Thursday, December 23, 2010

Baby-Sitting for my Grandpa




Today my Grandpa requested that I help him baby-sit his new puppy until I return to school from break. So I took on the task and took little Bobby home. Over the course of next week, I will attempt to train Bobby to do certain tricks that I have learned to teach other dogs while I was volunteering at Caring Town (we train abandoned dogs to become service dogs and help them get adopted). Wish me luck!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Tegami Bachi 1 and 2



The first thing about Tegami Bachi that caught my eye was the beautiful art style of this manga. I've been wanting to read the manga since last year but I've been so busy with everything that it was forgotten.Since I'm out of school right now, I've had a lot of time to watch anime! So recently I finished Tegami Bachi season 1. After watching the first season of the anime though, I was a bit disappointed.

Tegami Bachi is a story revolving around a young boy, Lag Seeing, who strives to be the best Letter Bee. Letter Bees are mail delivery people who risk their lives fighting monsters called Gaichuus and traveling endlessly to make sure the hearts within the letters can be delivered to their destination. During the course of the story, Lag finds out many secrets of the government, why his mother was taken from him, and possibly what he really is.

First Season OP:



The beginning of the anime was very much like the manga and had a very captivating story that makes the readers want more. But in most of the season was filled with fillers and I almost gave up watching. Luckily, during the last few episodes, the story picked up it's speed again and leaves a cliffhanger for the second season, Tegami Bachi: Reverse.

Second Season OP:


The second season was a lot more exciting than the first season in that it revealed many secrets regarding the anti government organization Reverse and the birth of Niche, Lag's Dingo. Currently, the second season is still on-going on a weekly basis.

Tegami Bachi is full of all kinds of emotions. I found myself crying with Lag (who is a giant crybaby) in more than one occasion. Since most of the main characters are children (12-14) they are fill with silly moments. In one recent episode, Lag finally meets the famous Jiggy Pepper, a letter bee who makes express delivery on a motorcycle. Lag and the other boys idolized him so much that they imitated him in a very silly way! XD

Jiggy saying good bye to Lag:


The boys reenacting the scene (Lag pretends to be Jiggy while Conner plays the role of the motorcycle):




Besides all the emotion this anime was able to evoke from me, I was also captivated by all the songs they used for the opening and endings. They were all very soft and lovely and definitely reflected the mood of the anime (plus I've always had a likeing for Suga Shikao's music). All in all, I would reccomend browsing through the first season of the anime, watching the second season, and then reading the manga in addition to get the missing info and the latest bits of the plot. I hope you all will enjoy this series as much as I did! :D

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Sengoku Basara 1 and 2



Some of us videogamers might recognize Sengoku Basara as a videogame series revolving the Sengoku Era of feudal Japan. Though I have yet to play any of the games, I've been watching the anime series first and second season. I first heard about this series from an online webpage talking about women of Japan being captivated by this anime series and that it increased Date Masamune (an actual historical figure in the Sengoku Period) popularity with women due to his portrayal in this anime. Curious, I decided to watch the anime to see what it was all about.

OP to first season:


The first season of Sengoku Basara was about our hero's quest to stop Nobunaga Oda's ruthless plans to take over Japan. Within the first 3 minutes of the first episode, I was thoroughly confused by the Date Masamune's character. He rode on a horse that had strange pipes which made it look like a motorcycle. What confused me more was the fact that in between his dialogue in Japanese, he threw out little pieces of English like "Let's party!" or "Put your guns on!" This cracked me up a bit (I thought I accidentally clicked a dubbed version of the anime) prompted me to keep watching the series.

OP to second season:


This season, the heroes band together to fight Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who wants to conquer the land an allow only the strong to live (meaning only warriors and none of the regular citizens). After watching the first season, I immediately wanted to watch more of this series (especially since there where so many bishis in this series). The second season was a bit slower in the movement of the story (most of it was flash back or internal conflicts). But it was still interesting to find out more about the past of Maeda Keiji, who was a character who wanted peace without fighting from the first and second season.

