Hiking trip!

Yesterday I went hiking with my parents for the first time! It was a complete spur-of-the-moment thing, apparently. My mom woke me up yesterday around 1 and said my dad wanted to go out to this hiking place all of a sudden. I didn't really want to go, because I've never had an interest in going hiking, but I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed anyway. 


It took forever just to find the place. The GPS got the location all wrong, so we had to go and look for it ourselves. It's actually a very easy place to miss; the turn that takes you into the parking area is very small and practically hidden. It was a bit crowded, but because the actual hiking area was so huge, it was a little uncommon to run into anyone else.


On a little noticeboard before you head towards one of the trails (I believe there were three), there was a map of the area, which was huge. But there were also two notices about things to be wary of; Snakes and black bears. Naturally I totally started freaking out, because I wanted to hike and enjoy nature, not be attacked or even have to see snakes and black bears. Thankfully, during our hiking, we only came across a lot of daddy long leg spiders. No snakes or bears! (Though we did run into a family who said they found a huge snake on one of the other trails.)


The trails were very scenic, obviously. The higher up you went, the better views you had of what was around. Our first destination was to get to this thing called a pillar rock near the top of the mountain, but my mom didn't want to walk up that high, so we turned and went down the orange trail, towards a reservoir. We also didn't make it there, even though we were close, because honestly I was starting to chicken out a little bit. I was tired of all the bugs and I was terrified about running into a snake or bear. 


The downside to the entire trip was that because there were so many rocks and trees and shit to watch out for, I could barely look to see what was around me. I was basically looking down at the ground in front of me the entire time, unless I stopped walking. Which I tried not to do, because I didn't want some bug crawling up on me. This resulted in me being able to get only two photos of the entire thing.

That was a really pretty river towards the start of the hike.

Look at that awesome quality! *sarcasm* I'm not sure what I was trying to take a picture of. But a photo is a photo. Even though I wasn't all that thrilled at first about going hiking, it turned out to be a pretty decent trip. And then we put back on the 300 calories we burned walking by going to get some Dairy Queen.

Review : Likas Papaya Soap

If there's one thing I hate, it's acne. I break out regularly, regardless of whether I'm eating healthy or not, and it takes forever for the bumps to go away. I've found a great solution to help clear up acne and fix discolored skin, and that is...

Likas papaya soap!

This soap works miracles. With regular use, it clears up acne and helps to even out your skin tone. Even if you don't have acne or discolored skin, this helps to make your skin smoother and lighten it. I was hesitant to try this at first, because I read a lot of reviews saying that it doesn't work and only dries out the skin. Thankfully, it's been working for me, and it hasn't been drying my skin out! Here are just some basic things you've probably been wondering about.

Q: How long does it take to work?

A: If you use it every day (I like to use it right after I get out of the shower) and lather it on for about three minutes, you should start seeing minor results within two weeks. To see really visible results (lighter/clearer skin, less acne), you might have to wait a month or two. It varies for everyone.

Q: Will it dry out my skin?

A: Only if you don't use a moisturizer! This is key. People keep complaining that this soap dries out their skin, and it's because they're not using a moisturizer. Right after you wash off the soap, apply some moisturizer. I'm using the green tea moisturizer from Proactiv, and my skin is perfectly healthy and smooth.

Q: How many boxes should I buy to start out with?

A: I bought just one at first, because I didn't know how my skin would react. But if your skin is showing no signs of allergic reactions or something like that, you should buy another box or two to stay stocked up.

Q: Can I use it on my body, too?

A: Yes! It might take a little longer to see results, but you can definitely use it on your body. Just put lotion on after you wash it off.

If you don't take good care of your skin, don't expect the results to last! If the soap lightens your skin and you go out into the sun without sunscreen, expect to tan. Whenever I go out, I use some facial sunscreen not only because it's a good idea, but because I don't want to tan.

You can buy this in bulk on places like Amazon or eBay for really reasonable prices, too.

To conclude: This soap does what it says it'll do. Just make sure to use moisturizer/lotion, or else it won't work. It takes time to see results, but you'll see them!

