Monday, December 3, 2012

HELP PLEASEEEEE!!!!

Hello there!!!
I'm just taking a shot in the dark here and plead for help!!!! 
Here's what.  Last year as we were returning home from China, Beijing or Shanghai International Airport (can't recall which one because we flew in and out of airports like mad that month but I could narrow it down to those two for sure!)  and we saw these SUPER DUPER CUTE novice monk ceramic figurines and now TOTALLY REGRETTED not buying them then.  But I have no idea what was the name of the shop nor the name of the artist so now I can't track it down.  I only have pictures of them as lead.  

If you recognize the work and know of the artist's name or even the shop name, PLEASE TELL ME!!!!! OR EVEN BETTER..... tell me where I can buy them! (*praying someone would answer my prayers!!!!) 

Here are the pictures!!!! Even if you don't know ... enjoy the pictures!!! =)  















Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Thailand Spring Break ~ 2010?

I haven't wrote anything for the longest time and had no idea why... busy? Not so much! =) 
As I am reminiscing about vacations and those wonderful days of which never made it onto here like I wished it did, so I decided to go ahead and post it here to share and to also try to relive it a little bit! 

It's been a while but I hope I can still narrate it accordingly ... if not..? ... well it's not like anyone is going to die LOL 

Spring break ... only one week out of class so I used it to its full potential by taking both of the weekends that surrounds that week so that gives me 9 days ...  but I  think I skipped 2 days of classes so it was actually 11 days.  I do not however advise doing so because I was jet-lagged the whole week afterwards and going to class with it too! X_X

I started out flying from Chicago to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam then bought the tour to Thailand from there.  The tour was for 7 days $350 per person all inclusive (Round trip airfare from VN, 3 or 4 stars hotel, food, travel to and from cities, entertainment, and with a tour guide the whole time!) It was dirt cheap!!! My round trip airfare from Chicago to Vietnam was LOL ... $$$$ but I think it was worth it since I got to see family! =) 

Before anything I need to show off my luggage LOL.  I packed super light for this trip and was so proud of myself because I tend to ALWAYS overpacked! 



You like? ... I LOVED! =) 





Bangkok 
My fiance (now husband) and I at Roof Top Bar at Baiyoke Sky Hotel.  Indoor bar but right above it is a revolving observatory deck! Which obviously gives you a 360 view of Bangkok by standing in one place!!! =)
One of the views from the revolving observation deck.  One thing that I didn't like about that is it's so hard to take pictures because we were constantly moving!


Of course there has to be a snake "show" ... it's not for the faint-hearted. These men does these crazy shows for a living and live off of tips from the shows patrons and it's sad to know that they are putting their life at risk everyday just so they can take care of their family! 


The Temple of The Golden Buddha.  All the temples in Thailand are marvelous!!!!  

He's made of GOLD!!! 

I build my own temple! =) 

And of course the crocodile show! Same as the snake show.  One thing we did notice was that the crocodiles that was in the show has the tip of their tails snipped off! Never got a chance to ask why! 

Almost every building/house there had a little altar outside! 

This was the temple inside the Royal Palace.  Breathtaking from every little details! 



Entrance to the palace! No shorts or bare arms allowed! We definitely prepared, but a few people in our group who wore shorts had to rent sarongs to wrap up before entering! And let me tell ya!!! WEAR COTTON CLOTHING!!! There's only two seasons in Thailand... the Hot and the HOTTER!
So cotton clothing is the most comfortable!  

One of the attractions we went to was Safari World.  Basically like Disney's Animal Kingdom!


Ha! Had to post this... this little sprinkler goes off every minute for a few seconds! And yes I made him pose like this LOL. Funny enough to see a handful of people laughed at him yet follow suit.


Stay tune for more! I still have more on Bangkok and Pattaya!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Carrot/Egg/Coffee? Good read! =)



Một cô gái trẻ nói với mẹ của mình rằng cuộc sống thật khó khăn. Cô không biết sẽ tiếp tục như thế nào. Cô muốn buông xuôi vì đã quá mệt mỏi khi mãi phải đấu tranh.


Mẹ cô gái sau khi nghe con nói bèn đưa cô vào bếp. Bà đổ đầy nước vào ba cái bình và đặt chúng lên trên ngọn lửa. Chẳng mấy chốc ba bình nước sôi.

Trong chiếc bình đầu tiên, bà đặt vào những củ cà rốt, trong chiếc thứ hai bà đặt những quả trứng, và trong chiếc cuối cùng bà đặt những hột cà phê nghiền. Sau đó bà tiếp tục nấu sôi ba chiếc bình, và không nói một lời nào.

Khoảng 20 phút sau, bà tắt lửa. Bà vớt những củ cà rốt ra và đặt chúng vào một cái bát. Bà lấy những quả trứng ra và đặt vào một cái bát khác. Bà lại lấy muôi múc cà phê ra và đặt vào cái bát thứ ba. Quay sang cô con gái, bà hỏi:

- “Nào, con hãy nói cho mẹ biết, con nhìn thấy gì?”.

