Just a very quick thought before I go to bed:
Today on the skytrain, I saw these 2 average-to-decent looking guys come in and they were talking about these two girls who just smiled at them and they felt good about it. It got me thinking - you know how girls always take notice which guys glance at them and such, guys are just like that too! AND if girls catch old geezers/unattractive guys checking them out, they feel disgusted... same with guys! The guys on the skytrain were like "yea one of the girls were cute but her friend... (laughter) notsomuch". And here all along I was thinking any attention guys would get from the opposite would boost their ego a million times! I find that although girls do notice those checking them out, they pretend not to notice and it's almost always the guys who do the obvious and stare. When girls check guys out, they're much more discrete about it. I don't know where I'm going with this now.

Whoa... 4 posts today.

ONE Thing To Do Before I Die

I feel like starting a "100+ Things To Do Before I Die" list - a list with intentions to enrich my life, to give me 100+ things to look forward to (which is totally what I live for), and to inspire others! Anyway,this won't be a daily thing - I'll post whenever I think of something I really want to do. Of course, it's not going to be boring, general things like "Visit Europe" or "Marry". These are in no order at all. I'll keep adding to a list on the side of this blog.

1. Stay at the Bellagio during a trip to Las Vegas.
More specifically, stay in the Salone Suite (Approximately 853 sq. ft.)
In May, it's $450USD/night.
Bellagio Suite (Approximately 1,020 – 1,530 sq. ft.)
On New Year's Eve, this suite goes for $1,460USD.
or Penthouse Suite (my 1st choice at approximately 1,536 – 2,562 sq. ft.)
Has elevator access w/ a special key. How cool is that?!

The Bellagio is Mr. Wynn's creation. They hold Cirque du Soleil shows there!
On a sort of unrelated topic, I was looking at other people's lists and one of them I thought was neat was: To take a shower in a waterfall. I can actually say I pretty much did that! Thanks to Strath. I was like those Gillette commercials, but it was very cold... andthenJamieandIhadtohikebacktothebeachandIgotalldirtyagain
andmudswallowedmyfootandflipflop.

JRI

Besides a couple of performances here and there and a few minutes on the SM season CDs, we haven't really seen much of Jang Ri In (1st and only Chinese solo singer to break out in the Korean music industry) since Dec, 2006!
I think a comeback is long overdue!!
These are my favourite pics from her recent photoshoot.
Does she look 18 to you?
Hopefully she's been working hard to improve her singing for live performances. Maybe she'll come to the Hollywood Bowl this year!

Kids and Kolour

Ok so today is the 1st day of the Chinese New Year. To learn a bit about it, go to Bern's site.

This is my cousin Triton in his New Years clothes being "Wong Fei Hung". My Uncle Ken is really into martial arts and swords and such so he's v. proud ahah.

I think I had Chinese New Year outfits too when I was a baby. When I reached toddler-status, I think I only had many fur-lined coats with that embroidered/brocade silk material on the outside. We weren't very into dressing up... but my g'rents bought all my little cousins Chinese New Year outfits. They look so cute when you're young!

To keep w/ the "kids" theme, here's a girl who only likes, wants, and buys pink things...
And a boy who loves blue (omg.. to clean that up.....)
A bit overboard eh??
Ahhh my eyes...
Credits to FeetManSeoul

I think it's really interesting what colour parents paint their baby's bedroom. I think I would do a faint pink for my girl's room but I haven't decided for the boy. I remember my Uncle John didn't want his daughter to be one of those girls who was affiliated with pink or whatnot... like he didn't want them to dress in pink. He doesn't like very girly things I guess... but (hahaha) you should see his daughter's bedrooms now. Shannon's favourite colour is PINK and her room is pink and loves unicorns and Barbies and pink and purple Polly Pockets... lol
My Auntie Sandy and Auntie Eliza painted their daughter's rooms purple. My cousin painted his son's room yellow (I think it's b/c he didn't know if he was gonna get a boy or a girl). And I was too young to remember my cousins Chelsea + Nicole's baby rooms, but their rooms are pink + purple now unless they recently painted.

Would you paint your child's room colours that are associated with their gender (ie. Pink/purple for girls and blue/green for boys)?

With Style

Happy RAT YEAR ya'll.

lol.
Rat.
I'm so glad I'm a rabbit.
Maybe that's why I had so many bunnies in my dream last night...

I'm overstuffed -- some good G'ma cooking. Yum. She made all my favourites ! like always...

Anyway, whooa this is a record!! 3 posts in 1 day!

