Healthy Snack Ideas

Two of some of my favourite things in the world are food and Lauren Conrad. Now, honestly, I'm not really the one to obsess over celebrities, especially reality TV show stars. I find that kind of obsession really pointless, but I love Lauren Conrad. Despite the fact that she became famous through a reality TV show, she branched out and has her own clothing line, website, blog, everything. She makes good lifestyle look fun, HAHA.

I guess I could write an entire review about her website, which I will tell you now, is very inspirational. But I ceebs, plus we all know how my blog posts always run too long anyway! But speaking of, I really really liked one of her website posts, which gave a ton of ideas on healthy snacks. My favourite one was the graham crackers with cream cheese and grapes. Oh, and plus, people also commented on the post giving even MORE ideas on other healthy snacks.

If you like fashion, beauty, health, lifestyle and just fun stuff like funny videos or whatnot, I suggest you check out Lauren's website. It's weird having a favourite celebrity at this age, but I can tell you the truth that Lauren Conrad is my favourite celebrity! Really!

Korea's Got Talent's Very Own Susan Boyle

Okay, swear my blog isn't turning into Youtube, but after seeing this really sad but somewhat inspirational video, I knew I had to share it!

I actually came across this video of a contestant of Korea's Got Talent from a random website through omg-facts.com. It shows the quintessential story of a boy from the wrong side of the tracks auditioning for a nation-wide talent show and his hidden talent for singing. I would say it's a lot like Susan Boyle's audition from Britain's Got Talent a few years ago, except this guy named Sung Bong Choi was actually a homeless man. I'd tell you his story, but I'll go on forever so just watch the video. And! He claims he's not good at singing and he simply just enjoys singing for fun, but dude, HE'S GOOD.

By the way, Sung Bong Choi actually made it to the finals of Korea's Got Talent 2011. He didn't win though, but it's so nice to see him get 2nd place!

Jackie Chan sings?!

Thanks for following omg-facts.com on Twitter, I actually found out that Jackie Chan has done a few singing jobs in movies, including the Chinese version of Beauty and the Beast and Mulan. I don't know, but I found this absolutely hilarious when I found out! I guess it's because I perceive Jackie Chan as the guy who does martial arts in movies, the kind of guy who does action-comedy movies, NOT musicals. And the funnier thing is that he can actually sing! As in, he's not off-key! This stuff is gold, seriously. Watch it!

Birthday Post! (finally)

I've been looking forward to posting about ze birthday (which was last Friday), but I've been quite a busy bee that I haven't been able to! But amongsy the busyness, I managed to collect some photographs and fix up some documentations on how I will write this post today...

As you can see above, it was a pretty sunny day (okay, well, I kinda digitally-enhanced that photo to look even sunnier... but it really was sunny then!) on my birthday, 17 February. All weather reports had predicted thunderstorms and I was so scared that it will happen because weather reports here in Australia are usually pretty accurate yet Australian weather can also be unpredictable too. So it was really hard to tell what the next day's weather will be. Anyway, my mum and I booked a shaded spot for my birthday picnic so we weren't too worried about it, which was great!

Everything that we planned went down to planned for my birthday picnic.

Life Without Art

Before I graduated, I actually used to draw a lot. Mainly because I picked Visual Arts as a subject for my Prelim and HSC years.

I've done Visual Arts ever since Year 7. Six long years of such a relationship which I dearly loved. I struggled at times, but I loved every minute of the creative journey and experience. Having studied art for so long made my eventual inability to imagine what it would be like to not study art somewhere, somehow.

Until I made it in to University of Sydney, not studying visual arts in any way at all. The degree I'm doing is actually closest sociology more than the arts, and I guess that's kind of an advantage since my highest score in the HSC was from Society and Culture. But I did apply for an art-based degree, except I didn't get it because I'd already received my first university preference (I was actually a bit bummed that I didn't get into COFA because I really wanted to give jewellery design a crack - I feel like I need a break from painting and drawing and that I need to venture out onto other artsy stuff - and possible start a business!).

Honestly, before I couldn't imagine what living life without art was like. But now that I've taken a break from it, it actually feels kinda liberating! It feels great and refreshing. Like I'm ready for new interests and hobbies too.

