The Weekend - "Forever Young"

Saturday...
My dad asked me during the week to play for his team for a volleyball tournament being held for the adults (most being 40+)  at the church.  On the day of the tournament (Saturday), he calls me in the morning to make sure I'm there at least by 10:30am.  I wake up and get ready, expecting the car to be there so I can get there...only to find there is no car but thankfully my sister hadn't left yet for her work event so she dropped me off.

I get there slightly late, but it didn't matter anyhow since there were two games ahead of us...

this is how the game was going...

I thought oh dear....but then the games got more intense and me and my dad make a great pair! =)

After the first game we played, all the adults would come to me and say (in Korean)...

"oh you're so good!" 

"where did you learn to play?" 

"you are definitely your father's daughter" - referring to the fact my dad is the athletic type and plays sports.  I was surprised myself of how well my dad plays.  I didn't know what to expect, but he's pretty good and can set pretty well...I guess it helps to have strong thick fingers lol.

One of the adults comes up to my dad and I saying (in Korean) "I was going to ask my son to come play but didn't but now I called him to come since you brought your daughter.  He's getting ready now and he plays for his highschool team."  It became serious business for some people...lol

Another comment or question heard often from the adults was (in Korean) 

"how old are you?"

"What grade are you in?"

I tell them I'm 23 this year and/or finished university

They respond with initial silence with shock written all over their face...

and then "wow you look so young!" ...I guess I still look like I'm a teenager? which will be a blessing later when I do age and hope that I still look young hahahaha

Well it's been awhile since I jumped that much playing volleyball, since my dad's plan was to set me for most of the time, good practice for me.

But for someone who does not stretch...boy did I feel it the next day and especially the 2nd day after.  I go up and down the stairs with a hobble.

Staying on the topic of volleyball, that same Saturday I had a banquet to go to that is for a volleyball league I play in.  At first I wasn't feeling in the mood to dress up and go since I had a headache and wasn't feeling great, but I went and I'm glad I did.  I wanted to be there to support the league and my team, especially since our team won =) 

We are missing a few people (Glen, Carli, Jess Chae)

yay back-to-back wins!

I did dress up, but kept it simple

(me and wayne)
Maybe should have added some colour...

I also won a dvd player and a bluetooth usb [which I don't need but still cool I won!].  I was really hoping for the projector though! Everyone wins something, and the prizes ranged from a deck of cards (lol poor guys who won just cards) to the projector machine.

It was a fun night, because my team is an awesome bunch =) 

<3

Sunday ...
was my closest friend's birthday =)

Such a guys night [well makes sense since they're guys] as we played video games, ordered pizza, beer....the only girly thing was the red velvet cupcakes.  They just had to check if those silver balls on top of the cupcake are okay to eat....and we found out that it's not good to eat those poisonous lil metal balls.  The cupcake was delicious though lol.  So letting you guys know that those silver balls are for decorative purposes only...don't eat!

Then ended the night watching Kindergarten Cop, a classic Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.  A good Arnold movie.

It was a good weekend =)

Hope Everyone's Weekend was Great too! =)

The Beginning of Freedom

My first official day of being finished school was spent baking =)
Two Items on the List: Coconut Cream Pie and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The coconut cream pie needs 4 hours to chill in the fridge before putting the cream topping on/be served, so I decided to make cookies.  Elliot was over to help or more like watch while I bake so that we could hit the golf range after I was done.  I asked him to tell me the instructions so this way it could go a lil faster.  The cookies didn't turn out chewy and I couldn't figure out what I did wrong, until later when I read the instructions myself....I was suppose to take them out slightly under baked.  Elliot left this lil bit but crucial detail out.  I wanted to take some of the cookies for my lovely man-friend (haha my way of writing boyfriend), but because it was kind of a failure I didn't =(

On the bright side, the coconut cream pie turned out delicious!! messy but super YUMS!

