Music Recommendation: Oscar May 27, 2008

 

I don’t listen to much Cantonese music but there are a few that I like, one of which is Oscar Siu. I have a thing for singers that aren’t very well known usually because they’re the talented ones who sing really well but don’t have really good promo.

 

 

I saw that video above, and his live guitar and singing are quite good.

 

I’m actually friends with one of Oscar’s family members and I ran into one of Oscar’s songs on his ipod. I was intrigued and I quite like his voice. So yeah, I’m a little new to him. I don’t know much about him other than that he’s a 20 something year old in Hong Kong who’s been singing for a few years. But compared to other Cantonese singers, he’s quite impressive. Therefore, I recommend him!

 

Picture Credit: on photo

Help for oily acne-prone skin May 24, 2008

I’m finding out all these beauty tricks right now. It’s lovely.

 

So recently, I went on this detox diet: http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=99202

I only managed to go 3 days because school was too stressful and I needed to eat. Somehow, my skin got clearer and less oily during the diet. I thought it was because of the increased amount of water I was drinking. So the day after I got off the diet, I drank more water. My skin was still oily. But you know, still drink lots of water. It’s good for you.

 

Then that night, I realized that I had lemon drinks that I made left over from the diet. I figured I should drink them so they wouldn’t go to waste. Then I went to bed. My skin gets really oily as I sleep, so I wind up waking up with this layer of oil on my face, it’s kind of gross. But the morning after I drank my lemon drink, it was FAR less oily, if not at all and my acne was clearing up a lot. So then I thought…it’s the lemons!!

 

Lemons are really powerful for skin. They lighten skin, freckles, scars, etc if you apply the juice to your skin. I’ve been using it to lighten my acne scars. (If you do the same, make sure to use an oil free SPF lotion because lemons are acidic and they will make your skin sensitive to sun. I use Purpose. You can get it at Rite Aid.) I never realized that they could fix my oily skin.

 

Here’s how I made the lemon drinks: 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1-2 tablespoons of dark amber syrup (from the organic section), 1/10 tsp of cayenne pepper, and 10oz of water (that is my approx. measurement for one glass). But keep note that that was for the detox diet. I think now I’ll just use lemon juice, 10oz of water, and syrup (for sweetening, I figured sugar wouldn’t do any good so I should stick to the syrup. I don’t know if that makes any sense at all. But use sugar if you want). I figure about a glass or two during the day and a glass or two during the night can keep my skin from getting oily.

 

Yea, lemons are a bit pricey now, but I’d rather help my skin this way because it’s more natural. Store bought products only work for a short period of time for me. I guess my skin adapts to drugstore creams too quickly. I have to get prescripted cream because it’s the only thing that’s strong enough that my skin won’t adapt to it.

 

But if you’re very acne-prone like me, go see your doctor. When I go for check ups, I consult my doctor about my acne and he gives me prescriptions for acne cream. So you should stick to using medicine that you get from a doctor or something. To me, the lemon juice is helping my cream, not the other way around. I think my cream is doing a lot of the work, and the lemon juice is just keeping the oils off my skin and making it easier for the cream to work.

 

Also, keep a scrub at hand. People seem to like St. Ives Apricot Scrub. You need it to clean the dirt off your face. You don’t want to risk getting the dirt stuck in your pores.

 

But you still should drink lots of water. I heard that people have oily skin because they don’t drink enough water. Your skin gets dry and your body produces oil to keep it from drying out. I mean, I don’t know if that’s true. But that’s what I heard. We all know that water’s good for you anyways.

 

Well, good luck to you all and your journeys towards perfect skin!

Reply to playmeagain and candychu May 21, 2008

First of all, I want to thank candychu for all her comments on my blog. Lately, I’ve only had time to quickly type down whatever I was thinking and then go back to work, but candychu frequently comes back even though I haven’t taken time to visit her blog. So many thanks!

 

Second of all, thanks for the complements about my eyes.

 

Anyways, my last post was about using Vaseline, the multipurpose miracle cream, to easily give your eyelashes a long lasting and beautiful curl.

 

candychu asked: do you “heat” up your eyelash curler by blow-drying it before using, or what?