But when I see hardcover art books, the new works of my favourite artists or a really epic drawing or painting, I start to think 'Maybe I should start painting again so I can pass time whenever I'm really bored'. And you know what? I just might! Examine the illustrations I did above for my Visual Arts major. Honestly, they're not even that good. I was way too indecisive, my mind was unclear and for me, I didn't have enough time to come up with what I really wanted my major work to be about. So I just did all that in a rushed fashion. I rushed the entire thing, pretty much. (It sucked at first how when I finally finished the HSC, that's when I started coming up with good ideas for my major work, haha)

I don't know if I'll ever start drawing and painting again hard-out. I'll probably get busy from now on since I'm getting older. But if I did, art will always be something in my heart. I'll always love it, and I know that whenever I feel like life just gets too adultish for me, I'll turn to it. Since early childhood, I've always been the girl who's loved loved loved eye candy, and the same still goes now; art will always inspire me to the bones even if I don't become a jewellery designer with her own business, an art curator, an illustrator or even an art teacher.

Bye Bye Whitney: When Famous People Die

I personally like the name Whitney. I think it sounds like a very strong, solid girl name but it still has a sense of sure femininity to it. Strong but feminine.

But today, when the whole family and I were in Costco shopping for my birthday picnic things for this Friday, surprisingly, it didn't come as a surprise when my sister told me that music giant Whitney Houston has mysteriously died. I thought it was just one of April's random rumours, like when she told me that Julie Andrews had died except that about six months later, Tooth Fairy comes out in the movies.

Just like how Michael Jackson's and Amy Winehouse's death honestly didn't come as a shock or a surprise to me at all, I felt the exact same way about Whitney's. Being an avid reader of celebrity gossip magazines, I've already read about how all Michael, Amy and Whitney have been either going a little cuckoo or really ill right before their deaths. Which probably explains my apathetic view towards Whitney's death today.

But I will admit. I was a little bit sad. Because she did have good songs, and she was one of those true musical artists who epitomised the meaning of a good vocalist. Before she got on the drugs, you gotta admit, she was really good.

Boring You Again With My Family

It was my mum's day-off today. She actually works six days a week, with some of these days being graveyard shifts and with Friday being her only day off. So we decided to go buy some stuff for my birthday picnic next week.

LOL

Thanks to one of my mates, I only found out today via Twitter than you can actually check your blog's stats! So, having that in mind, I think I may start brainstorming and actually be bothered to work on my blog material a lot more! I did promise A LOT of different things, like fashion, art etc. and I've yet to deliver. Yes, this blog is still fairly new, I will tell you that, but now that I've seen the statistics and seen that there are already quite a few number of people who are looking at my blog, I think now is a good time to step up to the game!

I do apologise for my ever-continuous complains about my family life. Things haven't been too easy on my side and there's actually no one I can verbally vent to because I'm not really allowed to. I only got a few friends to vent to, and I don't wanna fill them in with too much of my negativity, so I blog my thoughts instead.

ANYWAY! Having said all of the above, my thoughts have basically been over-preoccupied with these worries that I've neglected the blog a bit by only writing about my current situation. BUT! I will try to have less and less and less of that for the sake of possible readers! Peace out :)

A good uplifting video; possibly a self-reminder for myself about my current situation!

P.S. I kinda want a pet dog now. My grandma hates the smell of dogs despite the fact that they have dogs at home and, according to my dad, have had dogs for all his life. But I also want a loyal companion to play around with when I'm happy, and cuddle with when I'm down!

Top Ten Thursday: Happy Things

Apologies for missing out on Top Ten Tuesday this week! I actually did a draft of it already on the Tuesday, but I was seriously pressed for time that day that I was unable to finish it.

The Top Ten list I drafted is actually a different list from the one I'm making right now. I'm not feeling very well today due to the issues at home I keep talking about. I've been crying a lot lately and when I'm by myself at home, I usually lie on my bed for about an hour doing nothing but just crying. I also realised this morning; you know that pissed-off feeling you have when you have PMS? That's been me every single day for the past three months. To sum it up, I do feel very useless and helpless in my situation right now.

But despite the situation I'm in now, there are still some things that automatically just lift your spirits up a little when you're feeling down. Sometimes, the bad situations still outweigh the good stuff in life, but I believe it's still good to keep yourself in check by cheering yourself up every now and again when you're feeling that down. The joy you get from it may be fleeting, but I think they're actually important to have when all you can do out of your bad situations is just wait for it to end.

Having said that entire speech, I'll get on with it. So, here are the ten things that make me happy when I'm down!