Overall, this series had an interesting story plot and it retold the history of the Sengoku Period (to a very limit degree of accuracy). I loved the characterization of the characters: Date and his biker gang leader role, Sanada with his burning determination, etc. I really loved watching the character interact with each other like Sanada and Takeda. The two of them are like student and teacher. For some odd (and entertaining) reason, Sanada like to run at Takeda while questioning their ways and Takeda would beat him up everytime he answers. I guess everyone has their own way of learning lol.

Have you seen Sengoku Basara? My favorite character is Sanada Yukimura. Who is yours?

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Introducing an Adorably Funny Cat: Maru

Remember my last video post with the cat who loves to fit himself into boxes (Look at the bottom of the post to see the link for the video)? Well, I found his youtube channel! Thurns out his name is Maru and he is a Scottish Fold. Watching Maru makes me want to have a cat too lol. Here's an introduction video about Maru. Have fun!



Here is the link to my previous post "Cat vs. Boxes": http://happyberryland.blogspot.com/2010/11/cat-vs-boxes.html

And this is Maru's channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/mugumogu

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Cats Playing Patty-cake

A cute and funny narrated video of cats playing patty-cake! :)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Real Live Gundam Battle

This is actually an old video I dug up from Japan Probe. It shows the epic battle of 2 gundams facing off.



Not exactly the battle we were expecting lol. Nevertheless, it was a pretty interesting battle from International Robot Expo. Hope you enjoyed it! :)

Original post can be found at Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2009/12/01/gundam-vs-gundam/

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Umbrella Musical

A bunch of kids in Japan performed a musical in the "84th All Japan Kasoh Grand Prix" with umbrellas. It's really cute!


umbrella art
Uploaded by ja444555. - See video of the biggest web video personalities.

How do you like this performance? :D

Original post can be found at Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/05/06/japanese-umbrella-musical/

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Japanese Food and Drinks Vending Machines

Yesterday my friend and I were talking about Japanese inventions and we touched on the topic of Japanese vending machines. We both thought that they were very convenient and interesting. So I went back to search for an old video I saw on Japan probe which talks about the different types of food and drink vending machines.


Japan Probe DOT COM
Uploaded by japanindiarf5. - See video of the biggest web video personalities.

In this video they introduced vending machines which sells bananas, toast, udon, ramen, cheap drinks, and canned pasta.

There are also other interesting ones like this live crab vending machine in the video below:


JapanProbe dot com
Uploaded by pubjapaned. - See video of the biggest web video personalities.

Got anymore interesting vending machines you know about? Comment below and I will try to look up a video or picture, then credit you for bringing it up! :)

All videos used in this post were found on the Japan Probe website.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Amazing Works of Demaeki

A demaeki is a device that Japanese fast food delivery people install onto their mopeds and motorcyles. This device can balance the food properly so that it will not spill during the high speed twist and turns the vehicles make.

To test out how reliable these devices are, a Japanese TV show attached the device to a roller coaster with a bowl of ramen in it to see if there will be any spillage.


demaeki
Uploaded by japanmaster3. - Discover more webcam videos and video blogs.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

My Little Helper

About a month ago I saw a twitter post from Michelle Phan (who RT another person) about a nail dryer that is in a shape of a monkey. It was so adorable looking that I immediately went to search for it online. Well, after 2 days of searching different websites (not continuously of course), I finally found it!



Although it looks like the monkey is blowing air out of his mouth, the air actually comes out of a little area by his tummy. You can dry about 2 nails at a time by pressing on the banana. I found it very useful for when I need some slight drying for my nail art. The drying process is super important because if the layers on the bottom is not dried and you put on another layer, it will become soft in the middle layers and very easy to smudge. There are probably a lot of better nail dryers out there but I'm pretty satisfied with this cute little helper! :)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Beauty Products



In an earlier post, I mentioned that I received a shipment of beauty products. One of the things I love to do is to look at beauty products online and (if I have the money) order the ones that I like. My absolute favorite website to order beauty product is sasa.com. They are a really big chain of beauty franchise in Hong Kong and are super reliable. Ordering with regular shipping you can receive your shipment in about 21 days and fast shipping is about 1-2 weeks. You can find most of the products from Asia there for a cheaper price! I've ordered from them countless times and have never been disappointed.

