Walllll... Eeeee.....

Can't wait to see my lil robot in the cinema.

'tis Friday my lovlies! Anybody have any plans this weekend? My friend from Boston is coming to visit us. So we'll be out and about, shopping, eatting and best of all, catching Wall E! If only I could get my ass to clean up my vanity area and organize all my damn make up. argh!

TGIF everyone! Hope you have a great weekend!

just a little teaser..

Taormina, Sicily 5/24/3008

I'm in the process of adding captions to all 500 pictures I uploaded on Picasa. Your girl's working hard at it.. believe me..

Grand Sichuan - Grove St. Jersey City, NJ

I'm originally from Hunan, so I'm pretty critical when it comes to Sichuan/Hunan/Spicy food. Keep in mind, this place is in NJ, so by saving $8 toll without going into Manhanttan, I will be good to this place.

We went there last Sat. after spending all day cleaning the apt, so we were HUNGRY. got there around 7pm, found a parking right in front, nice. This place is tiny by NJ standard, but compare to the sister rest. in St.Marks, this little sister is definitly, err.. little. 10 -15 tables and 3 wait staff. We waitted about 15 mins. The front desk host definitely didn't know what the hell she was doing. I forgive her. She's a young fob chick from mainland. Sigh.. typical.


For appitizer, we had Husband and Wife Lung (ox tripe and tongue in chilli sauce, for you non-Chinese) and Sichuan Cold Noodle. I'm going to be nice and just dismiss the Husband and Wife Lung dish, very under par. Too spicy, not enough aroma, tripe wasn't fresh. I've eatten this dish anywhere from Boston to Sichuan, and it's probably one of the worse ones i've had. Moving on, Sichuan Cold Noodle, similar to Dan Dan Noodle, but w/o the grounded meat. It was ok. The usually peanut sauce and chilli oil. Eh.

Yang Zhou Fried Rice. Surprisingly, it was really good! reminds me of my cousin's fried rice, that bitch can make a mean fried rice! but after my tongue getting burned with that Husband and Wife Lung, my taste buds lost all of its strength. This rice dish became bland.

Yu Xiang Eggplant and Bitter melon. Eggplant, nothing special. Bitter Melon on the other hand, was really good. Wasn't soggy like most places need to over cook and drench in sauces, but wasn't too bitter either. Got a nice crunch to it. No sauce to over power and hid the bitterness. Me likey


main course: garlic grilled prawn and chilli chicken (La zi Chicken).

First of all, that tomato and corn sauce/soup that came with the grilled prawn was.. meaningless. What am i supposed to do with it? use it as a sauce to drizzle it on my prawn or drink it like a soup (it wasn't too big of a bowl). hmmm... i think as a soup, in a bigger bowl, this could work. but what's the point? I've never heard of prawn comes with a side of soup. weird. Prawn was cooked perfectly. Nice bite, crisp. Garlic wasn't overpowering. can barely taste it.

The Chilli chicken is a stable in my menu. I've ordered that dish in every Sichuan Rest. I visited. this one I'd say is pretty up to par. It's not overly crunchy and fried like most places. over frying those chicken, can make it very very dry. But this one has some sauce on it and didn't bury the chicken in a bed of red chilli peppers. It was easier on the jaw, since i didn't have to chew and chew and chew to break down the dry chicken.

Overall, I'd give this place a 4 out of 5. Because A) it's 15 min away from my house. B) not so bad to that point it's not worth visiting again. C) good place to satisfy my spicy craving w/o coming to the city.

Nice little jewel in Jersey City.

Bikram Yoga

Last night, I dragged H to a Bikram Yoga class in Manhattan. For those who doesn't know what Bikram yoga is, it is basically Hot Yoga. The room to practice in is set at 105 degrees and 40% humidity. So while you are in that 90-min class, your body is sweating profusely, however, the heat will warm up your muscle, therefore making you more flexible and decrease the change of injury.

let's just start by saying, if I have ever imagine what hell is like, that IS IT. That 90-min class is probably one of the hardest thing I had to endure. The room is so damn hot, once you walk in, it's like they put the entire Southeast Asian and its hotness into that one room. Windows are closed, and everybody's in a itty bitty shorts and tanks.

I started to prep for the class by drinking 1.5L of water from 2 - 6pm (when the class begin). I felt pretty good going into the class and thought, it's yoga, c'mon, how hard could that be?