Caviar Nails

There seems to be a new nail trend emerging, called caviar nails. And no, don't freak out, it's not real caviar. They're just little micro-glass beads that look like little pieces of caviar. 

I adore this! It's both cute and exotic, though I prefer the caviar beads to be on part of the nail rather than the whole nail, like it is in the picture above. It's a little difficult to go in-depth with this, because it seems like this has only been around for a few months, although it's already surging with popularity. I believe Ciaté is the first brand to come out with a caviar nail kit, and it seems like that's where most people are getting theirs from. (Or, it could be some people just buy little micro-beads and glue them on, but I would rather use the ones from the nail kit.)


A lot of people seem to find this nail style ugly, and it's understandable. A lot of little baubles on your nails might not seem attractive to a lot of people; even more so when the baubles cover your entire nail. That's why I like it on just part of nail.

credit to nancyvalentino.com

I think it looks a lot better that way, since the nail doesn't look all junky. Maybe if you have the caviar beads on one or two nails on both hands, instead of all ten nails, would also be nice. 


I wonder how long this trend will last? It seems like crackle nail design is still going strong, though it doesn't seem to be as popular as it was.

Review : City Hunter

I just finished watching the last episode of City Hunter almost an hour ago, and man was it awesome! Now that I'm finally done with the series, I feel like I must write a review about it, because maybe 10 years from now I'll look back on this and remember and want to watch it again.


Okay, let's try and make this all professional looking, ya?

Main Cast : 

Lee Min Ho as Lee Yoon Sung

Park Min Young as Kim Nana

Kim Sang Joong as Lee Jin Pyo/Steve Lee

Lee Joon Hyuk as Kim Young Joo

Even though the plot is a bit long, I'll try to squish is as best as possible. In short, a man [Lee Jin Pyo], who was the sole survivor of an attack by their own country in 1983, takes his friend's son [Lee Yoon Sung] and raises him as his own. When Yoonsung turns 28 and the two move back to South Korea, Jinpyo makes it clear that he wants Yoonsung to carry out revenge against the 5 men responsible for the attack against him and his fellow soldiers. Yoonsung gets a job at the Blue House, and there he meets Kim Nana, a girl who he ends up falling in love with, but knows that because of his real mission, he would be putting her in danger. 

Enter Kim Young Joo, a prosecutor who ends up taking on the City Hunter case. [The 'City Hunter case' being the people Yoonsung delivers to the police as corrupt, though his identity as the City Hunter remains a secret.] I'll leave it at that, because the rest you should see for yourself!

Personal rating: 5/5 

Wow, was this drama good. And I mean so good that it had me laughing and crying and my heart pounding in almost every episode. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the plot is very dynamic and multifaceted, which keeps you watching until the end. The plot goes way deeper than how I described it. The acting was absolutely phenomenal, and never disappointed me. Not once did I consider dropping this show because I was bored or it got boring. This show had me interested from episode 1 to episode 20. I really can't think of any complaints to make. I would definitely watch this again!

This show definitely goes down on my list as one of the best, if not the best drama of 2011. [Kind of like how Coffee Prince was the best of 2007, and Boys Over Flowers and You're Beautiful being the top of 2009.] 

"Nu-goth" and "Pastel Goth"

I, being the style-addict I am, have been closely following these style trends called "pastel/bubblegum goth" and "nu-goth". I've seen about an equal amount of love and hate for it, and I personally stand on the "love" side. 


Just go on tumblr and you'll find oodles of photos of girls with pastel-colored or bleached hair, wearing funky, inverted-cross adorned clothes. (Before you go all ape, inverted crosses are not satanic. Technically it's a holy symbol, but as I prefer to look at it, only people apply meaning to symbols. So take it or leave it.) The clothes are typically in pastel colors, and the style of the clothes seem to have fused nicely with typical goth fashion staples, such as leather vests and shirts with bones or studs. And the best part is that it looks damn classy.

an example of how quirky the style can be. credit to waititsfashion@tumblr

Sure, it's quirky, but I personally love it.


Another thing that helps to define the style is the common use of either regular or inverted crosses, and sometimes logos such as dolls and cats. Yes, cats. 