So this shipment I got was mostly products to pamper myself with:

Bath salts:


Face Slimming Pack:


Knee Lightening Scrub:


Toner:


Roll on Eye Brightener:


Sasa also gives you free gifts with your orders:

Compact mirror with lights:






Strawberry foldable tote:




So here's everything I got! There is still another package coming in the mail and I will let you guys know about it as soon as I get it. Meanwhile I will be doing reviews for the product I bought as I use them. If you need a place to get Asian beauty products you should definitely visit this place : www.sasa.com

Happy shopping all! :D

Nail Art 3: Seeing Stars



Last time after I posted the nail art for "Dot by Dot", I spilled wax all over my hands and had to remove all my nail polish! I was uber sad about the short life those nails had. But on the other hand, it was pretty good timing as that was the last weekend I had before I became super busy.

So anyways, the theme this time is stars! I had many little shiny gold star pieces for nail art but I never used them. So I decided to use those to make the pattern on my nails. The colors and polish used was base coat, white polish (2 layers), top coat, stars, and top coat again (2 coats).

This pattern is very easy and you can do it with any other shapes you have (hearts, circles, etc). These little stars can probably be bought online or at places that specifically sells beauty supplies. If you are in San Diego, you can get these supplies at Marukai's! They have so much nail stuff!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Forgot to mention...

Although I will not be able to update this blog as often as I would like to during these two weeks, you guys can still get fun info, videos, news, and etc. by following my twitter. Hurry and click the "follow me" button on the left panel under "about me"! The fun is only a click away! :D

Monday, November 29, 2010

Super Busy 2 weeks and Test your Awareness

These two weeks I will be engaged in cramming information into my brain for finals. It saddens me so but I will not be able to update regularly during this time. But I promise I have lots of awesome stuff to talk about after my finals since some of my beauty product supplies came in the mail and I also took advantage of cyber Monday! Meanwhile, check out this video that Michelle Phan put up on facebook. I thought it was pretty cool lol.



If you passed the test, congrats. You have the potential to become a ninja as you are very aware of your surroundings. (Unfortunately, ninjas don't make a very good life long career nowadays)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Elderly DDR Couple

This episode of "Nanikore" features an elderly couple (husband 70 and wife 66) who loves to play DDR at home and at the arcade!


ddr couple
Uploaded by captainbarneyjp. - Discover more webcam videos and video blogs.

Original post at Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/27/elderly-ddr-masters/

Friday, November 26, 2010

Butler Themed Train

One of my twitter followers, UK Otaku, made a blog post about a new partnership between Swallowtail ( A butler cafe in Japan) and Kinki Nippon Tourist agency to start a "Butler Express." Customers will sit in a train with 20 butlers serving them tea, snacks, and such. Each ticket will cost 18,900 yen (about $225 USD)and each trip must have at least 150 people.

Here's a video introducing Swallowtail and their butlers:


Read more about it at UK Otaku's blog: http://ukotaku.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/something-for-the-ladies-butler-trains-to-start-service/

You can also follow him on twitter by clicking the button below!

By: TwitterButtons.com
By TwitterButtons.com

Emo Bunny

One of my friends from high school posted up this picture today lol. I thought it was too cute not to share with all of you! Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Castle for your Dog

In an episode of "Nanikore" in Japan, the TV show visited a dog house that's a small (2.5m high) replica of Matsumoto Castle. The House contains 3 rooms: Main entrance room, small room to the left for the dog to hide during thunderstorms, and a room to the left with sand on the floor for hot summers.According to the owner, this house took 6 months and 50,000 yen (roughly 600 USD) to build.


nanami's castle [\\\Japan-Probe\\\\\]
Uploaded by serjapanserpro. - See video of the biggest web video personalities.

Original post at: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/09/19/dog-castle-the-most-awesome-dog-house-in-japan/

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Drunken Chicken 2


(This is Christine's picture. I will explain later why I don't have a finished picture of my own.)

So, like I told you guys in my last "Drunken Chicken" post, you can use the left over sauce for another recipe. We can all thank Christine again for this wonderful recipe. It is basically drunken chicken again except it can be eaten as a cold appetizer dish.