- “Dạ, cà rốt, trứng và cà phê”. Cô con gái trả lời rồi hỏi: “Mẹ, điều đó có nghĩa là gì?”.

Bà mẹ giải thích rằng mỗi một thứ trong đó đã gặp điều kiện khó khăn như nhau, đó là nước sôi. Mỗi thứ có phản ứng khác nhau. Cà rốt khi chưa bỏ vào nước thì cứng, rắn và dai. Tuy nhiên, sau khi bị bỏ vào nước sôi, nó mềm đi và trở nên yếu ớt.

Quả trứng vốn rất dễ vỡ. Lớp vỏ ngoài mỏng manh của nó đã bảo vệ lớp chất lỏng bên trong nó, nhưng sau khi được đặt vào trong nước sôi, phần bên trong quả trứng cứng lại.

Những hột cà phê nghiền thì khác. Sau khi bị bỏ vào nước sôi, chúng đã biến đổi nước.

“Con là gì?” - bà mẹ hỏi cô con gái. “Khi một hoàn cảnh bất lợi gõ cửa nhà con, con sẽ phản ứng thế nào? Con là củ cà rốt, quả trứng hay hột cà phê?”.

Người mẹ giải thích tỉ mỉ cho cô con gái: “Con là củ cà rốt, dường như rất mạnh mẽ, nhưng khi bị đau và gặp hoàn cảnh bất lợi, con yếu mềm và mất đi sức mạnh?

Hay con là quả trứng bắt đầu với một trái tim mềm yếu nhưng qua khó khăn lại trở nên cứng rắn? Một số người dễ bị lung lay tinh thần, nhưng sau một cái chết, sự chia ly, những khó khăn về tài chính, họ trở nên cứng nhắc, mặc dù cái vỏ bên ngoài vẫn thế.

Hoặc có thể con giống cà phê. Cà phê thực sự làm thay đổi nước nóng, chính là thay đổi hoàn cảnh mang lại nỗi đau.

Khi nước bị nóng, cà phê tỏa ra hương vị của nó. Nếu con giống như cà phê, con sẽ sống tốt đẹp hơn và có thể thay đổi tình thế xung quanh con, khi mọi thứ đang trở nên tồi tệ nhất.

Trước những ngày tháng đen tối nhất và trước những thử thách cam go nhất, con sẽ nâng bản thân mình lên một tầm cao mới. Sau này khi con gặp hoàn cảnh bất lợi, hãy nhớ tự hỏi mình: “Tôi sẽ là một củ cà rốt, một quả trứng hay là cà phê?”.

Cầu mong bạn có đủ niềm vui để làm cho cuộc sống của mình thật ngọt ngào, có đủ thử thách để khiến bạn mạnh mẽ, có đủ đau thương để sống có tình người và có đủ hy vọng để hạnh phúc.

Người hạnh phúc nhất không nhất thiết phải có tất cả mọi thứ tốt đẹp nhất; họ chỉ hoàn thành hầu hết tất cả những gì xuất hiện trên con đường đời của họ.

Tương lai tươi sáng nhất sẽ luôn dựa trên một quá khứ bị lãng quên. Bạn không thể tiếp bước trong cuộc sống nếu như chưa vượt qua những thất bại và nỗi đau trong quá khứ.

Khi bạn được sinh ra, bạn khóc và mọi người quanh bạn mỉm cười. Hãy sống cuộc sống của bạn để đến ngày cuối cuộc đời, bạn là người mỉm cười còn mọi người quanh bạn khóc.

~Found this somewhere online ...don't know the author =0/

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Hello Kitty Kitchenware

I love Hello Kitty and I love pink! I got these following items and would like give you somewhat a review of them! And if you like it ... go get it because there are things I've been looking for forever and couldn't find with a decent price till now! Thanks Target! And not I'm not being paid by Target LOL.


Lets start with this rice cooker... I absolutely LOVE IT!!!! It cooks up to 8 cups  of rice (the measuring cup, steam rack, and a rice spatula came with it!) It came with a steamer rack inside for you to steam ...whatever you want... I used it to steam buns for Peking Ducks and it works perfect!!! Then tried out with the rice cooking as well (of course!) and it did not disappoint! Since my goal is to have all my kitchen items PINK, this one fits perfectly with everything else!!!!

I've been searching forever for a pink/HK rice cooker and it's non-existence at this price! Ebay sells similar ones for $120 ...ridiculous! (Although I know good rice cookers with that price is actually cheap but I was cheaper! LOL) I think I got this for $39.99 but it's $29.99 right now at Target.com for that price and this cute? I was in heaven!



