Happy New Year!

Photo Credit: All credit goes to rightful owners. Retrieved from wallpaper66 site.

I can't believe it's the last day of 2012! This will be my last post of 2012. There are just so many things I want to say. Well, let's start with the a word of thanks. First of all, I want to thank the Lord for all that he has given me. This past year has been a really wonderful year, yes there were times of difficulties and disappointments, however, I found that the obstacles God has thrown towards me has strengthened my faith and helped me mature even more. Secondly, I want to thank my family and friends for their continuous support for my academics and work. Without their care and help I don't think my past year would have been as successful!

Some New Years Resolutions....
I don't have much however, it is just to achieve my dreams and goals and be able to have a happy and healthy life with my family and friends. Talking about friends...

This year, I have broken the tradition of the family celebration of New Years! Instead of just celebrating with my family, I am going to celebrate with my close friends! This will definitely be a fun experience!

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and may the Lord bless you all to guide you and give you his grace and love in the new year!

With joy and smiles!

Little Stars

Let the Holidays Begin!

Photo Credit: All Credit goes to rightful owner(s)
of photo. Retrieved from weibo.com

I can't express how happy I am to be done Final exams and on holidays! After weeks and weeks of constant studying, battling with a nasty cold, and sleepless nights, I can now actually enjoy my time and take a break.
There are just so many things I want to do this holiday, from meeting and catching up with friends to shopping, putting up my Christmas Tree to full blasting Christmas carols on my iPod and CD player at home. Finally, there is a sense of joy and happiness within the air. No longer am I bombarded with stress of having to review human anatomy and physiology everyday--well at least up until next semester which starts in January!

Tomorrow, I will be going Christmas shopping, I am seriously running late on schedule for this, but well it really is not my fault since I never got a chance to enjoy the beginning/ start of the Holiday month since in the Post Secondary education world is a time where EXAMS creep your life and take away your opporutnity to sleep well.

Well, here I come Christmas holidays, and man I am just so relieved to be FREE from stress! Seriously, I prefer holiday stress over exam stress big time.

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone will have a fun, safe, and warm Christmas!
Little Stars

Stress in the Air

Photo credit: All credit to rightful owners. Image retrieved from tumblr.

My most favorite time of the year is finally here! Once December 1st hits, everything outside including people's houses, the malls, and just the atmosphere in general becomes all festive and bright. The malls are filled with Christmas decorations and merchandises. In fact, people are busy here and there trying to get gift shopping done and buy materials for their parties etc. It's all the fun stuff. However, behind all this happy and jolly atmosphere, I think a ton of stress builds up. Students in post secondary like me are bombarded with finals as the Fall semester comes to an end. In fact, with all the planning and buying, people tend to get overwhelmed and financially distressed. So, what can we do to cut ourselves some slack through this busy time of year? Here are some tips I'd like to share...

1. Turn off your phone! Yes, as a smartphone user, with all those apps and things we have saved within the phone such as emails and texts, it can be very tempting to have it on. However, reserve 15-30 minutes a day to just yourself! You may not notice, however, with our phones on 24/7 and having us constantly texting during the day/night, we really are not at rest alone. When an email or text arrives, we become alert and it decreases our chance to really relax our busy minds.
2. SLEEP! Oh yes, as a student, I love this term, yet my life lacks of this so much. When you have the opportunity to sleep early or maybe sleep in a day or two, do so! Psychologically and physically let our minds and bodies take a break. Seriously, you'd be surprise, even when we're asleep, our brains don't stop working. But at least, when we're asleep, we don't really stress about upcoming plans etc.
3. Exercise. Oh man I feel guilty saying this, since school started, I haven't really had the chance to squeeze in some exercise. Oh yeah, and xbox kinect games don't count. If possible, try to give 30 minutes a day (if not once a week) some exercise. Many studies have shown that if we exercise, our brains work a lot better. Hey it's a win win situation here, you exercise and become physically fit and well it helps fuel your brain too!
4.  Watch a movie. Gather some friends, take some time off and just go watch a movie. Trust me, meeting some friends and talking about the stress you're experiencing helps! Don't be surprise how your friends might be going through the same thing as you!
5. Just smile. Yes, with stress, we become weary and grumpy. However, if we keep a positive mood, we won't feel too beaten up after a long day's work. After all, smiling makes everyone look 100 times more beautiful. :)

Have a great day!
Little Stars

Being a "snow angel" For Once...

My snowy neighborhood... was on my way to
school and I took this pic! WINTER WONDERLAND!

It is a little embarrassing to say, but honestly speaking, out of the whole family, I am really the only one who seldom goes out to shovel the snow off our driveway, sidewalk, and stairs. I mean well, I think I have a valid reason to say why I am not a fan of shoveling snow. It is not that I am lazy, but way back when I was younger... probably in my elementary/ junior high (middle school) years, I was always eager to help out. However, being a kid, shoveling snow was not a "chore/duty" rather, it was "fun time" so when my parents went out to shovel our home's driveway I would tag along and use my mini shovel to "help". By meaning "help" I mean scooping all the snow that was shoveled off to the side back on to the driveway. Of course, my parents were enraged since their hard work was being destroyed by my little hands.


