I'm glad that you didn't give him a sex change to whore gold!

Anyway, whack ass week. I'm sure glad it's finally over, but I dread what's coming up for the coming week. More midterms, hooray.

It was urgent for me to get home this weekend, but I had no way of getting home with all the stuff I needed to bring back. Out of desperation, I called a friend of mine and explained my situation. He was kind enough to pick me up from my apartment. As a token of my appreciation, I treated him to King Taco's All Meat Burrito. Mmmm.. carne asada! It was fun hanging out with him, since I haven't seen him in months. It was like old times! :)

BBQ Pork (cha siu) and rice and brocoli! :)

I was craving for porridge the other day, so I made some and sprinkled pork sung on top.

All-Meat Burrito. Carne Asada yumminess!

And finally, just because it was raining at the beginning of the week, I got a beautiful view from school of the fresh white-capped mountains.

Enjoy your weekend!

Post-Valentine's Day.

2009-02-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

I wasn't really in the mood to write a "special" Valentine's entry, so I apologize. I suppose it'll be something I'll write about when I have the time. Lately, I've been bombarded with more midterms and I just really got to prepare for them, you know what I mean.

First of all, birthday shout outs to Allen (2/07), Padsy (2/11), and Kevin (2/21)!

How was everyone's Valentine's day? No I'm sorry, Single Awareness Day? I believe it's stupid how someone decided to put such a "holiday" in the middle of the month of February, and declared it a day of love. In relationships, shouldn't it be Valentine's Day every day? What makes this day so special, anyway? Just an "excuse to make up for all the other 364 days that you've been a crappy bf/gf?" I'm not bitter about this "holiday", but if you were to put yourself in a single person's shoes, you'd be in an awkward position and out of the norm just because you're single. But one does not need to mope; he/she has a huge advantage over the taken people: he/she can use that money to pamper himself/herself! All is not bleak. What is great about Valentine's Day? The 50% off sales of chocolate the next day! I actually got up and walked to K-Mart and bought some chocolate for my chocolate fix.

I've had an interesting weekend. My friend Kevin invited me to his birthday party, and lots of crazy shit happened; a lot of which I've experienced for the first time in my life, e.g. getting messed up with alcohol. Despite all that, I've met up with some people, who I have not seen in a million years. It was a memorable evening.

Anyway, I've got Statistics and Chemistry midterms this week, so I better hit the books for now.

Daddy-Long-Leg.

2009-02-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

Today, the same incident happened again as described from my previous post. /sigh. I'm gonna have to talk to her soon.

There is a (possible) bug bite above my lip that just formed. The skin on that area is now raised and looks really ugly. Unfortunately, I left my vitamin E cream at home. It's my usual remedy for stuff like this. I applied some eye cream containing lots of vitamin E; we'll see how well that works.

When I told him there was a small bump near my lip, my boyfriend told me that when I was sleeping one day, he found a daddy-long-leg crawling on me. Luckily, he waved it away before killing it so he didn't kill it while it was on me. He knew that I was going to have a BF (bitch fit) if I ever found out he killed an insect on me. :)

Anyway, my Valentines' Day special post is still in the works, so stay tuned! I just couldn't really resist not blogging today.

Mother Dearest; You are the best.

2009-02-05T11:45:00.001-08:00

Not a normal week goes by without having unwashed dishes stacking up a mile high (okay, not literally) from the bottom of the sink (one of my hugest pet peeves). Especially when her boyfriend comes over to stay for the night. It's true that he is not a stranger to our little abode, but he is definitely far from being considered a "third roommate/apartment mate."

Good "roommates" clean up after themselves. Let me explain my procedure when he's over. When this guy comes over, and I'm sympathizing her, I see her cooking dinner for him right before he arrives. That's nice and sweet. When he does come over, he would ignore my existence until I greet him first. I walk into my room and close the door, occasionally coming out to grab something that I needed, but hey I'm respecting their alone time. Who enjoys being the third wheel anyway? However, sometimes he doesn't finish her food. That really ticks me off because she made it for him. Especially this time, I helped make her food (which I thought it was for her and I wasn't aware of his arrival). And what's more? He doesn't help her with the dishes, thus the sink full of dirty dishes. I really, really don't want to clean up the mess, especially since I've never witnessed him helping with just anything!

