Happy New Year, everyone!

Belated, yes I know, but I wanted that to be my first post of 2009! Was going to post earlier, on the actual day of New Year itself, but I found myself out the whole day since New Year's Eve...and I think I still need some time to recover from all the activities before going back to work on Monday. I love the holidays, but hate when they end.

Here's to wishing a great year ahead for everyone!

Now it's four more years until the next Summer Olympics in London, but while we're at it, I just wanted to write down a few thoughts on the Beijing Olympics.

Awesome, awesome opening, and the closing ceremony was fantastic as well. I didn't get to watch much this time due to work, but I watched whatever I could.

Earlier, I had wanted to plan a trip to Beijing coinciding with the Olympics, but soon I realized it would be way more expensive during this time. And it would also be very difficult to get tickets.

Now I can't wait until the next Olympics, which would be the Winter Games in Vancouver in the year 2010. I hope I can make a trip there by then!

It seems like I always write a post saying that I'll try to update more often. This especially happens after a time of no updates from me. To be honest, I do want to update, but sometimes, I'm just lazy, tired, or most of the time, I don't know what to update about. Anyways, this time, this post won't be saying I'll update more frequently or anything like that, but just, I'll update whenever there's the opportunity for me to do so.

As for things that are new about me, I've started a new job in a new place. It has been 3 months now, and the job's pretty good. I'm working as an engineer. It may not be what I want to do for the rest of my life but I think of this as a starting point to other opportunities. I studied Electrical Engineering for my undergraduate degree, but not everyone ends up working in a field that is related to their major. Right now, I'm in a field that's directly related to what I studied, but I hope to be able to explore opportunities elsewhere in the near future.

Besides talking about my working life, I've taken an interest in makeup. Specifically, limited edition makeup. I don't really wear much makeup in my everyday life, but somehow, the collector in me needs to have all these limited edition items. I especially like those that have special packaging, and I know they'd be a waste of my money just sitting there collecting dust if I don't use it, but they are just oh-so-pretty!

Wow, I've surprised myself by writing so much for this post. I hate breaking promises, so I won't make any this time. I know there's a lot of ideas for my next update already in my head, so keep an eye out for that!

One of my current obsessions is the anime/manga Paradise Kiss. I've finish all 12 episodes of the anime and all 5 volumes of the manga in I think three days! Because it's a short series, I find myself re-watching certain episodes!

Paradise Kiss is a manga series written my Yazawa Ai, who also wrote the manga series NANA. I've been a fan of NANA for a while now, but it was not until recently did I decide to check out Yazawa's other works. And I'm glad I did! I really enjoyed this series.

The main storyline of Paradise Kiss revolves around a typical Japanese high school girl who is studying for her college entrance exams. Her life is changed when she meets the fashion designs students of the Paradise Kiss brand. They ask her to model their clothes, and thus, she is thrown into the world of fashion.

I might do a more detailed write up about this series...but all obsessions aside, I think this is a great story by Yazawa. This has easily become one of my favorite anime/manga series.

I'm sure most of you know of some blogs that are sponsored by advertisers to write an entry about a product or service.

What do you think about it? Are any of you being paid to blog?

I'm looking at sites such as PayPerPost, and it seems like a pretty easy way to make some extra cash. You get paid by each post you write, and I think the amount varies on how much traffic your blog gets. If you write enough entries, I think you should be able to make a good amount money. And it's not that hard to write an entry, just maybe 30 minutes, and you're done.

I'm thinking of doing something like this. Extra money is something that's always good to have, and writing blog entries is not something that hard to do. I know, I haven't been good at updating this blog...but I figured if I can make something productive out of it, I'll write more! I won't do it on here, I'll make a new blog and keep this one advertisement-free.

So, any of you getting sponsored to write blog entries? Send me a link of your blog so I can take a look!

I went to Las Vegas and got back on Saturday. I had previously heard that there was a Red Mango store there, so I made a point to visit there at least once.

Red Mango actually started in Korea a few years ago, where it has been very successful. I had Korean friends updating their cyworlds with pictures of yogurt from Red Mango. I wasn't about to be going to Korea anytime soon, so I thought I wouldn't be able to try this frozen yogurt. Then I heard Red Mango was coming to the US, having it's first US store in Los Angeles and another in Las Vegas, but I knew it might be awhile before it comes anywhere near San Francisco/San Jose. So when I went to Las Vegas, I had to have some Red Mango yogurt!

