me: what is an e-oil? ( keep in mind we were speaking in Chinese)
mom: Vitamin E oil.
me: Oh! no, she didn't ask me to bring that for her.
Mom: did you know most people take too much vitamin, and they are poisoned by the vitamin?
Me: Oh really? (Thinking: there we go again... she knows all about vitamins this time)
Mom: All you need is just 2 capsules of Vitamin E a week, not every day. Regular vitamin too, people take too much vitamin, it's wasteful, and harmful for your liver. ......( on and on....)
Me: (Thinking: be nice, you don't have to go into details about your life)
Mom: So are you pregnant yet?
Me: No.
(Thinking in my head - What the hell? why are you asking? You have been asking since we first got married. If you want a baby to hold, make one yourself. Stop calling and ask if I am pregnant yet. Just because all of your friends are grandmas now, it doesn't mean that you have to always ask if I am pregnant every time I talk to you on the phone. It's really annoying. )
Mom: oh.
Me : We are going to law school soon, having kids might not be very convenient right now. I am not ready.
I will be pregnant and have kids whenever I want to. I don't need anyone to keep on asking me if I am pregnant or not. Especially from my mother. It's between me and my husband. And I still want to get my masters degree. Not sure what yet, but I want to continue my education. It's my life, I do what I want.
Yesterday I was home sick, and had a chance to watch Oprah. She did a segment on the price of beauty, and women today face so much pressure to have certain look. Lisa Ling also had a segment in yesterday’s show, where she went to China, and investigated on the beauty industry. One thing that really disturb me is that people will spend from $10,000~$40,000 and undergo a surgery, just so they could be taller. The recovery time from this surgery is usually about 1 year.
I was raised in that kind of environment, and the saddest thing is, my mother is the one who criticize me ever since I could remember. My mother didn’t like my eyes, because my eyes are single layered. (Most Caucasians have a fold/layer, which most Asian don’t have) She wished that I had pretty double layer eye lids like her. So, she constantly says to me, “When you grow up, you need to ‘cut double layer eyelids’ (That was direct Chinese translation).” Too bad, I had my father’s eyes. My mother also did not like how wide me feet were, so when I was little, she tight nylons on my feet to prevent it to become too wide. I remember that my feet would go numb, and it hurts like hell.
There is always a pressure to be skinny in the Asian culture, since everyone else is simply flat everywhere. I am sorry to y’all Chinese women, but I am proud of my boobs, and my curvy body. I am sorry that I don’t have size “A” or “nearly A” boobs to be as skinny as you, nor do I have a flat jiggley butt that looks bad in jeans. To be honest, I am not fat, you just look scrawny. Stop being so insecure about yourself! Stop making other women look/feel bad about themselves by your unnecessary criticisms.
This is the result of someone telling her she's too fat.
Her name is Oliviero Toscani, former model in Paris.
I happen to be an athlete, and I can jump high and run fast. I played 4 years of Volleyball, 4 years of badminton, 1 year of water polo and 1 year of basketball on my high school teams. I am grateful for my wide feet which helped me to be steady. Come to think of it, I don’t even wear “wide” when I buy shoes, I just wear regular shoes. I think my feet are just fine.
In Lisa Ling’s segment talked about many Chinese man and women want to be taller. Since there are so many people in China, and jobs are scarce. In some research showed, people who are taller have better chance to get a better job, better mate, being treated better, and more chance to become successful in life. As cruel as it might sound, in my short life experience, tall people does have a better chance in most things. Look at the president of United States. They are all over 6 feet tall.
On the contrary, I am only 5’2, and average height for Chinese women, short in America. I do have to say that I had no trouble getting dates when I was a teen ~ College. I can wear any pretty high heels without worrying towering over my dates. That never happens, because my dates are usually over 6’ tall. I can still wear any high heels I want now, and still be shorter than my husband. Unless I want to wear 8in high heel to be as tall as he is.
