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My footsteps echoed as heel met hardwood floor. The gentle perspiration on my hands glistened from the overbearing lights above. I bowed low with eyes closed, to me, to my parents, to my teacher, to Chopin, to Schumann, to Bach. The black fabric of my dress dragged slowly against the cushioned seat as I slid into position. Heel pressed against ground, toes feeling the brass pedal through the soles, already hearing the rich thick voice that would ring the second I push. Hands draped delicately at the edge of the two-toned pool, I poise for the dive.

The first note splashed and painted red on the canvas of my ears. My fingers danced across hills, leaped furiously and elegantly in exotic flamenco. I breathed in the scent of mahogany, of ivory. Fingertips stroking the silky keys, every chord escaping from the music box, the strings vibrating, the hammers tapping, the music swirling and embracing me like wisps of perfume. My heart beating in rhythm with the contemporary piece I was banging out, boom boom little drummer, caged by ribs not sturdy enough to bear such dedicated pounding. Once again, I cover my eyes in red-tinged darkness and start to see the notes endlessly flowing, the woman Beethoven was courting, the moon reflected on the surface of a still pond. I feel the prick on the back of my neck, then on every inch of skin, the sensations of eyes probing, reaching, touching the music enveloping me.

A quivering chord lingers in the still air as my pinky nearly collapses with fatigue. My breath comes in shaky rasps. I press to the core of the instrument, squeezing the last bit of juicy reverberation from its insides. Finally removing the veil, I stand up and bow to the rows and rows of velvet seats. Silence is as loud as the missing applause of the audience.

My footsteps echoed to the ceiling of the empty hall.


[This is something I wrote for Visiting Writer Week in Writing 1. I think I will start sharing more of my works from now on]

Asian Dramas: Worth the Addiction?

So what is it that makes us Asian girls grip the edges of our computer screens and scream NOOOO when the rich guy gets back with his bratty rich ex-girlfriend and the underdog unfortunate mademoiselle is left in the corner sobbing? What makes us drool as we gaze for hours on end mindlessly at the male lead, fantasizing our own happy endings with Mr. Tall, Rich, and "Handsome"? What makes us sit through 24 episodes only to find out that we wasted all of break watching the same cookie-cutter storyline, plus or minus a few different spiky haired celebrities and a slight twist on how-he-hurts-her-again-and-again-then-they-kiss-and-make-up (not to mention with 5 different zoom-in's on that fated kiss and ladida music rolling in the background)?

Well, I have certain theories about the mystifying reason why Asian girls all over the world tune into dramas religiously:

1) The Hair
Yes, the spikier the better! Above, I have a lovely picture of Jiro Wang, a Taiwanese pop star/actor (Fahrenheit). Take an Asian boy, send his head through a shredder and voila! There you have it, an Asian drama sensation. Now, give him the girliest - sorry - metro clothes available on the market and it's even better. Automatic fan base and screaming doting girls who plaster 5 foot pictures of your face on their walls, ceilings, pillows, their boyfriend, I mean ... It's all about the gel, baby.
However, there have been cases where hair has gone incredibly wrong in my opinion, but it doesn't seem to stop anyone:

Yeah yeah, I know Meteor Garden's relatively old, but please. Every time i had to look at Vanness Wu's long beautiful locks (farthest left), I nearly gagged into my ramen (because Asians don't eat popcorn while watching drama pfft).

The new star of Boys over Flowers 2

2) The Fighting
If Asian people don't fight enough in real life, they certainly name-call with added gusto in dramas. Personally, I can't stand the bickering (Meteor Garden, Love or Bread) but it seems like a good way to stretch out a 5 minute argument into 50 minutes of showbiz. Sometimes it does happen to be funny though, with the angry mother beating up the rich, handsome businessman who impregnated her poor, socially awkward daughter (Fated to Love You). Other times, it turns a good actor like Joe Cheng into a turn-off when he goes from quiet, disgruntled genius Jiang Zhi Shu to big-mouthed, unscrupulous Cai Jin Lai (Frank).