The city that  I live in, the way we as citizens term its weather conditions....we call it "PMSing" it changes frequently so it can be really warm one week and crappy cold the next. This is what happened last week, it warmed up from the cold and was as high as plus 7 degrees Celsius, but this week it got really cold again all the way to minus 15 degrees Celsius. GREAT. Heavy SNOWFALL. Yup, and which means our driveway is covered with snow again. I am rather picky with regards to safety with sidewalks etc since my accident back in 2009 (slipping and dislocating my tailbone). So, out of the blue, I decided I would shovel the driveway and walkway. Funny thing is, no one was home when I got home this evening so it meant that I had to do it all by myself. I dressed up super warm and was extremely eager to be a "snow angel" and be nice to my parents and help them out a bit.. after all I am older now and I am pretty sure I won't scoop more snow back onto the driveway anyways. Well, conclusion? Let's just say I am really glad I helped out, at least I know when I leave tomorrow morning for my weekend activities, I'll have a clean driveway to walk on--one less worry of slipping. In fact, it just means that my awesome dad won't have to shovel the snow by himself again. At least, he got to sit and relax and watch T.V. for once! There is always that saying of how we should all be "one good Samaritan". With the winter months laying ahead, let's all warm each others' hearts through acts of kindness!

Little Stars

Fooling Around with Some Nail Art

One of the best things about my Fall semester is that I don't have school on Thursdays. Which means more personal time to relax and just forget about school stress for a little bit. Since it's November now, snow has already greeted my city. It happens so that today is one of those heavy snowfall days. Well, because of heavy snow, being a bear I am, I decided to "hibernate" in my house. With midterms over, I don't have much to study for, and well I didn't feel like cracking open my textbooks and notes anyways. So I started to fool around with my nails and I painted them, trying out some newbie nail art. On cold days like this I like to just relax and have fun while I full blast Korean dramas and have tea. What do you like to do when you're at home alone and simply have nothing to do?

Have a wonderful evening!
Little Stars

New Instrument, backpack, Gloves, Boots!

 Since school began, I really had little time to update this blog. But well since all midterms have ended and it's kind of the freebie period of the semester, I think I will update a little bit on some of the things that happened over the past 2 months! I think one thing that is really worth celebrating is how school is going quite well at the moment, my midterm exams came back with good marks. But of course, I am hoping to do even better!

Other things that changed? Over the past two months I had been researching where to take music lessons for Guzheng or "Chinese Zither" and after weeks and weeks of researching, I finally found myself a teacher. I just started learning last week so the whole getting back into practicing 1-2 hours everynight for an instrument is still pretty awkward for me but I am really enjoying it at the moment.

How shall I say this, with work comes spending money. I'd really like to knock the habit off but well I went on another shopping spree again. Recently, I got really into backpack styles and the Herschel backpacks had the kind of "hallyu" kind of feeling to it-- its like the ones characters would wear in a Korean drama... and so well I got myself one last week! I've just started using it and I am loving it so far. In terms of durability, it's not too much on the strong side. But it's definitely a fashion item added to my wardrobe.  I am not sure if anyone of you are a fan of the Aritzia gloves but I am. I love the soft fleece lining and the knitted style it really keeps my hands warm during the cold winter weather. I got myself a pair of mint green ones :) MY FAVORITE COLOUR!

One more thing to add to my major spending list would be my awesome leather boots. I am definitely not a fashionista and I can't really wear high heel boots. So when I got to Winners looking at their sales, I found myself an amazing pair of Rock Port boots with upper genuine leather and a small high heal. So well I can kind of satisfy my "heeled boots" crave. I love shopping at winners because you can really get great deals. And of course, lastly I got some really nice 14k gold crystal earrings (studs) from there. It's the kind with the sparkling crystal ball type, these one came in a box of three for $60 dollars CAD.  :) Liking them so far!

I love shopping for things, especially when they're at good deals!

Well that is all for now, in the meantime, check out my updated pages for new recipes and faith sharing!

Toodles!
Little Stars

P.S. Another thing to celebrate? I am proud to welcome Extreme speed internet to my home, no more lagging videos and slow loading for web pages! I finally upgraded my home internet recently. Just makes life a lot easier. Now that is worth celebrate right?

First Day of Classes!

My study/blogging space.

A new beginning, a new start! This new school year has been a little different for me since I have transferred into another school. Though I am still working hard to my ultimate goal, I feel a lot closer to it. 2 years ago, after some rather harsh experiences, I felt like my dreams were being pushed back/away. However, after much courage and hardwork, I am continuing to work towards my dream.

Coming from a smaller University, going into a larger one kind of gave me a tiny bit of 'cultural shock'. I went from the quite,and fewer students, quiet halls, small sized classes to a school packed with students, noise, celebration, to large lecture halls and high tech buildings. First thing on my mind: WOW! My first day was adventurous, really, from going to school super early hoping to get a study spot in the library, to getting help from a very kind gentlemen (who works at the University) finding my lecture hall etc. The best part? I met with a lot of my old friends whom I met from High School. I don't have much to wish for but only one thing. TO DO SUPER WELL this year. I hope to brush away the stress and pains I experienced two years ago and start a new. To all visitors who are students like me... work hard, stay on task, and well don't forget to squeeze a bit of fun into your life! Let's all work hard towards our goals! As I learned in Japanese last year: 頑張ってください!

P.S. Today, I recieved a cute little gift from my student I have taught for 5 years of piano! A little red chameleon! AWWWW! For my first day of school too!!!

Best wishes!
Little Stars

On a Friday Evening...

On my way to the mall on a beautiful Friday
evening.

This past week is my last week working as a full time at my clinic. Once September hits, it will be the back to normal part time shifts along with teaching job and school of course. August was no more than work and rest (sleep ins) but really, I think I am ready for school and the normal schedule. So, to prepare myself, I went on a little shopping today. Initially, I had an orthodontist appointment to get my wires changed for my braces. And then I had a whole afternoon/evening of absolutely nothing to do. Most of my friends usually work on the weekends, so basically Fridays in the summer is basically a personal time for me. I actually don't really mind personal hang out days. They can be quite fun and you can really get a lot of actual shopping done I guess.