I did heat before I discovered the miracle of Vaseline because it’s a tad easier. Even if I did that, the curl was difficult to make and difficult to maintain. I suppose my curlers don’t fit my eye too well because I seemed to have so many probs with curling my lashes before. 

BUT with Vaseline, it’s actually a lot easier for me to curl my lashes. So now, I don’t heat my curler. It takes me a lot less time to curl my lashes with the Vaseline and it holds all day. Plus, the Vaseline give your lashes a nice glossy look. It’s pretty nice. Today, I just curl my lashes real fast to open up my eyes a bit and went out. No mascara. It’s been 12 hours, and my lashes are still pretty.

So even a quick application of Vaseline can perk up your “lazy eyelashes” candychu. Just remember to gradually move your curler when you curl. I don’t know if you know that already. Most people say that you should start at the roots and move out but I do the opposite - it seems to work for me. Just do what feels best for those lashes.

 

playmeagain said:

But yes, I LOVE VASELINE. Actually, I find it works the best for dry lips – much better than the more renowned “Burt’s Bees”. And it’s a GREAT makeup remover (not that I wear makeup that often. It’s such a hassle).

And haha, I’m totally guilty for not changing my mascara every three months, too – mainly because I use it so sparsely that I find it wasteful to keep replacing it. As a result, I use the same mascara for at least a year, which is TERRIBLE, but I could care less. XD

 

You know, I’ve always wanted to try Burt’s Bees because it’s so popular. It’s so pricey though, so I’ve never gotten the courage to buy it. I guess I won’t now that I know the power of Vaseline.

And yeah, that’s the same reason I don’t replace my mascara. I don’t wear makeup everyday. I only wear makeup when my eyes are tired, puffy, and in need of opening. It is more sanitary to replace your mascara though. I suppose, you might want to clean up your eyes before you apply mascara or any makeup. Maybe then it’ll be a little more cleaner. I mean, it’s not going to be wonderfully clean, but if you get dirt off your eyes, there won’t be much dirt going onto the mascara brush to build up later.

 

Well, I’m gonna sleep now. I have a super amount of work to do tomorrow. I’ll be back soon, I hope.

How to have pretty lashes May 20, 2008

I was reading around about mascara ’cause I have this ongoing problem with keeping my lashes curled. I always curl my lashes and apply mascara. However, the mascara winds up weighing down my lashes and they go back to normal. So then I have to recurl them. That, of course, gets my curler messy and some of my lashes break off. It’s awful. And even if that works, the lashes will go down during the day. Plus, I always have to put on a thick coat of mascara for the lashes to look alright.

 

Well from my research, I found out that Vaseline is a true miracle worker for lashes. In fact, Vaseline has plenty of uses: fixing dry skin, using it as a eyeshadow base, cleaning makeup stains off of clothes, using it as lube for taking off rings or putting on earrings, and many more.

 

First, I took some Vaseline and put it on my lashes. Then I took my curler and curled them. It was very simple and my lashes came out even more wonderfully than if I curled them as they were. I didn’t put on mascara but instead, I left it alone all through school. About 7 hours passed and my lashes were exactly the same as when I first curled them. Then I wanted to see what would happen if I applied mascara. It was wonderful. My mascara’s pretty old. You’re actually supposed to replace mascara after 3 months but I didn’t, so my mascara clumps sometimes and weighs down my curl. But with the Vaseline on my lashes, the mascara went on smoothly and evenly, and my curl didn’t budge at all.

 

Here’s proof:

This is after I applied mascara 7 HOURS after applying Vaseline and curling. I did NO curling afterwards, my lashes were exactly the same as when I FIRST curled them.

 

I’m sure a lot of you makeup users have heard of this trick before. But for makeup noobs, like me, it’s a huge find. So I just had to write about it.

Reply to Sara part 2 May 16, 2008

In reply to my reply to her she says:

 

I just said thanks for calling ELFs insane because I am one. Calling more than 10 million people (official and unofficial, hight percentage of ELFs are unofficial like me) insane don’t you think thats a little bit too harsh. BTW, SuJu fans are all over the world so not all of them can be criticized as being the same. I said that because I am from UK and I’m neither Korean or Chinese so I don’t know who Leehom is or se7en.
BTW, I didn’t know my comment was that important. Thanks by the way for making that list.