3) I Can Haz Boifrend?!
It makes me sad that a lot of Asian girls are afraid to try dating real boys. I don't know whether it's because of the doom factor on grades, the lack of a good pool to fish from, or just non-existent chivalry in the 21st century - they're all waiting for their Prince Charming (Tall/Handsome). Thus, they project all their feelings onto these dramas and live out their romantic scenes through other actors. Tough luck girlies, but you know this is just TV, right? You probably won't meet a guy that horrible in your life, and he probably won't be a successful businessman with girl problems, and even if you have managed to make it this far, you won't be able to change them that easily. I know, reality sucks. Just ignore my rantings and go back to episode 573.

4) The Hot(?) Kiss
So, you've beasted through 40 hours straight and your eyes are bloodshot and you're ready to see some smooching. When it happens, the producer repeats the scene for the next hour with close-ups from every angle possible and you gush and open a fresh new tissue box. They finally love each other! After all that hate and fighting and meanie-poo, they get along. This is the moment you've all been waiting for! But wait ... the kissing wasn't that good, and they merely mashed their faces together long enough before CUT and both parties probably wiped furiously at their lips and mouth. Ewww cooties. Where's the passion? I don't know about you, but I like immediate gratification. I can't stay up for 2 days straight without feeling slightly disappointed when the kiss finally happens.

So if you must continue pulling out your (spiky) hair while waiting for next episode's english subs to load, power to ya. Mysoju has the most popular Asian dramas all subbed for your viewing pleasure, along with Korean, Canto, Mainland, Taiwanese, Japanese movies.

Verdict:
Some dramas are worth it, but usually only the most popular. Check ratings before you commit or quit! My favourite of all time has to be Fated to Love You simply because it was quirky and cute, with some great acting and hilarious mother character. I rate it 10/10 because it made me wait for every Sunday like my life depended on it, and I did beast through 17 episodes in a row. I was in love.

They're cute and you know it! *gush*

Winners!
- Fated to Love You
- It Started With A Kiss
- It Started With A Kiss 2 (wish it could have continued too!)
- Princess Hours (not a fave though ...)

Dramas I haven't been able to sit through:
- Meteor Garden (too much yelling, disgusting hair)
- Smiling Pasta (too excessively cute, Nicholas Teo looks weird)
- Hana Kimi Taiwanese version (first drama ever - not bad actually)
- Love or Bread (too slow)

Nubar: Is There Such a Thing as Healthy Nail Polish?

I stumbled upon a nail polish brand called Nubar today after checking out random nail blogs. The offer is formaldehyde, phthalate, and toulene-free nail polish. If those words sound like Greek to you, it's a safe guess that they're bad for you. And for us chemistry buffs, you know a combination of those three means toxins and carcinogens, which makes me highly self-conscious about the cheap $2 drugstore nail polish I am currently wearing.

Here is an inspiring excerpt from Nubar's website:

In 2000, nubar was founded as the healthy alternative for beautiful nails. After being affected by cancer within his own family, nubar’s creative force, Noubar Abrahamian, was uniquely committed to his role as a pioneer in producing the highest quality nail care products that were free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP (phthalate). These common ingredients are included in California’s Proposition 65, which lists chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm, and nubar’s exclusive formula omits these components as well as their derivatives without sacrificing quality.

Though a little skeptical, I have to commend Nubar for making an effort to create healthy alternatives to beauty products. When I removed my flaking pink polish today, my nail polish remover smelled strongly. After opening a brand new bottle of Pure Ice Mint Dream (I still love their colours regardless), the penetrating odor that can only be nail polish spread throughout the bathroom and continued to reek as I waved my hands around while chatting with Mom. Several hours later, the newly-applied polish smell is still very strong on my fingers. I'm sure our evolutionary ancestors could tell you that smells like those signify danger. I hope that someday, makeup companies can develop nearly carcinogen-free nail polish and more natural beauty products for affordable prices. As people are living longer today, pretty soon even little things like nail polish ingredients will draw attention in the worldwide campaign to increase lifespan as much as possible.