Well, the first thing I did was use my free movie ticket which expires today. I watched a rather cute movie called "The Odd Life of Timothy Green". To be honest, I wasn't really planning to watch this movie since I wasn't too interested in it after watching the trailer last week. But, I can tell you one thing, this movie was cute, enchanting, and well a tear jerker (for me anyways). It's not really a movie you would watch with your friends as a hangout option I guess. To read more about my thoughts about this movie, please check out my Music and Media  page.

After the movie, I walked over to the local bookstore next to the cinema and went looking for some interesting books to buy. Recently, I have been seeing my friends talk about this book called "1Q84" by Haruki Murakami, it is originally a Japanese fiction that has been translated to English. I am quite adventurous in tastes regarding books. So, even though I am not really sure what the hype is about htis book, I decided to buy it.  Checking online (with my iPhone) while deciding whether or not it was worth my investement,  I read some reviews and found out that it was supposedly a very big hit last year. Though I am one year late, I can't wait to start this book. Hopefully, by the time I am done, I will be able to share with you all about my thoughts on this book.

Shopping alone...

Shopping.... well, I guess you can say I am quite a lonely shopper. I find that many times I can find what I really want when I shop alone. Though I didn't do very much today, I bought a very cute scarf from H&M for about $14.95. Definitely another good find to add to my accessories collection. I am hoping to do more shopping this weekend, so hopefully I can find some good deals to add to my wardrobe.

Well that's all for now! Thanks for visiting!
Little Stars

As the Summer Comes to An End....

First of all, apologies for not being able to finish my Vancouver trip blogging, I had initially wanted to blog every night about my trip while I was ON the trip. Unfortunately, we were always out super late, so by the time we got back to the place we stayed at, I seriously had no energy left to type and upload pictures. Therefore, to finish that off, I will be submitting a page post into my Travel Log.

There is seriously no surprise as to how fast time goes by. I still remember back at the end of April I was saying how I will be have almost 4 months long Spring/ Summer break. Well, this "break" is coming to an end soon and in a  week I will be heading off to school. A lot has happened this summer, from working to traveling. I guess one of the most important highlights of this summer was of course the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. I am sure many of you were probably glued to your couch and T.V. cheering on for the atheletes whom represent your country. I really enjoyed watching the swimming, running, and gymnastic events!

Summer Traveling- Vancouver Day 0-1

I am currently in Vancouver for my annual Family Summer Trip. We come to Vncouver often since it is quite close to home and almost like mini HK. This year is perhaps my 8th or 9th time here, but I never get bored of this awesome city because of its vast variety of food options and fun shopping here.

Day 0- Car Ride

Okay, so Day 0 I spent most of the day car traveling, besides seeing a ton of mountains and trees and munching on junk food, reading my novel I Heart London by Lindsey Kelk, nothing much happened.

Day 1- Richmond shopping and munching

Since I am staying at Burnaby and not Richmond this year, we decided as a family we will be going back and forth to Richmond for a few days to satisfy our shopping crave. Okay, so Day 1, first thing we did was head off to the Chinese Community chrch CMCC in Richmond. I was pretty excited for the Cantonese mass since I knew the cantonese choir there sings really nice songs for their masses. I remembere back in 2009, I met with a few of the people from this parish during the WCCCLC camp, so being able to hear their voices again brought back a lot of memories f the awesome camp. After mass, we headed out for lunch....  I was having this Wonton noodle crave for about a week back at home, so when we decided to go to Mcnoodle house for Wonton noodles  I was really happy. ^__________^ Mcnoodle House in Richmond is best known for their quality wonton noodles, definitely should try it if any of you are planning to head towards Vancouver this summer!

After filling our bellies, the Shopping mission began. First, we headed off to Aberdeen center where the well known store Daiso is located. To be honest, I love shopping at Daiso, I always manage to find some useful and kawaii things such as stationery, stamps, cups, etc. Best of all Japanese style utensils and other things. It's funny how shopping doesn't only slim down the money, it also makes you feel super tired-- just like you have just finished a mission impossible adventure XD. My parents are both born and raised in HK, so they have this tradition of heading towards an HK style cafe for tea time. We went to go recharge our energy at Lido Restaurant having fresh pineapple buns and a cold lemon honey drink.

"Dong Buo Rou" and Drunken Chicken

I have never really had Shanghai Cuisine before, so going to Top Shanghai Restaurant (or whatever it is called) was really adventurous of us. I may have heard about some of the famous dishes such as "Lions head" (Big huge meatballs) but not so much the other things like creamy fish cilantro soup. Unlike Korean cuisine, the "boldness" of Shanghai delicacy is different. It is not so much spicy and colourful. Rather it is more oily and salty. We ordered "Dong Buo Rou" (basically fatty pork with bak choy in a clear glossy/brown sauce), Fish and cilantro creamy soup, veggies, steamed pork dumplings and drunken chicken. "Dong Buo rou" is known for its "melt in the mouth sensation" fatty pork, one thing that really surprised me was that is wasn't too oily to taste and it didn't make you feel like you wanted to spit it out as if you were eating spoons of fat. Though I am not a fan of fatty meat, I guess this dish was okay. My favorite dishes of our meal is perhaps the druknen cold chicken and Fish soup, definitely something lighter and different for my adventurous taste buds.

The Annual Canada Day Trip: Lake Louise & Banff

Lake Louise: The Fairmount Banff Spring Hotel

Every year, my family and I would travel to the near by small town of Banff to celebrate Canada Day. We love the close to nature feelings the town gives us, it is a great way to get away from the city life and pollution once in a while.

