December 18, 2011

The one where I am all over the place.

I've been sitting here for about ten minutes struggling over what to write. Boston you have sucked the literary muse out of me... or... perhaps it is the guilty conscious lingering over my head counting down the hours until I begin my whirlwind of exams. Two on Tuesday, Two on Wednesday, One on Thursday.

I could riddle off hundreds of reasons why I didn't complete my projected list of studying today, but it can easily be summed up in one sentence. Procrastination got the best of me.... including me presently (hence why I am on this blog).

But that’s okay, I still have 24 hours to prove four months of work. A bit of positivity can hopefully leverage me through tonight... I don't think I'll crash anytime soon as I have stayed up until four for four CONSECUTIVE nights.  (what a mouthful).   Jaw drop.   Anyway here is a little note to myself in the future.

Hi Gina,
I hope you did well on your  exams.
Hope you're happy because I sure am envious of you right now... being able to do whatever you wish.
Pay your January rent.
Love, Gina

And here are some recent food pictures I took while dining at Boston Cafeteria


meh.. I'm going to make some instant noodles.



December 03, 2011

Keeping my sugars high but guilt low.

School stress, studying, social life and impending deadlines are recipes for breakouts.  Intermix that with my everlasting taste for sweets.   Tis the season.  I'm sad to say my skin has recently been in a somewhat loosing battle.  So I'm starting to take action not just topically, but regulating my intakes as well. Here are a mashup of fast ways I try to curb my sweet tooth with skin health(ier) foods.  I am a extremely lazy person in terms of food preparation. IE. I will refuse to whip up a healthy delicious shake  because I don't want to spend the time taking out the frozen fruit, blending them and then spend 3 minutes cleaning the blender... so terrible.

- Vitamins. vitamin C. gummy vites. I look forward to taking them each day like 'candy', obviously the recommended dosage per day.
- Hot green tea with honey (with lemon?) instead of hot chocolate or coffee.
- Frozen grapes taste like frozen juice pops
- Citrus. This may be biased but I absolutely love oranges and orange juice.  These can curb my juice cravings.
- Thought process on buying that expensive basket of strawberries.   Is 3 dollars worth it?  Now think, are 3 dollars worth of dryers peppermint limited edition ice cream worth it? (AUGHHH MIND DILEMMA) Choose the berries.
- Organic unsweetened apple sauce and sweeten them with honey. Add a dash of cinnamon for extra flavoring.
- Fruit Yogurt on toasted bagels instead of cream cheese or jam.
- Use mint to "freshen" up your drinks instead of relying on carbonation.  ie. Lemons, Mint leaves and Honey makes a delicious cold drink.

Basically, I revolve around fruit and using honey as a sugar substitute. These may or may not be the "right way" persay. But  it keeps my taste buds satisfied and my senses guilt free. I am always down to new ideas so let me know if any of you have skin healthy ways of curbing your sweet tooth as well!

November 30, 2011

Through my vintage eyes: Guess where I am in NY?

It's been a while since I did a photography entry.... actually, I haven't done any since moving to the East Coast.  Why not start with my recent trip to New York.  Here are some more abstracty scenes that I was able to find throughout New York. Can you guess where these were taken?












Answers to come soon :)

November 03, 2011

I'll be late if I will.

I heard a knock around 9:15 this morning.  Jenn popped her head in my room said “hey! Are you ready to go?”
In a haste I dropped the small container I was holding and rushed to my computer to sit down. “Uh, no, I .. uh, you can go catch the subway first… “ I said while shuffling the papers around on my desk. “I’ll meet you in class because I finished my homework kind of late…  so I’m still trying to gather all my stuff together. “

If T and M were here, they would say both say two words.

Bull Shit.

First of all, I had finished my homework two days ago

Second, I was holding my eyeshadow.. container.

What exactly makes me so self conscious at the fact that I am grooming myself remains an enigma still after so long. But that is another story.

Graduate school is definitely much more demanding and time consuming.  Endless amount of papers, readings tests, meetings… and it does wear me out to a certain extent.  But every Thursday, no matter how little sleep I get the night before, I would force my lazy soul to wake up 10 minutes before I usually do, and dress well for class.  I guess it’s a treat to celebrate the onset of my weekend… of more studying.

With that said, I’m off to enjoy my weekend.

October 15, 2011

Weather talk

They say it rains one out of every three days in Boston. This is certainly true. I have never worn rainboots so many times within a month's span.  They've become my go to shoes.

Unfortunately mine have an uncanny resemblance to fish market footwear. I definitely need something more fashionable... leather.

Along that same note, I haven't quite gotten used to the fact that it rains in warm weather.  In California, I was accustomed to hauling out my clothes akin to sleeping bags when rainy season arrived.  If I do that here, I'd get soaked from the rain and my own sweat.  Back home, winter wear was equivalent to layering everything we possibly owned, while hoping and praying that the sun will come out soon. People collectively dress cute here, even in dreary weather. Skirts or shorts with rainboots. Hmm...  I need to understand how this concept works. It's interesting.