I have so many fashion/clothes pictures saved so today's post is gonna be about Korean Fashion!
Fun.
They dress well.
They layer well.

I really love this whole outfit! I'm v. jealous of her cardigan. I want one exactly like it.
I like the top half of this outfit. Not really the jean skirt. I think shorts would have been nicer.
Ooo the looks great! I need to get myself one of those dolman-sleeved cowl-neck sweaters.
Same idea! These outfits are perfect for my pear-shapedness.
Very nice!
I usually wouldn't even pick up a shirt like this in a store but this girl makes it look so much better than it should be. It fits her well! V. casual. I like her layering. So simple la~
Ohh v. good layering! Love this outfit mucho.
I only like the light, Spring trench for this and the red + purple combo.
Ah this looks v. Korean to me. Really love it. Perfect for ppl w/ boyish figures (no hips) + long legs.
Stripe dress-shirt. Very busy but so cute. She can be the railroad man's wife.
I love everything but the wash of the jeans. She should have gone way lighter or way darker.
I want to belt my cardigans but I still haven't found any decent belts.
I guess you can really tell that I like to concentrate on the top and keep bottoms as simple as possible.
Credits to the fob section on Soompi lol

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

Disney Channel Circle Of Stars
**
Aw.
I'm awake now thanks to the energy of this song. Time to take a shower and study Japanese.

I want to watch Cinderella now. I don't have it though!

Dream Record

I haven't had such a vivid (looong + detailed) dream in so long! I actually wrote it down when I woke up. Just wanted to share it w/ you guys 'cause some of you were in it (actually I bet all of you were there but I didn't see all of you).
Now I'm going to try to decipher my chicken scratch...

A bunch of random people from my past (that I know came up b/c I mentioned them within the past three days to someone in real life), some friends, my Auntie Sandy's family (mom's side), a couple celebrities, and my whole family on my dad's side all went out + stayed at one of those high-end (but not snobby) restaurants connected to an equally impressive hotel. We were there for a 3 day Dine Out! Tons of people - tonnnnns of fun!! Apparently we weren't big eaters 'cause we only got 1 dish/day and it seemed like we survived well on that alone. Anyway, we had the whole hotel to ourselves and it was right next to a beach and a mini amusement park and there was 1 waiter who we got to know well (like a relationship w/ Cruise waiters). I slept in a HUGE hotel room with my cousin Emerald. For some reason, Gdragon (from Big Bang) came in in the middle the night and wanted some fun so Emerald suggested going to the beach so Em, G, and I went down to the beach and jumped off these floating mini metal towers! SO much fun. Then the next morning, everybody went to the amusement park (no rides though) but I've been there before so I just remember sitting on the benches w/ my family. Nad and her parents were going into these buildings and coming out with stuff - one time it was rabbits! They piled all the bunnies on my lap (so soft!) and wanted to take a picture (me + rabbits...) and 2 seconds before the picture was taken, my Grandma (dad's mom) sits on the bench and leans into the picture w/ a huge smile on her face haha! She wanted to be in the picture too. Bunnies kept on falling off my lap. My mom had to scoop them up with paper plates haha
Anyway, soon enough, it was dinner and it was absolutely delish! Everyone was so satisfied. After dinner, my Auntie Sandy called me to feed Triton this new milk formula 'cause she had to do something so Gdragon, Em, and I went and Triton fussed a bit for the first bit but he eventually tried drinking it and loved it.
After that, for some reason, we were back at my house except the stairs of my house were a bit stretched out b/c there were whole dining tables on each platform! Everyone was dining there for the last Dine Out meal! For some reason there wasn't enough room for my mom and I and since we were hosts, we sat down in the living room on the couch, using the coffee table as our table. We were also served last - well, I was served last. I ordered a pasta and was super hungry. When the waiter came (btw, he looked like a taller, Australian, shorter haired and blonder version of Kenny G lol), he set the pasta down and told me what was in it and how good it was and ate a bite just to show me he thought it was yummy too... and then he just kept on eating it to tease me ('cause I was the target for teasing throughout the trip)! HAHA I was so amused I ran to my dad's side of the family to ask them for a camera (even though I realized I had one in my hand the whole time) and took a pic of him eating MY FOOD. And I thought he was really teasing me and was going to go back and get me MY plate but he doesn't!! lollll Instead, he kept on going on and on about how delicious it was. Everybody leaves except for Auntie Sandy's family + this girl named Katie (from elementary school).. but she soon leaves and we say bye... but instead of going in the van, her whole family (parents and 3 other girls and 1 guy) comes out of the van w/ groceries galore and makes us a huge dinner feast for thanking us for inviting Katie! Amazing! The guy (weirdly enough) was my financial accting buddy (in real life) lol. He didn't want to help out though 'cause he had to do a lot of homework/studying... but he later got hungry so he came down and tried making Dim Sum (lol and he's Irish I think).. and I guess he doesn't know how to use the stove 'cause he put the Dim Sum on plates UNDERNEATH the back elements (in the stove) and turned the 2 back elements on.................. so weird!!
Anyway, I think I'm missing a lot of details... it's not as exciting telling someone a dream as it is living the dream. Sry for mistakes - this was written so quickly and I'm v. tired - too tired to read it over so I think I'm going to go take a nap now...