Ingredients:
- Chicken leg (remove the bone and keep the skin) about 3-4 pieces
- Sauce from Drunken Chicken enough to soak all the pieces of chicken completely
- salt just a bit for each piece of chicken
- White pepper just a bit for each piece of chicken
- Chinese rice cooking wine use as needed
- Veggies (optional)

Instructions:
1. Wash the chicken clean and remove the bone (There is a step by step picture guide on Christine's webpage at the bottom of this post). Remember to keep the skin. Rub both sides of the chicken with a bit of salt and white pepper.
2. Roll the chicken up and wrap it into sausage form with plastic wrap. Tie knots on both ends.
3. Steam the chicken for 20 mins. Take out chicken to cool then remove the wrap.
4. Soak the chicken in the sauces and put it into the fridge for about 6 hours.
5. Cut into pieces and serve with sauce drizzled on top.

After I cooked the chicken I just put it into a big ziplock bag and pour the sauce in to soak it. I have a picture of my wrapped up chicken but I don't have a picture of the finish product because I ate it with my friends and it was so yummy I forgot to take a picture first... <.<

The uncooked chicken in the wrap:


Read more: http://www.christinesrecipes.com/2010/08/drunken-chicken-legs.html#ixzz1601tyZiY

Drunken Chicken 1



I was feeling a little bad because I have not cooked anything at all last week and I used to cook everyday. So last Friday I decided to try out some more recipes I found from Christine's Recipe. Since it WAS Friday and I didn't have anything on Saturday, I thought "O What the heck, I'll do Drunken Chicken."

Here is my translation of her recipe:

Ingredients:
- Chicken 1.6 lbs (I used chicken leg)
- Chinese Rice Cooking Wine 1L
- Mirin 2 cups
- Palm Sugar 90g
- Water 3 cups
- Soy sauce 200mL (Optional)
- Wolfberry 30pieces (optional)

Instructions:
1. Put the chicken in boiling water and take the chicken out when the water boils again. (This is a method for quick removal of blood water and fat). Dry the chicken.
2. Add the rice cooking wine, mirin, sugar, soy sauce, and 3 cups of water in a deep pot. Stir until and heat until sugar is all melted and mixture is boiling. Turn the fire to low, put in chicken, replace the lid of the pot, and slow cook for about 45-60 minutes. Use a skewer or knife to cut the thickest part of the chicken and check for blood. If there is none then the chicken is cooked.
3. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over. (If you choose to use wolfberries, you can sprinkle pre-boiled berries, green onions, celery strips, or whatever plating vegies you would like to add) This dish is yummy with rice! :D

I cooked mine in small portions since I was the only one home for dinner (and I have a very small pot). So I reduced all the ingredients by 75%. The end product was yummy but maybe a little bit strong on the alcohol taste. But then again I don't drink much. Please let me know how this goes for you if you decide to try it!

By the way, you should save the left over sauce because my next recipe (which will be posted within 24 hours of this post) will show you another recipe where you can use the sauce. If you don't think you will be able to use the sauce within a week, you can freeze it and thaw for use later.

Original recipe at: http://www.christinesrecipes.com/2010/08/masterchef-drunken-chicken.html#ixzz15znf36rw

Monday, November 22, 2010

Surprised Little Hamster

I was browsing facebook updates when I noticed my cousin linked a video from his friend. Make sure you watch till the end lol! It is so cute! X3

Volunteering: Caring Town

I love volunteering! It all started back in high school when my small learning community made community service mandatory. At first I thought I would hate it but then it turns out it was tons of fun! Now I'm an officer of a volunteer club at my college. Every week go to at least one volunteer service opportunity with my group. Since I'm an officer, I also am in charge of finding events or organizations we can work with.

This year, I found a group called Caring Town. They are a group that rescues homeless dogs and helps them find forever homes or train them into service dogs. Currently they are also trying to do a reality TV show so they can promote their cause and get more people to help out.

For the past 2 weekends, we have been working with these 2 little rescued dog trying to get them ready for adoption. We did some grooming and some basic training on them (and on us since we are just learning how to train the dogs). Today we got Tommy and Jaque to "Look" and "jump" through hoops in just an hour. These little things are so smart and adorable. Tommy is fluffy like a little sheep while Jock doesn't have much hair to work with. So what I decided was to give Jaque a mohawk! He was so cute afterwards and it gives him so much character! Unfortunately those photos are not with me because someone else took the pictures while I was working on his fur. But I do have some cute pictures of them from last week! Please contact me if anyone is interested in adopting one or both of these puppies!

