I am finally feeling better! It's been probably 3 weeks of coughing and sneezing and having a fever.  I gotta get well this weekend since I'm gonna go to a wedding, don't want everyone to get a cold from me and it's a once in a lifetime thing.. I mean how many times is she really gonna have it?!?

I know that many women after bearing their first child would probably go out of shape and can't ever keep their figure again.  Its hard, I know... especially when a girl like me who is madly in love with food. I have trouble keeping my figure and I'm not even married!  I just wish that after I have my first child that I will still look as young as my mom, she went back to Vietnam for the first time in 28 years and when she bumped into old neighbors and classmates back there they immediately recognized her!  Why??? Because she hasn't changed since the day she left in 1978....I guess she was born petite, but she kept it up all these years too ...
 

Mom on her 47th birthday this past January!  She's the most beautiful woman in the world in my eyes! I love you!!

 Happy Singles-Awareness Day!!

It's almost a year since my visit to Asia, time goes back so fast without you even knowing it.  I am so happy that Fotki is now offering unlimited photo storage and I can put as many pictures as I want on that site! 

Going back in time, while I was in Vietnam..we stayed at my aunt's friend's house house often and she was a great cook!  Since Vietnam is surrounded by large bodies of water, we HAD to have seafood!!  We ate like a king while we were back there...when I got back into the states, I tried to eat like that again.. boy I was so broke afterwards..

 Here are some of the dishes that we had while I was there:

We bought like 10 lbs of clams...

( SEA more FOOD ?  )

I thought this was the cutest little pink-haired girl ever! Her hairstyle is so awesome! I don't have a name for her it.....any suggestions? :)

Hello Everyone,

So sorry I have been sooo lazy and things just aren't really going my way these days.  Not to mention that I just went through a heartbreak. I didn't think it would end so fast... but it did.  Anyways, instead of talking about sad things on a Friday.  I just recently came back from Sunny California and I went to this awesome dimsum place which serves really cute dishes.  Although, cute doesn't neccesarily mean that it tastes good, it's nice to see something out of the ordinary once in a while.  Here are some pictures that I took while I was there:  Enjoy!!

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This was a butterfly shaped dumpling which is similar to a Har Gow (shrimp dumpling but inside of this has water chesnuts and shrimp together)

( Some more of  )

Why is pink such a beautiful color? I love pink so much.  I read somewhere in a magazine that a lover of pink is a hopeless romantic and they always want everything to end with "happily ever after."  I think I am that kind of person.  I want everything to be perfect. Everything to live happily ever after. 

Its really easier said than done.  I've tried to be perfect in a relationship, I've tried to be friendly in the most possible way to everyone I meet.  I've tried to satisfy to the best of my ability to meet everyone's needs.  But in the end, do they appreciate me? Do they show their appreciation?

No, they misinterpret that goodness of heart for something bad. For something wicked.  No one has ever tried to satisfy my needs.  Why should I be so concerned? 

Because I don't want people to talk behind my back.  But no matter how good you try to be, there will ALWAYS be someone that dislikes you. There will always be someone out there that will try to put you down no matter how nice you are to them.  So do you believe in the old chinese proverb -- "If you do good deeds, it gets you good returns? "   "Hoe sum yau hoe bo" ? 

Yes -- I still do.  My time just has not come yet.

The flowers were so beautiful, I couldn't resist not to take any pictures.  Sophie is posing sweetly next to these Japanese style flowers.  This is one of my favorite pics out of the gazillion pictures that I took.  I guess it's always like that.. you take dozens of shots, but you can only hand select a few that are pleasing to the eye.

( Here are the rest! )

( +3 )

New Drink of 2k5

Today we went to the Asian Supermarket and my dad decided to buy Aloe and Green Apples to make a smoothie out of them.  It was my first time having fresh Aloe.  I've eaten Aloes when I went to Canada, it was canned or bagged in syrup.  It was like a cheap version of Bird's nest or something, they claimed it was good for your skin.  I guess it is, with Vitamin E and other nutrients.  When you attempt to skin the Aloe, watch out, it is FULL OF SLIME!  It's quite distingusting, almost equivalent to eating okras, if you guys have eaten those vegetables.  I don't mind okras if you cook it along with tomatoes.  The acidity in the tomatoes actually gets rid (or perhaps thins the substance to a watery texture) of most of the sliminess associated with the okras.  I was hoping that the green apples would do the same thing with the aloe goo.

Next step, we just chopped up the aloe into pieces, just like the apples above, and put them all in a blender with some chopped or crumbled ice cubes.  Add a teaspoon of sugar or whatever amount that suits your tastebuds and voila!

What do I do with the slime???  Someone told me that I can rub the slime onto my skin... its supposed to make my skin glow! :-p

Cool art that will mess with your head!   Enjoy!

How many horses do you see? You should get 7.

( a few more... )

Ok, it's an old picture of my cousins... I didn't have time to take any new pictures with them this year.   I hope everyone will have a cluck-u cock-a-doodle-doo Chinese New Year!   I am highly superstitious and they said that this year of the Rooster won't be a happening year for us Sheeps. *sigh*  So guess what? I'll be wearing bright RED tomorrow to ward off evil and try to hoard up some good luck for the year.

Gong Hey Fat Choi (canto)

Gong Xi Fa Chai  (mandarin)

Chuc Man Num Moui (viet -- I know I spelled it wrong -- sorry!)

( more pics of the kids! )

Also.. I haven't really been advertising my site in a LONG time, perhaps a year almost...  My online store is still launched.. here's a coupon but it will expire soon.  Thanks for looking!

The following stores are still opened, so let me present to you the kids of BabyPhat Republic once again!  Another character that is my personal favorite is Wooki -- little girl, big sword.

 Please visit each one by clicking on the icon of each kid! I appreciate all the support! Thank you to everyone who has made a purchase! Thank you to all who have at least looked at the products too!

It finally snowed in Maryland.  The beautiful soft and fluffy snow was such a pleasing sight to my eye.  I had to go out and take a few pictures.   Sorry for the vain self portraits....(>.<)  

So I did a little gourmet cooking over the holidays... here are some of the entrees that I managed to dish out.

For breakfast:

( and the rest of the menu )

Well, it's back to work again... *sigh* I missed those winter breaks that we used to get in college....

( One more.. )

©       Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear

©       Don't cry over anyone who won't cry over you.

©       Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.

©       You can only go as far as you push.

©       Actions speak louder than words.

©       The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love somebody else.

©       Don't let the past hold you back, you're missing the good stuff.

©       Life's short. If you don't' look around once in a while you might miss it.

©       A BEST FRIEND is like a four leaf clover, HARD TO FIND and LUCKY TO HAVE.

©       BEST FRIENDS are the siblings God forgot to give us.

©       When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your BEST FRIEND will be there.

©       TRUE FRIENDSHIP "NEVER" ENDS. Friends are FOREVER.

©       Good friends are like stars... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

©       Don't frown. You never know who is falling in love with your smile.

©       What do you do when the only person who can make you stop crying is the person who made you cry?

©       Nobody is perfect until you fall in love with them.

©       Everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.

©       Most people walk in and out of your life, but only friends leave footprints in your heart.

©       Remember, every minute spent angry is sixty seconds of happiness wasted.

This was a very sweet forward that my friend sent out and I thought it was worth the post :)  I hope everyone will have a kickass New Year!!!!