LOL I'm blogging faster than ppl can read! Yesterday's..... etc.

When Your Green Runs Out

I just finished watching Maxed Out and on it were these 2 young (20's) friends who live together in a nice downtown condo and live the "downtown life". How? Their living space is pretty darn well accessorized, they eat from ritzy bakeries every morning, one drives a new mini cooper and the other takes the taxi everywhere ($15/time), they go for mani/pedi/haircuts every month ($250/time), one has a personal trainer, AND they eat out every single meal which costs them each $1,800/month (they only spend approx $30 on groceries/month!). OH. MY.

Yep. They are ridiculously in debt - one spends $1,500 over how much she earns and the other spends $2,300 every month. After four years, they've accumulated a little over $91,000USD combined!
Sooo for the next 2 weeks (as a detox test), they canNOT step foot in a restaurant and they only have $20 to spend/week on themselves lol so you see them doing their own nails and hemming a business skirt to update it.

It's not the greatest feeling to be in debt and I should know 'cause I am in debt right now. Fortunately, it's not much and it's not serious because I only owe my parents; it's not credit card debt or anything where I have to pay more if I don't pay up. Don't worry, this is definitely not a precursor to my future spending habits. I really don't spend that much at all. As long as I have a job, I should really be fine. It's just that I don't have a steady one (and my brother still won't pick up my paycheque which will pay off my debt...).

But anyway, I love these shows 'cause they're such eye openers of how people could let themselves go like that. It's almost like gaining a bunch of weight 'cause of junk food and having to work really hard for more than a year to bring your weight down again by changing your habits. You realize it's really not worth it in the long run. Butchea, it either makes you learn from their mistakes (esp. if you're in debt), or it makes you more conscious that your spending habits could, in fact, lead to something like this, or it makes you feel happy that you're not like that (and never will be) -- similar to shows like The Biggest Loser. Honestly, you watch that because you're glad you're not 200+ pounds or you need motivation to work hard like they do (yet you're sitting on a couch watching them work hard har.. great balance). Why else would you watch these sort of shows?

P.S. OK I confess - I've never felt burdened w/ this debt at all which isn't good, but ih. However, it does affect how much I can go out (and my attendance for the Tahoe trip).. but I should really be spending that time in other ways anyway.

P.P.S. Wha? No pictures in this blog?
This is the cover to Junsu's Japanese solo "If..."
Jaejoong looks a bit funny.
These guys are gonna make me be in debt in the future. Keeps with the theme of today's post eh? hee

Ana Barbara - Bandido

Ever since I saw Miss Indiana sing this song (really clearly and well IMO) for the talent portion of Miss America 2008 on Jan 28th, I've been trying to find a clip of her singing it. Unfortch, there's nothing. SO here is the actual music video. It's not worth watching, but I've been listening to it non stop all day! So catchy. It's a popular Spanish song. Ana Barbara (a Mexican singer w/ Italian origins + a 1971er) is linda ("pretty" in Spanish) from far away but her dancing is....... which is why I made the video smaller.

Hmm.. I saw a live performance and she has a definite Michael Jackson thing going on with her nose......

Recap, Recall, Remember

OK so my last post was a bit too serious-sh. Back to the point of the blog -- my adorations!!
Actually today's post will just be a short recap on what I did the past few days ('cause I actually took my camera/used my cell) with pictures!