Tommy


Jaque

DIY: Ribbon Earrings



I went to Michael's After my volunteer service yesterday to get a spare part for a necklace that I broke by leaving in the washer. The I saw these Earring parts and got an idea to make my own earrings. Since I have been on a ribbon streak lately, I decided to make ribbon earrings. I bought two different styles of ribbons and made 2 sets of earrings. It is so easy to make! All you need is:

1. Hot glue gun


2. earring parts from Michael's (This picture is dark because I had to shade it from the light for you to see)


3. Ribbons of your choice


So all you have to do is tie a bow and glue it to the earring parts. I tried cutting the ribbon off either slanted (plain black ribbons) or exactly perpendicular (polka dot ribbon). I find that cutting perpendicular looks better and will last longer. While the slanted cut allows the ribbon threads to come apart too easily and it doesn't look like a clean cut. But I guess it's really up to your own preference. Have fun! :)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Vizio Razor LED LCD HDTV 22"



I finally got a new TV yesterday! When I moved into the apartments, my parents gave me the TV they had since we used to live in Hong Kong. That's like HALF MY LIFE OLD! My parents found a deal at Sam's Club for a 22" Vizio LED LCD HDTV for $238. AND it has internet capabilities! I got the TV yesterday and set it up. Now I can enjoy TV the same time I am blogging! X3

Old TV


New TV

Nail Art 2: Dot by Dot



So I did my nails again 2 nights ago. I originally wanted to do something with black and white dots but I ended up using some of the shiny dots I have but never use (they have a rainbow color shine on it). And then I added crystals to make it shine even more. I don't use any expensive or particular brand of nail polish. I just use whatever is cheap and works. The bottom layer of my nails is coated with Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength Black Diamond #94.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Kina Grannis

On Wednesday my college invited Kina Grannis to come to our campus to perform for us. I was so excited to see her!!! Kina Grannis started off as a youtube singer who writes and composes all her songs by herself. She became popular after she won a music video concert and had her song "Message from your Heart" played on the big screen at the Super Bowl!

I didn't know about her until my friend, who is like her number 1 stalker, played her songs repeatedly in her car. Before I knew it, I became obsessed with her songs too! I saw Kina performed for the first time in September. My friends and I made 4 signs that said "Bum" on it and we waved it when she performed her song "Message from Your Heart" when she sing "bum bum bum bum". It was so cute, and Kina acknowledged us during her performance and we were even on the live video online! At the end of that concert, Kina signed our sign and thanked us for being her first "bums."

On Wednesday we brought the same signs that she signed and sat literally 3 feet from the stage. When she announced that she was singing that song we waved our signs and Kina immediately recognized us from her last concert in San Diego! We were so happy! At the end of this concert we had her sign and date the banners again so we can collect her signatures every time she comes to play in San Diego!

I'll put up some of her videos for you guys to enjoy!

Message from Your Heart


Coolio's Gangster's Paradise performed by Kina (From Wednesday's performance)


If you guys wanna know more about Kina or see more of her videos, go check out her youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kinagrannis

Banana Diet Experiment

Recently OtakuUpdate showed me a youtube video of this girl who tried out the banana diet. Apparently this diet was so popular in Japan last year that it was almost impossible to buy a banana in Japan when the book regarding the diet came out. Here are the rules to the banana diet:

1. Eat banana and drink room temperature water for breakfast. (you can have as many as you want until you are 80% full)
2. You can eat whatever lunch, snack, and dinner you want but only until 80% full
3. Eat your last meal before 8pm
4. No eating 4 hours before sleep time
5. Sleep by 12am
6. No consumption of dairy products or alcohol during the diet period.