Moving on to the "nu-goth" style, this is definitely another style that has a lot of lovers and haters. Again, I stand with the lovers. I was never a big fan of the goth style, because I personally don't like those super baggy pants, super dark makeup, and chains and skulls and bones and spikes everywhere. Nu-goth is essentially taking elements of goth style and making them into a classy, toned-down version. 

credit to anikachu@tumblr

It can be difficult to exactly describe pastel goth and nu-goth, because they can both have elements of each other in them.

credit to unpronounceable-girl@tumblr

Of course, majority of the haters on these two style are people who say things like "This isn't goth." Style changes, get over it lah. We don't dress like the flapper girls did back in the 1920s. I consider these two styles to be subtypes of goth, but they could also be considered completely new styles on their own. This style clearly isn't popular in the celebrity world, but it's slowly starting to break into the high-fashion market, judging from some of the models walking down the runway.


There are some stores that cater to these styles, the first two coming to mind being glitterhell and nikkilipstick. There are also some online personalities that closely follow the style, a great example being Felice Fawn.  
Another good blog post about these styles can be found on Maggie's blog, maggiemunster.blogspot.com. She also discusses more about internet personalities who follow the styles.

Foodworks and Fireworks

I just got home from a barbecue/lakeside fireworks event at a nearby campsite. I got there with my parents at about 4:30, and it was crazy boring at first. It was hot, I didn't know anyone (majority of the people there were elderly), and the throng of young kids that were there were some ang mohs. (I don't like saying that, but they were so rude and loud!)


Anyway, camwhore shot I took inside the lodge:

The view of the lake was really nice, too. 

And the food was awesome! I had two hot dogs, and a bunch of these delicious little cookies. Ugh, I feel terrible because I've been seriously pigging out this past week. Anyway, the fireworks were really awesome, even though they started half an hour late. We could see the fireworks from the high school on the other end of the lake (it's a veeeeery big lake), and they totally one-upped us. Theirs were longer and much cooler. I didn't even know there would be fireworks at the high school until a friend of mine texted me. I'll just go next year, I guess.

Histoire

Everyone at some point finds something that puts them on a rocket and shoots them down memory lane.
For me, that 'something' is Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas.


I just bought this book today, but just from the prologue you can tell it's such a delightful book. Her writing style is the kind that I really love; Witty and humorous, but never straying from the point. In a nutshell, it's about how she's torn between living in New York City and living in Paris, since she loves both cities with a fierce passion. And this is sending my brain right back to French class in school, four years ago.


It was the second week of school, since the first week was what we considered 'orientation'. You're still finding your classes and the teachers are going over what you'll be learning, and you're getting packs and packs of information that you're expected to go over. (Hah.) Back then, the system for electives we used for first-year students was called  'wheel'. Each semester, you'd have a different elective, so you get to see which electives you'd pick for your next years there. And the first class I was put into was French, along with a couple of friends.


Every day, our teacher gave us some questions to answer in a format she called something-du jour. I don't remember the first part of what that was, and I don't remember the questions. But it was quite fun. I remember her showing us a video about all the landmarks in Paris, such as the Seine and the Arc de Triomphe. 


In order to add to the whole immersion experience, she had us pick out French names, which she would call us by rather than our real names. I picked Océan, because to me, it was one of the prettiest names on the list that she gave us. And so Océan I was, at least for that semester. 


We started out with just learning vocab, such as the names of places like patisserie and boulangerie. Once in a while she'd bring in some food for us, and one thing I learned back then that I still do on occasion is dipping bread in hot chocolate. It sounded gross at first, but it's actually really good. I refused to touch Nutella, though, and I still do. (Though I might want to try it at some point!)


Okay, enough with the nostalgic fluff. 


I had pretty much forgotten how much I fell in love with French culture until I picked up this book. It feels a little funny, since it's been four years since I've felt this way. France is still a place I would love to visit, and it always has been. But I had just forgotten about how much I enjoyed French class. (And learning a bit of the language, too.) I think I might pick up learning about it, again. And I'd still love to go there one day.


And maybe, just maybe, try Nutella.