Thursday:
I saw this at the Queen Annex Montessori school playground at the bus stop near my house. It was right after their recess. lol I love all their attempts at making a snowman in 20 minutes!! So cute.
Went to Sushi Town after school w/ RS + D
Busy place! Quite Korean too... the tea was Korean tea (which I don't really like).
Here's RS looking at all the takeout containers ready for takeout... or maybe he's looking at all the chefs behind the counter! It's amazing how many there are for such a small restaurant, but they're quite busy considering all the takeout orders they have to take care of... and the full restaurant.
I don't know if it's 'cause I was hungry 'cause we missed the bus stop for this restaurant and went all the way down to another sushi restaurant, changed our minds, and went back up to Capitol Hill 'cause D really wanted her spicy salmon shashimi she still loves even though she gets an allergic reaction and can't eat half of it 'cause it's too spicy for her, but my order took a while to come b/c of the busy-ness. I had the Mangodise Roll which was quite interesting 'cause it's like a California Roll with mango instead of avocado + cucumber and ebi (shrimp) on top and this mustard sauce. -- 8.2/10.
The presentation and plating impressed me. It's almost unexpected considering the place isn't exactly nice. I shall go again for their shashimi and perhaps their "Awesome Roll" that seems to have more things coating it than in it aha

Friday:
I had Japanese class at night. It was one of the student's bday that day so my sensei was going to bring in a cake. We requested chocolate. But he realized that it wasn't so fair to have a cake on her birthday 'cause it seems like he's favouring her (well, she is really one of the best students anyway). She brought in homemade rice krispy donuts for everyone and my sensei brought chocolate covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii (Mauna Loa brand) for us... and someone brought something else I forgot what it was. It was a pretty good class... especially b/c I finally got a mark I was happy with on my quiz! I was so scared at first 'cause when he gave it back to me, my homework was covering most of the quiz so I only saw 8.5 (it's out of 20). I was like "forget it.. I did so embarrassingly bad considering I actually spent a long time studying for this quiz ('cause I have gotten 9.5 on another quiz before and my average was around 13) and other ppl around me got 17" so I ignored it and continued to look over my Kanji for the quiz. Then when I put it in my binder, I saw the 1 infront of the 8.5!! Aaah yesss I was so happyy! These quizzes are only worth less than 1% each but I can finally feel much more confident that I know what's going on. Whew.
It's so sad though - my Friday nights are pretty much gone 'cause of Japanese. I get home at around 8:20 and I don't do anything particularly fun. Not like I have the money to do fun things anyway, but that's just boring.

Saturday:
I did my run + went out to Westward Ho! Bar + Grill at the University Golf Club w/ g'rents (gong gong + por por) for Dine Out. Hah - my chipmunk cheeks covered my mom... oops.
I Had:
Langoustine Bisque with Quenelle of Lobster and Wild BC Salmon. Garnished with Shredded Leeks and Flying Fish Roe -- 9.5/10
Pan Fried Alberta Buffalo Tenderloin on a Splash of Huckleberry-Maple Butter Sauce with Two Crab Claws on Top. Served with Buttered Baby Carrots and a Potato-Wild Rice Cake. -- 8.5/10 Wild rice cake was super good, but the carrots were a bit too baby-ish, hard, and unflavourful. The buffalo was done just as I wanted: medium rare. It was just a lot of meat that my mom and I couldn't finish. Crab claws were nice... esp. how I didn't have to de-shell them haha The blueberries surprisingly made the dish.
My brother had the Oven Baked Fraser Valley Chicken Breast on a Pool of Curried Vegetable Stew with Basmati Rice. Topped with a Pappadam and an Alaskan King Crab Leg. -- 6.5/10.. I love curry and there was a lot on his plate but it was just alright. Not really what I expect for semi-fine dining.My dad and his halibut plate in green pea sauce that isn't on the online menu for this restaurant for some reason. -- 8.7/10
Dessert!! This was absolutely delish. My brother and I chose it. House Baked New York Cheesecake on a Pool of White Chocolate with a side of Rhubarb Compote. Garnished with Candied Orange Peel and Fresh Whipped Cream. 9.6/10 Only things were that the rhubarb was too sour for me (that's why it lost .4 points) but luckily my dad loooves rhubarb. I love rhubarb pie w/ all the sugar to dampen the sourness.. but not this type. Also, the candied orange peels didn't suit the cheesecake at all. They were v. annoying to eat.
My mom and dad chose this House Made Dark and White Chocolate Orange Blossom Cake on a Pool of Fruit Coulis with a side of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. -- 9.8/10 - Excellent stuff. I didn't consider it in the beginning 'cause of the word "Orange Blossom"... I thought it was some some sort of orange-flavoured Angel food cake.On the way home, the view was so nice so I made my dad stop the car on the slope so I could take a picture of it. Unfortunately my camera isn't close in translating what I saw into hardcopy. Boo.. rushed job, everything is blurry.
When we got home, my mom showed me what she bought at the Winners near White Rock: 2 dresses and a cropped tweed blazer. My mom has a tendency to buy clothes that are too young for her... like her many jumpers. The dresses were a bit like that.
I even asked suspiciously after I notice the huge buttons + see ____ Couture on the tag: "is this from the Junior's section??"
Her (proudly): Yes!
Me: Oh no.....
Her: What? I can't help it if I fit Junior sizes.
Me: That's what the Petite section is for!
Aiya. She is sort of hard to dress though. She is quite thin and short and her minor Scoliosis (curvature of the back) from when she was young doesn't help. I think she just needs some tailored, simple, good quality clothes that fit her well. About 3/4 of her closet needs to be weeded out 'cause she doesn't wear them... and she needs to stop buying things from the Junior section because they look like they're for pre-teens.
Anyway, when she was hanging her purchases, I see her old clothes that she just won't give away (don't know who'd want them if she does anyway)... so I decide to wear them. I took pictures for a future post haha