From nail blogs' swatches, I can tell Nubar's polishes are really rich, pigmented, and smooth. However, there is a price to pay: $7.49 per bottle (0.5 fl oz). I saw an article on Nubar's Going Green Collection and instantly fell in lust. My favourite colour is green and I am definitely a sucker for anything emerald. Healthy nail polish + beautiful green shades? If I were less broke, I'd be in.

The Limited Edition Going Green Collection features: Conserve, Earth, Forest, Greener, Reclaim, Wildlife plus a bottle of Foundation Base Coat and a bottle of Diamont Quick Drying Top Coat. ($49.95)

Note: Swatches borrowed from Steph's Closet (she has a great blog with cute nail ideas)

1) Conserve (each sold separately for $7.49)



2) Earth


3) Forest

4) Greener

5) Reclaim



6) Wildlife

Now the question is: What price are we willing to pay for healthier nail polish? You may not have ever worried about ingredients before, not in makeup, nor food, but Nubar brings this problem into perspective. OPI Nail Lacquer is around $8, China Glaze is $3 something a pop, L'Oreal is $5, Maybelline Express Finish is $4. So in comparison, Nubar's fees are comparable to medium-priced drugstore brands, but give your nails (and other cells) longer life. I don't wear nail polish religiously, otherwise I'd definitely purchase my favourite shades from Nubar's Going Green Collection, hands down. (I am still drooling over them right now!)

If you have tried Nubar's nail polishes, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your experiences about how "healthy" nail lacquer compares to ones loaded with yummy toxins.

Bye-bye, Blackheads! Biore Pore Cleansing Strips Test and Review

Recently I learned what blackheads are. Crazy, I know, since I've had to deal with breakouts and all sorts of redness from acne for years. But I never quite figured out what the little tiny things on my nose were. So now I obsessively stare in the mirror, trying to glare them down. So far, that hasn't worked. I looked at some videos and reviews online, and headed to Walmart to buy a pack of Biore Ultra Deep Cleansing Pore Strips. They were $6.24 in California, so they may be cheaper in your state/location.

I took pictures as I tried this product for the first time:

The box (bonus = 8 total strips yay!)

Goodies inside:

Ready to go!

See the blackheads?

Instructions:

Hahaha I put the strip on lopsided. Good job.

After (it hurt and turned my nose red)

You can see something but it's not black : / (click on image to zoom)


About 4 minutes after application, the strip was super hard, just like they warned (it really does feel like papier-mache). I left it on for 10 minutes just to be safe. I was talking to my friend online and I laughed and the nose strip painfully unstuck a tiny bit. Don't laugh with this thing on xD Afterthought: this may be why it didn't grip all the blackheads :o Now's no time for "Why so serious?" Keep a straight face for 10 full minutes!

After taking off the strip (PAINFUL), a bit of the strip's glue was left on my nose. I could see some tiny pore goo things on the strip, which I guess is dirt and oil, and not blackheads? I'm still not sure. However, my pores looked just as huge as they were before, and I was sporting a red nose Rudolph would have been proud of. 5 minutes after removal, my nose is still burning slightly and feeling strange.

I wanted to follow up with some ice to minimize my pores so they wouldn't clog up again, but my fridge was low on stock : ( I do have a Clinique Pore Minimizing Serum somewhere, but in the craze of the move, it could be anywhere.

This is what it SHOULD look like (aka totally gross):


Bottom line: You need practice to use this product properly! I think on the second go, I can grip all the blackheads, but this initial trial failed for me. My own human error is mainly at fault, but the strips don't remove every single little black dot at once. I was a little disappointed or my expectations were way too high.