Moment of Realization

Today, I found out through a crepe, that...

I am lactose intolerant.

...which shouldn't be surprising because I absolutely LOATHE cheese, milk, and other dairy products (excluding yogurt, ice cream!). It's just weird because I had cheese before and it was fine....but not today...


not today...

Heavy and Light

So, first off, I guess I wanna talk about a heavy subject...which is what is going on in Egypt! I've actually been keeping track somewhat and it's kind of scary to me. Imagine what it must be like for people living there! If you didn't know (and you should!), there have been violent protests in Egypt against the government and the president of 30 years. Apparently, they want him to resign. Believe it or not, though Egypt is considered a democracy, it is actually the least democratic out of all! The people have been using facebook and twitter as a means of organizing these protests so as a response, the government, has for the first time in history, blocked the internet and cellular phone access. Basically people are living there with no access to world info right now. It's scary. I was talking to my housemate and we both commented how it's pretty crazy how these types of things are already documented in the bible. I was reminded of how fast Jesus must be coming and how I should prepare myself for Him.

Other than that, things have been pretty productive today! :) I was able to finish listening to all the podcasts of my bio class and I even called my grandma in Taiwan to wish her a happy Chinese New Year! I'm taking a break now and looking at some great shoes from Zara. I'm definitely learning more about fashion since my breakup...don't know why that happened, but it did. Anyhow, I'm definitely going to try to invest in key pieces rather than buying a ton of stuff. That is just NOT smart. I realized that I actually LACK a lot of key pieces in my closet! For instance, heels! I can honestly say that I DON'T have any heels besides business pumps. The next thing I'm going to treat myself too after I finish this quarter is strappy sandal heels. I think nude/brown, and black would be two great colors to start off with just because they are very versatile colors to work with. Also, at my age of 21, I think heels ARE a necessity. Actually, before this past summer, I actually had NO dresses. I can proudly say that I own 2 LBDs! Now the LBD, aka little black dress, is DEFINITELY a staple in a girl's closet.

Anyhow, kind of a random post no? I guess I'll post this pic of LA that I jacked from my friend. I miss home...


Week 5 starts tomorrow! Fight on! I'll be home in a few days! YAY!!

Have a fabulous week everybody!

Lazy Saturday

*Sigh, today was another typical Davis winter day...gloomy, wet, and cold. It made it especially hard to wake up early for volunteer. I usually volunteer for this small organization called Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals that's located in Del Paso Heights, a small poor town in Sacramento. The fact that I had NO passion/motivation for this position made it even harder to drag my lazy ass out of the warm den I made out of my bed. You see, when I STARTED volunteering for this organization a year ago, I was very into it. I loved how they were fighting for universal health care and how they found ways to provide medical services for free to those who needed it. HOWEVER, that was ALL before Oaxaca. Oaxaca made me realize that well, though the idea of medicine for all is nice, it will never really be achieved to the extent that some countries have just because we ARE a capitalist society. Health care will always be viewed as a profit-making business because, HEY, as sad as it sounds, it makes BANK for the government and that's the truth. ANYHOW, the only reason why I'm doing this now is because I need something continuous for my med school apps. As a transfer student, a lot of my experiences are choppy because it's hard to continue something when you're not there you know..so I'm determined to keep this until I leave Davis. I just found out today that I can't ask for a LOR from the people OR from the doctors they work with...though I suppose I can if I'm quiet enough about it.

ANYHOW, point is, it was cold and boring. Good thing though is I get to practice my Spanish since there are SO many Latinos! :)

One thing that does help me in the morning is my breakfast!! I've been eating cereal+ soymilk+bananas EVERY morning since it's so easy and so filling! Well yesterday, found out Safeway has blueberries for 99cents per box! It was a definitely a treat for my morning!

mmm...gettin my fair share of anti-oxidants ;) haha. It was DELISH! The first picture looks like a picture on a cereal box or something HA!

Came home afterwards and napped like a madwoman. Then for dinner, I ate fairly light. But it was SO good too! Wish I shot a pic of it, but I was talking with my housemate Flor so didn't want to be rude to get my camera in the middle of the convo ya know ;D. But, Flor was making this South American style Chicken Soup with celery, tomatoes, onions and cilantro + pasta, and I got a bowl. It was SO delicious especially with lemon juice! Reminded me of Mexico soups where they ALWAYS had lemon + chili powder over EVERYTHING! So good on a cold winter night!! I also made a PB + banana sandwich on toasted wheat bread to go along with my soup. PERFECT COMBO while talking to Flor about family and boys. HAH! Definitely gotta learn from HER about boys! :) Seriously though, I'm pretty lucky! I love all my housemates! Flor is a great cook and Sara bakes often!! Can't starve me here!

Anyhow, been trying to study ALL DAY, but no progress has been made :(. I just feel SO lazy! Story of my life everyday actually. Feeling sleepy again so I had a Dried Medjool Date. Those things are so delicious! SO SO SWEET! Definitely satisfies my sweet tooth! I just finished my pack of Dried Mangoes from Trader Joe's and now working on these for study nights. I'm hoping the calories and sugars in this baby will keep me up (though I had chocolate before this too.. I know..totally against my goals >< )

Here's to happy studying!!

