APRIL FAVORITES ♥

Alright you guys, I’ve got some AWESOME favorites (and there are a lot of them, too xD) lined up for this past month, so without further ado, let us begin~!

Film

The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

Oh man, where do I even begin.  There is so much that I would like to say, but I feel like most of that is spoilers, lol.  Hmm…I think I will just give some fairly general comments here, because I’m feeling lazy anyway. x’D

          Pros: 75% of the comedy is spot-on and absolutely hilarious.  The plays on Thor’s hammer, LOL. >D> Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are awesome; character development, costume, and the interpretations of their superhuman abilities were cool.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie was the sequence when Scarlet Witch’s magic is manipulating the Avengers’ subconscious minds.  The fight scene between Iron Man (in the Hulkbuster suit, of course) and the Hulk, as well as the “final battle” are fantastic.  Ultron is a really unique antagonist and it was refreshing to experience his odd sense of humor and eerie perspective of existence.  EVERYTHING about Hawkeye is A++++.  Omg.  Finally, the Vision.  THE FREAKING PAUL-BETANNY-IS-GOING-TO-EPIC-YOU-INTO-OBLIVION VISION.

          Cons: The other 25% of that comedy were either cheap shots or raunchy comments that really weren’t necessary.  This movie is definitely more mature than the first installment in the series.  Loki didn’t even have a tiny cameo—that was really disappointing for me.  Although, I imagine that they’re saving his face for the next Thor film… And seriously, guys?  No after-credits bonus scene?  Way to break tradition!

          Anyway, yeah, a great movie.  Not perfect, but as most Marvel movies have been for my personal tastes lately, pretty damn close (sorry, Captain).

TV Series

Love Rain

I’m not going to spend too much time discussing this kdrama because I tend to fangirl a lot over this sort of thing, and I’m already worn out after semi-spazzing about The Avengers. x’) Basically, this drama is about a stylish guy (Jang Geunsuk, one of the only guys who can actually pull off hairstyles such as a messy ponytail and a “manbun”) and a sweet girl (Im YoonA, who has the cutest facial expressions ever) who together embark on one of the most perilous journeys that exist in this extraordinarily ordinary life: dating.  Their ups-and-downs are heartwarming, and unlike many kdramas, this series has great closure.  Also: the fountain kiss scene is one of the best in kdrama, in my very unhumble humble opinion.

Book

The Book of Lost Tales 1 by J.R.R. Tolkien

This is another case of a lucky thrift-store find; I picked up this treasure for 99 cents at my local St. Vincent’s.  I haven’t finished reading it yet, but I love the magic and lore so far.  I mean, come on, it’s Tolkien.  What’s not to love.

Music

EXO The 2^nd Album EXODUS

Because this group’s stellar first album, I have to admit that initially I was quite disappointed with their follow-up.  While I like all of the songs on XOXO, I was only drawn to half (5/10) of EXODUS’s tunes: ‘Call Me Baby,’ ‘EXODUS,’ ‘El Dorado,’ ‘What If..’, and ‘Beautiful’ after the first few listens.  The other five songs, however, grew on me with time!  Particularly ‘Hurt,’ which has interesting sound and lyrics.  My favorite aspect of this album is the line distribution.  It made me so happy to hear my Yixing’s lovely voice so frequently, and to hear the usually non-existent vocals of Chanyeol.  Please SM, let all my babies sing.  This album is a lot like Overdose, at least composition-wise, with the addition of three ballads.  Overall, it’s a great buy.  I’m looking forward to a repackage album.

Game

Super Mario 3D Land

Everything that I love about Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World, condensed into a cute, portable form on my 3DS.  These games never fail as a quick go-to gaming pick-me-up for those bleh moments in life.

Makeup

CoverGirl Professional loose mineral powder

This product has actually been part of my daily routine for a few years now, but I never really gave it much thought until I recently tried a different drugstore loose mineral powder—one that I didn’t care for at all!  Of course, I went right back to the CoverGirl one, which I can say in all honestly that I think is a great dupe for Bare Minerals powders, which I used during my first few years of wearing makeup.  I’ve never had any issues with it.

