New nails

Did this last night at 11pm with the same Sally Hansen gelish set. The lines are not perfect but the duo colours add some colour to the outfit. :)

Concerts in the park rock!

On our fridge was a brochure about the series of summer concerts in Leo J Ryan Park at FC every Friday. Since we had nothing to do this evening, we strolled to the park a little after seven, an hour after the concert started, to enjoy a little post-dinner music in the evening breeze.

BIG MISTAKE. We should have arrived way before the concert starts. We heard rock music from afar and as we drew near, what greeted us was a sea of people at the amphitheater. People young and old; dancing, drinking, eating, chatting, giggling, screaming. There were even some boats parked at the side of lake where folks just chilled with their wine. (Again, we were stumped by the sheer number of inhabitants in this community. Where were they hiding in winter?)

At first shocked and shy to what we thought was a quiet evening of music, we soon found ourselves wiggling along with the crowd and getting rather high. The rock-your-body vibes from the band 'Hot for Teacher' was contagious. The crowd got wilder with each song and went mad when the organiser announced that we are all gonna be on TV because a film crew is coming.

We only saw the second half of the concert but I was already telling Panda that if we have the chance to come again - there are four more - we will have to bring our picnic blanket and come earlier to get good seats. We don't get things like that back home. Youngsters think it's 'uncool'; the older ones think it's embarrassing to dance. We are indeed a self-conscious lot. Since we are here, we better take advantage of the freedom to just do our body wiggles and have lots of fun like everyone else!

Third time lucky

That's my make shift cardboard hair salon in the toilet. We ran out of white plastic table wraps which we used to lay on the floor to catch the falling hair. So we used a box big enough to sit Panda in and taped brown paper all around it. Recycled materials rock.

We managed to catch most of the hair - no clumps were found on the floor after the haircut! As for the hair that fell on Panda's body, I took a clear plastic bag (those you used to hold veggies and fruits), put my hand inside like a glove, and used it to swipe his back clean. I read somewhere that because of static, hair clings stubbornly onto plastic. And it worked perfectly.

It's my third time cutting hair for Panda. This time round, he looks less like an onion or an army cadet,  he looks normal. It's a big achievement.

I used the same set of hair clipper kit, #6 for behind, #8 for the top (lightly brushing instead of ploughing), #3 on the sides and finally, the bare shaver to clean the neck at the back. Of course, trimming around the ear with scissors.

Panda looks extremely happy after his haircut. He always does. Bye bye to that thick helmet of hair on his head!

Minion attack!

I woke up late on the sofa bed this morning (correction: afternoon) cos Panda was snoring away the whole night. Not that I blame him... he has a greater say now that he's the one who has to wake up early to go to work while I laze around at home.

Just when I was wondering groggily what to have for lunch, Panda texted me from office to ask if I want any lunch. Tears of joy. Was craving for McDonald's so I placed my lunch order of filet-o-fish and fries.

Along with my personal lunch delivery came a $1.90 surprise... a minion! I haven't watch Despicable Me 2 yet but I love these tiny yellow tubey looking creatures. They are stupid, crazy, lazy, hardworking, evil and cute at the same time.

Simply put, they are awesome.

I name most of my stuff, just like how I name my car, my suitcases, my GPS etc. I'm going to name my minion Pee, to honour Panda the real life minion in my life. And that's a compliment!

(P/S: Introducing Quil, a brother of Pee. They have been tasked to look after our toilet for now.)

Walk4Water

 

  

Where's everyone going with the colourful pails? Why's Panda filling up our recycled tea bottles? It's the Walk4Water event at Open Door Church!

Open Door Church organised an one-mile walk today to simulate the experience of villagers in rural Africa. MPPC (the mother church) will donate $25 towards clean water projects for every person who participates. It was only a short walk up the hill behind church to a 'water source' to collect water with our containers. I weighed my bottles when we were back at church. It was 2 lbs each but it seemed pretty heavy.

Living in developed countries, we often take water availability for granted. We have taps, we have bottled water, we even have water sources like lakes and seaside to enjoy.

Do you know that in less developed countries, even if the villagers have a well which they could use, the water may not be safe for consumption? They have to rely on trucks that transport clean drinking water to where they live. They drink from plastic bags. That said, with wells, hygiene conditions can be improved.

It's easy to find figures from the Internet. The number of people who die from water related diseases every year; the percentage of world population that does not have access to water and sanitation facilities. BUT, if we don't contribute in whatever small way we can, figures will always remain as... figures. Hopefully, with our short walk, more money can be donated to clean water projects in Jesus' name. Amen!

A Saturday at Santana Row

We didn't realise that San Jose has such a charming place, until we were introduced to Santana Row by the Leow family! It's like Santa Monica in LA, but so much better without the tourist crowd.

Mind you, it's still an upscale (read: expensive) place in terms of dining and shopping. For an afternoon of chilling and window shopping though, it's perfect.

In the evening we went Left Bank, a French brasserie, for dinner with the Leow family and friends. The ambience was great given that they were celebrating Bastille Day the next day. And there was live accordion music by a friendly musician!

For food, since we've just eaten lunch at 3pm, Panda and I ordered one serving of Poulet Roti to share. We mistakenly thought that we had double ordered when it arrived - the chicken was huge! Our friends' steak, salmon and pasta were more aptly portioned.

We ended the day with drinks from Fantasia, chit-chatting outside the tiny cafe and listening to the throbbing club music from El Jardin. When we left around 10pm, Santana Row was still abuzz with people enjoying the cool, breezy night. We love the vibrancy of the place, and will definitely be back!

What are your summer essentials?

Now that the weather is getting hotter, it's time to take special care of my skin and hair. Though we come from a tropical country, we need to get used to the heat again given that we've spent the last 7 months in US' cooling spring/winter season. And it's always such a dilemma. We want to soak up the sun and enjoy the long days, but the rays are so damaging!

I must say that my skin and hair survive so much better in cold weather than hot ones! So, my summer essentials are:

1. Neutrogena's Ultimate Sport Spray Sunscreen which I bought from Costco together with its Sport Face Oil Free Lotion. Both resist sweat, are oil free and provide broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. Best of all, I can just conveniently spray it on.

2. Umberto Dry Shampoo. This is the only dry shampoo I found at Target and online reviews seem to be quite positive! I like how clean it makes my hair feel after sweating on a warm summer day.

3. Schwarzkopf got2b Beach Trippin' Salt Infusion Waving Spray. It works best when you have wet hair and you don't plan to blow dry it. That is, if you like the dry + messy beach look.

I've been wearing visors, caps and hats too just so that I can protect my face from the sun. Back home these are accessories... but here, they are definitely necessities!

Why I'm on a hunt for dresses

Tell you a secret. I've been looking at white dresses like these.

When Panda and I had our wedding three years ago, we were on a tight budget and so our bridal shoots were really simple. We went to a place in China where we bought the basic photography package. The photos turned out fine (better than we expected!) but you can never imagine the process of making those shots! From time to time, we still joke about our 'experience'.

It was extremely painful to comb that princess-y hair... and check out Panda's overly thick brows! Haha.

When I first knew that we would be relocating to US, I was really excited - we could make use of the lovely scenery to take anniversary/couple shots! It doesn't have to be professionally done (since we are still on budget living!). I could DIY my own hair and make up, set up the tripod, and just have fun! The wineries at Napa, the city scape in San Francisco... all we need are just quirky ideas and loads of time.

And of course, nice dresses to go with the lovely photos!



Spring in Yosemite



So if anyone has nice dresses to recommend, please share!