Mini Plait X Double Braids: Play-Head

forewords:

the photos below

may result in puking, hysteria, punching of monitors

and many more unimaginable side effects

do it at your own risk

 

first time in life

managed to tie plaits for myself

 

this was the trial run

which didn’t success too much

because it fell after

I ran across a busy road

while the green light was already blinking

 

by the way

this is the denim top I wanted so badly

showed it to sis, mom, dad respectively

even at different locations

trio agreed that it was ugly

nobody wanted to buy it for me

 

Day 1 of CNY:

 

then I tried it with bun hair at the back

 

at night,

after a busy day

and the bun-hair above

it got a little messy at the side

this one feels so Ching Dynasty

 

Day 2 of CNY:

more obvious

because I have done two of them

and I went to mall with them

and even put on motorbike helmet

 

oh my

how come I got a fat chin

just after one day of eating

 

this is how to appear slimmer in photos

no..

this is how the double-plaits look like

 

Day 3 of CNY:

this is very bad since it expose the forehead

yet they always say

the real beauty always expose her forehead

flower horn fish, they mean, I think

but I kind like it, still

because it feels very neat

 

after 3 days of experimenting

I conclude that

I love plaits, a lot because

• there are so many ways of styling
• all I need is rubber bands and some black pins
• it divert attention from the balding spot

 

the pro-level plaits

 

and more..

happy plaiting

Good Complexion X Home Solution: New Year Resolution

SK-II TVC has always been a huge success

throughout the years

which I think are contributed by

• familiar faces
• simple presentation
• catchy tagline
• yet, spoken in everyday language

 

and the new one

is particularly convincing to me

probably because

now I am at the age

to demand for the same result

as she wants

 

SK-II TVC featuring Tang Wei 湯唯

 

that’s what every girl

would dream of

a flawless skin

effortless,

a miracle

 

looking good without make-up

is what I always want to have

not that I apply thick make-up everyday

never!!!

 

and I am completely at confident

without make-up in public

(thick spec is the only thing

which completely crash my confidence level)

 

but I do use foundation

and it indeed works

to control oil

brighten and even up complexion

and also to

cover large pores and acne scar

 

wonderful, right

just a single product can do so more

 

but I don’t believe that,

as claimed by some product..

especially BBC… BB cream

application of foundation like this

can help to improve your skin

in the long run

 

no way!!

if it does

then people won’t have to spend thousands

on skin-care products and facial treatment

if merely a BBC foundation

can do everything good

be thankful if it doesn’t do the opposite

 

Make-up and skin care products

are two different things

 

therefore

that would be my new year resolution

if it is not too late yet

 

before that

I was quite relaxed about skin care

because I thought I was too young to worry

the problems, especially the oil

will cease when the time comes

 

well.. I am still YOUNG now of course

but I realize one thing for a fact

oil on the face and acne

can actually be prevented, calmed, got ridden

and it should be done

before acne scars remain permanently

 

but another fallacy I got is that

my tan skin is the best protection shield

since it just sweep all the flaws

under the carpet

I know right

that’s the damn typical ostrich attitude

 

to improve the condition of my skin

so that it will glow

without any make-up

glow in the natural way

minus the shiny grease

 

the ad below will tell you

what a woman wants for her skin:

what a girl wants, what a girl needs

• fairness
• glow
• smoothness 
• firmness
• wrinkle-free

 

SK-II TVC / Tang Wei 湯唯 & Angelica Lee 李心潔

 

for me

more importantly

the challenge is to

achieve the goal

by much lesser cost

using various home remedies

 

I say

miracle is a nay

Rome wasn’t built in one day

this would be a long long way

yet great effort will always pay

YAY

 

*clap clap*

 

first step

started before X'mas last year

homemade pore strip

the result is amazing

 

the full schedule

coming soon….

Home Farm X No Harm: Organic Choy Sum

I went through a compilation of Asian Green Veg

Onto Dining Table X Into Data Table: Asian Green Vegetables

simply because of this post

 

Choy Sum / Choi Sum / 菜心

• literally means “Veggie heart”
• Chinese flowering cabbage
• Sawi in Malay language
• a relative of Pak Choy (it has got a lot of names too)
• Chinese soup green
• Brassica parachinensis
• a member of the Mustard family
• 菜薹、广东菜薹、广东菜

 

2011.12.25

 

2012.01.15

 

then..

 

we harvested all

unfortunately half were buried back into the soil

(that’s how nice we treat our plants)

 

so these are considered the lucky one

not ending up on dining table

because there were some

insect-egg-like particles

stuck on the leaves

they could be removed through thorough washing

however my dad thought

they looked too disgusting

 

and one more thing

my dad hardly believe in organic veg

sold in the market..

