• Queen Seon Deok. Best. Drama. EVER. I love historical dramas and the very first one I watched was a Chinese historical drama way back when we first moved to Vancouver. I even got Boyfriend to start watching it but then we both love intense shows with lots of action (and martial arts fight scenes). My favorite characters are Mishil (pure evil bitch… I love her) and Alcheon-Rang. Who were yours?
• Rimmel Vinyl Bronze Lip Gloss. They are shiny, lightweight, tastes/smells good and isn’t sticky. Don’t you hate it when it’s windy and your hair gets stuck on your lips?
• Mango Juice with Coconut Milk, Mango + Pomelo chunks and Sago. Mother actually got me addicted to this drink and I’m craving for it everyday. Not good. Check out the review @ Vancouver’s favorite foodie blog, although I usually get it at Little Bean in Yoahan.
• Upright Stationary Bikes. My new favorite cardio machine (at the moment) is the stationary bike but I can’t wait till the weather gets warmer and go biking for real. Except I’ll have to go buy a new bike first… I haven’t owned one since elementary school when my friends and I had a little bike crew where we’d go out every night and rampage our neighborhood with our 12-year-old selves. Anyway, do you prefer the upright or recumbent bikes and why?
• Sesame Mochi Ice Cream. No, not my puppy but mochi is sooo good. I think I ate a bunch every night for the past two weeks because it was on special at T&T and I stocked up.

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Investing in good quality workout gear is important and a great investment. Wouldn’t you rather spend more on quality [yoga] pants than $10 sweats at Urban Planet or something that will stretch and pill after a couple washes? Quality materials don’t change shape, will keep you dry, don’t hold odor and can last you years even after lots of washes.

Your workout gear should be:

• comfortable
• non-restrictive
• form-fitting

But I strongly believe that functional AND AESTHETICAL workout clothing is essential; functional— points listed above and aesthetics purely for motivation. It doesn’t hurt to look good at the gym.

Know your body shape:

General rule of thumb: don’t wear baggy, shapeless clothing!

• Banana? Create curves with pops of color [like along the waist line and the side of your waist/hips], interesting cuts, fun details [like scrunching along the side of your waist], padded sports bras, and fitted pants that lifts your bum with some flare to curve you out.

  

• Apple? Tops that are fitted around the chest but looser around the belly, ends a little past the waist [with a A-line bottom] will give an illusion of slimming and fitted pants with a thick or roll-down waist will give an illusion of flatter stomach. Avoid tight-fitting tops and pants with a slim colored waist band.

  

• Pear? Wear a lighter color top to draw attention away from your lower body and slim-fitting, dark-colored pants with slimming vertical stripes and a small flare to balance your body out.

  

• Hourglass? The easiest shape to work with! Accentuate your curves with v-necks and scoop necks, slim-fitted clothing, details around the waist to show it off and flared pants. But really, you can practically wear anything… just don’t cover up too much or else you might look bulkier.

  

Random tips and things I noticed:

• Black is always chic and slimming.
• Dressing in one color from head to toe can make for a longer and leaner silhouette.
• Dress for your activity: layering for the outdoors, flexible fabrics with lycra for yoga, breathable fabrics to soak up sweat for activities like Bikrams Yoga, etc.
• Wearing proper shoes is extremely important, especially if you’re a runner.

  

• Cotton allows you to breathe BUT can weight you down with all the moisture it soaks up so only wear it for low impact activities like yoga. It also doesn’t hold it’s shape, which is why I don’t waste my money on cotton— I prefer synthetics.
• Clothing with breathable materials and moisture-wick technology absorbs and dries quickly (eg. polyester, nylon and spandex). Wear for high impact activities where you may sweat a lot.
• A good sports bra is essential. No one wants to see your nipples, please… or you don’t want anyone to get distracted and drop 100lb weights on their head.
• Tube tops are NOT your friend at the gym.
• If you have nice shoulders, v-necks makes them look even better!
• Flared pants are NOT a good idea for biking; they might get caught in your bike. I don’t like running in them either because the fabric slaps against your legs which annoys the hell out of me.
• If you have a long torso and hips, pants in a single color will only make it look longer unless you’re wearing a long enough tank top to split it up. Look for pants with a different colored waist bands.

  

• Pants with a thick waistband that’s in a different color makes your hip look smaller. Pants with a thin waistband seems to make it look wider.
• Flat-[Asian]-Ass-Syndrome? Pants with stripes on the bum can make your flat ass look less flat.
• Lifting gloves will protect your hands from cuts, calluses and blisters. Trust me, you’ll want a pair if you are going to lift weights.

Great places to shop: Lululemon, PH8, Fit Couture, Athletica, Victoria’s Secret,

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(Entry title via @Kardboard)

I’m so proud to be Canadian. I’m so proud of Vancouver for hosting such a great Winter Olympic. We had our tumbles but it was the best two weeks of my life!! And I knew Vancouver could party but not like this… our downtown was flooded with people and packed every single day and night for the last 17 days. I don’t mean to brag, but the media has stated that the passion, pride and enthusiasm has never been like this in any past Olympics in any city. We threw a great party!