This is what irks me the most.
The next morning, I wake up and go straight to school. When I come home in the afternoon, I am usually famished. I wanted rice, and so I was going to go home to make rice for lunch. She doesn't have class until an hour after I come home. When I come to the rice bowl, it's unwashed, with dried rice sticking on the sides. I mean, at least submerge the thing in water so that it's easily washed off. But no. No rice for me until after I come home from my next class because that is when the bowl is washable.

But I digress. She tries to be considerate. She's not that horrible.
And since I have no rice, I decided to pop some of my mom's homemade popcorn chicken that was frozen in the oven. Anyone, who's anybody has tried my mom's chicken. It is so delicious, that my family members always want her to bring some to parties, and when she doesn't bring some, it'd be a long night of heavy sighs.

It's actually baking in the oven as I'm typing this blog, so I'll post some pictures up later.

EDIT: Here are some pictures :)

Mmm cheekan.

My school mascot was on the trolley to advertise homecoming! N.E.R.D. is gonna be there! /drool Pharrell.

My dorky brother on a kiddy ride thing.

Mother, thank you for bringing me poppable to me this week! (Although you'll never read this blog.)

Delirium.

2009-02-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

I truly think I've lost it these days, and I mean my marbles. Look at the amount of gray hairs on my head. I think I can tell you now where they came from.

For starters, today I took a midterm and left early. Out of routine, I walked to my next class, thinking I was going to be late. When I walked in, there was a separate class in session, so I came out thinking, "I'm pretty sure that was the right room..." At that moment, I thought I have officially gone delirious. Luckily for me, I saw a familiar face, and she reassured me that I simply arrived earlier to class than usual today.

I've been forgetful. I lack sleep. I've lost my appetite. I fear tomorrow. I fear the day after tomorrow. I feel apathetic. I feel helpless. I feel like a helpless child.

Negativity certainly isn't a stranger in my life, but lately it has dominated a lot of it. What the hell... I swear I'm not PMSing, but why do these thoughts suddenly appear and linger in my mind? I don't like this feeling, this feeling which is a huge medley of other feelings: insecurity, vulnerability, uncertainty, fear of responsibility, anxiety, worries, and other negative -ities.

I want to just get away from all of this. I want to curl up in a fetal position and lay in bed all day. I want to lay in bed all day. I want to sleep it all off. But I can't. Because I know that I'll have to sit back up and face reality.

To help myself... I think I'll take a nap for now. I'll hate it when I have to wake up.

Hais, Happy February!

2009-02-02T13:32:00.000-08:00

Last night, I had an idea for a blog entry, just for Valentine's Day. It's going to be on the topic of the Laws of Attraction/Courtship (and no, I don't mean quantum physics!), namely the ways a guy can make his sweetheart's heart flutter with fuzzy warm feelings and all those things associated with it. It doesn't start/stop on Valentine's Day, oh no, but consider using the tips throughout your life while you're still in the process of courting. This idea was actually inspired by a friend's blog whom I recently came across. I thought this might be a nice opportunity to give out some pointers to those guys who want to know what goes on inside a girl's mind. For the most part, there will be no need to fall in the grasps of the Valentine's Day marketing scheme by buying her the traditional flowers, cards and chocolates (but you can definitely get her those things if she likes them regardless -hint-). After all, it doesn't take much to gain a girl's favor, unless you hit the right notes and put some effort into it. That's really all it takes.

Anyway, that entry is in the writing process, so stay tuned! Oh, and here's an early disclaimer: I don't guarantee that any of the tips will work, but I can say that at least one other girl out there thinks the same way I do. Use them at your discretion. Don't try the tips on me either, or expect an awkward moment...

On hiatus... until I feel like blogging wholeheartedly.

2009-01-26T20:30:00.001-08:00

.2009.

I am currently on hiatus because I am not in the mood to blog lately. There had been so many things going on since my last entry that I didn't even consider blogging. It's not really dead. Really. So stay tuned. Think of this as a blog entry hehe.

Oh, before I forget, HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!! I hope those who celebrate it gets piles of red envelopes with money! Hehehe, and don't forget to indulge in all that yummy food.