I've tried not to let weather designate my plans.  But yesterday was a pretty big fail.  Come seven  I was supposed to attend a pretty exclusive event with my friend from home. But after taking a glance outside,  I let the California laziness wash over me.  Not without a fight though.  I got to the point where I actually put on my contacts and took out my umbrella.  Still, my night ended well. Hot chocolate and a movie on a rainy Friday night was the best way to go for a lazy person's soul.

October 11, 2011

Four-tion's

It’s been about one month since I moved to Boston and other then my previous measly entry, I haven’t really updated this blog much. No worries, I haven’t forgotten you ole’ blogspot.

I have a lot to talk about, but naturally when I actually sit myself down to type, my mind goes blank. So I guess I’ll talk about today.

Two hours have passed since I woke up, and I have already gone through revelation, submission, witnessed deception, and procrastination.

Revelation. I’m pretty happy to say that my internal map/compass has been doing its duties. I’m not as disoriented as I thought. If you ask me now, I pretty much have the green line down pat like a nursery rhyme. Major bus routes too. I’ve conquered the public transportation… somewhat. All I need now is a library card to prove my residence. My classes are interesting times 100. Our health system is…. well.. let’s say a string of Christmas lights that when plugged in are beautifully lit…. except it’s all tangled up with missing bulbs.  Unfortunately there’s no Santa Claus in the healthcare system to magically straighten out the knots. You can hire that guy next door to do it for you, but it’s gonna cost money, and people will laugh at your laziness. Better take some time to figure it out yourself America.

Land of apple pies and hotdogs.

Mmm blueberry coffee.

This leads to the topic of submission. I don’t know if it’s the lame duck in me, but despite the plethora of Dunkin Donuts here… I haven't made a run there yet… until today. The concept of donuts and coffee are really not that enticing to me. Those of you that know I'm a sweet tooth might be shocked, but donuts just never caught on to my liking. I’m not a fan of coffee either. So I’m not sure how I ended up in the store 30 minutes ago. But I’m glad I did. My naiveness had me thinking they only sold donuts as their main non-liquid sustenance. DUH. I got myself a Chicken Sandwich (on an “everything” bagel) and a blueberry iced coffee. The man was really nice when I asked him whether the coffee flavors applied to all coffee drinks… and what people usually ordered. I had a horrible image in my head where all hell would break loose and every customer/staff member would turn and point at me in laughter “SHE HASN”T BEEN TO DUNKIN DONUTS BEFORE.” but no.

“The combo? ok so a medium iced coffee right?” "err.. sure".. My bill came out to be 40cents more. The asian in me asked.. wait, that’s 40 cents more then the combo. “you got a medium coffee not a small”. Darn sales tactic.

So then I jaywalk across four huge roads with ongoing traffic (the true Bostonian way) and manage to jam myself into the subway door right before it closed.

No one would know I was actually from the west coast with that kind of aggression.

Deception. For the month I’ve been here, I’ve only seen one guy with a skateboard. Today I saw my second. The B line was “empty” today. Basically this means that all seats are still taken, and I’m still wedged in the corner. But I’m not breathing on someone’s shoulder. And my back isn’t pressed against some unidentifiable body part. The guy in front of me has straggly, “I whip my hair back and forth” type of hair. He’s wearing plaid and he has a hot pink skateboard. You think your sooo cool. He picks up his iphone and of course I have to stare at it because I’m dying to know what kind of song he listens to. And to my surprise, the background on his phone is a picture of him smiling next to a picture of an older female, in a medical mask… on a hospital bed? Deception. The subway jerks to a stop. And two girls straight out from urban outfitter ads walk in. raybans, ankle boots the whole shebang. They decide to invade my bubble and continue their conversation. It’s about how she always has dreams where (this is LITERALLY WORD FOR WORD) people are near her when she needs to go “poop”.

They both break out in giggles.
I almost spat out my chicken sandwich.

Luckily, my stop came. And I squeezed my way out.

Procrastination. I’m sitting in the library right now, still eating my chicken sandwich even though the sign to my right  states “Please don’t bring food into the library”. There are five people studying in my plain view. The one on my left is fiddling with his iphone. The guy in front of me is working on a crossword. That girl is spending more time playing with her hair then reading. But I mean. We are in the library right? It’s the thought that counts.

In all seriousness though …. I need to start studying.
Sorry, for the abrupt ending.

September 15, 2011

20 Reasons why I'm really happy right now

1. I just showered.
2. I'm eating oranges.
3. My room door is fixed.
4. My bug bites don't itch.
5. They fixed the kitchen light.
6. I don't have class on Fridays
7. The kitchen knife is SO SHARP.
8. I'm going to a museum tomorrow.
9. My hair is at the perfect length and color.
10. I painted my nails yesterday and they haven't chipped.
11. I feel sleep creeping up on me slowly.
12. "It girl" just came on KIIS FM.
13. I cooked a fresh new batch of rice.
15. I just google+ ed with my best friends.
16. I finally finished my bag of candy corn. 
17. I am pretty interested in all my classes.
18. I haven't seen any bugs today. yet.
19. I think I've gotten the transportation system down.
20. The wind is HOWLING outside. but I'm warm here in my tshirt and shorts.