When you are as short as me, you will be great at being a “setter” (in volleyball) and digging the ball up. If you play volleyball, you’ll know what I am talking about. I can’t tell you how many times I dug up all those hard smashing balls from those tall girls, and made them mad. Because I am short, and I am great at saving balls, my team has won games! Who says only tall girls are allowed on a volleyball team?
Going back to Lisa Ling’s segment on the eye surgery; for a long time, I hated my eyes, because my mother always criticizes them. Maybe she just pours her hatred toward my father on me, but that’s another story for other times. I like my eyelids, it’s easy to put on eye make-up, and I can do the thick eye liner or smoky eyes. Basically anything I want. Not many people can pull off all those look.
(Sorry, this is the best I can find online. You see the difference? the "fold" is more obvious in the AFTER photo)
I do have to say it took be a very long time to like myself. It was hard to like myself when the person who gave birth to me made me sounded like a defective product. There’s always something wrong about me. My eyes are too small, I am too short, I am too big here or there, and my big curvy butt.
Maybe after living in US for over 13 years has change my way of thinking. You have no idea how many people come up to me and tell me that they love the way I do my eye make-up, and how they wish they could pull it off. Or, they would kill to have my thick dark hair. Or, to have my hips that my mom said is too big. I didn’t know it was possible, but someone told me that because they don’t have hips (kind of ironic, I thought everyone has hips) they said that there’s a space between their hip and the pants. So, it creates this empty bubble by their hip. Interesting isn’t it?
My husband, he’s my best friend, my lover, my partner in crime. He tells me that I am beautiful every day, and especially when I get off the phone with my mother who just mindlessly indicates that I am too fat. I still struggle with the criticism I receive from her, and then one day, I found out that it’s okay not to talk to your mother all the time. It is definitely okay not to talk to people who put you down.
Guess what? I am much happier now. I am 5’2 and 144lbs, on the BMI chart, I am on the heavy side. I got my curves, my husband loves it, and I love them, too. I don’t usually wear tight clothing, but don’t mind me saying this, my body look like J.Lo or Kim Kardashian when I wear tight mini skirt. I just have a curvy butt =^.^=.
In the end, I hope every women will find their inner beauty. What makes them beautiful is not from what other people say. YOU! yes, YOU! you define your own beauty. Be happy!
Friday after my voice lesson, I usually like to go shopping by myself and have some Jenn time. I was at Costco, and I always like to browse around at the book section. "The Help" was featured as this season's book, and I have no idea what it's about. I usually only read fantasy book, Harry Potter, Leven Thumps, Fableheaven... etc. O, and Twilight series of course.
Anyway, I picked up the book and immediate after, this super excited lady walked up and said "This book is sooo good, you should read it." I then asked, " What is it about?" She was so sweet and basically gave me a load down on the book summery without giving away too much. I said thank you, and she was all smiles then moved on with her shopping. As I opened the book to read the summery, another lady walked by, pointed at the book. "OH! That's a very good one~!"
I was sold. HAHA. IF two random lady tells me it's good, why not give it a try. I bought the book, and I read about 70 pages, and I liked it so far. Although the book was written in the 1st person style, and it is written as how the southern United States people would talk. It took me a while to get used to it.
I thought learning English was hard, it's just took me a little while to understand all of the " Ain't, I's, they's.. etc" Here is an example, " Law help me, but something's gone have to be done."
so far so good, I like the stories, and learning about the Help's in Mississippi during the 60's.
We finally bought out plane tickets to go to Taiwan~!! YAY!! We are super excited, and can't wait to visit the family, and eat yummy food. We do, however, have a layover in Korea for 5 hours. Since out ticket was so cheap, we didn't care about the layover.
I talked to 2 of my co-workers that are from Korea, they told me that there is a Korean culture center where visitors can make their own souvenir. I thought that was neat, and something to look forward to. I once had a 4 hour layover in Toronto, it wasn't fun. I just watched movies, and people.
This is what I am looking forward to. Fresh fruits
This is the dragon fruit, if you eat too much of it, your poop will turn red.