TGIF!!!

Thank God it's Friday!!!!!!!! Whew, after a long and tiring week of battling school work, it's good to finally get a break! I had my physiology midterm yesterday so I was basically busy the whole week studying for it! Next up is cell biology next Friday! Yikes!! However, I am definitely looking forward to next WEEKEND BECAUSE...next weekend, I'll be HOME! :) It's great because it's right near Chinese New Year's which is on the 3rd! So yea. Hopefully I'll get some nice cashhh 8) Haha! But of course, I'm just happy and thankful that I can go home that I don't really care if I get money or not :P Basically, I'm flying home to tighten my braces... it just so happened to be around New Year's AND after my midterms! Talk about perfect coincidence.

So recently, I've been really inspired by this girl's blog: keepingupwithkatie.com

She's basically this girl who used to be fat but lost it all! Now she's really into keeping herself healthy by exercising and eating healthy! Reading her blogs really makes me want to keep myself healthy by eating right and exercising! So today, right after class, I went to the gym and worked out! Somehow, I find it a lot easier to work out than before. I realize that I just need to keep the mentality that I'm doing something good for my body. HOWEVER, I did notice something bad about myself in that, when I am hungry, I go for instant gratification. Example: I was STARVING right when I got home so I quickly grabbed a banana, which is fine...but right after, I grabbed a 190 cal granola bar...which made me NOT hungry at all anymore. But, I still eat. I also realized that after I eat my bowl of rice, I NEED something else to chew on whether it be fruit, or another bowl of rice. Not good. So, what am I going to do? My goal for next week will be to work out 2-3x at the gym, don't snack big if I'm cooking right after (patience is key!), try to eat a fruit after my meal instead of another bowl of rice, cookies, or candy. Also, try not to eat past 8pm..unless it's fruit! :) I also had this GIANT PB cookie after my first class in the morning. I guess it's from the stress. Just want something to reward myself I suppose...which is fine. So, I guess, my next goal would be to cut down unnecessary sweets, and chips to once a week (ie. cookies, candy, wheat thins..lol!).

Other than that, today has been relatively slow. The fact that I finished a midterm yesterday AND the fact that it's Friday made me super lazy at school. I'm glad I have this time to myself despite it being a Friday night! My friends are all busy so I just decided to spend some ME time! I feel that, especially for me, it's so NECESSARY. After a busy week, all I want to do is retreat into my comfort haven, my ME time. Anyways, spent the day/night cooking delicious food. Hey, I gotta admit, I'm a pretty good cook...OR...my mom's recipes are just so simple...but I'd rather stick with the former HA!

Today, for lunch, I made Stir Fried Snow Peas with Ground Pork. It's one of my FAVORITE dishes by my mom. Super simple too! I don't know why people don't cook! It really doesn't take that long...

yum!!!

Then at night, I made some delicious Braised Chicken Drumsticks! YUMM!! As much as I LOVE my veggies, I need my meat from time to time..

in the process...soaking in the juices! The marinade was a cinch too! Just basically, soysauce, salt, sugar, and lemon juice/vinegar, and onions. It would have been nice to have rice wine and ginger as well...but you do what you can :P As you can tell, I am SUPER Asian. I LOVE Asian food. I think the flavors are the best! Also, it's practically the only style of food I cook. So yea..

Voila!! Zee Dinner! Okay, so it's not as pretty as before because I stirred it up, but it sure tasted DELICIOUS. Chicken was delicious! Hehe! I definitely LOVE cooking!! ^^

Bon Apetit!

Ended up eating dinner and laughing hysterically while watching the last two eps of The Office! It's still by far my FAVORITE show! Modern Family and HIMYM are good, but man, The Office was my first love! Glad to know that after so many seasons, this show STiLL makes me laugh like a madwoman. Love this Friday night! :)

Anyhow, I'll update more next time! Hope you all enjoyed!

PS. THIS POST took SO long ... I have so many pictures I still wanna show, but alas, my netbook screen is too tiny...and it sucks that I have to keep sliding the pics slowly down....BAH! Somehow, you can't just copy and paste the photos either...weird...but no fear, I think these pictures will suffice for now. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Blog!

New blog yay!!!

Recently, I've really been into blogs...not MY blog per say, but reading others' blogs! I've been reading/looking at many fashion blogs, workout blogs, etc etc, and it's so interesting! Usually, I'm the type who's just a tad bit too lazy to update my blog on a regular basis besides the whole 'xanga' fad in high school...hah. Even when I was abroad, I was super lazy to update my blog. I mean, I KNOW I should document my once-in-a-lifetime experience there, but man...in the end, what really kept me going was the fact that my blog entries was actually an assignment for my class!

Anyhow, what prompted me to make this one was the fact that my friend Angela just made a blog to document HER experiences abroad in China! She kept insisting that I keep a blog too...and I thought about it...and Voila! Here I AM! Haha. I'll probably be updating not everyday, but probably when something interests me, or perhaps, I may just showcase some of the food I cook ;)

Anyways...I guess I'll update more later! Got class soon! Ciao!

BTW. Those who are interested in looking at my travel abroad blog, here it is:

journeyinoaxaca.blogspot.com