The King's Speech + Food Challenge

Colin Firth does not fail us!!! He was awesome in this movie :)
Loved Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice back in the days, and now, he is impressive as a King who overcomes his speech impediment. Truly touching movie about King George the VI who is put into the throne unwillingly, but turns out to be a great leader. The movie displayed how friendship can grow from the most uncommon circumstances, and the power true friendships can provide. The story is an inspiration about overcoming our worst fears and facing our obligations like a real man, or rather, like a king!

We are rooting for Colin Firth as Best Actor for the Academy Awards :)

Here's my list of hopefuls
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Although I haven't seen the other chicks..I should..)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams (I liked her, but I think Melissa Leo might have done a better performance in The Fighter)

Best Picture: Inception (Because I love Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Nolan!!! But I think it might be The King's Speech or 127 hours, cuz they are true stories. BOO)

Also on the blog today! I made a couple of dishes over the week, and I shall be uploading pictures + recipes by this weekend. Here's a list of dishes I've made so far

Rigatoni Pomodoro ★★★☆☆
Attempts: 2
This is a relatively easy dish, can't really go wrong with pasta and cheese :)

Eggplant Parmesan ★☆☆☆☆
Attempts: 1
It was a fail! The eggplant was still somewhat undercooked :(

Spinach Soup + Mushroom ★★★★☆
Attempts: 2
Pretty easy again, blend up the spinach and stir in chopped mushrooms. Yum

Chinese braised green beans ★★☆☆☆
Attempts: 1
Need to get the right beans, and cook for a longer duration, and add more salt!

Vegetarian fried rice with mushrooms + cabbage ★★★☆☆
Attempts: Too many
Every time the fried rice tastes different! haha, perhaps cook with Jasmine rice next try.

Farfalle Alfredo + Wild Mushroom + Shanghai bokchoy! ★★★☆☆
Attempts: A few
Alfredo with mushroom is a no-fail strategy! Slow cook the mushrooms to bring out sweetness. Add butter for more flavour.

Movies to watch before the big date Feb 27th!

So they announced the nominations for Oscars today! I am stoked this year, because Leonardo DiCaprio made a movie! Inception might be a contender, but least likely to be best lead actor. :( That's ok LEO there's still next year!!

A couple of notable things in the nominations. The King's speech swept 12 nominations, followed by 10 nominations for True Grit, 8 for Social Media and 8 for Inception. Can you believe Christopher Nolan didn't get nominated for best director?! WHAT THE HELL?

Anyway, I am watching the King's Speech tomorrow night! YAY.

I'm hoping to watch the following soon

127 Hours

Blue Valentine

Rabbit Hole

The Kind's Speech

The Social Media ( I don't really want to see it, but it got so many awards at the Golden Globes.)

Morning Glory

Eat, Pray, Love (Just because the book was so slow and dreadful.)


Also, some exciting stuff in the cinemas!!

If you haven't read the book, Water for Elephant, it is time to do so!!!
The book is about a traveling circus! All the fun Carnies have :)
Also, some paraelle to biblical references, and a reflection of the depression times.

wait for it...wait for it...!! A film adaptation for the book! Staring Reese Witherspoon and Rpatz~!

We do everyday like Sunday.

Since the Oscar nominations are in tomorrow, I have to start watching some contenders! We saw Fighter last week, this week it was the much anticipated Black Swan.

If you haven't seen the movie, here's the dealio. Nina (Natalie Portman) plays the perfectionist ballerina, who is denied the role of Swan Queen, because she is too perfect, and only suited to play White Swan. Lily (Mila Kunis) is a more passionate dancer, that display potential for the sensual Black Swan. When the two compete for the role of Swan Queen, Nina finds a dark side of herself..

The movie is thrilling! Displaying an array of psychological stuff! The struggles of an artist, the obsession of perfection, the fear of being replaced by your double. Other notable psychological concepts, lack of social interaction, extremely protective and controlling mother, symptoms of delusion and Morgellons (a condition involving scratching of the skin, biting, skin lesions, and a belief that fibers are embedded under the skin.. etc.) Also, there is some graphic girl on girl action, perhaps a search of her sexual orientation.

I would give this movie the thumbs up! I enjoy seeing character development that eventually conquers! The movies keeps you guessing, if it is all Nina's hallucination, or was she simply a victim of unfortunate events? I felt that the movie gave a sympathetic angle to Nina's life, allowing the audience to feel for her.


My favourite part of the movie..so cool

On to happier things!
The weekend started off early, 11am brunch date at White Spot. Had a veggie egg benedict. Tasty!


Then we went to Aberdeen for a haircut! Also to buy ingredients for my next dish! Braised green beans! Here's us dorking out at Aberdeen centre with all the Chinese New Year festivities.