WRONG! 10 mins into the class, i wanted out. The poses were easy, but it was hard to keep steady and really stretch the muscles. and the sweat, omg, i have never EVER sweated so much in my life. 10 mins into the class, my sports were all SOAKED, then half hour into, my entire tank top was soaked. after i'm done with the class, even the top half of my shorts were soaked. sweat was running down my face, onto my chest. i couldn't even grab onto my arms, b/c it was slippery with all those sweat. it was like you have just finished showering, and you need to dry off, kind of sweat.

the above pose is the only one i cannot do. it hurts my back and i feel nausause, cuz i can't breathe. i think from all these years of inactiveness, i've begun to age my spine. but damn, look at the second picture, that girl is mad flexible!

this is one of my favorite poses, b/c it looks so cool. you are like a tree, but all twisted up. this was hard to get around, b/c, again, my arms were slippery with sweat. but i could stand on my one foot no problem, all you gotta do is tighten your abs, and you can stand on your one foot for however long you want.

I feel like Birkam yoga is just as physical as it is mental. You need to have high concentration and persistence to really hold onto the poses and BREATHEEEEEE..... i cannot believe how easy it is to jsut remember to breathe... b/c when you are stretching or using your strength, most of us hold our breath. like you know, when you are taking a dump, you inhale, hold your breath, and squeeze. but for Birkam yoga, if you stop breatheing, you will pass out. i think 30% of the concentration i used on poses, and the rest 70% was all just "breathe, breathe...." remember to inhale and exhale.

during that 90 min class, i probably sweated about 3 buckets of sweat and streatched muscle i didn't even know i had, and bent in forms i've never been bent before *wink*. it was good though. b/c my shoulder was hurting from lifting weight and yoga really stretched it out for me. this is the second day and i've never felt better. even my coworkers are asking me what kind of blush i'm using, b/c i am GLOWING~~~

i recommand everyone to try it. Birkam has studio all over the world, he even has a college for certification in LA. yes he is a person, a living person. remember to drink A LOT OF WATER, before, during and after the session. wear as little as youare comfortable in. and remember to bring a little summer dress or swim suit cover up, b/c you are going to HAVE to shower right after the class, and then you wouldn't want to be bother with putting on jeans and cute shirt, you will be so exhausted and hot, you wouldn't care to look cute.

i am on a life style changing mode. my goal is not to lose weight, but it is one of the benefits. i want to live healthier and be energized. many more interesting new things to try out in the near future.. can we say Colon Hydro Therapy? =)

Fairy wears Prada

Waitting outside of Grand Sichuan on Grove St. Jersey City.

I never knew this bag was that big of a deal until I read this. Granted it's not leather, but the more I look at it, the more I love it. The painting, the chained handle and the soft buttery little itty bit of leather on the rim of the bag. AAhhh.... it's like touching a baby's buttom.. lol...

This is a gift from Mr. H. Purchase destination: Capri, Italy. Price: Somewhere over the thousands, factoring in the exchange rate and 12% tax refund. My first bag over a thousand. Oh geez... I need to cut back on this bag thing.

Steph's 8-Minute Meal: Microwave Steamed Fish

This past weekend H and I didn't have any plans, and we couldn't be happier. After months of traveling, visiting friends, and having friends come to visit, it's time to rest and clean up the damn house and do "our" things.

Sat. we woke up, cleaned the house, went to dinner at Grand Sichuan in Jersey City (review coming up), and finally watched Sex and the City. I came home with a pounding headache and went straight to sleep.

Sun. we went to the gym, ran for a bit, did a little weight training, played a little ball, then got into our bathing suit and hit the pool. it was some crazy weather that day though. Raining cats and dogs one min, then the next got all clear and sunny. it looks gloomy in the pic, but there were actually sun out. H calls the sudden burst of rain "Sunburst". I never said anything to him, but I've always wonder if he's just making shit up. Sunburst, really? like the candy?

then we got hungry, went to Mitsuwa and had the awesome Ramen Santoka, oh so satisfying. did a little grocery shopping and i get to cooking.

My friend, if you live alone, have a busy life and want to eat healthy, but don't want to subsitute your dinner for cereal. Here is something you can whip up in no time. All you need is a fresh fish, some ginger, scallion, cilantro and pepper, you are all good to go.



