Ton Ton [Knock Knock]

I've just decided that I'm going to develop a Habitat Suitability Index for the American Badger jeffersonii subspecies as my GIS final project (worth 30%). It seems like a huge project.. and Professor Hedley wants us to just use the project as a base and take it to a whole other level. I need to think of what I'm going to do and really understand my project in order to do a good job.

Currently waiting for my ice cream to freeze. I bought Green Tea Ice mix from H Mart (Korean Supermarket). It was all in Japanese so I had my sensei translate for me. Super easy to make.. and the beater tasted good so hopefully it'll turn out! If it does, I'll buy more because it was cheap (under $3).

I love kids. They're so fun and cute! lol I even baby-stalked during my trip and managed to take a couple photos.
I've taken a strong liking to Mini DBSK. I just became a fan yesterday night! haha
I don't really know if there's a story behind them, but I believe SM Entertainment chose each them to represent a member of DBSK. It's so cute how alike they are to each member - in looks and personality. They (well most of them) made their first appearance in DBSK's Balloons Music Video and ever since, they've amazingly gained huge popularity and instantly formed a huge fanbase. Then they were on another Korean show called StarKing and everyone couldn't help but notice how adorable they were! Now they model clothes, have their own commercials, and hold their own fanmeetings! They have the total star treatment and they're totally loving it.
Here are the future heart breakers:
Moonbin (age 10): Mini Yunho
He's perfect as Yunho - this guy is the oldest and seems the most leader-like. He has such a cool personality.. like he'd be one of the cool kids in school. He dresses so well and has this confident air to him. He has potential to be good-looking (by Korean-tastes) in the future.

Inhwan (age 6): Mini Junsu
Ok I'm biased towards this guy. Here he is modeling for some kids clothes. He has the best personality! He's always SO happy and is such a great brother... and his SMILE! His smile can light up a million rooms. Here's Junsu with Mini Junsu:

Donghoon (age 7): Mini ChangminThis guy is such a shy cutie.

The last 2 don't really seem to have much of a personality.. I don't know too much about them though:
Chanhee (age 8): Mini Yoochun
Here's Jaejoong with ChanheeThis guy doesn't seem to smile/talk much.
SungWoong (age 9): Mini Jaejoong
This guy is a bit funny looking... his teeth... I really haven't seen very many pictures of him.

Kids are so lucky - they have the nicest clothes and they almost always look good in them... and what's more is that they don't care how they look! They just want to play and eat ice cream.

Oh speaking of ice cream, I'll go check on mine --- yay it's ready! It tastes just like what it is - Green Tea Ice. It's not creamy enough to be ice cream (b/c there's only milk in it) - it tastes like Bubble World's Green Tea Milk Slush.

I'm gonna make dinner tomorrow -- I don't know what to make but I'm inspired by fennel 'cause I watched a couple shows on the FoodNetwork and both chefs used fennel. I think I want to make a fennel salad.

No fashion today.. but I'll quickly tell you about my adoration for
Mario Badescu's Special Cucumber Lotion (Toner) [$15USD for 8oz.]
I swear by this stuff. It's a toner/astringent so basically you moisten a cotton pad with this stuff and gently wipe your face. It takes out all the grime and any extra residue off your face and is VERY effective getting rid of your acne! Even if I think I washed my face thoroughly, I use this afterwards and the cotton pad has traces of makeup and even sometimes dirt (in the summer) on it. Gross but it totally means it works! It has cucumber in it so it's soothing, non-drying, and non-irritating. I had Steph get this for me when she was in L.A... but you can get it here for almost double the price at BeautyBar I believe. I only use it once in a while because I still have the Wild Cucumber and Lettuce toner from SkinFood that I still have to finish.

If you go to Mario Badescu's site, you can get free samples of products that suits your skin type when you fill out this questionnaire! It's quick and easy and they send you a bunch of mini pots of what you should use (all free!). I actually did it twice (around 6 months apart) and both times they sent it to me... and that's how I found out about this stuff. Yay - good quality stuff. Go and get it!

"Sleep well",
N

Smile

Darnit… I broke a nail today while trying to lift out suitcases to find my winter clothes… I think they may be in the garage. And I thought I have enough calcium! I drink 2+ glasses of milk every day.