I am freaking happy.

August 29, 2011

see you later and hello (in this order)

Gosh! I don't think I've been to so many places at once within a month's span.  Taiwan then norcal then socal then norcal again and tomorrow.... Boston! Things have been hectic lately and it's about to get even more crazy. I'm solaced by the fact that that I'd snapped pictures along my journey thus far. When thing's get settled, it will be nice to look upon events that happened this past year. Specifically after Taiwan, I've come to realize how my s95 is definitely not up to par with DSLR's. With that said, it's human nature to always eye on better things out there. So I'm not too jealous! As long as I have my trusty Photoshop, I can modify any picture to my liking.  Below are a set of modified pictures taken this June at the Montage in Laguna Beach.

Let these pictures of the Pacific Coastline be a celebration of the start of a new beginning...


Tree of knowledge... LOL not

I wonder what the initials in the hearts say

Friend's Cam Cam >> Mine. we had a shooting comparison


I have no idea what these are... aloe? they look exotic nevertheless

Man looking at the waves. He stood there for 20 minutes... as I stared at his shadow from the cliffs above. CREEPYYY.. (i'm 1/2 JK)

<3


Until next time California sunset! I'll see you in four months :)

August 26, 2011

I think I found a solution to satisfy your psychotic sweet cravings...

In an attempt to placate "grossness" of my previous entry.  I've decided to  post a more stomach friendly entry.... featuring none other then the all american friendly... DOUGHNUT!

My trip to Psycho Donuts was a professional whim.  A whim because it was a tack-on to my late night boba run. Professional, because I  yelped the store to make sure it would be a worthwhile visit.


A crazy arse donut shop. period.  (PS. spot the boba?)

Ze Kooky Monster.

Psycho Panda

Strawberry Fields... my favorite! This literally has the most innocent name

"I was still trying to take in the environment when I was greeted enthusiastically by a nurse with yellow (yes, YELLOW) hair. As she smiles, her dimples glisten. (oh wait.. they are actually symmetrical piercings on her cheek). She strikes up a friendly conversation as she hands us some bubble wrap and patiently waits for us to decide what to get."
POP POP POP POP

Our friendly nurse/cashier  has literally orange/yellow hair ...

diagnosis... of each donut.  Do you spot the Michael Jackson?
It's actually chocolate doughnut on the inside. Let's see if you can figure out why. ;)

Indeed my expectations were met if not exceeded.

So...as usual, if you are still curious read my complete yelp review here!

August 19, 2011

Bug me... not.

During my visit this summer to Taiwan, I'd racked up several "gut" factors in bug-endurance.  I was never the gnat catcher naturally.  But I think overexposure while camping in the mountains of Taiwan's National parks (Taroko to be specific), has forced me to come to peace with some insects... specifically, spiders.

Now I go by the mantra: Spiders eat mosquitoes. Therefore spiders = good. So I don't bother to kill them anymore.   Savvy :D

I was bit horrendously by mosquitoes when my precious bottle of OFF was used up. So like all my previous trips to Taiwan, I (honorably) brought back a plethora of souvenirs on my skin again. Darn mosquito bite scars.

I've thought about this before.  So hypothetically, if I needed to, I could move to Taiwan with no problem in terms of blending in with the culture and language.... but the ONE thing that would bug me (no pun intended) would be these mosquitoes. THEY FREAKING LOVE AMERICAN BLOOD.  I wonder if I would ever get natural resistance if I did stay there long enough. Surely I wouldn't want to be poisoned by DEET.

With that said, some creepy crawly pictures from my trip up the mountains!
Yangminshan: How many spiders can you find?

CLOSEUP! This one was especially huge.

Taroko: Spider!

This was a fun one... too bad I focused on the background instead of the actual caterpillar. 

Black and white striped creepies... They looked like blown up ants

Butterfly in flight! Leopard print no?

Lizard (?) climbing on the camp walls.
Butterfly flight caught in action!

tiiiny weeny geko!

Furrryy...

That's me in the plaid! 

Disclaimer: Taiwan is not riddled with bugs. This is because I was up in the mountains. LOL 

Boston June Trip Pics

I realized that I hadn't uploaded pictures from my June trip in Boston yet...  Nothing artsy, but here they are.
















Flushin out some "expired" entries.

August 18, 2011

so if you come knockin at my door and i great u with a ninja face...

Does something look different?



Closer look


ahha.. admist my packing I found this pack of "Collagen Crystal Eye Bag Mask" that I obtained as a gwp when I bought my first pair of circle lenses during the days of my college yore.


upon quick inspection, I noticed this (no brand) eye mask riddled with spelling errors "press mask with frigertips"  and nonsensical statements "Modes eye sritounding skin soft".

hrmm..sounds fishy and I probably shouldn't try it out on my skin.

but naturally, despite my better instinct, I gave in to my curiosities of this whimsical package of magic.

success! my skin does not seem to be reacting to it ... yet. hopefully my undereye is enjoying this little jelly pampering too.

lucky lucky. I need to stop taking chances with my skin.  I blame Taiwan this time... it has brainwashed me into another facemasking phase.