I'm not sure about the Chinese supermarket around where you live, but the one I have here offers fresh fish. They MUST be fresh, in a tank, swimming. I usually get the TILAPIA, but you can try other kinds too, however, I think this is one of the most common fish in Asian markets.

At the market, tell them to gut, scale, head on, tail on. I personally think head and tail are the best parts to eat in a fish, so if you afraid of the eyes, you can tell them to chop the head off.

Make sure Nemo's eyes are CLEAR, that is the #1 sign to look for in a fresh fish. If the eyes are cloudy and muddy, toss it, it's not worth cooking.

Once you get Nemo home, wash in cold water to remove the residual blood and gut pieces. Lay flat on a cutting board, and cut 3 deep cuts on each side of the fish. This will allow the flavor to go in easier.


Cover Nemo in a plastic wrap. No need to poke holes. Place the dish in a microwave. now, here is the tricky part. My Nemo was 1.13lbs. I put it on 8mins, and it was just right. Usually, i'd say, the range for cooking is 7-9min. but it depends on your microwave. I don't have to input LEVEL for my microwave, so i'm going to assume it's on HIGH. But this is the part, where you kind of have to play around a little bit.

If your fish is under cook, it'll stick to the bone. If it's over cooked, it'll be too chewy.


Ding! 8 mins of perfection. Leave it outside for a bit, be careful when you remove the plastic wrap, EXTREME HOT ASS STEAM WILL BURN YOUR HANDS!



Next up on the ingredient list: Ginger, Scallion, Cilantro, red/green long pepper (not bell pepper, that's some white people stuff, no asian food requires a bell pepper). The Asian market didn't have red long peppers, so I got green, but red would be better, b/c of the color contrast, makes Nemo look more yummy.

Cut them in a thin shred. hhmm.. i'm assuming everybody knows how to cut pepper, ginger and scallion. Cilantro you can just wash and cut in half. If you have trouble with the cutting technique, just ask.

Layer them on top of the steamed fish.





Heat some oil on HIGH HEAT. You want that oil to be HOT HOT HOT. Once you see some smoke coming out, that means it's ready. It's very very very HOT! but if you see a whole lot of smoke coming out, you should toss the oil away, it's starting to burn and it's not good for your health.

I love this step. Pour the HOT OIL on top of the steamed fish layered with your scallion, ginger and all that goodies. There are no pictures that can take place of the sizzling sound I love. So I made a little clip. Mind you the oil isn't even as hot as I want, b/c I'm so damn excited and didn't want to wait for it to heat up more. But you get the idea.

Next, pour some soy sauce over Nemo, don't it look so damn sexy! Use the lighter kind of soy sauce. Hmm... how do you say that in English? The Sheng Chou and Lao Chou? there are 2 kinds of soy sauce, one darker and thicker, and one lighter and more fluid. Use the lighter one. Or you can just buy the ones made just for steamed fish, like the one I have.

Our dinner last night consisted of: 8-Minute steamed fish, garlic bok choy, and Ox Tail potato soup (Mr.H's creation, i don't mess with Ox Tail until the winter, so when it comes to meat, it's all him).

The hardest part about this dish is to know the time/temp for your microwave. For the past 4 yrs I've made this dish, I probably only f'ed up once, when it's under cooked. You can try to stick it back to the microwave and get another min or two. Best way to check: see if the fish is sticking to the bone. it should slide off of the bone very easily.

I put more than usual amount of scallion and cilantro in this dish, b/c another best part of the dish is to let that goodness soak in that bath of oil and soy sauce, once you are done eatting the fish, pour that stuff over your rice. O M G!!! soy sauce scallion and cilantro over rice. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? trust me, the best shit ever.

Good luck with this dish, and let me know how it turned out! It's a great dish just to have w/o the rice if you are watching your weight. I lost some weight eatting this every night for a summer, my skin cleared up too. Watch out for the bone, Tilapia usualy have only big bones, so y'all should be ok. C'mon, y'all are asian, you know how to eat a fish with bone in it right? =P

JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge - Minca Ramen Factory

yup. that is me. 3.5 miles, 1hr and 23 mins. seriously, everyone was packing up when i got to the finish line. that day was horrible, i will never EVER do it again. weather said it was going to have thunder storm any time from 3-9pm. race starts at 7pm. when i left work, it was clear and warm outside. guess what, 7pm rolls around, once i set my foot on the start line, it started to POUR! so i was soaking wet, walking in the rain, freezing my butt off for some stupid work related event. argh!

anyways, H came to pick me up at Central Park, and I was soaked and shivering. cranked up the heat in the car and told him I wanted some noodle. after some careful consideration, we settled on Minca Ramen Factory. I've been there once before, got mild food poison. But the reviews on yelp was so good, i thought I must have just had a bad bowl. so here we go, second chance.