Product

Neutrogena 3-in-1 acne facial scrub

Long story short: I was on the market for a facial scrub and a treatment for mild acne, so when I came across this product at the drugstore, it seemed like a no-brainer.  It was very affordable so I decided to give it a try without much research, and I am quite pleased.  It doesn’t irritate my dry, sensitive skin (you do have to use a moisturizer afterwards, though, as you would with any other salicylic acid treatment), smells nice, and really does help with what it claims: to clear up “acne’s past, present, and future.”  Next time, I think I will go for something a bit more organic/natural, but I would recommend this product to anyone who’s looking for a different type of treatment for milder cases of acne.

JULY FAVORITES ♥

Hope you all are having a fantastic summer so far!  With just these last few days of August left, we need to soak up as much of the sunshine and free time that we can get.  Many more memories are yet to be made!

I apologize that this post is so ridiculously late (again), but here we go with another round of Monthly Favorites!

I’m going to start off with something a little different: a favorite activity.  And that would be thrifting.  Since the beginning of July I’ve gone pretty much every weekend.  I’ve scored all sorts of items; loads of clothing, gifts for friends, coffee mugs, books, etc.  Every trip is a new adventure with new discoveries.  I haven’t gone shopping anywhere save Salvation Army, Goodwill, and St. Vincent de Paul’s in a long while.  Honestly, I don’t think I ever will unless of course I’m looking for something specific, because I have a pretty solid wardrobe now, I think.  Hahaha!  This way I’ll have extra money for video games and…stuff.

Favorite songs for July are all under the category of Chinese ballads.  Ya’ll already know that I’m obsessively into Asian music: k-pop, j-pop, c-pop…hahaha.  They’re not very original or specific with their music genres.  While the all that pop is fun and catchy, my musical heart truly resides wherever there are ethereal vocals and harmonic sound.  Compared and contrasted to Korean and Japanese, the Chinese language is fascinating.  Pronunciation is somewhat phonetic, but the articulation of each individual word is quite precise and it goes without saying that I find it really interesting! I often get mesmerized listening to Chinese people speak, let alone sing.

Have a listen to Zhang Li Yin’s Agape, and Wu Yi Fan (former EXO member Kris)’s Time Boils the Rain.

Beautiful, right?  I would love to learn both of these pieces on the piano...if only I was that talented.

Sigh. X'D

Finally, my food pick is chicken.  I know, I know—I’m being really general this time around. X’) Especially the chicken-strip-basket-from-Dairy-Queen kind of chicken.  I’ve eaten so much chicken in the past month prepared in a variety of different ways.   Fried, broiled, grilled, marinated in yummy Filipino adobo sauce…I’m getting hungry just thinking about all this food! Chicken is certainly a delicious canvas for many beautiful flavors.

And that's it for this month! I'll be back in a week or two with my August Favorites, hehe! 'Til then~~~

MAY/JUNE FAVORITES ♥

My goodness!  It’s July ALREADY? (*cough* the end of July… *cough*)  The merry month of May flew right by.  But now that I look back, it was quite a busy month indeed.  My mum’s birthday, Mother’s Day, May Crowning, First Communions, end of the school year for me as a teacher, many babysitting jobs—I’ve certainly been a busy bee. 

Aaaand, the allergies.  They came, they saw, and they conquered.  One of the reasons why this post is so ridiculously late.

June went by just as quickly.  With Father’s Day, my birthday, girls’ camp, and my Cali trip, the days have just been flying by!  I can’t keep up, but I’ve been having so much fun that I really can’t complain. *^_^*

Alright, enough idle chitchat!  FAVORITES~

Let’s change things up a bit and start this monthly favorites post off with food.  During May I was a bit obsessed with Cheddar Jalapeño Cheetos.  These are…amazing.  I love all kinds of spicy food, but I have an issue with the regular Flamin’ Hot Cheetos because those are just spicy and have no flavor other than spicy.  The jalapeño versions are delicious!  I craved sushi for most of June.  Specifically, the yummy crab tempura rolls from Sushi Island here in Eugene.  Yum.