I adore sticker pictures (aka Print Club = Purikura -- プリクラ) – it seems it's like such a waste of money for something so small, but they’re cute and it’s perfect for me ‘cause I’m such a poser (haha!). Decorating them is half the fun! I remember the first sticker picture I took was when I was around 8 or 9 at Aberdeen Centre with my mom and brother. They definitely weren't as high tech as they are now - they came out in rows of the same pic. I picked a rabbit background. And then in Grade 8 and 9, we started taking some more... and then stopped for a while. I don't think I've ever taken a card picture though. B and I took sticker pics in Taiwan.. it’s cheap there! In Taiwan’s Ximen Ding, they have a 4-floor pink building dedicated to JUST sticker pictures! They should have one in Richmond. I want a B&W photo booth and a sticker picture booth in my house haha. It’s sort of like those people who have pinball machines and those stuffed animal claw things in their house.I just realized that I could be totally Jap and write things in Japanese! Next time...

[Click]

Oh wow I just found this site called Puricute where you can decorate any picture like a sticker picture! I'm having so much fun!

B and I took this pic in Taiwan on this HUGE ferris wheel @ Miramar.

I'm thinking of dessert lol >>>
I look so orange b/c I forgot to change the settings on my cell...

Here's my cutie-pie, Corey. He's winking at me while eating blueberries.

Yesterday I realized that I’m such a bad friend. I hardly ever initiate things – I always seem to wait for people to tell me that they want to do something with me… and I have been very lucky and I’m very grateful that people always do ask me out to do things and that my weeks are filled with fun times hanging out and trying new things. (I adore my friends!) Now that I realize this, it’ll try to be a better friend.

Anyway, in order to eventually tackle my cream/cleanser collection in an organized manner, I'll do it by brand.

Skin Food

Skin Food (1952) originated in Seoul, Korea. It's a lot like TheFaceShop (1962) in size and types of products, except I don't believe we have Skin Food here in Vancouver. I don't know much about this shop, but most of their products are based on food. Their slogan is: treating your skin with all natural goodness.

In Taiwan, I went shopping for a couple hours by myself at the night market (the largest in Taiwan) 10 minutes away from our campus b/c Bern had to go to dance practice. Actually, this was in the afternoon so the night market wasn't even open yet - only the regular all-day stores were. Skin Food was one of them. The sales associate greeted me warmly with an "anyonghaseyo" - I said "anyong" back to her and she was surprised and asked if I was Korean. I shook my head and then she started speaking to me in Mandarin and I told her I didn't know any.. so she tried in English. She was surprisingly understandable. I just looked around. There were so many products and I've never heard of the brand before I came to Taiwan so I asked the lady which products were the most popular and she directed me to:

Peach Sake Emulsion [approx. $15CDN]
This stuff smells SO GOOD. If you like the smell of peach, definitely take a whiff of this stuff. The lady said it's a great summertime moisturizer as it's an extremely light cream and minimizes large pores that tend to get larger in the summer. On the back of the package, it says "Fresh emulsion with 'sake', traditional Japanese wine brewed with rigidly selected rice, and 'peach' extracts rich in vitamin A and C to remove greasiness due to enlarged pores and excessive sebum". The packaging for this product is definitely not cheap. It's made out of a thick, heavy frosted glass that keeps the product cool all year round... and it just looks pretty on your counter. I'm not disappointed, but I don't think I would repurchase this product because it wasn't anything amazing.. and I don't have large pores to begin with. Also, it's a bit hard to get the cream out without a pump - you have to shake it out.. and only a little comes out at a time. It just smells good and it feels great on for about 10 minutes after you apply.
Lettuce and Cucumber Toner [approx. $15CDN]
I bought this one because (1) it smells really good - fresh.. I can't describe it, and (2) b/c I was looking out for Burt's Bee's Wild Lettuce Toner (which I bought almost a month later in HK because it's discontinued in North America) and this seemed close enough. The packaging is the same as the previous product except the top is made out of a thin metal. On the back of the bottle, it says "This hydro-balancing toner makes your skin clean and clear, and contains vitamin-and-mineral-rich lettuce and cucumber extracts". This stuff is decently good. Not as good as Burt's Bees Wild Lettuce Toner or Mario Badescu's Special Cucumber Lotion (a toner), but pretty decent for its price. It does keep my skin more hydrated than if I didn't apply it and does an good job keeping my skin relatively clear. However, I don't find that it actually takes off all the excess dirt and grime my face has like Mario Badescu's does. It does feel really great and refreshing on for about 10 min (same as the Peach Sake Emulsion).. but again, I know that there are other toners out there that do a better job so I would not purchase this toner again.

So all in all, I'm not amazed by these 2 products and don't think I'll buy from this brand again unless it was something small like nail polish (they made me do this scratch and win thing and I won purple pedicure nailpolish.. but I haven't tried it yet).
(Oh the lady also told me that it's cheaper in Taiwan than HK - Taiwan is 2nd cheapest compared to Korea... I was a little skeptical, but I did check out the prices in HK and they are cheaper in Tw by a little)

"Sleep Well",
N