Nineteen credits this semester. Self-explanatory.
I have midterms coming up that I really need to study for (I had one today, and another one tomorrow). I was not happy with my grades from last quarter. The library is my new home.

I also scheduled an appointment with my academic advisor. I was supposed to meet her today, but I totally forgot to. Eeesh.

Wish me luck, and hope you guys come back on a later date. :)

Late Christmas List: Happy Holidays!!

2008-12-21T22:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays, my dear readers!!

Stephanie is a material girl, living in a material world.
Here is a list of what she wants, if it matters hehe. I'm all late. :P

- Giftcard(s), especially from Target, Gap, Forever 21, H&M, Sephora, MAC, Macy's, Takashima (on Valley!), or anywhere else you think I'd shop at is fine.

- A warm sweater, preferably in dark/bold colors.

- Nikon D40 camera, so that I can take pro-looking pictures of my fewd.

- World of Warcraft prepaid game card LOL.

- Warcraft III Battlechest (I used to play with my brother's copy, not my own).

- Starcraft (because I lost my copy :( )

- Cosmetics, of course!

- BB Cream (from Missha or Skin Food, preferably)

- Anything strawberry related.

- Anything Totoro related.

- Chocolates. Mmmm.

- Hobby/art related stuff.

- Red envelopes (with money inside LOL).

-Something that's made by you!

- And last, but not least, to see her dear friends by the end of this break.

I'll update more about my week after my escapade in the next couple of days.

Zomg two blogs in a week?!

2008-12-13T02:18:00.000-08:00

It's 2AM, and I am not sleeping, nor I am sleepy. I just felt like blogging. I should probably change the title of this blog, since I do blog about things other than food. There's just so many things going on this week, and I just have to blog it out.

In Facebook (and I suppose in blog rings), people "tag" each other because they want to know random facts about each person they tag. No one tagged me on my blog, so I'll just make up a list of random facts that's different from the list in my Facebook. I'm not going to tag anyone, and I hope you find this interesting. I want to get off my chest and let my readers (most of them are people I know) get to know me a bit better.

1. I am super passive-aggressive. Let me give you an example: I leave angry Post-It notes on your door if there is something I want to say to you. This blog entry is actually for me to direct some of these facts towards people. Keep this fact in mind as you're reading on this post.

2. I respect and acknowledge people who are well-mannered. There are some things that one should know how to behave/act in a certain environment. For example, it really bugs me when a guest (not mine, but a resident's) is at my house/apartment/dorm doesn't greet me or acknowledge my presence, especially frequent guests. Perhaps it's how I was raised and what I believe is common courtesy; when I was younger, my parents always made me greet everyone whenever we were at a relative's/friend's house. Am I just nitpicky?

3. I get OCD when it comes to messy rooms and things, especially a common area (such as the living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc.). I don't really mind if my own bedroom is messy, but if the common areas are, I get so angry, mostly because the mess isn't mine. The counters need to be wiped, and the dishes need to be washed.

4. I love to blog! I've been using blogs since the sixth grade. Remember Xanga?

5. I love watching J-Dorama, anime, and reading manga. It's a guilty pleasure, especially in the shoujo genre (with a little smut ;)). I haven't found the time to read/watch any of it lately. My favorite manga of all time is NANA, and I suggest all of you should read it.

6. Cantonese was my first language, although I was born here. I can still speak and understand a good amount of it. I find it funny when native speakers get so amazed that I can understand it so well.

7. Continuing on from number 6, I absolutely hate it when FOBs (especially in high school) think just because I'm an ABC, that I don't know the language/culture, so they ignore me and pretend that they don't know English. I remember back in high school, there was this group who wasn't supposed to sit in a certain area of the auditorium, and I asked them to sit somewhere else. What did they do? They blew me off like, "what? I don't speak English! I don't understand you!" What was I supposed to tell them?

There was also this one time when I was standing in front of a locker whilst waiting for a friend, this FOB girl yelled at me, and I was like "um, okay," so I moved out of her way so that she could access her locker. This conversation she was having with her friend was in Cantonese, so I just stood there eavesdropping.

Rude FOB's Friend: "You didn't have to yell at her like that!"
Rude FOB: (while getting her stuff)"Whatever, bitch (imagine her saying "sey fun churng")

(Then a whole mess of angry Cantonese and curse words continue in the conversation.)