As for drinks, I’ve been very into milk tea!  It’s sweet and refreshing—perfect for summer.  Seldom has a day gone by when I didn’t fix myself up a glass.  There are many different methods and recipes for making this popular Asian treat, so I’ve done a bit of experimenting until I found one that I liked.  As of right now, this is the one! 

MILK TEA

Ingredients

a pot of strong brewed tea

½ cup sugar

¼ cup water

a can of evaporated milk, chilled

Directions

1.  Brew your tea according to package instructions.  Make it on the strong side.  Cool to room temperature.  You can use any kind of tea you want!  My favorites are Builder’s and matcha.

2.  Make simple syrup: Stir together sugar and water in a small pot and bring to boiling.   Boil for 5 minutes while stirring and then remove from heat.  Let cool to room temperature.  Syrup will thicken slightly.

3.  For one glass of milk tea: Measure about 2 tablespoons (more or less to suit your taste) of simple syrup into a tall glass.  Add 1 cup of the cooled tea.  Add desired amount of chilled milk.

4.  Enjoy~! ^^

Tips

Add strawberry, raspberry, vanilla, or any other drink/coffee syrup in place of the simple syrup to make flavored milk tea.  You can also add tapioca pearls (you can find these at any Asian grocery) to make bubble tea.

I also have a two beauty products to share with ya’ll this month.  The first is a hair product that I’ve been wanting to try for a while now but never got around to purchasing it.  Needless to say, it’s a fantastic product, and I will definitely be repurchasing this one.  Dream Curls Curl-Perfecting Spray by John Frieda.  I’m not a fan of heavy hair products such as creams or mousse, so I was on the market to find something that would enhance my naturally curly hair without weighing it down.  This stuff is perfection.  One of these days I won’t be lazy, and I’ll take some before and after pics to share with you guys. lol

The second product is a hand cream: Vaseline Intensive Care Healthy Hands Essentials Moisturizing Lotion.  Whew, long name.  I had this lying around forever (so long that I’m not even sure if stores still sell it, haha!) and finally decided to start using it about two months ago because I was noticing that my hands were getting quite dry, and my nails were breaking a lot.  I’ve experienced a huge difference with this product.  Because I’m always getting my hands into something and having to wash to them, the lotion hasn’t really helped with my dry hands, but my nails are so much more strong and healthy than they were before.  A product like this is a must-have for people like me who constantly wear nail polish.  Sometimes we forget how much polishes and removers such as acetone strip and expose our nails to damage.  I’ll be buying more of the lotion when I run out!

Song of the month!  Miracles in December [Chinese version] by EXO.  Yes, yes, Christmas in July.  This is a legitimate thing, at least for me.  X’D At this point in the year, I’m already longing for winter and Christmas to be here again.  Don’t mind me.  Hehehe.  Anyway, this gorgeous ballad takes me to the fairy tale land within a snow globe, full of dreams and hopes and memories.

Siiiigh.

But It’s summerrrrrrrr! (obligatory Olaf solo)

Finally, a film favorite for the month of May.  I saw quite a few this time around, so I had to think about it for a second.  Edge of Tomorrow was much better than I expected, and Transformers: Age of Extinction was far worse!  Sorry, Han Geng, your 45 seconds of screen time weren’t enough to redeem such a cheesy, superficial film.

Hands down, my favorite film for May/June is The Amazing Spiderman 2.  Holy guacamole on a toasted flour tortilla.  AS IF CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 DIDN’T GIVE ME ENOUGH MARVEL UNIVERSE FEELS.  I can’t even with this movie.  Nope.  NOPE.  It was, true to its name, amazing, but I will no doubt go crazy as a result of all these awesome superhero movies. ;__;  I sincerely apologize, but I really can’t say anything else about this without writing a dissertation.  I shall spare you that!

And that’s it for May/June! July Favorites soon to follow, LOL!