Even Chieu-Nghi, who doesn't like coconut, and Jessica, who also is not a big fan of coconut, both enjoyed this pie! Jessica had another serving =) So even if you don't like coconut, I don't think the flavour is overpowering, but just the right amount, for all to enjoy! (:

After baking, didn't have time to go to the range cause I was going to go play some one-on-one basketball with my manfriend before he played pickup with the rest of the guys.  It's SOOO  much fun!! I'm not very good with my shot, but I'm a good defender...probably where my competitive side kicks in. Even in volleyball, my favourite thing to do is to block or pick up someone's hit; it's the best feeling.

Anyhow, the next day I had a GNI (girls night in) with Chieu-Nghi and Jessica =)  we made dinner and it was good times.  Listening and watching those two in the kitchen is hilarious.  It was obvious they don't cook much, let alone step foot in the kitchen hahahaha =).  But the food turned out DELICIOUS nonetheless!  We made chicken fingers and oven fries.  Not too difficult, since we do want to start off easy...and make something that's fairly fast (we were all starving).  I really wish though that we recorded ourselves while cooking...that way I could share with you the enjoyment I had of hearing them (especially Jessica...who will in the future need a cook and a maid ;) )  It was a good meal, and good times shared with the two of them.  <3 them~ (sorry next time I'll take pictures of all the food...usually I do...)  My parents and sister also got to enjoy the food when they came home later =)

HAPPY BAKING AND COOKING EVERYONE =)

The Wait, The Anticipation...

On Monday night, I should say late Monday night, I finally ordered the cookbook I've been meaning to get and along with that purchase I decided to get a baking book by the same company.  I ordered from Amazon.com, it was my first time, and the shipping option I was going with they said it'd be around a few days.  My thinking was great...I'm going to have to wait at least 4 days or something.  

The next day, I check to see the status and it said that it's being shipped and should be there the day after.

So now it's Wednesday, I've been focused on studying for my exam that I had that night (with a few breaks here and there of course....my stomach is my number one distractor....I always had to be eating something because I was convinced by my stomach that I was hungry) and UPS tracking info said that it should be delivered that day between 9am-7pm.  

The whole time I was waiting and anticipating...anxious to see my box of goodies!  it's still mid-day and I hear the doorbell ring.  Naturally I thought it was the UPS person with my delivery! but to my disappointment it was just another one of those guys who wanted to sell my parents on getting our lawn done.  I went back to the dining room where I was studying...feeling somewhat unsatisfied from the encounter.  

It's getting closer to the time I want to leave for my exam ..and finally after a few hours from the grassman, I see the UPS truck roll up! I was so excited (that I could just not hide it) but I told myself that if I was just standing at the door waiting it might be a lil creepish so I decided to contain myself and wait until he rang the doorbell. He rings the doorbell and I fight myself from running to the door.  I open the door and he's about to walk away and I say "hi!" I was excited to see him (well more the package) and he could care less.  

UPS Man: I have a package for Sonia Chang.

Me: YES that's ME!

UPS Man hands me the package and goes off and I say "Thank you! Bye!" and I immediately go back to my dining table with so much excitement that I instantly cut through the tape and open the box. (It's like Christmas to me!) And there lay my First Cookbook and Baking Book! My very own~ =)

I'm so excited to start cooking and baking, but I have to wait until I'm done my last exam (which is monday night then FREEEDOM my friends...Freedom!)

So stay tuned because I will soon be sharing how these recipes go! I may even have videos of the process and how people enjoy the end product =)

Thank you to Amazon/UPS for the super quick delivery! That was basically a day and half I waited...so fast! 

OOOOO I CAN'T WAIT TO BAKE/COOK!!! CAN YOU?!

HAPPPPY COOKING/BAKING EVERYONE~!

SSN - Sonia's Sports Network

After coming back from my girl-date with Jessica and Chieu-Nghi, I wanted to catch up on the sports I missed.  I check the Raptors score...and we lost again, but we're suppose to get Bosh back for Friday but some people think it'll take longer for him to recover..I hope not.  Even if the Raptors make the playoffs (I know right now they are sitting at 8th, but the Bulls are only one game back), we're most likely going to be out the first round since we'll have to face Cleveland or some other super awesome team (lol I know I know...I should have more faith in Toronto right?...or not).  Well the slogan for NBA is "where amazing happens", so maybe something amazing happens like a miracle and the Raptors will exceed my expectations...but really, something amazing has to happen.
Talking about Toronto, the Captain for the TFC team is no longer playing on the team but will be the assistant general manager, or so I heard on the radio. 
Also I thought the Masters started today because last night TSN said watch the Masters at 3pm tomorrow (today)...which my boyfriend thought was weird cause he said it should be Thursday.  So either we misunderstood, or TSN got it mixed up....after trying to find the results for today's supposed start of the Masters and finally asking my dad...it starts tomorrow!