Pork Gyoza
Kimchi Ramen
Charshu Ramen

Supposedly the most raved about ramen place in NYC. located in the Alphabet City with about 15 seats. I guess it's a cool little "hole in the wall" kind of place. But this is probably the worse ramen I've ever had in my life. Even $2 a pack instant noodle taste better than this. I will never cheat on Ramen Santoka (food court in Mitsuwa) again. Mitsuwa is literally 5 mins away from my house and yet I drive all the way out here for this crap?

first of all, the charshu was cold! a piece of cold pork meat in the warm soup, gross. soup was thick, but lacked flavor, very bland. noodle is too al dente, hard to chew. everything was just off. but iguess at least it looked good.

The pork gyoza stole the show. you know your food suck when your appitizer is better than the entree. I'd definitely go back for the gyoza. Not the ramen though. ewwww...

The best ramen i've ever had was in Harajuku Tokyo. It's this tiny little place right outside of the train station. H and I loved it so much, we went back there 3 times in a week. I need to post pictures of that bowl of ramen. oh man, my mouth's watering....

Comment Replies

By the way, I'm getting used to Picasa program to upload photos. So bear with me for the Italian pictures....

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Anne said...
i really liked this post. I also try to at least put 20% into my savings account. But putting half of the 20% into an IRA is probably smarter since you can't really touch it until you retire. Never too early to save up for retirement.anyway, i'm actually saving up for a condo, and hopefully i'll get to my savings goal sooner than planned. if you dont mind me asking... how old were you when you got your condo?


CuttiBeBe: Wow, 20%!, you are doing good girl! i can barely let go of that 10%. IRAs are good if you know you won't have emergency needs. The tax and penalty upon withdrawing from an IRA account is really not worth it. However, if you don't have any medical expense or educational expense, an IRA is a great way to save.

I don't mind at all. I got my condo last yr March 21st, 2007. I was 23. I lived at home for 6 months and that kinda of gave me some cushion. But my mortgage is 50% of my monthly paycheck, so I was ok. My mom helped me with the renovation and the sale price. She put down 50% deposit and I took out the rest in loan, a 200G loan, yea, for the next 30 yrs of my life, i'm dedicated to this loan. sweet.


fuzkittie said...
Hey cutie, I like this post and how you expressed yourself. I have also been asked that in my blog before. Even though I don't think I have to answer questions like that, it's not offensive in any way to me. I have money to spend because I work for it, and yes I had money to spend in college because my parents gave me money. Nothing to hide, and nothing to boast about. =)I like your writing! I will be checking back on your blog. =)


CuttiBeBe: Hey fuzkittie, i love your blog too! You are an IT auditor right? We are in the same field, I'm a finance auditor. Now i know how you can afford your Dior makeup, cus the IT peeps always make more than us finance peeps! apparently checking access security is harder than balancing a financial statment, lol. jkjk!

Same here, mommy and daddy gave me spending money in college, but I also worked, $10 an hour intern baby, making copies and all that. =P But you know it's long gone by the end of the night.


Anonymous said...
"But if you are just a student and not making a penny, I'm sorry, but you should wait until you start making money to buy those things. It's not a matter if you could afford it or not, but to me, it matters if I deserve it or not."I don't quite understand. So poor people aren't deserving? There are many good people that work so hard all their life that cannot have what they want. There are people that are poor that are far more deserving...But then that's where the pain of credit card debt comes in. I see a lot of poor people that work so hard and blow it all on some expensive bag or shoes (car or tv for guys) because they feel they deserve it and they do deserve it. It's pretty sad to want something so badly and not be able to afford it. You're one lucky girl to have such affluent and supportive parents. My parents paid for my brother tuition in full while they could care less about me. I grew up poor, worked my way through college, only to end up with student loans and to continue being poor. I wonder when the cycle is going to end and I can live freely and comfortably. But I enjoy your honesty because most people will take all the credit and never say that their parents help them out. I envy you as well as admire you. But I pity myself. Hmm.