Me: (in Cantonese)"You didn't have to curse that much, did you?"
Rude FOB and Rude FOB's Friend: ":O..."

8. I don't mind cursing, if you keep that shit to a fucking minimum. Hell, I'll fucking call someone a fucking bitch, I'll say 'shit,' if the word is appropriate, but if you're saying 'fuck' in every fucking sentence, I think you need to get the fuck away from me. It loses it's meaning if you're saying fuck all the time; people will think it is the standard way you speak (which it probably is). It's all correlating to Number 2 on this list.

9. Bad grammar makes me cringe (yes, I am a grammar Nazi). I admit that I don't have perfect grammar myself, but I do make an effort in correcting it everytime I spot the mistake. Reading essays in which people write the way they speak makes me cringe even more because the way normal people speak "don't have no good grammar."

10. I like visiting national parks. It's almost like viewing nature without the taint of humankind. I find it very relaxing, and inspiring in some ways. I feel lucky to have parents who enjoy the same aesthetics, and actually find the time to take me to such beautiful places.

11. When I go to an apparel store, I like looking at the underwear section. I think something about the elaborate designs and the LACE makes compels me to it. (Hinthinthint: I like underwear gifts! ;))

12. When I was in 3rd grade, I peed in my dress at school. (Cue laughter) I needed to go pee for the longest time before class ended, but that bitch of a teacher didn't let me go, but she let the other kid go. I REALLY needed to go. Then after class, even though the bathroom was a few steps away, my friend (not knowing I needed to go pee) jumped on me from behind to hug me, and I couldn't hold it in anymore, so I peed. I was crying, with mixed feelings of embarassment, resentment towards my teacher, and relief. My parents were going to sue her, but decided to drop it.

13. I love speaking in a language other than English, using it as a secret code.

14. I want to continue learning Japanese, but there aren't any speakers for me to practice with on a daily basis. Doushite?! :(

15. Most people have not found what kind of major they want to major in, but I have. I am majoring in environmental sciences, and I love it! Have you ever taken a class, like chemistry, and forgot everything after a test? Well, when I took an environmental science class, everything I learned stuck with me, and I believed it was a calling. Yes, this is definately the major for me.

16. My AIM screen name is ichigobby, not pronounced as "ichi gobby," but "eecheego baby." It was inspired by the name of this strawberry flavored chocolate I used to eat (Choco Baby, but strawberry version), but they don't make it anymore. :(

Okay I can go on with more random facts, but I have a final on Saturday from 7-10PM. Who in the world came up with that plan? I have no idea.

Finals Week(end).

2008-12-08T19:33:00.001-08:00

It's the weekend before finals start, and I should be like every other good student and be studying. Unfortunately, that's not what I've been doing this weekend.

Before I start talking about my weekend, I was at Daphne's to study for a Lab Final, but prior to that, we tried to make some potato chips. These were shaped like bears! They tasted good, if they weren't burnt in the oven that cooks so unevenly.

Intentionally, I was over at Daphne's to study Geology together. We ended up doing things other than studying. For example, we went to the nearest Super Target. Mind you, it was the first Super Target I've been in, and it was AMAZING. I love Target to death, over Wal-Mart any day. And to have stepped into Target was like being a fat kid in a candy shop. Mmm. We bought groceries for the post-Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas dinner we decided to have.

The next day, we decided to hop over to Little Tokyo, just so I can show her around. She's from the Bay, as well as a fellow Japanese-product-aholic, I thought she might like it there. My deductions were correct. We walked around Little Tokyo, but had to return home within a matter of a couple of hours so that we could make it home to contribute our part to our dinner. I bought some double eyelid glue for fun, just so I can see how I look like with my non-existent double eyelids, though I've grown to love and accept my single-eyelidness.

On our way home, we stopped by Joann's (Superstore!), and picked up some Sculpey. That night, we had our humungous (but super-unhealthy) feast. The homemade Mac-and-Cheese had at least nine cups of fresh cheese, four different cheeses. Seriously, I have never seen so much butter and milk and cheese used in a single meal. Everyone was dying at the end of the feast, not to mention the amount of dishes that piled up.