Dinner was at 4Stones in Richmond, on Westminster Road. I had the wonton noodle soup!


After dinner was Black Swan! Pretty eventful day, I'd say!

TiMER

What I watched last week on Netflix.com

TiMER, is a sci-fi-romantic-comedy about a device that counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate. The main character, Oona, is fast approaching 30 years of age, and her TiMER is still blank, meaning her soulmate has not yet been equipped with a TiMER.
She is in distress, because she's beginning to believe that she'll never find her soulmate. Meanwhile, she meets a cashier boy, and they start to develop a relationship, despite the fact he is TiMER-less. Cashier boy reminds Oona to live in the present. Just as Oona begins to doubt the effectiveness of TiMER, her TiMER goes off, and she's to meet her soulmate the next day. You can watch the rest of the movie to find out what happens!

The movie really brought many aspects of "love" into the equation. Do you believe in destined soulmates? Do you believe that love is what you make of it? Do you believe that one can be in love more than once? Do you believe that there is one person who is most compatible with you, and you'll learn to love them in the long run? Does love discriminate? All in all, a real good chill movie to watch on a Wednesday afternoon.

a dish a week

So I've decided to cook at least one new dish each week. That means by the end of the year, I'll have at least 48 dishes under my belt.

Last week: Rigatoni Pomodoro!
This week: Eggplant Parmesan

Potential dishes for the weeks to follow:

Spinach Dip

Pad Thai

Pickles Radish

Can't wait!

Need me a pair of Oxfords

Dark brow, or light brown? I always wanted a pair of oxfords, but never had the opportunity to try them on in a good mood. Now might be a perfect time to purchase them!
These are from orever21.com and are only $29 :)
It'll help me get the purchase over $60, for that free shipping!

Here we go...online purchase time!


Also, these are super cute from Urban Outfitters


On to other things, I heard this song on the radio today, and remember how good it was!


I'll be missing you - Puff Daddy + Faith Evans + 112
Song reminiscing the great Christopher George Latore Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G
In case you didn't know, the song samples from "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, and Sting owns 100% of the publishing royalties, damn. hahaha

Weekend Movie Marathon

Chilling in Spain for film promotion!

The Green Hornet!
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, not sure if it is because I am biased towards Jay Chou!! It was all in all a really entertaining movie with classic slapstick comdey, and your typical easy to laugh punchlines! Jay Chou's english is also superb! As for storyline, like any superhero storyline, bad guys DIE, good guys WIN!

I would recommend the movie, because I love Jay.



The Fighter
Based on the true story of boxer Micky Ward and his brother Dickie Eklund. This is a boy-film, but I did enjoy the shirtless Mark Wahlberg! He's so swole! It had some pretty inspirational moments. Mark Wahlberg did a good job displaying one's dedication and passion to the sport. Also, I never really liked Christian Bale, but got to say, he plays a great crack addict!!


Movie directed by Drew Barrymore!

Whip It
Ellen Page plays a lost little girl who finds confidence and joy in roller derby! YAY. ROLLER DERBY! It is roller skates gone wild. We saw it on netflix and it was pretty enjoyable. Some funny parts, some touching moments, a relaxing film to watch with a tad of action in the rollerskating rink!

*We're suppose to watch Black Swan! It keeps getting pushed back...maybe it is not meant to be...

P.S. More movies to watch before the Oscar catches up to me! Did anyone watch the Golden Globes? I didn't, because it is not the Oscar.

Rigatoni Pomodoro

Last night I decided to make some dinner. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures!)
This picture is borrowed from flickr! It is a close representation of what I made last night. HAHA



Pretty basic sauce and pretty tasty too!

Pomodoro Sauce

diced tomatoes

diced mushrooms

tomato paste

fresh basil/or dried is fine too

tad of chili for that kick!

olive oil

salt + pepper to taste

and of course, my favourite addition to any pasta dish CHEESE! I used both Kraft Cheese and smoke cheddar for that extra smokiness!

PASTA
Boil pasta as directed on the package, then boil boil! Remember to add a tad of salt for funzzies! Cook pasta to al dente (a tad undercooked) Remove pasta from heat source and let it sit in the pot for a minute. Then drain!

SAUCE
While your pasta is boiling away, allow pan to heat with some olive oil,then add tomato paste, add a bit of water to dilute if desired. Then add the fresh tomatoes, and mushrooms. keep at medium heat to avoid burning your cute mushrooms. Add basil, salt + pepper, chili. Stir! Add cheese to your concoction! mmm!

With your al dente pasta, transport it into your sauce pan! Stir, stir, and add grated cheese to the equation! Stir for a bit on medium/low heat, make sure your undercook pasta become sexy edible! Then turn off stove and serve in yuppy square plates! YAY.