I haven't used this minifridge yet but it's just too cute to pass up! Plus I was looking for one to bring to my job so I can leave it under my desk. Our company fridge is always overstuffed with people's lunch and people there loves to steal pop! So figured this would be so perfect... couldn't find one a few months ago then plus I didn't like the red design they sold on ebay.  Then Target has them so tah dah! 
(Didn't bring it to work as intended because my boss bought our department a fridge just for us!!!)

This mini-fridge is very small but convenience, since it comes with a car outlet plug-in so perfect for road trip!!! I'll going on one at the end of this month so maybe I can update how it works! But as for looks and price ($49.99) it's a keeper for me! LOL


This baby is pretty small compare to your regular microwave. But hey it works just as good and so cute!!! $79.99 why not right? It'll last you until you get over your obsession with HK! LOL 


Of all the things HK I was disappointed with this one! OK if you just want a cute toaster that works like a toaster and cheap ($19.99), then this baby is for you! Yet, if you are hardcore on HK and expect to see a real picture of HK on your toast then you'd have to burn your toast and hopefully you'd see a HK face on it! I've gone through almost 1/2 loaf of bread so I could finally see the HK but that means I can't eat it if I can see it! You get the picture?  



Thank you so much Joyce, my gf who went to Target and happened to see the HK collection display and had to take a picture to send to me.  That's so sweet!!!! I love how my friends think of me when they see certain things (well usually it's just blings, pink, and HK!) LOL. If it wasn't for her I'd missed out on these of which I'd so regret later!!! Kudos Joyce!!!!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Japanese dinner


I have been wandering around a few asian markets and got more obsess with Asian ceramic dinnerware. I seriously enjoys collecting kitchen items and figured it's time to starts with Korean and Japanese dinnerware.  I've got a few so far and I love it... just a little problem is that our place is quite small for so much stuffs!!!! So my Husband was generous enough to share his tea room so I can put them up as display and storage as well! (That means I have more room to shop now lol)

So today I made Japanese food... My husband was never really a fan of Japanese food, more on the "I rather eat a loaf of bread instead" kind of attitude because being a vegetarian, there's not much of a choice and the items that are available at restaurants are simply just veggie tempura.  But today was a surprised exception, he said it's really good and would definitely want to eat again.  He pretty much ate EVERYTHING I made today! He even asked if I would make it again so he can invite his friends over for dinner!!!! I almost flipped! LOL
Vegetarian California Rolls 


Vegetarian Salmon Teriyaki


Cucumber and Seaweed Salad


Of course RICE! 


Miso Soup


Soy Sauce dispenser


We ended our dinner with Grean Tea and Green Tea Mochi. Yum~~~

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Want to know what inspired me into cooking?

A Korean movie! LOL a little lame I know but whatever ...

Have you ever seen The Naked Kitchen?

I LOVE the scenes at the beginning of the movie where she made those beautiful food!!! And the scenes of the house! It's everything I love! I'm not so thrilled about the synopsis but I just think that it has beautiful pictures! 

You can watch it here! 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Korean Food!



Tried out Korean food yesterday and it didn't disappoint! =) 
I've always ordered Japchae and always thought it was hard to make since it's so delicious! Now I know that it's not hard to make ...more like "EASY" and scallion pancakes was also great! 

I got the recipe here! 
Japchae

Onion Pancake

Much easier than you thought right? 

I bought other small side dishes: Kimchi, kimchi cucumber, seaweed, and squid!  

I also made veggi bibimbap - stone rice bowl for my vegetarian husband! =) 

Monday, February 27, 2012

Thai Veggi Hot Pot - Lau Thai Lan Chay



15 mins. meal =0) Thai Hot Pot! 

Ingredients: 
Thai Tom Yum soup base

Yes I know this jar saids "Shrimp paste" but the far I used was vegetarian that look exactly like this one...just can't seem to find it now ... urg... sometimes I just can't find things around here right after I'm done okay! lol
Some of these veggie "seafood" it comes in an assorted bag =0) 


A bag of noodles like this one serves two! 
And some veggies for dipping ... we only have "ong choy" or "tong choy" in our fridge so I used that! 



Instructions for soup...
1.  Follow instructions from your bag of noodles and cook them first since it takes longer than anything else! 

2. Use 4 cups of water boils add about 4 tbl. spoon of soup base (depending on your taste, add sugar if you want it more sweet, add more soup base if you want it more sour) I added dried red pepper because we like it HOT! =oP

Once your noodle and soup base are done then it's time to eat!!! 15 min. is all that it'd take! =0) 

I'm super lazy and tired lately to go any fancier than this but nontheless it serves it purpose on providing us a tasty meal with almost no work hehehe. 

I like these tiers trays because it saves us a lot of table space especially when you go all out with our choices of meats or veggies! I highly recommended!!! Tonight meal was much like any other day there's just us two so nothing too fancy! <3 

Best deals for those who likes to eat hot pot but don't want to do all that work, just buy the soup base! It's amazing! Plus get those prepacked assorted seafood bag and just throw them all in with your veggies! I'm sure you'd amaze everyone who eats it! Happy cooking and eating y'all!