We made some clay stuff that night, as well as making a run to 7-11 for some midnight Slurpees. Soooo unhealthyyy.. I need to detox with some fresh vegetables and fruits, and white rice. I need rice!

I came home today after eventually studying with her. Hey, I guess if I did study while I was over, our fun would've ended! On the flip side of all this, we bonded a bit and got to know each other a little better, so that was nice.

I know everyone's finals aren't this week, but I know they are around this time. So I hope everyone does well on their finals!! :)

Happy December! Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Now, a small holiday-related diversion away from the usual posts.
Oh yeah, Joan came over to help me finish my curry (see previous post)! Yay! <3. onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ss-jZob9qd4/STTPBv6CnDI/AAAAAAAADoI/H2xUMtcHxiM/s1600-h/P1100350.JPG">
My lame sister. Do we look alike?

The dorky brother who enjoys camera ho-ing as much as I do.

We got good genes LOL.

My favorite purikura pose.
"The fun in Cue's is when you're running out of time on the timer, and you're winging the poses."

I got back to my apartment on Sunday afternoon. While I was in the car, I nodded off for five minutes. I was half awake and asleep enough for me to dream. In the dream, I was walking on a tile surface, with my view facing the floor. All of a sudden, I saw myself slip in a slippery puddle of water, and I woke up with my whole body reacting like it would if it did trip in real life. LOL. Thought you might like this little story. I checked my mailbox for mail, and my package arrived! The thing I ordered is a small package, but it arrived in a box that was at least five times its size, so my hopes were up and I thought the company included extra gifts (who doesn't like freebies?). To my dismay, it only included the thing, and lots of shredded pink paper. What a waste! I'm keeping the box to reuse it though. I'm doing my part to be environmentally-aware (har har). :)

I hope everyone had a jovial, normal Thanksgiving!
The four-day weekend went by too fast. I'm just looking forward to the break after finals. Chyeahhh boi!

Excess Curry.

2008-11-25T22:56:00.000-08:00

Self-explanatory.

I was scavenging through my empty cabinets to figure out what kind of dinner I should make for the night. I found a box of unopened curry cubes, and decided that I should make curry. Afterall, I do have all the necessary ingredients. Lo and behold, I made too much.

Right now, it's sitting there on low heat so that the potatoes and the meat would get tender and flavorful. Anyone living near me want to have some curry for lunch? Or dinner perhaps? I'm a retard for making so much when I'm not going to be around for Thanksgiving weekend. PLEASE help me finish! I don't want to waste it, and I promise that it is delicious! I prefer that you bring your own rice, but if you can't, whatever. AIM IM me at ichigobby if you want details on where I reside.

That's how big my pot of curry is.

Doesn't that look delicious? ;)

Besides the above, I am going to Vegas. Outlet shopping baby! Call me up if you're also in the area, and we will chill.

And I just checked my e-mail; My She Space makeup is going to arrive tomorrow!! Yay!!

That's it for now.

Home Sweet Home.

2008-11-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

I was home for the weekend, and I loved every second of it.

When I'm at home, I get to see my family (including my dogs), and my friends. This weekend was pretty much productive; caught up with old friends, whom I haven't seen from around three to ten months, so it was nice seeing them. Saturday night after dinner, my dad asked me, "you're not going out tonight?" Later that night, a friend asked me out to eat sushi with him because he wasn't fond of 1-on-1 guy dinners. Being an awesome friend, I accompanied them, despite the fact that I've already had dinner, and the fact that I'm not too fond of sushi (/gasp, the Japanese-aholic doesn't like sushi? Bite me.), although the display is quite pretty. For dessert, we got some crepes. Yay dessert! There are more perks to being at home, but I'll let the pictures explain the rest.

Oh, and I get to play with my beloved furballs (another thing I'm very passionate about). I think I have a fetish for up-close nose shots.

Oscar is such a sweetie (and very photogenic!). Hehe he likes to look into the camera!
Munmun is old and likes to bum around nowadays. However, he does strike very nice poses that make him look gallant and noble (his shiny black fur is a plus).

For lunch, I made some dumplings. I wanted to eat some rice, but my roommate didn't scrape off the rice she made over the weekend. Thanks a lot. -_- HI ROOMMATE /wave (I hope you read this, and consider the fact that I am extremely passive aggressive, so take heed.)! I also boiled me some boba to go with my green tea milk tea. Yay boba!