Lake Louise

 First Stop: Lake Louise

This year, it was a little bit different, we were able to get two other families to join us so it was a little more fun! The first stop we went to was Lake Louise, this small town is just approximately 1 and a half to 2 hours away from my city. There isn't very much to do in this town except to visit the amazing hotel and take pictures at the beautiful lake. However, just becuase the city is just so stressful most of the time, being able to get away from it and enjoying the beautiful scenery of nature, totally makes it worthwhile to visit.

One thing I really like about Lake Louise is how you can still experience the "Classical Grandness", the Hotel is a very old architecture that has been preserved, yet at the same time you get a fusion of Mondern lifestyle in it.

Next Stop: Banff 

Perhaps my most favorite town in Alberta. Banff is just approximately 1- 1 and a half hours away from my city. I fell in love with this amazing town since I was a child. Though I visit this town almost every year, I never get bored of it. I love the close to nature and multicultural feeling it has to it! I have blogged about Banff before, so I won't go into all the details of the town. However, this time, for the travel adventures, I will be talking about the Korean Restaurant "Seoul Country".

Seoul Country Restaurant

Fried Mandu, Mandu/Dduk soup, & BBQ

Cute decorations found in the Restaurant

I cannot stress enough how much I love Korean food, though some things are similar to Chinese Cuisine, there is a sense of richness in taste that makes Korean cuisine one of my favorites.  The Restaurant is located in Sundance Mall of Banff. You won't miss this mall because there is a very famous Chocolate shop in the mall, so if any of you do travel to Banff, you can look for the mall with a large glass window on the front, that displays chocolate making. Seoul Country is just in the inner corner of the mall.This year, there were 10 of us who went together to eat, so we could order a variety of foods to try. Having tried Korean cuisine before, I often look for the foods that are kind of special and appealing to try. However, I guess because this Restaurant is located in a tourist town, there wouldn't be too much of the "special dishes" of the Korean Cuisine. So like the usual, we ordered Mandu & Dduk soup, fried dumplings, Hotpot and BBQ, and Bibimbap. One thing I didn't really like about their menu was the fact that they didn't have set combos. So if you were to order meat on the grill, you'l have to order each item separately. The meat options they had were beef, pork, chicken, and seafood-- the usual. Having a large number of people, we ordered all 4 options ^___________^.

Hanging out. Shopping. Eating

Ever since the CORE shopping center in the Downtown of my city got renovated, a number of great stores, awesome food choices (at the food court) came along, not to mention the stunning architecture and interior design-- compared to the super gheto looking mall few years back!

froshberg Gelato

Green apple Gelato! YUM!

I think everyone knows what gelato is, it's ice cream really, but Italian style. And with gelato, I personally think it is lighter, less rich and creamy compared to the usual "ice cream". In fact, with gelato, there are way more interesting flavors comparing to the normal ice cream choices like bubble gum, vanilla, chocolate, tiger, etc. With gelato, you get more choices such as nutella, coconut, watermelon, grapefruit, green apple, pistachio, etc. After walking in the heat and eating such a large Korean lunch, my friends and I stopped by the gelato place in the mall to chill from the heat. The place we have gone to is called Froshberg Gelato, it  opened since  renovation completed, but I have never been to it before. If I could rate the gelato place, I would give it a 4 out of 5, I absolutely loved the design of this concession, and the servers were absolutely polite and kind. Most importantly, the  amount of gelato you get for a single scoop is more than enough for a person, so it is really worth your money! But why did I knock of one point? Not because of crappy services or unreasonable pricing, but the fact that they ran out of Pistachio gelato... definitely will have to go back another day to try it out!

Fruit Bursting Flavors!

Grapefruit/Watermelon and Green Apple Gelato with my 2 friends!

I mentioned before, that gelato has more fresh fruit flavors to pick from compared to usual ice cream. So for the first time trying out this place,I took the recommendation from my friend and  picked a  light fruit flavor -- GREEN APPLE! How to describe it? Maybe because I was feeling kinda bloated  from the heaviness of the Korean lunch, so having green apple help lighten up my bloated stomach. The sweetish & sour taste really sparked my taste buds and help me feel refreshed from the heat and bloated sensation. My other friend, who had been hear before, ordered two scoops of different flavors....watermelon and grapefruit. Although I only tasted a little bit of both, comparing the two flavors she picked, I prefer the grapefruit flavor more. I mean, the watermelon was great, but some how I felt that the watermelon flavor almost tasted too much like children's toothpaste. Whereas, the grapefruit flavor had the tingy, sour, refreshing taste to it; similar to the green apple. But, I guess if you combine the two flavors together, it's like "perfect couple match" the sweet light taste of watermelon balanced out well with the sour and refreshing taste of grapefruit.

A stroll in the Garden.......

One thing I really like about  the City Center mall is the close to nature feeling it has 4 seasons a year. This mall has a interior garden build in that is incorporated into the food court, the garden is called "Devonian Garden"... so it's almost like you're chilling and eating out in nature, without all the bugs and birds crowding around your food. The garden has fishes, trees and plants in a modernized design. However, compared to its previous layout (before renovation) it has become much smaller. But then again, you can't really complain after seeing how clean and eco- friendly it looks. I guess it's a good way to incorporate the garden to be part of the food court, you can go for a quick stroll "in the park" after munching on a whole bunch of calories.








Well that's all for today!
Little Stars

Korean Food Fun

 I've developed a  love for Korean Cuisine since the first time I tried it a few years ago. Since my first try, I have always gone back to the same restaurant trying out their different items. And never once has this restaurant failed to impress me! Today's food adventure will be about the Korean restaurant near the Downtown of the city I live in.

