Migration.

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!

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

干物女Himono Onna

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

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!

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.

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

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!