*Add vegetables at your own discretion. I didn't have any in the fridge :(

Victim of bad television

So, I've been following Pretty Little Liars on ABC, since it first aired last fall. The tv series is based on some popular novel series. Gossip Girl dejavu, much? Anyway, let me fill you in on the premise so you don't have to suffer watching this.

5 girls are besties, and their queen bee disappears (apparently murdered). A year after the disappearance, the girls start receiving text messages, threats about how he/she will reveal their dark secrets, including secrets that only the queen bee would have known.

Basically, the story is about the girls not wanting to go to authority about these potential scary death threats, from an anonymous source. This anonymous person seems to have great control over them, since it knows the girls' weakness. It all seems ridiculous, when your life is in danger, why don't you tell your mom or the police that someone has been inside your house, writing scary message on the mirror?! Stalker alert. The girls do not learn that lying is the absolute worst action, and continues to let stalker take control of your life! AHH. Much frustration about teenagers who do not handle situations well.

But since I have nothing else to watch until Gossip Girl comes back, I have to wait and find out who the scary stalker is. All in all, it has mixed reviews from 8/10 New York Daily News, to 16/100 entertainment weekly. I can't believe it also won Teen Choice Awards, but then again, teens can relate to lying, and secrets kept between friends. I, on the other hand, prefer not to dig myself a bigger hole.

P.S. The girls are pretty to watch.

Recap 2010 + 2011 New Years Eve

Happy New year! Here's a recap of 2010~

January: New Year's resolution
My 2010 new year resolution was using my camera more often, here's a snap of myself in 2010 January.



February: 2010 Winter Olympics

It is truly a privilege to be part of the 2010 Winter Games. It brought people together, and the spirit of Canadians truly touched me! Athletes are amazing people working towards their dream!


Being a tourist in my own town!


First Gold On Home Soil! A record breaking Olympic for Canadians! Proud!

March: I have a desk!

Tien bought me an office chair, and we put together my desk! Finally, a working space that proved to be useful throughout the year, and more to come!

April: Eyjafjallajokull is angry

The volcanic explosion was scary and caused Europe to have many airport meltdowns. :(

May: Bridesmaid Galore
My first time being a bridesmaid! Fun stuff!


May was full of adventurous trips Science World and the Planetarium!




June: Birthmonth!
We didn't do anything big for my birthday this year, just a quiet dinner with friends at Yaletown, and a dessert outing with my hunnie. Notable presents from my love: Canon G11 camera so I can take more pictures without hauling around a Nikon D80, and a trip to Las Vegas to see sexy street fighters! Yay!


Older and wiser - at La Cuisson, Richmond


Summer biking fun with friends!

July: Street Fighter Adventure
We're back in Vegas again! This time with a couple different highlights! Street Fighter convention, and David Copperfield! Of course, we cannot forget the good food and the good shopping!


Epic Sunshine


Vdara hotel is our favourite! We'll be back in 2011 :)

August: Concorde Adventure



Have you ever seen such a beautiful plane?! It's the supersonic jetliner, Concorde!
We had a ton of fun in Belleuve and museum of flight! Of course we visited the container store!

August was also Tien's birthday! Check out his cool birthday cake I baked!


Rwar, don't eat me

Oh! We also went to the Backstreet Boys concert, and I lost my wallet for 2 days, but it was safely returned to me :)


Fun at Build-a-bear, Coquitlam Centre

September: Playland!


It's carnival time, and we spent a disgusting amount of money at the carnival, but I guess the carnies need money for health care! Nonetheless, it was a load of fun.
Tien ate a gross deepfried Mars bar...



October: Joe is here!


We went downtown to see Joe's new store, but it was packed and a disappointment. Horray for leaving candy outside for halloween and greedy children took the whole pile. I still believe in humanity!

November: Pictures missing in action
We just moved into Richmond Centre for the holidays, and it is a pretty hectic working schedule, so I spent most of my time working, and hanging out infront of the tv..

December: Merry Christmas!


Managed to squeeze in some holiday photos!



Visits to Metrotown, and attemp to do Christmas shopping was a fail! But a photo opportunity presented itself, also a chance to wear ugly christmas sweater :)

Presents left and right. Had a really good year and happy Christmas

We build Gingerbread homes like nobody does

Welcoming 2011


Highlight of the night, Cranium

We had a potluck/countdown gathering at Lilly's richmond abode! Fun stuff with fun people. Happy New year, guys!



This year my resolution is to handle situations more harmoniously, and work at more stability in business, and stay healthy. There are many great adventures that await us this year! Don't be afraid! YAY! 2011, here we come!!