A whole table of great food! Just like a banquet!

Korean cuisine is known for its colourful appearance, bold, strong tastes of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. Every year when a special occasion comes up (whether a birthday, Mother's Day, or Father's Day etc.) we  would go out to try the various cuisines that our city has to offer. Korean Cuisine has been one of our top favorites (maybe because the Hallyu wave is also influencing us in one way or another). After being introduced to the Korean culture, the first thing that catches the attention of my family and I is of    course food.

Today, we decided to have a small celebration of Father's Day as a family, along with a very close friend of my brother as well as my friend. As always, our top choice is our favorite Korean Restaurant --Korean Village. We knew Saturdays would be quite busy, so I made a reservation the day before. So this time we didn't have to wait 20 mintues. Once we stepped out our van, the aroma of LA Galbi filled the air. Since I just finished church activities I was extremely hungry and couldn't wait to get inside the restaurant.

Korean Barbeque

Korean Barbeque

As always, we order their set combos for 3-4 people and on top of it order some entrees and apetitzers. I really like their barbeque, there is a variety of meats or "gogi" including "Bulgogi" (marinated beef), "Ttakgogi" (marniated Chicken) and "Dwejigogi" (marinated pork), as well as "LA Galbi" (which are like beef ribs I believe).. In their barbeque, they always include fresh lettuce pieces for the pork so we could make our own "Samgyeopsal". (^______^) if you watch korean dramas you could probably guess what "Samgyeopsal" is. It is basically fatty pork grilled and wrapped in lettuce. Oftentimes, the dramas show people eating this along with drinking Soju.

Side Dishes, Soup, and Bibimbap

The next thing included in this combo is the pork bone and potatoe soup. I would have to say, I like this soup more in the cold winter, than the summer. As it is a pretty filling soup. Next, we also had the numerous side dishes including kimchi, kimchi raddish, eggplant, pickled radish strippes, and bean sprouts. the typical side dishes. The combo we ordered also came with deep fried "mandu" (dumplings) and a seafood pancake (filled with green onion and various seafood pieces). The first entree we ordered was Bibimpab, unlike the usual ones we see online, this one included a soup/stew-like seafood bowl that you use to mix with the "bap" (rice). It is perhaps one of the more spicier dishes of the whole meal.

Naengmyeon

Naengmyeon

Mustard and vinegar for the Naengmyeon

 But today, the dish that I really enjoyed was not from the combo, rather it was one of the noodle dishes we ordered. Mul Naengmyun. Or Cold noodles in a broth. Now that summer is arriving and the weather starts to turn hot. I often look for more refreshing items when I eat out. I remember last year, I was on YouTube watching "Eat Your Kimchi" by Simon and Martina and they introduced 'Naengmyeon" in one of their videos. When I saw it on the menu today, I quickly made a suggestion to order it and boy I was super happy I Did.

"Mul Naengmyeon", if I did not recall the name wrong, is the non spicy cold noodles. Like Simon and Martina mentioned in their video, the large bowl of noodles came with the vinegar and mustard for you to mix in the soup. On top of the chewy noodles and broth are strips of cucumber and meat (pork) with a piece of egg. After mixing in the vinegar and mustard. I took my first bite. I have to say, I LOVE IT. The sweet and sour taste of the soup makes it really appetizing, as well the  tangy sensation of the mustard makes you want to crave for more :) Super 짱!!!


Thanks and Have a great day!
Little Stars

Mini Radish Doll and Rooftop Prince OST has Arrived!

My Mini Radish Doll!

I am actually quite surprised that my merchandise arrived a little earlier than expected. Back at the end of may I ordered the Rooftop Prince merchandise, and including ordering etc, it usually takes up to two weeks or more after all payments and merchandise have cleared and are ready to be shipped on YesAsia. Today has been a pretty boring and dull day until this happened ;).

Rooftop Prince OST Part 2 includes the awesome instrumentals!

When I was on my way out to go teach piano, my dad who just arrived home from work looked at me cunningly and smiled, showing me the small box of my goodies! I am personally really satisfied with the OSTs, at first I did not expect much from the OSTs, I was thinking there would probably be the CD and maybe a small lyrics booklet. Little did I know that the lyrics booklet included some really nice photos from the Drama's photo shoot as well as a small collection of behind the scene photos.
( ^_____^ ) Awesome eye candy!
 Right now I just can't stop staring at my mini Radish Doll that's just standing on top of my speakers while listening to the OSTs. Super happy today. I thought I would show you some pictures of my cute Rooftop Prince goodies!

Thanks!
Little Stars

Japanese Cuisine Exploration

Toro Sushi

I am a big fan of food... I love going around the city and trying out various types of food with friends. This post, I will be introducing a newly opened Japanese Restaurant that is close to my church. The restaurant is called Daruma. Before the owners of Daruma came, the previous Japanese Restaurant that was at the same spot was also one of my favorites, but the family that owned the previous one  (aka Sushi Hibiki) decided to close down their business and move back to Japan or something like that.

Chirashi (Various sashimi on top of vinegar rice)

So, yes, when I found out it would be closed down I was really sad and worried that I wouldn't be able to try out the "family style" Japanese Cuisine again.

Luckily, 3 weeks after the closure of Sushi Hibiki, Daruma opened. And to my surprise, Daruma is also a family owned business, allowing me to once again taste the "family style" cuisine.

Takoyaki

My Friend and I didn't order very much as we just wanted to try out their menu first. The first thing we ordered was Toro Sushi. Since we're both girls, the small portion was okay for us, I liked that the sushi rice wasn't dominated by the vinegar taste.Well balanced!      