 

Sorry if you’re offended. But for the thousandth time, this isn’t an unbiased blog to provide news and whatnot. This blog is opinionated, so what do you expect? I write to satisfy my own needs to give my opinions. So I’m not going to sugar-coat my words to make other people happy. So yes, your comments are important because they’re your opinions and if I have something to say in response, I will say it.

 

If you read my entry, you would know that, although I didn’t specify any nationalities or ethnicities, I don’t completely generalize every fan. I have met some that are down-to-Earth and have their priorities in order. But I do believe that many of them these days need to get lives. I have met many people who get sucked into fandom, and I’m sure that if it weren’t for location restraints, they would be just as horrifically obsessed as any fan on the other side of the globe. I’m not saying they’re bad people either, they just need to mature and get their lives in order.

 

And it doesn’t matter if you don’t know Leehom or SE7EN. (Although, you should because their music is wonderful but David Tao is my hero for life.) I’m using them as examples because their fans are older and, in my opinion, better conducted. I mean, not all of them are angels, but they’ve behaved a lot more nicely than fans these days. Basically, I’m comparing the old to the new and seeing it as declining maturity in people as time moves on, which I see in many aspects of life but I’m focusing on this one. And I’m not just centering it on ELFs, but they have gotten out of hand quite a number of times which makes them fine specimens for this argument.

 

Well, I’m not saying that you can’t comment back because your opinions are your opinions and mine are mine. Go ahead. But you can’t expect me to be nice just because you think I’m “too harsh.” The world doesn’t work that way. You’re lucky Chenzi doesn’t write here much, she’s brutal but I think she’s almost one of those “insane” fans (if she wasn’t such a cheapskate lol).

 

Please do comment if you have more opinions. That’s not sarcasm, either. I don’t do sarcasm.

Reply to sara May 15, 2008

sara commented my most recent topic about Leehom and Zhou Mi:

 

Thanks about the compliment of being insane.

 

And my reply is, no problem.

 

Frankly, I think they are insane. The majority at least. And if you can acknowledge that, then good. If you’re in denial, keep reading.

Donating to China Earthquake Relief May 15, 2008

Someone already started a small donation box at school today. I never managed to run into him unfortunately. But my friend was very passionate about it and donated five whole dollars. I suggest that people either donate to their school’s fund, start their own if there is none, or just individually donate to the Red Cross. Forget the political and economic blahblahblah, worry about the kids who could be a better future for China. Where there is bad, there’s still good, so we can’t condemn the victims because of the bad people we hear about all the time.

 

http://www.ifgogo.com/ - This is a blog with charity information, but just as a fair warning, there are some pictures which are not visually graphic but pretty heavy on the heart. 

 

You can also go to the website of your country’s Red Cross and donate there. 

 

Then there is Jet Li’s The One Foundation.

 

No matter what charity you decide to donate to, I think people should make an effort before it’s too late. A few days may have passed since the earthquake, but we still have the chance to save lives.

SJM Interview Stirs Up Semi-Scandal Part 2 May 14, 2008

 

I was reading this post on Soompi, and I just have to say…I expected it, unfortunately. The post provides this link to a blog entry regarding the mishap. According to that blog, since Zhou Mi ran his mouth, Leehom has been getting criticism from netizens. In response, Leehom fans searched for the video of that event from several years (provided in the blog entry) and revealed the truth. Leehom had an upcoming concert and wasn’t supposed to sing at events prior to it; thus, he invited Zhou Mi on stage to sing. Now Leehom fans hope that Zhou Mi will give an apology.

 

I hate fandom for this, especially because they believed a newbie and lost faith in one of the most well-established singers in Asia. Now all these netizens think Leehom’s some kind of cheater when we know he’s definitely not. You’d think that after having tons of Leehom’s high school/college songs online and a 14-year long career, everybody would know what his voice sounds like and that nobody’s behind the scenes providing his voice. 

 

And you know, Leehom fans didn’t even want to make a big deal out of this because it really is just a newbie mistake – everybody makes mistakes, especially newbies. I’m tired of hearing about Super Junior’s insane fans doing something stupid. They haven’t done many smart things in comparison to their stupidity. And yes, I AM comparing their fans.

 

So let’s just leave the thing alone. We know the truth now. Just know that we can’t believe EVERYTHING someone says and maybe also a little thing or two about interviews.  

