Friday, July 27, 2012

A&W Root Beer Float, I Love You!

Ahahaha... Title says it all. It's only $2 right now at A&W and it comes in a frosty glass!!! :D Man, I wish we had this in the States :(....

My Vancouver Adventure: Day Two!

Hi all!
Well, it's my 2nd full day here now and it's not like I've never been here before, I have. But this time I have almost a week to just hang out and actually see Vancouver! My bffle, C, is travelling with me this whole trip and we got here, we met up with the rest of our group who will be joining the trainin program too.

So yesterday, C and I headed for Aberdeen with a friend. At first, we took the skytrain in the wrong direction, but we made it to Aberdeen soon enough (haha). We wanted to go to Aberdeen for some dim sum, but I couldn't find the place I went to last time and we were starving so we just picked the first place we saw. We were walking in, then we realized... crap, no pushing carts.. only order forms in Chinese. And let's just say our ability to read is not the best... (ahaha). We pooled together what we knew and by guessing we managed to order 8/9 things correctly! (Haha...BOOYAH!) And the last one actually was better than what we thought it was^^. So props to us! (Lol)

After brunch, we walked around the mall a little bit and we found many anime shops (and I wanted to buy like the entire store, but it was too expensive :'(), which had really cool stuff. C and I also had to exchange money because we had no Canadian dollars left.

Right on the outside strip of the mall next to Aberdeen, YaoHan Centre, we found a currency exchange place who had a rate of 1 to 1 and with no service fee!!!! What a blessing from God! The whole day we were searching for a good place, but they were all .96 or .98 to the dollar and still had $2 or $4 service charge. I was so happy, I was dancing :D (lol!) The place is called Kingmark (Canada) Currency Exchange Inc. The staff was very nice and the exchange was super quick! They have 3 stores in Greater Vancouver. You can check them out at www.kingmark.ca.

We got back to the house we're staying in and our friend made some spaghetti for our dinner! YumYum!^^

I'm hoping to blog more pics so you can SEE more of my adventure! Happy Friday all!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

My Seattle Adventure!

Hi all!

Sorry for being MIA for the past week. I've been busy running around getting things done for my trip. Right now I'm on the Bolt Bus enroute to Vancouver from Seattle!

Seattle was fun, but sadly I could only stay for one night. I'll be staying one more night come August before I fly back to NY. My trips to Vancouver is usually about a week or a week and a half. This time I'm staying for almost 3 weeks and man, so many things are different when I go for that long.

One, I need to be very precise when I pack. Because I flew to Seattle then bused it to Canada, checking luggage would cost me $25 a piece so instead, I decided to pack less. A LOT LESS... (lol)
Two, I have to worry about more things like when I'll arrive in Seattle then when I'm leaving for Vancouver, etc.
Three, I don't even know anymore. There's too much to keep track of and I'm so sleepy... I'm sorry if this post makes no sense... (lol)

Time for a little nap..^^

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Happy Bastille Day!

Hi all!

Happy Bastille Day to all my French friends! In NYC, FIAF (French Institue Alliance Française) presents a festival for a celebration of all things French. Located on 60th Street, 5th Ave to Lexington Ave. Festivities begin at noon and ends at 5PM. Definitely a great family event!

Through Twitter, they will have a challenge for a chance to win great prizes, including a trip to Paris for 2 O:! All you have to do is tweet pics of yourself at 5 participating booths. That's so easy.. I want to go to Paris :3 (lol).

For more details: http://bastilledayny.com/

Have a happy and safe Sunday, everybody!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Calling All Starbucks Lovers!

Hi all!

Just sharing some news I just received!
Today from 12-3PM, Starbucks is giving out free tall handcrafted Refreshers! I tried the Lime one the other day and it's pretty good & seriously refreshing! Happy Friday!!(:

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Kim Hyung Joong: New Show, City Conquest!

Hi all!

I'm so excited for KHJ's new show! It's such a different charater from Jihoo sunbae (of F4). I think this is going to be good! Much support, dear prince<3 (haha..)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Gyu-Kaku: Japanese BBQ & Happy Hour!

Hi all!