 

to him

this is the real organic stuffs

and it doesn’t even have to cost much money

 

and my dad used to complain

I spent loads time

farming in Smurfs’ Village

should have divert the time and effort here

 

happy farming!

Onto Dining Table X Into Data Table: Asian Green Vegetables

it’s a question

no.. a few questions actually

I has been asking myself

for quite time already

 

eg: how do you say Choy Sum in English?

 

no…

not the god of prosperity

that’s Choy Sun

the green leafy veggie

you found in your Wantan Noodle

how do you address it in English

 

01 - Choy Sum / Choi Sum / 菜心

• literally means “Veggie heart”
• Chinese flowering cabbage
• Sawi in Malay language
• a relative of Pak Choy (it has got a lot of names too)
• Chinese soup green
• Brassica parachinensis
• a member of the Mustard family
• 菜薹、广东菜薹、广东菜

 

02 - Pak Choi / Bok Choy / 白菜

• Brassica chinensis
• mustard family as well
• literally translated as White Veggie
• Chinese cabbage

 

4 categories of Pak Choi:

• Chinese White Bok Choi (大白菜)
• Shanghai Bok Choi (上海白菜 / 青江菜)
• Rossette Bok Choi / Tatsoi (塌菜)
• Canton type (奶白菜) / harvested early as        Baby Bok Choi (奶白苗).

 

03 - Kai Choi / 芥菜

• Brassica juncea
• Mustard Greens
• is a member of the mustard family, obviously
• more pungent than the closely-related Brassica oleracea greens (kale, cabbage, collard greens, et cetera) ……. who are them????
• the one used for pickled salted veggie
• 大菜 = large veggie
• 盖菜

 

04 - Gai Lan / Kai Lan / 芥藍

• Brassica alboglabra
• Chinese Broccoli
• Chinese Kale
• Left Broccoli

 

ni hao Kai Lan

the Mandarin learning cartoon

 

I have no idea how come Gai Lan to Broccoli

I always think Broccoli is a friend of Cauli Flower

Brocolli and Gai Lan even sounds similar in Mandarin

芥蘭花 and 芥蘭菜

 

Gailan = chinese broccoli in English

Broccoli = Flowery Gai Lan in Mandarin

okay just forget it

 

05 - Ong Choi / Weng Cai / 蕹菜

• Ipomoea aquatica
• a member of the Morning Glory family (Convolvulaceae).
• closely related to sweet potato (Ipomea batatas)
• Kangkung in malay, the one with Nasi Lemak
• Water Spinach
• Kong Xin Cai (空心菜)… empty-heart veg / hollow veg, why?
• swamp cabbage
• 應菜 / 空心菜 / 無心菜 / 壅菜 / 藤菜 / 葛菜 / 甕菜

 

06 - Tong Ho / 茼蒿

• chrysanthemum coronarium
• Chrysanthemum Greens, Garland Chyrsanthemum
• 打某菜 / 春菊

 

07 - Sang Choi / 莴苣 / 生菜

 

• Lactuca sativa var. asparagina, augustana, or angustata
• Celtuce
• stem lettuce
• celery lettuce
• asparagus lettuce 莴筍
• 唐生菜 / 春菜

 

08 Yau Mak / 油麥

• Lactuca sativa var. longifolia Lam.
• long leaf lettuce
• 莜麦菜 /

 

09 - “Bitter Lettuce” / 苦麥菜

• Ixeris chinensis
• Rabbit milkweed
• 兔仔菜 / 鵝仔菜 / 小苦苣 / 苦尾菜
• 山莴苣 = Wild celery lettuce

 

10 - Yin Choi / 莧菜

• Bayam is more common than the mandarin name back here
• red Bayam / green Bayam
• Amaranth leaf
• 荇菜 / 莕菜

 

11 - Gao Gei Choi / 枸杞菜

• Lycium barbarum
• Goji / Wolfberry shoots / leaves
• we cook it as soup, with egg, just like seaweed soup
• thorny stalk
• 枸杞苗 / 葉

 

12 - Lo Kui / 落葵

• Basella alba
• Malabar Spinach
• Ceylon / Indian Spinach
• Red Vine Spinach
• Climbing Spinach
• yet not related to spinach
• sticky texture
• 帝王菜 / 木耳菜 / 落葵 / 胭脂菜
• 帝王菜, the Malaysian Mandarin name is literally translated as Emperor veggie 

 

13 - Sai Yong Choy / 西洋菜

• Nasturtium officinale, N. microphyllum
• formerly Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, R. microphylla
• remember the street at Mongkok, HK
• water cress,
• because that’s where it grows
• botanically related to garden cress, mustard & radish
• 豆瓣菜 / 水蔊菜 / 水芥 / 水田芥菜 / 水茼蒿

 

14 - Bo Choi / 菠菜

• Spinacia oleracea
• 菠菱，鹦鹉菜，红根菜，飛龍菜

 

Popeye the sailor man…

but seriously

I have never tasted canned spinach

do you?