The next item we ordered was Takoyaki. I have only seen Takoyaki in anime or Japanese films. I never really actually tried the fried octopus snack until my visit to Daruma. I instantly fell in love with this awesome snack. The chef made it extremely appealing to the eyes by including thin dried bonito fish flakes that would move around/ giggle on top of the freshly made Takoyaki. It was at the same time tasty and super cute!!

The last dish we ordered was Chrashi Sushi. I've had Chirashi back when Sushi Hibiki was there, so I wanted to try out Daruma's style of the same dish. I was really glad that Chirashi included lemon slices for us to squeeze the juice on top of the sashimi pieces to enhance the fresh taste of the seafood. I don't recall Sushi Hibiki having that, so when I saw the lemon slices, I was pretty surprised. I am not sure if any of you have been to sushi restaurants that don't really keep their standards of freshness and you end up having "warm" sashimi etc. To me, that is really gross. I was really happy and glad that Daruma kept their fish cool and fresh making my dinner experience so much more enjoyable. I didn't have to worry about eating something that didn't appear fresh.

To conclude: I really enjoyed my experience at Daruma! The decorations and layout of the restaurant did not change very much, so it still had that "small sushi shop" feel to it. The small layout definitely made the eating experience a little more fun!

Thanks for visiting!
Little Stars

Rooftop Prince Merchandise Ordered!

Photo credit: cute-factor.com

 There is this trend, nowadays, where fans of a certain drama would order the collectibles/ merchandise online to support the drama etc. I never really understood why people did before until this time around.  I've now realized how sometimes when you're so into a drama, the cute merchandises really capture your attention. I remember back in 2009, when my friend loved the drama "You're Beautiful" (starring Park Shin Hye and Jang Geun Suk) a lot and ended up purchasing the Pig Rabbit plushie. (^-^)YEP. That's right! Yesterday, I ordered RP merchandise! Well technically, I just wanted to order the Mini Radish doll from Yesasia, but in order to save money on shipping I ended up ordering the two soundtrack as well. To my surprise, however, I realized that the official Part 2 of the soundtrack included instrumentals that were never released via online versions! There were quite a few instrumentals that I really liked in the drama, and I always wondered about the names of those ones since I couldn't find any YouTube videos to preview the songs. I placed my order yesterday so I am extremely excited to receive those collectibles soon!!! *HAHA* oh yeah and I ended up ordering JYJ's "In Heaven" album, I am not a dedicated fan (to be honest); I just started listening to their songs after finishing "SungKyungKwan Scandal" back in March. I thought I would order their album to give it a try and support them in a way.

I guess I ended up ordering way more than expected in order to save shipping money LOL.

Have a great day!
Little Stars

Rooftop Prince Grande Finale...Awaiting! (With Update May 25)

 Feelings about the Drama after 19 Episodes....

Photo Credit: Rooftop Prince Facebook Group

Back in March I did a mini blog post about the Drama "Rooftop Prince". Now, almost two months later, I have decided to once again do another post about this amazing drama. I don't usually blog about dramas very much, but will only do so with the ones that I really really liked. "Rooftop Prince" or "억탑바왕세자" in Korean has hit #1 all time favorite on my "list". Back when it first started I didn't have too much expectations about this drama, let alone realize it would get me hooked to the computer/T.V. every Wednesday and Thursday for the past few months. This drama has a really interesting plot where it allows the audience to kind of guess the outcome, yet at the same time see how the characters within the story unravel the secrets and put the puzzle together. The use of dramatic irony in this drama enables the audience to take part and "predict" what might happen next!

Kudos to the Actor Yoo Chun....

Another thing that really surprised me was how much Yoo Chun's acting has improved! Since I began watching Rooftop Prince, I decided to watch his other dramas in between and I was able to see how his acting has progressed and significantly improved. It is not that Yoo Chun didn't do a good job in "SungKyunKwan", he did a great job, but compared to "Rooftop Prince" he had way more expressions and emotions.

Han Ji Min Never Fails to Impress Me....

I've began watching Han Ji Min's acting since the "Dae Jang Geum" wave hit the Hong Kong population back in 2005 (almost 3 years after the drama aired in Korea itself). Both my mom (who's equally a K-drama fan as I am) agree that Han Ji Min is a very pretty actress that never fails to capture the hearts of the audience. In most dramas, the female lead always seems to be weak, fragile, and desperate at times. However, Han Ji Min's Character "Bakha" shows a very playful, strong, yet romantic side. I mean, she doesn't seem like a girl who desperately needs to be by the male Character's side in order to have strength to move on whatsoever. Han Ji Min portrayed "Bakha" as a bright and lively girl with her own thoughts and feelings and is not afraid to stand up to what she believes in. An experienced actress like Han Ji Min continually showed amazing emotions and expressions throughout the whole drama! DAEBAK!

Photo Credit: SBS Rooftop Prince Official Site

Fun from the Joseon Power Rangers

The 4 awesome rangers never seem to fail to entertain me with their funny actions. The other key ingredient to this drama that made it so much more enjoyable was the "rangers" . The 4 of them came from another era and had to learn to adapt to the modern life...all of the mistakes and learning that the 4 of them went through always kept my family and I entertained! Personally if I could rank the 3 rangers (not counting the Crowned Prince) I would have to say... FIRST: Man Bo Second: Yong Sul and THIRD: Chi San. I really liked how these three served as sidekicks for the Crowned Prince and throughout the drama they adapted to the modern life pretty well...including going against the Crowned Prince at times *haha*!