Man, today was an eventful one. Went to Church meeting in the morning, proceeded to the park for the Church family picnic, then headed to the city for an early dinner/happy hour at Gyu-Kaku. Located on E6th Street and Cooper Square by St. Mark's, it's actually quite easy to miss. It's most definitely a hidden gem in the East Village. From 3PM to 6PM is their Happy Hour and all alcoholic drinks are 50% off (meaning about $5 a drink, instead of the usual $10) and many Happy Hour specials on food. They even have a separate menu for Happy Hour.. so awesome (lol). The staff was extremely nice, patient, and helpful. Our server, Karma, explained everything to us, including the menus, the grilling times, the sauces, the drinks, etc. He was just exceptional! It definitely contributed to our great time there.

   

There are many delicious things on the menu, but there are a handful that are must-tries. The Hanger Steak, the Bi Bim Bap, the Swai Fish, and the Rib-Eye Steak. Among the things we ordered, those were absolutely the most delicious. All the BBQ meat were marinated perfectly and even the sauce for the Swai fish was amazing! My friend ordered the liver, which she said was really good, but I wouldn't know because I hate liver (lol). 

  
The picture on the left is my fish.. the foil was blowing up so much and so quickly, I thought that it might actually blow up.. (lol). Thank God it didn't! And it tasted very delicious!^^

The girl with me in the picture on the right might look familiar to you because she was in my last post too! She ordered a drink called the Rainforest, which was very tropical-looking and tasted like pineapple (haha..) and I ordered the Lychee Bellini, which is basically lychee with sparkling wine or something like that. Both were very delicious and not too strong. I found that their drink menu had a pretty good range. Some drinks were pretty light, like the Strawberry Lemonade Vodka and others were much stronger, like their Espresso Float. Overall, I would definitely give this place a 5/5! Even during the regular dining hours, 6PM-9PM, the prices aren't too crazy, but it's most definitely worth it during Happy Hour! Make sure to get a reservation, just in case. A place with food this good and prices this inexpensive can fill up pretty quickly! I just felt a little bad for the other customers because the guys were getting so loud towards the end of our meal... (lol).

P.S. If you plan to go there often, you should get their rewards card. It's $1 for the card and basically you collect points on it. Every $1 is 2 points I think or was it every $2 is 1 point... something like that! (haha..)

Saturday, July 7, 2012

My July 4th!

Hi all!

 I know this post is super late and I'm very sorry, but I had so much fun on July 4th that I couldn't help, but share my adventure with you!

 So on that morning, I went with some friends to watch the matinee show of The Amazing Spiderman, which by the way, was freaking AWESOME! I actually was not planning to watch it because it just felt weird to have Spiderman without Tobey McGuire. With that in mind, I went to watch it anyway and it turned out that I loved it; Andrew Garfield didn't do too bad of a job after all! (lol) I loved it because it told the story from when he was little. As the audience, I got more of Spiderman's background, like how he came to live with Aunt May and Uncle Ben. I also liked the story between Peter and Gwen more than Peter and Mary Jane. Although I think that's because I like Emma Stone more than Kirsten Dunst..

 I definitely give it a 4.5/5. Because this one involved more of Peter's beginning as Spiderman, there was more emphasis on his web-swinging, doing flips, etc (compared to the other Spiderman movies). I watched it at the 34th Street AMC theatre which was packed that morning with people watching Spiderman. Some of us got there an hour earlier to grab good seats and there were so many people there watching the 3D one. I don't know how the 3D one was, but I feel like the 3D would take away from the movie itself. I think 3D is best for animated movies or else they have to have done an extremely good job. We rushed upstairs with along with the big stampede of people thinking that all the good seats would be taken, but it turned out that the stampede was headed for the 3D movie (lol) and there was only like 3 people in our theater when we got there (haha!). We were able to secure two good rows in the center! Yes!(lol)

 After Spiderman, the group split into 2. One sought after food in KTown, the other went on a journey to Midtown Comics and of course I would be with the group going to.... THE COMIC BOOK STORE! (haha..) They had some pretty neat stuff there and since it was July 4th, there was a 20% off discount on everything (I think the sale is still on, until July 10th!). Then we headed for Haru in Times Square for a late lunch^^. So yummy yummy yummy... I'll do a review next time.