Interesting. I started the post with a picture of a drink (Lava Flow) and ended it with a drink (green tea milk tea).

Joan Weekend.

2008-11-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

This entry is dedicated to Joan, because she had helped me take effort in keeping me away from my unhealthy, unhealthy addiction.

(Oh, and I think a lot of my blog posts are going to be full of pictures, so reader beware! Or more like people with low-bandwidth, beware!)

Joan took me out for the weekend (excluding today), and to summarize it, I had a blast, despite the fact that I seem like ("seems like" is an understatement) some introverted loser who plays WoW all day because she has nothing better to do but to write in a food blog and run dungeons in a highly-addictive video game. /sigh. The group of people she hung out (her dance troupe) with were pretty chill. I immediately became comfortable. She popped my "drinking-with-friends cherry!" As well as breaking my hatred towards beer (although beer tastes so nasty).

A little thing about me that you all should know, is that I have a humungous sweet tooth. The first thing I look at whenever I go to a restaurant is the "Desserts" and "Drinks" section before I decide my entrees. Since she invited me to Guppy's, I could not resist the temptation! Mmm... condensed milk, strawberries, and ice. I'm going to develop diabetes when I get old. The waiter also gave us a bottle of condensed milk (not pictured), which was awesome. However we didn't even finish half of that bottle. The troupe ordered food, and the waiter assembled the food to make it look fancy, or presentable. For example, he assembled Pete(r)'s food to resemble a smiley face. The waiter said, "why don't you take a picture?" to everything that he served us to. LOL.

And because this IS a food blog, food pictures should also be posted. I present you with Church's Chicken (bombass fried chicken), cookies with ghosts that say 'hi,' Asian fried chicken (the best kind, in my opinion), Asian buttered toast (also the best kind), shaved ice with strawberries and condensed milk, liquor, beautiful people, cool looking caps... wait what? It's supposed to be about food!

Cheers to you, Joan! Thanks for the weekend. <3

Catching up

2008-11-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

I am truly lucky to have such great parents.

I've got a dad who spends his time after work to drive an hour to my apartment to pick me up, along with a hodgepodge of my belongings, and drive an hour back home. He also drives me back to my apartment at the end of the weekend. Mind you, that is at least four hours spent on the freeway altogether (not counting bad traffic on the 60 either). This is one of the reasons why I try to avoid going home so often, as he is one of my only methods of getting home. My parents would hate if it I took the train to go home.

My mom is just as amazing, if not more. She calls me every day (yes, every day), and brings me to a guilt trip when I fail to make that one call for the day (though it can get very annoying, but that's okay). She makes sure my fridge at my apartment is full of food, and that I won't starve while she's not around. And what's in my fridge? Let me tell you what's in my freezer; homemade eggrolls and potstickers, meats and seafood, and frozen pizza from Costco (I swear, that's the only processed food in my food supply). In my fridge, there is fresh romaine lettuce, fresh tofu, bread, milk, eggs, along with the dinners/lunches my mom prepares on the day that I leave. Let me specify her Sundays on the weekends that I'm home. She gets up earlier than me in the morning, goes grocery shopping with my dad, then comes home at around noon. She prepares a couple of dishes for me to bring, so that I can easily heat these up and eat them with rice. That's a meal! She also prepares soup for me. This weekend, she prepared some curry chicken and potatoes, lemongrass pork, and ginger chicken soup (for me to be warm during these cold days). That's her whole Sunday afternoon right there, preparing food for me. How can I not be thankful for such a great cook for a mother? I feel like a modern day princess when I'm at home.

Just because there was a small demand for more pictures of food, I'll go post some. These foods were concocted in the previous weeks, but I was too lazy to post. I suppose I'll give a brief description of each picture/food.

This pasta was created with some alfredo sauce I bought from Trader Joe's for $2.99. I think it's pretty tasty sauce. I threw in some boiled and drained pasta, alfredo sauce, spinach, garlic, and shrimp in there. But I had some pasta left over. What did I do with it?

I came up with an oriental-tasting pasta, which was inspired from how I usually cooked my fried rice. It was delicious, but unfortunately I didn't have any pictures of the finished meal.