 

PS: Don’t use this entry as “news.” If you must, refer to the links I provided in the beginning.

 

Have a nice, stupidity-free day.

Misconceptions of Buddhism May 12, 2008

Since the recent earthquake in China, there were TONS of anti-China messages all over videos and stuff about the earthquake. First of all, it’s rude. Be mad at the government, go ahead. I’m not disagreeing with you. But innocent people are dying, and you’re just sitting back on your fat ass, laughing in satisfaction. That’s inhumane and disgusting to the least bit, and I can sure as hell compare that way of thinking to the corrupt Chinese that you just put down.

Some really ignorant people were stating that this is the wrath of Buddha and this is what China gets for not freeing Tibet. I have nothing against Free Tibet but I don’t feel educated enough to have an opinion as of now. But what they said just really didn’t make any sense to me in terms of religion. Only an ignorant fool would say something like that.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m Buddhist. I’m not exactly strongly Buddhist because with every religions, there are things that I disagree with but I do agree with Buddhist more than any other philosophy. So I do get kind off annoyed when people shoot their mouths about Buddhism as if there was one Buddha in the position of G-d who smites people when they do wrong things.

1. There is more than one Buddha. If you can find Nirvana (a state of mental enlightenment, freedom from all suffering, and the highest form of happiness), you are a Buddha.

2. A Buddha doesn’t feel wrath. Wrath is a destructive emotion that spawns from anger. I did read somewhere that “wrath” in Buddhism is more of a way that helps one through negative obstacles, but it’s, in no situation, a way of dealing with things violently.

3. A Buddha is not our version of G-d. Yes, I type G-d that way out of respect for my Christian, Catholic, Jewish, etc friends. In Buddhism, we believe that there is no central creator but rather, our thoughts are what create the world. I found this on Wikipedia:

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.

Dhammapada, 1-1.3

Think in our point of view for a moment. Assume that G-d and all else comes from our thoughts. G-d is our creator but if He is a manifestation of our thoughts, then our thoughts are actually the true creator. But it isn’t that we don’t believe that there aren’t any supernatural forces out there, we just don’t give it a specific form or address it in any way.

Now, I may not completely believe that G-d may exist but I still show my respect for Him because a person has the right to make their own decisions. I’m not only saying that because I’m an American but I’m also saying that because Buddhism teaches me to accept other people’s choices in their own journeys. And yes, I have tried finding myself in Christianity before by going to Bible club once a week but I just didn’t agree with it too much. So you know, even if you don’t agree with some things, you should stomp it into the dirt.

So Buddha isn’t G-d. Siddhārtha Gautama, a Buddha, is our teacher. He was born a man, was raised as a man, and died a man. So when we pray to him, we aren’t worshipping him. We’re asking him for guidance and thanking him for teaching us. I suppose he’s sort of like G-d, but we see him more as a man who’s reached a level of perfection that we must look to as our role model.

And no offense to people who are ”praying to Buddha” that the earthquake victims are okay, he can’t exactly do anything. You have to help those people on your own. The journey of a Buddhist is an individual journey, the teachings of a Buddha can guide you, but you must take the path yourself. Basically, you can never rely on a higher being, you need to take initiative yourself.

4. Buddha doesn’t punish sinners. From what I know, G-d protects good people, forgives those who admit their sins and seek His guidance, and punishes evil. A Buddha doesn’t serve that purpose. We believe in karma, which is more of a “cause and effect” philosophy where all deeds come with consequences whether they are good or bad. I suppose if you’re nonreligious you would see this more as a version of the “just-world hypothesis.”

So next time you reference a religion you don’t understand or talk about Buddhism like that when you’re a Free Tibet supporter (Tibetans have a version of Buddhism), do your homework, stay in school, and don’t go shooting your mouth.

7.8 Earthquake Shakes China May 12, 2008

The earthquake start on May 12th in the afternoon (early morning for me). It is reportedly the biggest earthquake in 58 years to hit China. Sichuan was hit the hardest and the death toll is up to 9000. The earthquake was so severe that the people of Beijing could feel the tremors and civilians of Vietnam had to be evacuated out of their buildings as well.

Here’s a video during the earthquake:

I hope that these families can stay strong through this and that the lost souls can eventually find their ways and rest in peace.