CuttiBeBe: Hey anon, I think you misunderstood me. In that quote, I meant people who are in high school or college rocking them LVs and BMWs as if they made a penny. That's not right. If you don't work, you shouldn't spend money like that. I believe, you shouldn't enjoy the fruit someone else plant for you, while you are still learning the skills to survive in the world. I'm just sick of seeing 11 yr old with a LV on their arm and flinging their sidekick all over the place. It makes me sad that their parents didn't teach them the value of money and the joy of working.

There are a lot of deserving poor people out there. But then again, I think one should set their priority straight. Do I deserve a YSL Downtown patent leather bag, yes I think I do, I work hard, I make my money and I should be able to spend it on whatever I want. However, what is a YSL bag if you ain't got a place to sleep? or have a roll of toliet paper in your house? Yes, it makes them happy, but I can't imagine anyone being happy living in a crappy house and sleeping on the floor with their LV bags.

I don't mean to be racist, but I find that there is a trend for Vietnamese or Cambodian people to have very high end luxury things and then when you go to their house, it's like 8 people living in a 3 bedroom apt and there isn't even a place a sit. I derived this from my experience cuz I had a Viet and Khmer roommate in college, and even they've told me their parents will take out another loan to buy a Benz SUV, and that it'll squeeze their budget even tighter, so she had to get another job for pay for books. From the way they talked about people around them, it seems like everyone's compete for the latest LV, and not paying off their student loans. Why???

I've always wondered why people would take out a loan and buy a luxury car, when they could put that money in a mortgage and get a bigger house. It puzzles me that they think what they have on their arm is more important than a place where they need to lay their head at night. And then they start saying they can't go out tonight cus they don't have money. Well, girl, go return your $1000 LV bag and you will have money to go out for every night of the month.

To reward yourself is one thing, but to deplete yourself of necesscity is another. Set your priority straight. if you have debts and loans to pay off, then pay them off. That special edition bag ain't gonna feed you and it won't kill if you don't have it. Pay your bills first, then use your DISPOSABLE income to reward yourself, not your rent money.


The Faux Fashionista said...
Whoa, what a loooong post! I'm glad you posted it though, it all makes such good sense. And thanks for posting the cost of living in NYC thing because I'm CONTEMPLATING working there upon graduation and it really helps knowing what my monthly savings would be. Thank you thank you! You are so lucky to have such wonderful and supportive parents. Mine are great too, but they still have my brother to send off to Australia next year so I won't get the luxury of them footing any of my bills :(

CuttiBeBe: you are welcome! the cost of living in NYC is.. yea, pretty up there. The best way is to get a roommate in queens or bklyn, which isn't all that bad if you cant afford that high rises in NYC. my coworker lives in queens, 20 min away from manhttan, and she pays $750 a month for a 2 bedroom with her roommate. pretty damn good deal.

I know how it is in a household with siblings, I'm the only child amongst my friends, so I always hear complains that their parents have to take care of their brother or sister, and they are left on their own to survive, sometimes they even have to pinch in to help out too. I guess I lucked out. I was horrible enough to make my parents not wanting a second child. lol.

Anonymous said...
honestly, you don't have to explain a thing. i think it's so rude when people inquire about your financial status!!!

CuttiBeBe: Yea I don't have to, but I wanted to, b/c I think it can help people to see a different side of the story.

Anonymous said...
WOW,that's all i can say. i like the way you put everything. it's well said. i'm glad you're living the way you are and getting what you want, you deserve it. i would LOVE to get a LV bag, but it's too dam expensive for my pockets. you are one lucky gal! :)

CuttiBeBe: I'm very blessed and grateful for everything and everyone I have in my life. but LV bags is just a status symbol. I think every girl should have a classic LV bag and that reward will come sooner or later for you. I'm working on my Cartier watch. Ooohhhh how I want one so badly! I will get it when I get promoted. Thats my goal.

jie jie said...
You are lucky to have parents to take care of you and support you financially. I admire how they brought you up to appreciate the value of money but most of all how to value yourself. I have to share what I earn. Honestly, I want to because I cannot stand just ignoring my family. There are times I cannot have certain things because someone more important to me than myself needs something. But there are times when I spoil myself and end up not realizing someone needed something, whom I could've used the money on instead of my selfish desires. It saddens me sometimes that they're getting more conscious about asking for help because they feel like it's too much trouble. All I ask from them is to just let me know and I'll decide how much help I can extend, and for them to just appreciate or not be too disappointed in whatever I can give. I know and honor that obligation, and if I fall short, I feel such a failure. I think it's the way I was brought up. Thanks for posting this Steph. It helps me reflect on things I rarely put much thought in.

