braces...OFF!

After how many years of having metal pieces on my teeth, my braces are finally being removed!

February 18th (the PA day).

:D

[...]

A tad busy so excuse to lack of original content.

However, here are two blogs that I'm loving atm.

1. [this is glamorous]
THE perfect inspirational blog for me (had to use 2 kinds of emphasis in that). Loving everything that she's posting up. Her favourite place is versailles too! I think this is the feeling you get when you meet your match, except on the internet and in the form of a blog.
Very glamorous ;D

2. I Wrote This For You

I need you to understand something. I wrote this for you. I wrote this for you and only you. Everyone else who reads it, doesn’t get it. They may think they get it, but they don’t. This is the sign you’ve been looking for. You were meant to read these words.

I don't quite get it, so it must not be meant for me haha. Very unique blog though, everything is up to the interpretation of the reader :]
Though as Gekko says in Wall Street: speculation is the root of all evil. (quite true for gossips in highschool)

brunch: blueberry soup

Haven't had a brunch post in a looooong while eh?
I blame general laziness and sunday morning shifts. Work is tiring "orz

Anyways, blueberries aren't usually associated with soup right? My mom felt strongly about this and was very very skeptical about trying it.
Turns out she loved it, success!

The pictures however, are not. None of them turned out focused ._."
Also recovering from a rather depressing manga (Immortal Rain, will review someday as well), so no effort was put into editting them.

Anyways,



This is with some yogurt stirred in.

recipe by, and I quote, "an Alaskan mom, no, not that Alaskan mom".

fleeting

Typical evening: I was tired and was reading manga, and so I begin to think.

Is there something, doesn't have to be realistic, ANYTHING in the world that would, guaranteed, make you the happiest person alive if you obtain it?

For me, kindaaa. Will explain:
A person on mousehunt forums posted a question:

Aside from change, what else is permanent in this world?

I think I will pretty darn happy if I find the answer to that question. (Becker argues the reasons in his book The Denial Of Death, which I will share my thoughts on some other time)

The Making of Tron Legacy

Good amount of movie footages in this, but do watch the full movie :]
(my mini spazz about the graphics)




On a different note, I think I got over my sense of doom regarding the english essay and is gaining motivation to work extremely hard on it.
Sure hope efforts turn into results.

Running the Bavaro

(anyone has the code for a 'read more' option?)

Aside from the various activities in the resort, my family chose to go on a tour of the Punta Cana countryside. The tour, Bavaro Runners, took us to a local elementary school, a sugar cane/tobacco planation, and a local organic farm.


Our bus! It was quite something riding on that, especially on the bumpy mountain roads. Our guide, Rene, joked that the tour came with a complimentary mechanical massage XD


Short video of us exiting a small town.


First stop: local elementary school


Didn't see much of it, just sat on the bus and listened to our guide explain the education system. They get free university education! ;_;


Moving on the roads


View of the distant Oriental mountain range (I think...) So dramatic that the peak is shrouded in clouds.


Royal palms, a main building material in Dominica. One can differentiate them from coconut trees from the pointed stem at the top of the tree.


Coconuts, yuuuuum. These belong to a plantation.


Second stop: sugar cane and tobacco plantation.


om nom nom. Use to eat a lot of fresh sugar cane back in China, they taste soooo goood.


Our driver skillfully skinning a sugar cane with a machete.


and on a larger scale, mechanically juicing the sugar cane.


Fermented tobacco leaf.

We got the best cigar roller on the plantation to give us a demonstration of how they're made.



Bottle of mamajuana, Dominica's national drink. A bunch of roots and leaves (each family has their own blend) soaked in rum, red wine, and honey. A very very strong drink, you take shots of it like vodka ;D
Our guide also explained the process of transforming sugar cane juice into molasses and rum.


Third stop: Maria's farm.


Her colourful kitchen. It smelled absolutely divine when we stepped in.


Rene holding a vanilla vine. I was very disappointed that I didn't find any beans sold in bulk ._. Nor rum cakes "orz


Did you know that a banana tree can only fruit once? After it's picked, it will be cut down.


I like the pop of bright blue roofing ;D


A fruit of some kind, didn't catch the name. It's used to make bowls and containers of other sorts.


Cacao beans! Interesting fact about them is that they grow from the trunk or branches of the tree.


My favourite picture of the trip. Tis a rippened coffee bean.


Roasting in the sunlight~


And then smashed to remove the husk.
(my first thought after typing that was how in ragnarok frontier the beetle husks in Umbala got nerfed cause everyone was making millions off it. A friend of mine had a few thousand in storage and was majorly pissed off.)

Next up is cacao!

Looks pretty gross right out of the pod. The beans will be dried under the sun and then roasted.


Our guide working the grinder ;D


and out comes cacao nibs, intensely delicious.

The farm gave us quite a few samples:

Fresh coffee, black.


Hot chocolate, beats the commercial kind any day.


Ended up buying 2 jars of cacao, 1 jar of sugar, and a bottle of coconut oil (in hopes of making my hair nicer).

Last stop: lunch.


Our lunch place as beside a zip line ground.


Close up of a different tower.

Didn't bother taking pictures of the food, though it was quite delicious. After lunch we were dropped off at our resort to continue with the rest of our vacation~

a look back

Not feeling an in-depth analysis of how the year went. Saving those for long sleepless nights xD

I think the most important lesson I have learned is just be straightforward.

Guessing game are not fun for very long times, annoyance and frustration usually ensues.
I endeavor to just speak what's on my mind in almost every situation.
Here's two interesting links on the subject: one & two
(later edit: I feel a little more writing would do this point well, but I'm halfway into my zoneout mood)

Also learned to just speak up and ask for whatever you want. No amount of secretly praying to whatever deity you believe in is gonna work as well as going up to ask. It's always harder to refuse someone, and so what if they said no.
This has worked pretty well for me: got free cake, few half marks on tests, chairs to sit on during lunch, etc etc. So I will endeavor to keep this up and see how far I can get~