I did some research online and found that the science behind losing weight through eating banana might come from the fact that bananas "are said to improve digestion and boost metabolism. Another possibility is that bananas are high in resistant starch, which is a type of fiber that can promote the feeling of fullness and may block the absorption of some carbohydrates." (From Everyday Diet)

Since the rules to this diet is so simple and there are so many positive response to this diet, I went and bought some bananas today and will start the diet starting Saturday as an experiment. Everyday I will go through a checklist and record my weight changes and if I break any of the above rules. And at the end of every week I will record my measurement changes.

If anyone is interested in trying this out or if you have tried it out, please comment on how this worked or is working out for you! Hope this works! :)

Source of Banana Diet info in this post: http://www.everydiet.org/diet/banana-diet

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Crazy Japanese Moneys

Man, I always thought monkeys were cute little things that look like babies. But after seeing this video, I'm kind of scared of Japanese monkeys. This video basically talks about the aggressive behavior of monkeys in Nikko, Japan.


monkey problems
Uploaded by marlowalls. - See video of the biggest web video personalities.

These monkeys have no fear of people due to the close interaction they've had with the locals and the tourists feeding them. They will take any food you give them and will even invade your homes to steal food. The local shops have resorted to leaving out cheaper food for the monkeys to take so they would not steal the more expensive products. You can also see from the video that human food have negative effects of making the monkeys fat and giving them rotten teeth. Totally uncute! Poor monkeys... :(

From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/17/the-aggressive-monkeys-of-nikko/

CSI: Crime City

I finished my report early last night and decided to check my facebook to see if I had any updates when I came across this new game. A little curious and bored, I decided to give the game a go. As you can probably tell from the title, you play a detective whole goes around solving cases.

Within the first 8 minutes I cracked the first case. There isn't really much detective work to do here and not many options to work with. You click floor tiles until you find a clue. Then you send it off to the lab and let the other people analyze it for you. So basically you just click the floor and watch as the story play out.



As of now I can't really tell if I'm liking this game or not since I've only played it for 8 minutes. But if you have a facebook account and is bored, why not give the game ago. Maybe you can tell me if this game is play worthy or not lol.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Ameba Pico

Moving another post from my other blog over!



I wanna share with everyone a really fun place to meet people around the world: Ameba Pico!

Let's start with a little bit of background. Ameba Pico first started in Japan under a different name- Ameba Pigg. Basically, it is a website where people can make their own characters and interact with each other.

Although Ameba Pico is an American site, there are still many players from all over world. So depending on the timezone, you can meet many foreigners. I myself love to practice my Japanese with the Japanese players. Even though my Japanese isn't that great, the Japanese players were very nice and very patient with me. My buddy list is filled with players from all over the world!

If you have free time and want to make friends online, Ameba Pico is definitely the place to be. I'm usually online around night time and you can find me under the name of Lydie. Hope to see you soon!

MZJ42SRU3GMB

When should you retire?

My mom often sends me these funny e-mails to brighten my day. Let's see if this one can brighten yours.

You wish you could retire?

As soon as this happens (see below)........ you can retire with dignity.......

Monday, November 15, 2010

ASIANS ARE ALIENS!

My awesome friend Otaku Update showed me this page he found on reasons why Asians are actually aliens originally posted by Lady Vengeance. I think it makes sense lol. Here are some of the reasons:

My theory is such that I suspect that Asians are the offspring of Aliens mating with Humans. I have many points to support my theory:

1. Asians have uncommonly (almost unearthly) almond-shaped eyes. Have you ever seen sketches what the consensus of alien encounters describe as Aliens? Hmmm.....

2. Why is it that Asians are so technologically advanced? Is it any wonder? Because they're half Alien!

3. In sketches of Aliens, the majority of them are short in stature. Is it any mystery why Asians are short?

4. The Chinese alphabet does not seem to be of this world. The characters seem so advanced for such an ancient alphabet. Which brings me to 5.....

5. Asian languages, particularly Chinese and Japanese, are very terse, succinct dialects. They seem to have absolutely nothing to with the dialects of the Europe and Africa. They seem very other-worldly...

Read More: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=154479928&blogId=433433095

If you want updates on fun and random updates like technology or why Asians are aliens, you can follow Otaku Update on his twitter by clicking the button here! Have fun! :D

By: TwitterButtons.com
By TwitterButtons.com

Pan-kun: Flower Arrangment Revisited

Pan-kun is a lovely chimpanzee from Japan and is a frequent star of Shimura Zoo! He has been with the show since he was a baby and learning the ways of human. Here is a video clip of Shimura enchou (park keeper, in this case zoo keeper) and Pan-kun doing Ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement.


ikebana 2
Uploaded by percyjpnprb. - More video blogs and vloggers.