The Plot...
Some people may find that the plot or some of the things that happen within the drama seem to be somewhat repetitive, but I would have to disagree. I liked the fact that the drama solves the lies and secrets quickly rather than dragging them all the way to the end.For example, in the drama, Se Na's biological mother breaks her web of lies by confronting her straight in the face. Here, as an audience I did not have to wait a bunch of episodes for her mother to realize she how she's only been acting and pretending.

Romantic Scenes... not too overboard

Photo Credit: 6002theMicky@twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/6002theMicky

Everybody knows, that the basic ingredient to the K-drama formula is its romantic scenes. A lot of dramas that I have seen so far seem to push the romantic scenes for the main leads till like the last few episodes of the drama and then end it quickly saying that they will live "happily ever after". However, the scriptwriters of "Rooftop Prince" seem to have a pretty good balance on this, they will insert one or two scenes of the romantic elements within the episode to satisfy the audience without going overboard. So I mean if you are all about romantic stuff, this drama might not have too much but enough to keep you entertained. I personally do not prefer to much romance in a drama, so the small kisses and the hugs here and there throughout the drama seems okay to me.

Grande Finale Coming Up!
I cannot express how excited I am for the Grande Finale tonight! I am definitely going to wait till all the ENG/ CHIN subs are out before watching. I was really surprised by the fact how my parents both equally enjoyed the drama as much as I did. I will definitely wait till tonight to watch with them!

If you haven't began watching this drama, you definitely should! I hope that if you do chose to watch this one that it will entertain you as well!

(UPDATE: Blog post- May,25, 2012)-- I would like to keep my Rooftop Prince Final post in one big one! HEHE Sorry for the LOONG post this time!

Rooftop Prince Grand Finale... Had Me Glued to My Seat till the Very End!
Sadly, "Rooftop Prince" has finally come to an end. I am definitely missing all the fun and excitement I was experiencing while the drama was still airing.

Rooftop Prince Drama Official Mascot: Radish Doll

I have to say, the grand finale did not leave me disappointed. I have to really thank the scriptwriter and crew members of this drama for not giving me a rushed and unsatisfying ending. However, at the same time, it did cause me to be confused, my mom and I ended up re watching the ending part a few times to have to kind of "interpret" it our way. But all in all, I think my parents and I all really enjoyed this show and am surely missing out all the fun!
(I won't spoil the ending for those who have yet to watch!!)

Thank you so much to all the actors, actresses, directors and producers for an amazing show, I absolutely did not waste 20 hours of my life.


Have a great day!
Little Stars

P.S. I think I might want to purchase the Radish Doll! The official merchandise for this drama *hehe*!

Happy Easter! ("A Talk about water")

Cute Easter Eggs! Happy Easter Everyone!
(Photo: superkawaii.com)

First of all I would like to wish all of my visitors who happened to stumble upon my blog while browsing, as well as my friends whom read my blog from time to time a Happy Easter! I know you may not all be religious or whatsoever, but I do hope that the lively spirit of spring and the beautiful new view and life will brighten up your days!

Easter is the most important season within the church, last night, I attended my parish's Easter Vigil Mass and Fr. Bill, one of the priests at our church delivered his English homily which I thought I would share with you for a bit. If you are aware or maybe learned a few things or two about the Catholic religion, you may know about Baptism and the significance of water in this sacrament. Fr. Bill's homily talked about how water is very essential in each and everyone's life. This is a close summary of what he had said....

Fr. Bill:

"Water is very important, it gives life, provides for life, and can even destroy life. But let us focus on how water gives life to the earth. Think about the rain and snow, it falls to the ground allowing planted seeds to bloom and grow into food--providing all beings food and shelter. The oceans and the rivers are habitats of numerous sea life and provide drinking water for humans. See? Water is important."
 
"Water is also destructive, it can destroy homes--a bursting pipe or even floods can swipe or damage shelter, but you see, nothing exists without the presence of water, our bodies contain water."

He later on goes on speaking about the significance of water in Baptism, which I will not go further into.
I really liked this part of his homily, it is very philosophical, and it makes total sense! I thought I would just share a tiny bit with you all. :)

Once again, have a wonderful and fun Easter!

Little Stars

"Customized Oreos"-- An April Fools Day Memory

Cute Oreos and Milk--MMM!
(Photo credit to /weheartit.com/RubiaBotelho)

To be honest, I am not really a big fan of April Fools day, but surprisingly, since this year, I didn't really get 'pranked' I am quite missing the fun and laughter. (THANKS homework! >.<) Thinking back about the past April Fools day experiences I have had really brings back the smiles and laughter. Today, I will be sharing with you an "April Fools Day" memory.

Back when I was in junior high (yes, I am getting old unfortunately!!!), I attended a Youth Retreat with my parish, and it so happened that the Retreat landed on April Fools day. Hmmm can you do the math?

A group of pre-teens and high school teenagers + April fools Day= PRANK TIME!

Yup! So as a whole group of girls we decided that we would prank all the the guys whom were also at the retreat. I am not sure if you guys have tried this prank already, but it seems like it works pretty well. So, you might be wondering what kind of a prank we did.......  that's right, the good old OREO cookie prank. So you know how the cream filling in the original Oreo cookie looks very much like white mint tooth paste? YEAH that's right, we took a whole pack of Oreo cookies and scraped off the cream filling of each and filled it with crest white mint toothpaste--YUM YUM (>.<)!

So, After much effort of trying to make it seem like we didn't touch the cookies, we put them back in the package and went to the lodge area where all the boys were chilling. We set the pack of cookies on the table, and we started to eat the "safe" ones, making them think it would be okay to eat the "customized" ones, And VOILA! HAHAHA the boys fell for our prank! The expressions of their faces were priceless, and to this day I still remember very clearly how each of them squinted their eyes and yelled "UUUGH!!" in agony.