 At 4:30, I met up with one of my best gfs, D and we walked towards the piers to get our spots for the fireworks. As we were walking, the cops were already blocking off parts of the piers and not allowing people in unless they had tickets, so we walked faster (which is our regular NYC pace..lol) and walked towards the bigger numbers. When we reached 44th or 45th or so (between the Circle Line cruise and the Intrepid), we found a street where they were still letting people in, so we took our chance and slipped in. It was soooooo HOT, so we were looking for a nice place where we could sit for the next 5 hours with some shade.

  

We did NOT want to get heat strokes! We ended up choosing a nice spot by a tree that gave us decent shade from the sun. At first it was hard to find a good spot because there were already quite a big amount of people waiting already, but the cops started telling people to move their blankets because people were just spreading out big blankets and taking up so much space. Thank God for that 'cause that's how we got a better spot! (lol) We sat down and chatted for the next 5 hours and finally saw the sky going dark and the park lights turned on.

  

Around 7:30 or 8, all the cruises and boats were lining up on the water preparing for the fireworks. An FDNY boat started spraying red, white, and blue water (which was actually pretty cool). A group of helicopters flew by in a V formation. 

  

The sunset was so pretty! And seeing the Intrepid lit up in red, white, and blue was amazing! It looked so nice against the sunset. 

  

Although my pictures didn't come out too good, we were still able to see pretty much all of the fireworks from our spot. It was my first time actually going in person to see them and it's just so different from watching it on TV. 

  

There were smiley faces, spheres, hearts, and so much more. On the right is the herd of people leaving altogether (lol). It was crazy trying to get back to 9 Ave and they wouldn't let people walk on certain streets. Thank God we weren't heading for the train because I can only imagine how crazy that would've been! But as bad as it was, it wasn't as crazy as when I went to the Lunar New Year festival in Hong Kong just this past January (haha..). 

  

She is one of best girlfriends, my partner in crime for the weirdest things I've ever done and some of the most hilarious days I've ever had. She's the only one crazy enough to last 5 hours with me waiting for the fireworks in that incredible heat. Those 5 hours were definitely worth the wait. Watching the fireworks in person is just so different from watching them on TV. The waiting, the anticipation, the excitement, the people, the applause, the "Oohs and Ahhs".. and the list goes on. It's like watching it in HD with super surround sound, with the Boom! of every firework and the lights of every spark, the thumping of your heart from the loudness and excitement. It's absolutely an incredible experience to watch the fireworks up close! I'm so glad I did it this year^^

Friday, July 6, 2012

It's Kim Beom's Birthday!

Hi all! Just a short post tonight, I'm so wrapped up in this book I'm reading. I'll definitely be doing a review for it when I'm done. Anyway, July 7th is Kim Beom's birthday, so this is my little dedication to him. HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY! I will do a profile post about him soon!^^ Goodnight everyone!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Thursday Mani! (Or technically Tuesday's...)

Hi all!

It's been a while since I've done a mani post, so I decided to do my nails for July 4th(:
I don't have a name for this one, so here it is!

  
For some reason the pinkish-orange looks really orange.. but I still like it^^. It's my colors for July 4th this year! It's not too dark and it feels like a lighter shade of red and blue. 

  
Sinful Color's Luminary, DHC's C18, and Sally Hansen's Double Duty Base & Top Coat. I love Sinful Colors! The polish goes on so well and so easily. One of the reasons why I don't get my nails done at the salon is because I like to do them myself. Many girls like to get them done because they are supposed to last longer that way. But with Sinful Colors polish and the Double Duty Base & Top Coat, my nails can last about a week and a half, maybe even two. And I'm not the type of girl that just sits around doing nothing, so for my polish to last that long, it must be really good.. (lol!)

Work is making me so tired, it's getting so hard to share my adventures every day. But I'll definitely try to share as much as a I can and as often as I can! Thanks for reading!^^



Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Deets on Canada Day & Movie Screening of Savages!

Hi all!