From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/10/27/flower-arrangement-chimpanzee-ii/

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Exotic Pets :D

A video clip from a Japanese TV show called Tensai Shimura Doubutsuen (Genius Shimura Zoo). In this clip they did a small experiment to see how a little girl can live with a capybara as a pet. I've never seen these animals before but they are absolutely adorable! Like giant guinea pigs! X3


awesome animal
Uploaded by johnbulljpnprb. - More video blogs and vloggers.

From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/02/pet-capybara/

Drive-thru Vegas Weddings

Wow, I knew you can get your burger, coffee, or pills at a drive thru. But I would've never thought you can get married this way too! Here is a Japanese TV show doing a special on Vegas drive thru weddings.


wedding in vegas
Uploaded by johnbulljpnprb. - More video blogs and vloggers.

From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/03/las-vegas-drive-thru-wedding-on-japanese-tv/

Peace Loving Dog

Another animal video from Japan Probe. This is one about a dog who will break up fights if his family is fighting. I thought it was kinda cute.


dv dog
Uploaded by garak4500. - Explore international webcam videos.

From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/06/dog-hates-domestic-violence/

Live the Anime

Have you guys ever wondered how things would be like if we were a manga or anime character? Enjoy lol!



From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/06/im-part-anime/

Cat vs. Boxes

Yesterday night when I was suppose to be working on my lab report or sleeping, I decided to look up an old blog that I follow. The blog is called Japan Probe and it publishes a bunch of new and media regarding Japan! So tonight I'm going to put up a bunch of videos I found last night that I think might interest you all. I don't know if you all have noticed by now but I absolutely adore animals. So here is video one: Cat vs. Boxes. It is a video of a cute and fluffy kitty trying to fit into boxes of all sizes.



From Japan Probe: http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/11/13/japanese-cat-vs-inadequately-small-boxes/

T.H.E.M.

I saw this TV show earlier this year. It was called T.H.E.M., Totally Hidden Extreme Magic. This show is a reality tv show with a bunch of world famous magicians playing pranks on people. It was a pretty awesome show but unfortunately they only aired one episode. Here is one of the pranks they did that I really liked:



You can find the rest of the pranks here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSLMOUOtaQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwp2GUrNNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhRfGZ_vQFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlQObXpvTHQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PagHZdmL7As

Enjoy :D

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Steam Sweet Egg

This is a recipe from one of my old blogs that I feel is worth moving over. Last year I found a online recipe for Steam Sweet Egg. It's a very simple and yummy Chinese dessert that my dad used to make all the time (one of the very few things that he can actually cook lol). That was the first time I tried to make it myself! The resulting product was a little bit sweeter than expected but the surface is very smooth and pretty looking! :D


(The bowl is chipped... Whoops <.<)

The original web page can be found here on Christine's Recipes: http://www.christinesrecipes.com/2008/04/steamed-eggs-with-milk-dessert.html
Since the recipe for this is in Chinese, I will translate it for you guys! This recipe makes about 2 servings.

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 30 grams of sugar (amount can vary depending on personal preference)
- 250 mL of milk

Directions:
1. Beat the eggs until it becomes a uniform mixture. Warm the milk in microwave or sauce pan until lukewarm (do not let milk boil).
2. Stir together the milk, egg mixture, and sugar. Use a spoon to remove the bubbles floating on top (I usually just let it sit for about 5-10mins).
2. Use aluminum foil to cover the bowl (or bowls) and put it into the steamer. Use medium to high fire to steam for 12 minutes. Open the steamer's cover every 4 minutes to let out the steam.
4. Eat while warm or chilled in the fridge(I like it chilled X3). ENJOY! :D

Friday, November 12, 2010

Cooking with Dog

Last night Sukotto also showed me a youtube cooking channel where the show is hosted by a dog named Frances. Besides the fact that a dog speaking English with a Japanese accent being absolutely adorable, I also find that these recipes are very simple and yummy. Try it out if you guys have time! :D