Though it is not very nice, it was really fun back then. Since I did not get to prank someone this year, did you? What did you do? Leave a shout out in the chatbox on the side and share your prank story!

Happy April Fools Day!
Little Stars

Rooftop Prince--A Must Watch Drama!

Absolutely cute and humorous, the Joseon Power Rangers vs. Park Ha (^u^)

When I first heard about the new drama "Rooftop Prince" that Park Yoo Chun would be starring in, I wasn't too excited since I didn't watch his performance in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. However, I decided to give this New Drama a try since the trailers seemed very amusing. Park Yoo Chun's performance in the new drama that is currently airing seriously surprised me! Not only is his character funny, it is also very cute. Rooftop Prince is no doubt a fun drama to watch. While many of us are in the midst of preparing for exams and finishing up final projects, if you need a break from the annoying stress, this one drama is one to go for!!!!

Now thinking about it I kind of regret not "hopping onto the band wagon" and joining the Sungkyunkwan Scandal craze back in 2010. I have finally started watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal as well, liking it so far. I hope Yoo Chun's performances in the 2 dramas I am watching will keep my mind off stress for awhile.
 
If you too would like to watch the Rooftop Prince, click the drama site links that can be found
at the side menu of my blog page both sites have the drama available in English subtitles! It is free and legal to watch on both Dramafever as well as Viki.net!



Have a wonderful day!
Little Stars

P.S. Enjoy the wonderful OST for this heartwarming show on my blog! Click on the iPod to change between songs!

Being Thankful...

"Being Thankful" from: www.karenweems.com

Recently, I was in charge of coordinating a Youth Lenten retreat for my parish. I was very lucky that I was able to invite the DYRT of my city and have young adult speakers come and give the youth members of my parish a talk on the meaningful purpose of Lent--a journey towards Easter preparation.

Today, they showed a simple movie that really enlightened me. I really wish I could find the video on YouTube and show it to all of you, unfortunately, I was not successful in finding it. I guess I will use words to describe the simple clip then.

The movie starts off with a man going to bed, and before he sleeps he prays to the Lord saying: "Lord, I am struggling, show me what I have to be thankful for."

Soon, time passes and the next morning comes, the man wakes up to get ready for a days work and activities. And this is when there are words on the
video that shows to the audience some of the things we don't really think about and often take granted for.

For instance, when the man woke and was able to
-see                                
-move
-hear
-breath
-not be suffering from hunger
- have a shelter
- have a job
- have friends
-have a loving family
- not worry about his safety

Unfortunately, when night comes around, he again prays the same thing before he goes to bed, not realizing that being able to live the life he has is really a blessing from the Lord.

Are you wondering about what are some of the things you should be thankful for? Have you thought about the things that were mentioned in the list above?

Thanks for visiting! I wish everyone a happy weekend!

Little Stars

Stress levels at 101%

Once the school semester starts to get going, many students will suffer having their cortisol levels shoot way up-- trying to maintain their stress levels.  Especially when its February, I think students are constantly on the run doing a billion projects, billion papers, billion presentations, most of all, billions of midterms. So while we're at stress level 101, may I suggest that you take some time off and just go and relax for 30 minutes? Get a coffee and just enjoy the moment you are in----relax.

I wish all univeristy students that are preparing for their midterms in the coming weeks GOOD LUCK!

Little Stars

新年快樂...Happy Chinese New Year!

Photo credit: www.yoyocici.com

恭喜發才!祝各位Little Stars' Diary 的支持者身體建康, 笑口常關開,心想事成, 龍馬精神!!!
I want to personally wish all Little Stars' Diary visitors and supports a happy and prosperous Chinese New year! It is the year of the dragon this year, did you celebrate Chinese New Year? I know many of you may not exactly be Chinese or of other Asian cultures but did your community have any Chinese New Year celebrations? My city did and well it was a lot of fun! I am going to upload some pretty pictures of some ice sculptures that were carved and put on display at the Chinese cultural center in Chinatown. I love when Chinese New Year comes around, it is just like celebrating "Christmas" all over again. You put up red and gold decorations and prepare the tastiest (though not healthiest) foods, and best of all RED POCKET MONEY!!! Though I had to celebrate Chinese New Year at school this year, I was really glad that the beginning of Chinese New Year landed on a weekend this year, so I still got two days off to celebrate with my family and friends! Be sure to check out my recipes section for tasty recipe ideas!

Little Stars

Stuffy Noses

Stuffy noses and sore throats
are never fun to have (>.<)

One thing I don't like about the winter season is the common colds/flu viruses that circulate the air. I mean the weather is already cold enough, yet to increase our discomfort, the pesky little viruses float around in the air entering into the human body systems. It's kind of unfortunate that I will have to start my new semester of school with such undesirable feelings. Seriously I hate the feeling of not being able to breath properly. Better yet, sound extremely congested when I am talking. I think I will have to drink loads and loads of Lemon water to boost my immune system (T.T).

School starts tomorrow..... I think I have mixed feelings about that, well A) I am not too excited but still glad I can go back and continue achieving towards my dreams. B) I am definitely not happy about waking up early to get my butt to school......once again 8 AM classes Monday to Thursday!  Woohoo...plus evening work shifts (~.~). I did recently found a new job as an MOA. Still on the trying out/ probation phase, as I just got hired this week. Lots to learn and remember, but let's hope it will help my studying too... to stay on track and not procrastinate so much.

Well that is all. I need to get some rest before my evening shift tonight. Hope all friends who are heading back to school tomorrow will have a great semester! Ganbadei kudasai!

Little Stars