 

oh no

I am so dying to get the answers

3 a.m. in the morning,

day 3 of Chinese New Year

still green-googling

 

15 - Fan Shee Mew / 番薯葉

• Ipomoea batatas, same name for sweet potato
• Sweet Potato Leaves or Shoots
• 地瓜葉 / 番薯苗

 

16 - Choi Dam / 菜膽

• Brassica oleracea
• Brussels sprout
• wild mini cabbage
• 甘藍小包菜 / 小椰菜

 

into a table:

Choi / Choy / Cai	菜	Vegetables
Choi Sum	菜心	Chinese flowering cabbage sawi (Malay)
Pak Choi	白菜	Chinese white
Kai Choi	芥菜	Mustard Green
Gai Lan	芥蘭	Chinese Broccoli
Ong Choi	蕹菜	Water Spinach Kangkung (Malay)
Tong Ho	茼蒿	Chrysanthemum Greens
Sang Choy	莴苣 / 生菜	Chinese lettuce asparagus lettuce
Yau Mak	油麥菜	Long leaf lettuce
“Bitter Lettuce”	苦麥菜	Rabbit milkweed
Yin Choi	莧菜	Amaranth / Chinese Spinach Bayam (Malay)
Gao Gei Choi	枸杞葉	Wolfberry shoots
Lo Kui	帝王菜 / 落葵	Malabar Spinach Ceylon Spinach
Sai Yong Choi	西洋菜	water cress
Bo Choi	菠菜	spinach
Fan Shee Mew	番薯葉	Sweet potato shoots
Choi Dam	菜膽	Brussels Sprout

Dunno whY X Kinda High: On The 2nd Day of CNY..

kinda out of the ordinary CNY outing

just the two of us

 

I was “tablet”-ing on the bed

spamming the usual gangs on FB

mom was complaining (too much too much)

that I was on the bed with iPad

right after lunch

if finger exercising counts

 

then

under the hot sun

me and dad went to a mall

not the one I was expecting

because this is further away

and we were riding bike

 

nothing much really

large crowd though

and we spent 40 minutes

watching Chinese acrobatic show

 

next stop, the hypermarket

my dad was kinda not his usual self really

he was getting a little bit too kind to buy

 

we were wandering the ice-cream freezers

he suggested a tub of ice-cream

how about spoon then?

he said,

no worries, I have prepared one

oh my, seriously…

there he took out his “secret weapon”

 

isn’t it like a little picnic

Red Delicious apples

I am not praising the apples

it’s a copyrighted name for them

Vitasoy

my dad said it doesn’t taste as good

as Yeo’s and F&N Seasons and Drinho Homesoy

(Soybean master, he is)

Asian…. truly Malaysian flavours

ok… “foreign moon is not definitely rounder..”

 

and let’s see the loots back home

I can’t believe we are buying Chinese can food

in a hypermarket

cook a pot of plain porridge

then these can keep him full for the whole day

 

some yoghurt and EVIL for myself

EVIL = extra virgin olive oil

is for my home remedies

I never thought

they are so many varieties of olive oil

available on the market

 

and we discovered a secret hideout

rooftop garden

breezy and quiet

with wildlife like giraffes, elephants etc

there are signs indicating “non-smoking area”

thank goodness

 

loots of the day:

• all food

 

I am more than happy

to have a picnic like this

once in a blue moon

 

it’s way better than

……….

okay fine

I am an anti-socialist

who don’t really enjoy CNY

Blue Display X Repeating NAY: My Days Are Damn Grey

I am an avid “window” shopper

as in  examining the window displays

which’s new

which’s cool and not

and if possible

take photos of these window displays

 

here’s my favourite window of the week

taken just yesterday

 

yet..

at the same time

this is driving me mad

 

1st

the lady reminded me of

the denim top I wanted so badly

yet being rejected down right by my family

 

it’s just a top

a stupid top

why can’t I have it

even after argument, request

do I really have to beg

more story about my dream top

 

2ndly and sadly

the guy

 

Why wasn’t I going to see Ah Jan?

Why wasn’t I going to see Ah Jan?

Why wasn’t I going to see Ah Jan?

 

till then,

I am hell frustrated now

I am such a coward

 

Un-happiness is

has given up something,

yet still thinking about it

and nobody really knows

how much I really care about these

 

*SIGH*