What's Wrong With Australia's Education System?

Last week, I was actually gonna write about this after hearing news on the radio that the federal government has finally admitted noticed that something about Australia's education system is way behind many of our neighbouring countries, particularly those in Asia. If you went to a school with a decent amount of Asians, you would've probably noticed why the newly-migrant Pakistani student seems to be impossibly smart.

However, I kinda got lazy until I logged on Twitter today and saw the SBS TV show 4 Corners trending. 4 Corners has always been known to document on some really controversial topics known in Australia's culture, one popular one being about the disgusting animal abattoirs the Australian industry had in south-east Asia. Tonight, it happens to be about the thing I wanted to write about last week: Australia's educational system.

The big deal about the Big 18

Whenever the month February comes to one's mind, the first thing many people think of is the dreaded holiday of Valentines Day. But for me, February has always been an exciting, exciting month for me because that's when my birthday is! February 17. And yes, it's three days after Valentines Day.

But this year may or may not be different from any other year, despite the fact that I think every birthday is different because you get a year older than you previously were. It's the Big 18. The 18 where you're officially recognised as an adult here in Australia. It's the age where you can legally drink and buy cigarettes, go clubbing, enter an adult sex shop, but not the age of sexual consent (that's 16 for us here, haha). Basically, it's the age many Australian youths get so bloody giddy and excited for because 18 marks the age where you can do anything and everything legally. Even when many of them have done anything and everything illegally, as in, underage.

Turning 18 after most of my friends from school already have (I'm one of the young ones, a 1994 baby), I've previously been invited and attended so many parties that involve drinking, clubbing, etc. Because it's their big day, they wanna do something they couldn't do legally.

But to be honest, I've never had that kind of attitude. Even when I was in my early teen years, I've never had that kind of rebellion. I rebelled, don't get me wrong, but not the kind where I just do thinks because I can't do them and because I'm a daredevil. I just did things because I wanted to, not just for the sake of something.

Note that not all of my friends who have turned 18 already are like what I described above. One of my friends Preetika didn't even have alcohol at her 18th party. She was content with having just the people she loved celebrate a birthday with her. She's not really the kind of person to care about drinking or buying smokes legally. For me, I guess I'm the same too. This may just be a personal thing, like a personal preference, but firstly, I'm not one of those people who are full into clubbing and being able to legally drink or smoke or whatever. I have no personal interest in those things. I don't see dancing in a noisy club while being squished amongst sleazy strangers as a good bonding time with your friends. Wouldn't the music be so loud that you can't even hear each other converse and you're practically just watching each other do the body roll and the Dougie. I don't classify that as bonding. A picnic with your friends, now that's bonding. Obvious health reasons why I wouldn't smoke either and get carried away with alcohol. Yes, call me conservative and call me grandma, but I don't care because I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm not hurting anyone and all at the same time, I'm happy and I'm having fun!

So. Am I just gonna sit here at home and do nothing on my 18th birthday next Friday? Of course not! Although, I was contemplating on it given our issues at home and the fact that we virtually have no money left to spend on luxuries like planning a huge 18th birthday party. Instead, I decided to throw a decently-sized 18th birthday picnic at a nearby park from my house. Literally, it's really close. And since my house is close to the train station, the park is also at a decent distance from the station and people can access my party more! My mum and I are gonna cook and prepare food, take lots of photos and I'm planning something of a surprise for the guest up my sleeve! I'll post in soon on how my birthday picnic goes, proving that you don't need legally-bought vodka shots to make a unique and memorable 18th birthday party. :)

Cute Little Birdie

Just thought I'd like to share. In our Bicentennial Park picnic last week while we were packing up, ready to go home, we caught a little bird sneaking a drink from someone's Coke cup. So sneaky but cute! So I too tried to be sneaky to quickly take this photo to capture the rare moment before the little birdie flew away. The cute but rare things you see momentarily cheer my up! :)

Changing Perspectives

If you're bothered enough to regularly read my blog, you'll be aware enough of the current family issues going on in our home. And as someone who's observing it all, particularly observing how much it's hit my parents, and for someone who is partly suffering from it too, I am not taking it well. In other words, it's really been challenging my character and my faith.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Crap photo quality, hahaha.