We won the most gold medals ever in a Winter Olympic and every single hockey game meant a crazy night of food, alcohol and good friends but the highlight was of course the GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY GAME with us against USA. Tickets were worth way more than even Super Bowl tickets, unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those lucky people who got to attend (even if I had tickets, I wouldn’t sell it for $100,000). Instead we lined up at 7-freaking-AM at Edgewater Casino (opened at 10) which was totally worth it because we had the best seats in the house, beer was only $3, got hammered by 12pm (good thing because they closed the downtown liquor stores at 2pm), saw Po (the red Teletubby) in a Canada jersey, got to see Canada beat USA in overtime (which made the game even better) and celebrated by jumping up and down, screaming, crying, singing and hugging everyone around us for an entire 45 minutes until we finally left the building and took it to the streets. I don’t think I’ve touched so many strangers in my life and even got some topless dude’s chest smacked in my face. Yuck. My boyfriend high-fived so many people so I was scared he’d get some hand-STD and almost broke my horn driving home. I would die to relive that moment again!

Canadians, gracious about absolutely everything except hockey, when they become just like Americans.

[source]

Right after Crosby scored the winning goal.
Sorry for horrible camera… couldn’t stop moving!.

Vancouver literally erupts when we won gold (at about 1:19). Video was taken from across the river from downtown.

Sorry USA, you guys played a GREAT game but hockey is OUR game. That American guy was seriously soooo sad after the game and I felt kinda bad… but not really. Hyukhyuk.

I’ve also never ate and drank so much nor spent so much money on food and drinks during the last two weeks. I can’t wait to get back into the grind though… well maybe just not drink that much but will continue eating that much.

I’m so sad that it’s over. AND YES IT WAS SO WORTH MY TAX MONEY.

And just for the record, it’s not BOOOOOOOO… it’s LUUUUUUUUUU! We’re cheering for our Canada/Canucks goalie!

Now it’s back to boring, uneventful, un-Olympic life. Sigh. Well, the Paralympics are coming up… I wonder how the atmosphere will be like in Vancouver?

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• Write down your routine before heading to the gym. I always draft my workout routine in my fitness journal the day before [after writing the current entry]. I always get excited about my workouts this way.
• Work out in the morning? Sleep in your gym clothes (not the dirty, sweaty ones!!) so you can head straight to the gym as soon as the alarm rings. Getting dressed, especially on cold winter mornings was the biggest barrier for me.
• Eat carbs before your workout. Carbs are your body’s main source of fuel and trust me, you will feel motivated and unstoppable when you feel that rush of energy. My favorite pre-workout snack is a simple banana. Nomnom.
• Challenge yourself everyday. Try to beat personal bests and always push yourself to max out the intensity. That’s why recording your workouts is important so you’ll have a record of your progress.
• Hate long, boring cardio sessions? Increase the intensity and reduce the time! You can get an even better work out in a fraction of the time. Have you tried HIIT or doing hills in the highest intensity or fastest speed possible? Tabata intervals with Plyometrics?
• When doing core exercises and you’re just starting out of course you should look at yourself in the mirror to make sure you have the right posture but once you got the handle on that, I find that closing your eyes to better concentrate on tightening your core helps you to really feel it.
• Get a workout buddy. I like to workout alone but if you don’t, a workout buddy could be fun and motivational. Make sure to find someone who is motivated and will force you do 50 extra push-ups for the session you missed the day before.
• Get in and get out. The gym is NOT a place for socializing. Nothing pisses me more than when I see people lifting 2lb weights and chatting/gossiping non-stop and wasting space.
• Don’t bother people when they’re doing cardio!!!! I still don’t understand why people try to start a full conversation when I’m struggling to catch my breath, sweat is dripping down my face and my headphones are on full-blast. Not to mention, I’m not wearing glasses/contact so I don’t even know who you are (yes I’m that blind)! Sooo inconsiderate and annoying.
• Stop thinking and just do it. Stop thinking about working out (and dreading it), just throw on your gear and head to the gym. Tired after a round of your circuit? Stop sulking, clear your head of any lazy thoughts and just do it again. The quicker you do it, the faster it is over.
• Talk about it. Write about it. I find that when you have an online fitness journal, you don’t want to look like a slacker to your readers so you’ll never miss a workout. Maybe it’s just me though because I have this thing with pride.

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“Sidney Crosby: The only thing Canada can put in the net.”

Hyukhyukhyuk. I just had to publish that quote somewhere on the blog. We had an embarrassing lost to the USA but it was a GREAT GAME!! It wasn’t anyone’s fault that we lost except for Boyfriend’s because he left his jersey at my house (like how the Canucks got kicked out of the playoffs last year because my friend went to the washroom at a certain time).

It’s alright though… game’s still on. GO TEAM CANADA!!

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