CuttiBeBe: Hey Jie Jie, you are a very family oriented person and also a very responsible and consider person. That is why, more often than not, you put the blame upon yourself and feel as if you need to take care of EVERYONE. I think you will give up anything for your family if they needed your help. But you know what's the most important thing you can do to help out your family? It's to take care of yourself, so they don't have to worry about you. My mom taught me this about family, b/c we are away from each other so much, we worry about each other. We all have our own life to live, but we are connected by the heart. Take care of yourself, take care of your health, that is the best thing you can do. And whatever money or energy you have left? Call them, talk to them, spend more time with them, that way you will know when they need help even if they don't ask. Little things like offering to take them out to dinner or buy some of their favorite food or you see some nice shirt on sale and thought of them, will bring a smile to their face, b/c you had them on your mind. Jie Jie, don't feel bad that you can't help. You are helping by taking care of yourself. =) I'm sure your family is proud of you already.

Anonymous said..
I've always read your blog religiously and honestly always wondered but never asked. But ready all this post today kind rubbed me the wrong way and left a sour taste in my mouth! I didnt think it was necessary! You dont owe anyone an explanation and if you couldnt resist, you could have been simple and more mature about it. Im a tad disappointed to say the least.

CuttiBeBe: Just got your comment as I'm writing this post, so I'll respond again to your question. No I don't own anybody any explaination, but I wanted to share and I believe I can expose my personal life as much and as little as I want. This is my personal blog. I appreciate that you check back regularly, sometimes it may be too much information than you'd like, but it is what it is honey, I'm bored, and I wanted to share my world. What about the post about my plastic surgery? Did you find that unncessary and too much info? I'm kind of sick of people seeing one side of the story and those with story to share are too personal to lay it out for the world to see. And that is completely fine. It's their choice. And this was my choice to let people know how I make a living and how I can survive and still afford the Italy trip. What's so disappointing about that? if anything, I thought I could open up people's world and let them know, It's ok to spend money on trips even if u r going to bring lunch to work every day for the next month. It's ok to reward yourself with a little goodie here and there. It's ok to have your parents take care of some of the things for you. But it is up to you to live your life the way you want. Set your goal, work hard, know your limits and be good to yourself.

If that's rubbing you the wrong way, please click X on the upper right hand corner. thank you.

edit: I felt really bad after writing that last comment. I don't mean to attack you Anon. But I really don't know what I wrote rubbed you the wrong way. is it b/c you are a private person and don't like reading about other peoples lives too much? then why are you here? if you are here for the beauty reviews, you have the choice of skipping my post whenever you see long ass posts like this. and how did i present myself immature? i could use a simple and more mature way to express it? what do you mean? don't get me wrong, i just want to know what your dealie is, so i can address it correctly. i do appreicate you visiting though. =)

How could afford all of these?

When I first got a comment with that question in it, I was like "wtf? who ask offensive shit like that?" then I thought, well, everybody lives a different life, maybe they are just curious as to how I could do these things and not worry about money (which i do, trust me).

First and formost, I just want to get this out there. These is 1 thing in life, it's either you have or you don't - parents living comfortable and don't mind helping you out. With that said, I know plenty of people in life who's got wealthy parents and they never spent a cent on them, and I also know parents who are struggling, but willing to pay anything for their children. You can't choose your parents. If they've got it, I'm sure they wont mind sharing. But some parents are more strict and old fashion than others. Financially, they make a big difference, especially in your early 20's.

Let's start at 18, if your parents are willing to pay for your education and you've got a few scholarships, you probably don't have student loans. If you do, you probably had to work multiple jobs to keep up with scholarship and your random spending. My parents paid for my education, so I dont have a student loan, which saved me about $100,000 debt.