As promised, here's some details on the 'Canada's Birthday Bash ft. The Great Canadian Songbook!' event at Joe's PubThis event celebrated Canada's 145th birthday, produced and emcee'd by Jeff BreithauptMusical Director, Peter Kiesewalter (Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata, East Village Opera Company) and the all-star “Workin’ for the Weekend House Band" really created a fun and hype atmosphere as the audience swayed, stood, clapped, and sung along to their Canadian favorites. The evening featured a whole line of great artists, like Tyley Ross (East Village Opera Company), Shannon Conley (Lez Zeppelin), Jamie Leonhart (The Truth About Suffering), Greg Naughton (The Sweet Remains), Shelley McPherson (Beneath the Hush, A Whisper), Alyson Palmer (BETTY), Victoria Cave (Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata), Amy CerviniMelissa Stylianou, and a special appearance by NY1 morning anchor, Pat Kiernan. All of whom, whether Canadians themselves or friends of Canada, put on a great show and sang their hearts out as their respect to Canada. The evening ended with a great colab of all the artists on stage. Happy Canada Day weekend to my Canadian friends!

On to the screening of 'Savages'! I went to watch it at Lincoln Square's AMC. Along with 'Savages', 'The Amazing Spiderman' and 'Katy Perry's Part of Me' were screening on the same evening, so the theater was quite packed. It was quite funny to see the lobby filled with lines of people, but no one on the ticket lines. 

 Well, let me start with.. it was a good movie. A great movie, in fact. However, for me, I probably wouldn't have chose to go see it on my own (as a personal preference). Having said that, I still thought the movie was awesome. It was jam-packed with action and the violent scenes were so amazingly graphic, I partially covered my face for some of them. (I'm such a big baby, I know! lol) 

This intense thriller is based on Don Winslow's best-selling crime novel that was names NY Time's Top 10 in 2010. Chon, played by Taylor Kitsch, and Ben, played by Aaron Johnson are best of friends and entrepreneurs. Their business? Dope. Apart of the action, the story is narrated by the one shared love of their lives, Ophelia aka O, played by Blake Lively. The story begins with these three and slowly, but twistedly turns, much to their fear, into something they cannot control or escape. Chon and Ben run into trouble when they face off against the Mexican drug cartel. They find themselves in multiple life or death situations as they sacrifice everything to get O back. 

Maybe it's because I only watched one trailer, but the movie was very different from what I understood of the trailer I watched. When I search for the movie summary, it gives a pretty accurate portrayal of the movie, so maybe the trailer was of a different perspective. I feel that 'Savages', is more than just a movie. I feel it can be seen as a message. It's scary to think such terror happens in real life, but that is reality. This movie can encourage people, especially young people to be more attentive to the things that happen around us and be more careful of the choices we make and the situations we get ourselves into

The acting in this movie was pretty incredible. That is what I love about the movies. While watching any good movie, you should feel sucked into that character's perspective, environment, feelings. Something about Lively felt a little off, but throughout the movie, I couldn't stop thinking how incredibly strong O was because in her situation, most girls would have broken down or given up hope. Kitsch and Johnson were great. At first Chon and Ben seemed so relaxed and kind of gave off an "I do what I want. Whatever." type of attitude, but they became when it came to saving O, it was so intense I could feel their strong desire and will power. Dennis (John Travolta) was the middle person between the two groups. His acting was great, as usual;  I gave up trying to figure out which side he was actually on and which side he was playing (lol). Lado (Benicio Del Toro) was such a "good" bad guy that I was wishing him dead by the end of the movie and even though she was the root of the Mexican drug cartel, I couldn't help but feel bad for Elena (Salma Hayek). At one point in the movie though, I did think about the fact that if she was a man, they may not have made her character weaken. It was such an intense movie that even after it ended, I was still fuming about the injustice of the final events. I would definitely recommend it to thriller and action-movie lovers! If you're afraid of blood or torture scenes, I suggest you not watch it in theaters (you'll probably have nightmares or end up covering your face for half the movie..lol). It was definitely a R-rated movie. Overall, I think I'll give this it a 4/5!

That's all for today! Thanks for reading^^



Monday, July 2, 2012

Canada Day Event & Savages Movie Screening!

Hi all!

Sorry I didn't get to post about yesterday's event. It was pretty awesome and definitely I'll give more dets later tonight!(:

Right now I'm just getting ready to go to a screening of the new movie, Savages! With John Travolta and Blake Lively, directed by Oliver Stone, how can you miss? ;D

I'm really looking forward to it! Check out my review later, it's time to jet!