Sunday (today):
Rearranged my bed (it's now against the wall) -- I have so much space in the middle of my room!! Amazing.
Went to 2 cemeteries. Is it wrong to take pictures/be happy in them?I don't remember if this is Fraser View or Forest Lawn, but one had NO SNOW and the other had snow like this.
My dad was using his golfclub to find the plot while my mom used the car scraper to clear the snow. That's called teamwork.
Me waiting in the car while my parents were hunting for my G-pa's plot. lol even my teeth look like chipmunk's teeth 'cause you can't tell how long they are. We got bubble tea to feed my cheeks in between cemeteries 'cause my mom wanted some. I don't object of course.
Here you can find my mom trying to get over to where my dad was with flowers in 1 hand and the scraper in the other. She's hopping, trying to only step in already-made footprints. haha a funny sight especially 'cause her shorter legs can't reach the next step most of the time.
I didn't know they'd have so much snow there so I wore my flats. Needless to say, my feet were cold 'cause I couldn't be bothered to look for those footprints.
We visited my Grandpa's (dad's dad) plot. He passed away 12 years ago on New Years when I was 7. I remember visiting my grandparent's house that day and seeing 2 ambulances and a fire truck in front of their house. I had my friend, Big Christopher, with me for some reason. I guess I was too young to understand then so I wasn't affected by this. I remember joking around w/ Big Christopher as if it was no big deal. No-one cried that day (not that I remembered), but I can clearly recall my Grandma breaking down at the funeral. My Grandpa lived a long and full life. He was 94 if I remember correctly. I remember him always sitting on the chair - "Grandpa's chair" - behind the couch, watching TV. He was frail, soft-spoken, and just very quiet in general. I don't really remember him talking very much but when he did, people would listen. Unlike my mom's biological mom, I never hear much about my Grandpa, if anything at all. I wish I got to know him more. Same with my mom's 1st mom.
I never met her. My dad never met her either. She died when she was 42 in 1975, two years before my dad met my mom because of some disease. My Auntie Sandy (the youngest) was only 6 or 7. My mom (the oldest) was 16 or 17. My gong gong re-married shortly after. My mom and her siblings call their biological mom mommy and their mom now mama. I've only seen a handful of pictures of her. She was very beautiful - quite a stylish woman for her time too with her tailored clothes and many fur coats. My grandpa mentions her often enough - as if he was trying to remember what she was like. I learned that she was a terrible driver no matter how many good driving schools and lessons my grandpa sent her to haha. I can't remember if she was stubborn, but she seemed to be a strong, strict, and opinionated woman. Yesterday, I learned that even though she had a full head of hair, she liked to dress up in wigs! She had many apparently, but that phase just lasted for a couple of years.
You know when people ask "if you could meet someone from the past, who would it be?", I'd pick her. I want to meet her, if just for one day. I think I would have liked her a lot.
Gosh.. who knew this could turn out to be such an emotional post to write =*(
Doesn't help that I'm listening to this Korean guy pouring out his heart to his girlfriend in spoken word with sorrowful piano music in the background.
Saranghamnida.

Ok Ok happy happy time!
I did a 25 min jog today. It's pretty inspiring to jog and watch an episode of The Biggest Loser lol. It really helped me w/ the last 5 minutes.

Yay my YesAsia order shipped today! Noo I don't have enough money in my bank account to cover it because my brother still hasn't picked up my paycheque!!

Wow. Long post. Tomorrow I will definitely get ahead with my Geography (and maybe even re-do my Op-Ed), clean off the clothes from my desk, run again, and study some Japanese. It has been quite a lazy weekend school-wise thanks to the snow day that canceled Tuesday's Geo class. It's time to get back on it!