Shaved ice with fresh fruits,and condensed sweeten milk
It was super nice to sleep till 10:30 this morning, I was tired. Marie and her BFF ... and me of course, went to Shoga for lunch. They have the most amazing Tuna Tataki, it is well seasoned, and well seared. A la dente~! Also, I haven't have any Agedashi tofu that is as athentic as Shoga's. Anyway, Joey didn't end up coming, not sure what happened. But Marie and I were hungry, so we stayed anyway.
(Thanks Shoga.com)
All the food at Shoga is well plated, and they are not only pretty, they are also delicious.
After Shoga, I went shopping. There was a suit jacket that I wanted from Banana Replublic, but it was close to $200. It's a bit pricy, so I have been saving for it. I went to the mall just to see if they still have it, so I can indulge myself in the store. Who knew, Presidents day sale is 25% off, plus additional 15% off for applying for BR credit card. I've always been hesitant applying for store credit cards, but I figure since I shop there so much anyway. Why not get points and discounts doing it?
Back to the suit jacket, I got the jacket and the pencil skirt that goes with it. I actually bought the suit pants first, because that was all I could afford. The total today for the suit jacket and the skirt, $182 ~!! Less than the jacket cost. Love a good sale. Now i have the complete suit with the skirt, pants, and jacket~!
So, you might wonder what inspire me to buy such expensive suit. Well, suits are expensive to start with, and I just needed at least one suit for business occasion at work. Actually, the thing that really drive me to buy the suit is.... I was with my in-laws during Christmas, and we were at my father-in-law's office. We were going to have a conference call with our grandparents in Madagascar, but had couple minutes before the call. We got talkin' about business stuff, and he mentioned about one of his interviews with a prospect. This individual could probably have the job, but he/she didn't dress up. So he gave the job to another candidate that was in a suit.
so, here is the suit I bought today. And!!!! BR had it in Petite size!!!! It fits my arm pit area, and the boob seam is not at my billy button!!! Maybe some people's boobs are at their billy button, I don't know. Get a good pair of bra woman, take care of your girls!
(Thanks bananarepublic,gap.com)
I chose grey, because my hair is black. If i wear all black suit, it might be a little too dark.
Just a little recap on the Chinese new year pot luck at work. Can I just say I had a blast, and there are some amazing chefs within the Nu Skin Enterprises. I have no idea that there are so many Chinese in the company, and so many others that also embrace the Chinese traditions. Or, they might simply just enjoy the true home-made Chinese cuisine. I wonder if Dave post any of the photos up.
Today is Valentines day, and Steve gave me a dozen beautiful roses that resembles our wedding flowers. I've always love roses, and i love them even more when they are from the love of my life. My little Japanese turtle. I think Steve looks like this turtle, cuz the shape of it's head and thick eyebrow looks like Steve.
Tonight, Steve made an awesome rib eye steak, with green beans and rosemary seasoned red potatoes. I was so touched! The food was amazing, and I was really impressed with what he has made tonight. Although he burnt his hands, because he forgot the pan was in a 500F degree oven before he touched it. I feel really bad for his hands. He tried so hard.
We had one of the most romantic dinner in our house on Valentines day, there were roses, candles, nice glass to drink our Martinelli. The dinner was only $15 for the both of us. That's the steak, french green beans, the red potatoes, and a specialty ice cream. Usually in a restaurant, we could easily spent over $30. It was nice to eat in, and know that Steve is such an awesome cook!!
Happy Valentines day to all, may all of you find the special someone to do all the special things you want to do in life.
This year's Chinese new year actually fell on the same day as Valentine's day. Since it's on a Sunday, my work friends decided to celebrate it on Friday~!
I am super stoked about this, because many people are bringing home made food. And I have been looking up some of the Chinese recipes online, and found some amazing stuff. This is similar to something i am going to make for tomorrow! It's called " Ants go on a tree" (direct translation). It supposedly to look like ants crawling around. If it doesn't look like that to you, it's cuz this photo is a vegitarian style of this dish. Usually they have minced meat that are dark and little.... anyway....