Speaking of fried rice, I make bombass fried rice. I make this when I have left over spam and rice. I keep a bag of frozen mixed carrots and peas in my freezer for stuff like this. What sauce do I use? Vegetarian oyster sauce, and no, it's not as bad as you think once you taste this fried rice. I even caught my roommate sneaking some into bowl, and she thought she was sneaky! LOL.

My mom's prepared frozen eggrolls look like this after I have fried them. It's hard to believe that it was frozen! These babies are the ONLY eggrolls I would eat huge amounts of (aside from the ones my aunt makes, but I digress). The filling includes mainly taro, shrimp (this is what makes it tasty), onions, carrots, vermicelli, and salt&pepper I think. They are the tastiest eggrolls, EVAR. Even ask my friend Shelly; I invite her over to my parties because I know she loves these. So, can I entice you readers (whom I assume are my friends) to come over and visit me? I re-created a Vietnamese dish with some vermicelli noodles, vegetables, and the fish sauce my mom made. I have a glass of the sauce kept in my fridge. The resulting dish is something like a fresh-tasting garden salad.

Finally, the potstickers my mom made at home. The filling was made using her own recipe, and wrapped by her, with love. <3. They can be found frozen in my freezer, but whenever I want to eat them, I take them out and cook them. They smell sooo good after they're ready. Don't they also look good?

Oh and another note, most of these meals only took <30 minutes to prepare. As my jack-of-all-trades uncle would always say, " I am proud of myself!"

Meat of the Gods

2008-10-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.

Spam is my favorite luncheon meat (my favorite meat itself). It is the greatest food invention after chocolate. I cannot stress enough how tasty it is. Every taste and bite of this meat brings my tastebuds to a sodium-rich heaven where they bounce in joy with every other spam-lover's tastebuds out there. I'm not a fan of savory foods (as many of you know), but I do make a huge exception for spam.

Whenever I have some Spam leftover, I try to incorporate it into my meals. There are tons, and tons of recipes which include spam in them; my favorite being the classic spam, eggs, tomatoes, and rice. I was craving for some this afternoon and decided to make some.
Geez, just look at that. Having the egg yolk dribble all over the rice. Yummmm!
I previously blogged about making some teriyaki salmon steaks. I first marinaded them in a sauce that included teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, minced garlic, and honey. Left it in the fridge for about 20 minutes, and then pan fried it.
Turned out to be a little blackened, just because of the evaporated soy sauce, but it was a fine meal indeed. I added some jasmine rice, and fresh spinach topped with the marinade I used for the fish.
Cheers, everyone.

Every Blog has an Introductory Post.

2008-10-25T19:03:00.001-07:00

In order for me to better organize my mess of pictures,videos, and whatnot, I've decided to create this blog solely for the subject of food.

As many of you know, I have many hobbies; cooking being one of my favorite hobbies. I'm going to blog my experiences with food, whether I'm at home or when I'm at my apartment. I'm not a professional chef/cook, but I do like to experiment with different types of food and improvise as I go along. The main influence in my cooking is definitely my mom's home cooking, just because I grew up eating her food. She has helped develop my everlasting-growing love for food. My taste buds have settled for her food, therefore making it my favorite.

Living at an apartment can be hard, especially because your funds are very limited when it comes to food spendage, and it gets harder if you don't know how to cook. However, that shouldn't discourage you from touching the stove (or oven) when it comes to gourmet food for every meal. Granted, the microwave is the best thing to have in your kitchen (especially when you want a quick 5-minute meal), but what about those nutritious meals your mother (or father) used to serve you every day? I'm pretty sure they rarely used the microwave (my mom got rid of the microwave, and replaced it with a steamer!), unless it's to reheat some leftovers (even so, I'd prefer heating foods on the stove). Living at the apartment, I do have my trusty microwave, but I rarely touch it. I cook my own breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a daily basis. In a sense, it'll also help develop my cooking skill as my experience grows (Reach Cooking level 375!).

Anyway, this blog's main purpose is to see how much time I'll be spending on each meal, thus recording my progress. Maybe I just like to waste my time blogging. /shrug.

Okay, now I'll be off to cook my teriyaki salmon steak. The roommate's not here for the weekend so I'm not obligated to share.