Yet another baking recipe! Sooo, I got bored at home today and I've been craving some home-baked sweets lately, so I decided to make the classic chocolate chip cookies with the ingredients we have left at home! I remember buying a packet of white chocolate chips with a recipe on it at the back, and decided to use that since we have all the ingredients at home anyway (except for the condensed milk, which I asked my sister to buy).

I prefer my cookies, cakes, brownies, whatever to be moist and soft, so I Googled up some ideas on how to make cookies moist like the ones you buy from Subway! So, along with the recipe given on the white chocolate chip packet, I made some alterations in the recipe to make moist cookies by adding an extra egg yolk and using melted butter.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes: 20

Ingredients:

• 225g butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup condensed milk
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• One egg yolk
• 3/4 cup chocolate or white chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips because that's what he had at home!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 160°C and lay out baking paper on tray.
2. Whisk together melted butter, sugar and condensed milk in a medium-sized bowl until mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Shift flour and baking powder into bowl and mix with wooden spoon. Combine egg yolk with mixture. Stir in chocolate chips after.
4. Roll dough into balls of one tablespoon each. Place balls on baking tray and flatten with a spoon, fork or your own hand (I totally forgot to do this on the first batch GAH!)
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean from the cookie.
6. Cool down the cookies for 10-15 minutes. Cooling it down completely allows the cookie to be soft and moist.
7. Enjoy! 

Verdict: I just took out the last batch of the cookies from the oven. The packet recipe told me to bake it at 190°C, and I took it down to 180 yet it was still too hot! So the bottoms were brown-burnt but the insides were chewy. Next time I am soooo baking these at 160°C ONLY (hence I wrote that temperature on the recipe above).

Would you rather marry someone rich but ugly or poor but attractive?

Logging on my Twitter mobile, I saw a guy from the Philippines (family friend) who stated his opinion on the very question. He simply said that he would rather marry a poor but attractive person than someone who's rich but ugly.

When I think about it, frankly I don't think there's a non-shallow choice out of the two. If you pick the first option, may mean that you love money. If you pick the second option, it could just signify that you care just a little bit too much about looks. If you're ever asked that question and you don't wanna come off as shallow or screwed-up in any way, it's pretty hard to answer it by picking between the two.

Anyway. The family friend picked marrying a poor but attractive girl. His reason, translated in English, is in its exact words 'Poor but attractive. Not only because she's attractive, but I also like girls who are simple and are true to themselves. And I like girls who are the one-of-the-boys type. Where do you find rich girls who like to be around and be friends with guys? Being friends with guys doesn't mean you're a skank. And other thing, I don't like fussy (read: priss) girls.'

I don't wanna be slack, but I though his answer was kinda ehhhh, stereotypical and too-assuming? I don't know why Filipinos (who actually live in the Philippines) naturally think that girls, or just people, with money are snobs who treat those with a different lifestyle in a demeaning and inferior manner. Just like how they depict balikbayans (read: Filipinos who have come back to the country from overseas to visit for a holiday), usually those with good money, as ignorant snobs who can't handle life without a plasma-screen TV with cable and silver cutlery. No. There may be some rich people like that, there may be some white-washed Filipinos like that, but not all. Not all girls with money are shallow and just care about makeup and not getting dirty.

If I can swing that far with the Australian context in mind, I actually think Australians are more laidback and less shallow than Filipinos themselves. I can't say the same for other Filipinos living in other countries and their culture and upbringing, but growing up in Australia, it's like that. For example, Australians care significantly less about people in shopping centres wearing their pyjamas or people mowing their lawn without any shoes on. Filipinos care about that shiz. If you're in the Philippines and you turn up at a jewellery shop wearing your house clothes and thongs, the salespeople will think you have no money and won't attend to you. That's actually happened. No exaggeration. In Australia, they just serve you.

Whenever I go to the Philippines, people can already tell from a mile away that I'm not from around there. Perhaps it's the way I dress, walk or whatever. They can just tell. Some people think I can no longer speak Tagalog. Boys who want to talk to me when I'm on holidays there don't talk to me because they think I'm a snob. To be honest, I was even more of a snob when we lived there than I am now. And it's all thanks to Australia who taught me how to look beyond people's characters and little quirks and just talk to them. I'm just gonna say, we're not the richest of folks especially with our current financial situation right now, but my parents do make enough money for people back home to call it "big money", and it makes me wonder if boys like our family friend would say the same thing about me too. I honestly don't think I'm like that. But if I am, at least the salespeople in the Philippines will help me find some good jewellery, right?