( Red Mango )

Everyone loves free stuff, so I thought I'd post up what I found while browsing the internet this morning.

smashbox is giving away a free cosmetics gift: a full size Fusion Soft Lights in Matrix in a cute smashbox carry pouch at participating Nordstrom stores. This free gift offer is available from August 31st to September 2nd while supplies last.

Click HERE to go print out your coupon and find your closest participating Nordstrom store.

I haven't tried the product they are giving out as a free gift myself, but well, you loose nothing if it doesn't work out for you as it's free!

I'm not usually one to follow trends, but I really like the color of this skinny jean by Seven For All Mankind:



I don't actually own any colored skinny jeans, but I've seen them look good on other people. I just don't know if I'll like the look on myself. And I don't know why I like this color, I don't even usually go for the color yellow!

Just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sometime yesterday. I didn't get a chance to post about it until now.

When I went to pick up my book at Barnes and Nobles at midnight on Friday, the place was a madhouse. I think it was a bit disorganized at first, but I think once midnight came, the process of people getting the book got better. I received my book just before 12:30 am, and then went back, took a shower, and started reading it.


( HP7 )

I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today.

( OOTP )

As I haven't updated this journal in a long while, I thought I'd do some mini-reviews of some movies I've seen recently. I will probably do them one by one, because I don't like writing really long entries.

Latest movie I caught during the 4th of July holiday was Transformers. Awesome movie, and I highly recommend it. It's a great summer action movie. I didn't really watch the Transformers TV series as a kid, but I do remember watching an episode or two.

( Transformers )

I caught a showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End recently.

I thought it was pretty enjoyable, and a good continuation of the previous film. I have heard that many people did not really like the ending, but I felt that it was and appropriate ending, and I wasn't disappointed at all. The writer's left the ending of this film open, so that a fourth film could be made if they wanted to. If they do, I wouldn't be complaining!

These days, I've been doing an internet riddles called weffriddles.

I never played internet riddles before, but I used to like playing 'escape the room' adventure games such as The Mystery Of Time And Space (aka MOTAR), and The Crimson Room and it's various sequels. I haven't played MOTAR in awhile, and I think they've added new levels, so I think I will get back to them.

Have fun!

I've been sucked into the world of Yelp. A great place to read reviews of restaurants, spas, and almost anything in your area.

First I only used it to see what good restaurants were in my area, but now, I've gotten into writing reviews as well!

My profile is here. Feel free to add me if you are on it too!

Thank you kristinthegreat for introducting this site to me.

I absolutely love sites like this. I can spend a lot of time just choosing outfits and hair and whatever else there it.

But what I really like about this site are the animations! They are really fun to play with, and there are so many to choose from!

Call me a nerd, geek, whatever. I'm excited that Naruto has finally returned to normal. By normal, I mean no more filler episodes.

After two and a half years, the Naruto anime returns as Naruto Shippuden, literally, Hurricane Chronicles.

Already, it has gotten to a great start. I was getting a bit bored of the filler episodes.

A belated Happy Lunar New Year to all!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

I just bought a pair of Steve Madden Cristan peep-toe wedges, for a great price! I had wanted them for a while, but never got the chance to get them. I tried them on before while I was shipping back in December, but they didn't have the color I wanted. I purchased them on Zappos, used their 110% price protection policy, and got the shoes for $13.99 discounted from $79.95.

Also, after doing some online window shopping on Zappos, I've come across a pair of boots that I'd die for! They are these pair of Gabriella Rocha Greta boots. If only the price was a bit lower.....

Last weekend, I saw Curse of the Golden Flower, originally titled 滿城盡帶黃金甲(Man Cheng Jin Dai Huang Jin Jia). My movie ticket was $6.00, as it was a matinee showing before 11:00 am on the weekend. You can't beat the $6.00 movie ticket, and I like seating in the theater where it's not too crowded. (Unless, I'm going for a midnight premiere, then I don't mind it being packed!)

This movie, set in 10th century China, is about an internal struggle between the members of the Chinese imperial family. With Chow Yun-Fat as the Emperor and Gong Li as the Empress, you have two veteran actors leading the cast.

( My thoughts )

I'm craving for some delicious Korean food right now. How I would like to have some kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) or spicy soon tubu (tofu stew)!

Living in the Bay Area definitely has some advantages. I can get all kinds of Asian food here. Besides from restaurants, there are also Asian grocery stores, which I love!

One of my favorite Korean dishes is kimchee jjigae. And it's pretty simple to make. The recipe I use is how my friend makes it, however it varies between households.

( Kimchi jjigae recipe )