Anyhow, in related sports news....


This is the new Nike Ad: Tiger with his father, Earl, voice.
Earl's saying in the background: "Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are, and did you learn anything?"

Some might think that bringing his personal life into the ad is not the best idea, but why not?  It's the spotlight right now and it's not like there's a single person who doesn't know about it, so why pretend like nothing happened.  The ad seems very real in that sense that it doesn't shy away from the issue, and I like the line "and did you learn anything?"  Seems his father's words are very fitting for the his current circumstance.

Anyways, what do you think?

Product Test: Face Cleansers

I didn't personally test all these products, I saw these in this month's issue of LouLou Magazine.

To look at the ones LouLou covered there were six: Chanel Precision Maximum Radiance Exfoliating Gel; Marcelle Hydra-C Radiance Facial Exfoliating Gel; Burt's Bees Peach & Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub; Biotherm Biosource Clarifying Exfoliating Gel; Kiss My Face So Refined Jojoba & Mint Facial Scrub; and Aveeno Positively Ageless Warming Scrub.

They looked at three things: smoothing power; pore-minimizing effect; and easy-rinse factor.

Two of the six actually scored perfect in all three categories

 Burt's Bees (natural) and Kiss My Face (eco-friendly - using organic ingredients)

However there are three that I would like to contribute to the list of cleansers that they tested.

St.Ives Apricot Scrub - love the smell, can see some difference in improvement in my skin, however I don't like to use a scrub everyday or twice a day because I feel like I'll be over exfoliating. 

So in the morning I'll use L'Oreal Hydra Confort Foaming Cream Cleanser

I also used Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser (make-up remover and cleanser in one), however I feel like I have to rinse my face 20 times because it feels like it's still on my face! so that's a no-no.  Maybe these 2-in-1 type things aren't the best...and it's better to just have a separate cleanser & make-up remover.

also a tip (that most people probably know but I didn't know til I read it awhile back): Apply your lotion while your face is still damp (right after you wash your face and dry), this way the lotion will go deeper and it'll do a better job of moisturizing your face.

Now go make your face Happy!

Product Test: Mascara

Okay so this was a little bit of a challenge...

Only because I couldn't see a big difference between a couple of them.

I tested 4 different brands, all waterproof.  It was a box set from Sephora.  [I may do another Mascara product test with those that are suppose to be the best and see if they are what they say they are]

I'm not sure if it's hard to tell because I have small Asian eyes where I don't have the fold [which makes it harder for me to apply eye make-up since most of it won't show and I don't want to put too MUCH]


Urban Decay - Big Fatty Mascara:

- Thick Brush

What it does: Thickens, slightly lengthens

Tarte - Lights Camera Splashes

- Thin Brush

What it does: Slightly Thickens

Make Up Forever - Aqua Smokey Lash

- Thick Brush

What it does: Goes on Clumply

Too Faced - Mini Lash Injection

- Thick Brush

What it does: Slightly Thickens

So the Winner from the Four? Urban Decay - Big Fatty Mascara
The classic mascara by Maybelline is still one of my faves though~

Also I love this eyelash curler from the Sephora collection.  It works for my eyes where it can get closer to the lash line.  I always had trouble with the typical eyelash curler since I have flabby eyelids and I wouldn't be able to get close enough to the lash line...so it didn't curl my lashes very nice.  It's also compact which makes it easier to carry around too =)
(~$15)

This one is apparently really good too so I'm thinking of testing it out.
Shu Uemura (~$20-25)

It looks like the typical eyelash curler but apparently works well for Asian eyelashes.