All Hail the Fridge God

Last night before I went to sleep, I was talking to a friend about how Kira (my roommate's dog) would beg for food if I'm eating an I ignore her. So he showed me this adorable video of a kitty begging at the fridge for food. Thanks a ton Sukotto!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Battle Against Acne 1: Products I have tried

I'm pretty sure a majority of our planet's population have had problems with acne just like I did. Even though it was such a common problem, it didn't make me feel any better that I was going to school with these red bump all over my face. Over the course of many year and trials of different products and routines, I am proud to say I have finally found one that fits my skin type and that my acne is now under control!

I have tried many different types of face wash such as neutrogena, proactive, The Body Shop, and etc. But the one I have found to be most effective is Acnefree's sensitive solution.



After the first week of using this system, I noticed my skin was less oily and there were less break outs. With the continuous use of this product the amount of break outs I had reduced to about once a week! And now I can even use face products that are not specific to acne prone skin! You can find this product online at Target, Amazon, or Walgreen's!

I know that there are many factors that go into the formation of acne and I am no expert on this subject. But this is what I have tried and found to be successful. Stay tune for posts about my daily routines, facial treatment, or other stuff I use to keep my skin healthy and acne free! I hope this was helpful to someone out there! :)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Nail Art 1: Tokidoki Nails

Last weekend I got bored and decided I want to paint my nails again. I've been interested in nail art for quite a while now. I've collected some books, tools, and etc but I only do my nails once in a while. Reason for this is because I can't work with long nails and I tend to break them easily doing activities like volunteering or karate. That's why I only paint on my actual nails now. However, I find it uber difficult to draw on my right hand which is why I don't do nail art often. Anyways, I was bored and I decided I want to do them again and so I drew Tokidoki characters (the super simple ones) on my nails for fun!





I have a very small collection of nail polish colors so for some of these drawings I used a mixture of polishes or acrylic paint. It works just fine! :P

If you guys love nail art and want some ideas for patterns, you guys should definitely check out this blog! It was on the front of yahoo last month! Have fun! :)
http://daily-nail.blogspot.com

Cellphone Decoration

Recently I noticed the invisible shield on my HTC Hero was coming off. So I decided to look online to find a new protection for it. At first I was looking for a case that would go all around because I want my phone to be super protected if I were to drop it (which I have done twice already). But then I came across these pretty looking skins that you can stick onto your phone. And they come in 3 skin per order of $11!!! So I bought two sets (though I probably don't need that many). After waiting for 3 weeks (the first time they messed up the shipment and it never came), I finally got the package!!! X3



I immediately went to work to put one on to my phone! It was such tedious work because 1) I'm super anal about getting things perfectly right and 2) the screen shield from the previous protection (I left this on because the new one doesn't cover the touch screen) kept sticking to the new skin and would come off every time I tried to reposition the skin. After about an hour of battling, my phone looks awesome! I was also able to download a wall paper that allows the screen to blend with the skin!





I'm uber satisfied with the final product! There are a variety of skins that can fit different phones, laptops, and ipods! Go check them out at: http://www.invisibledefenders.com

Welcome :D

YAY! I finally got this blog up! It took me forever to decided what kind of background I wanted to put on here. I decided in the end that something simple would be best. After all, it is the content that matters the most.

Let's talk a little bit about the purpose of this blog. I'm a person who likes to try all kinds of new things, be it experiences or tangible objects like beauty supplies, food, books, movies... If I don't find new things to do constantly, I will get super bored. Anyways, I thought: wouldn't it be cool if I could share the things I find awesome with others who is also bored and looking for new things to do? Who knows? You might be just as bored as me or you're just looking for new experiences. Well, here the place for that!

The posts before this one are from my other blog that I felt was worth keeping so I transferred them over here. I might post more than once a day depending on the different objects I want to talk about (just so I can keep each post short and to a specific topic) or I might not post for days, weeks, or even months (let's hope I don't get to that point of laziness). It all depends on my finds and schedule. I hope you will enjoy these awesome finds as much as I do! And please, feel free to leave me a comment! I love to know people are actually reading this! XD