Age 22, you find your first job, depending on what your profession is, your salary could range from 30,000 - 60,000. So let's say you get paid $45,000, after 25% tax, that is $2812 per month. With that $2812, about 45% is your rent, utility bills, cable bills and maintance fee (in NYC metro area, that % is about right, in other areas, it should be lower), then the rest goes to phone bill, transportation fee, food and going out. So that's about $1500 disposable income. That is A LOT if you cook at home everyday, take the bus and have no friends. I think $1000 monthly credit card bill per month amongst 20 something young professionals is not uncommon. so that leaves you $500 to save or spend. if you are smart and have a student loan, you'd kiss up to your parents and live at home, so you can avoid the biggest expense - rent. If you really can't stand them, get 2 roommates and rent 1 bed room apt, more money for clubbing~

I think everyone should put some money aside every month, wether it's a saving's account (ING orange has pretty good rate) or 401K or IRA. Everyone should put aside 10% of your income to an savings account, before the check goes to you. If you don't see it, you won't spend it. That's how I think.

Anyways, onto how I can afford vacations, make up and bags. I buy most of the "goodies" for myself. But whenever you guys see a splurge (other than make up, cus nobody is willing to feed that kind of luxury to me), it's probably a gift. I don't really spend a lot of money buying clothes, I only buy clothes on sale, I go in and out of my make up haul phases. I'd say, I spend anywhere from $50 - $300 a month on make up, depending on my mood (like right now, i'm not in the mood for make up haulage). Bags, hmm.. probably got it from mom and dad or H, I rarely buy myself bags, unless they were on sale.

Vacations, if I go on vacations with my parents, then they are paying for everything. But I pay them back with taking them out for dinners whenever they are in town. Signing up for spa packages for my mom, etc. If I go on vacation with H, he subsidies with the hotel, car rental and any other travel expenses. Generally, we go half and half on everything.

Here is the truth, I do not have any savings aside from my 401k. I don't have 3 months of expenses put aside for rainy days (you SHOULD always keep a min. of 3 months expenses in your checking account for rainy days). I can always make my mortgage payment and all other fees I need to pay. I don't have CC debts. I don't have car payments. My mom pays for the insurance b/c it was under her name when I got the car and she just kept it this way.

So how I do afford these things? I guess I don't have a lot of liability and I make just enough to spend every month. Plus H helps me out, b/c he lives with me now, he's taking care of some of the expenses I have. My parents always ask me if I'm ok or if I have enough to spend. I do and I don't ask for money just to spend. I have a really big property tax bill every year and they help me with that, b/c when we bought the condo, that was the deal. I can't handle the $8000 property tax bill every year.

I guess, I have a good relationship with my parents and bf. And they are all doing pretty well for themselves. So they help me out if I needed it. but I make plenty enough for myself. I know some people have to help out their parents with mortgage or pay for their bf's dinner, etc. But that's all your choice, you know? I spend money on my bf and parents. I bought my parents a plasma tv for xmas, i bought H Gucci and Prada shoes (mind you I don't even own $300 shoes). So we go back and forth with the gifts and that's how I ended up with that LV bag and the Prada bag (I will post picture of the new bag soon).

Another thing is, with all the goodies you have, what do you really consider a luxury? I see it as, if you've worked hard and think you deserve something, go ahead and get it for yourself. If you could really appreicate it and that it makes YOU HAPPY. By all means, buy yourself a little gift. But if you are just a student and not making a penny, I'm sorry, but you should wait until you start making money to buy those things. It's not a matter if you could afford it or not, but to me, it matters if I deserve it or not. If you don't work, you need to find a J O B. Life is all about choices baby. I've been working since 14 and I don't care what anybody says about "it's so hard to find a job", you can always find SOMETHING to do. You are never too good for anything. I imagine, if one day I was laid off, I probably will go back to selling cakes at a bakery. It's not an investment bank job, but it'll pay for the bill somehow right?

I tell ya this, my first car was a Honda, while my classmates were driving BMW or Mercedes clk55 AMG. I got my first Gucci bag at the age of 20, plenty of my friends got Gucci and LV by that time. My first LV was my 21st bday present to myself, my parents weren't around and nobody celebrated my bday with me, and I just got my internship at Citigroup, so I felt like I deserved it.

I live the way I live b/c of how I grew up. I didn't choose where to go shop, I just went with my mom. I didn't know what Walmart was until I went to college and I never thought there were clothes in Walmart, b/c I've always shop at Limited Too or A&F. That's just what I knew when I grew up. But now I love shopping at Target and Walmart, Costco's like my second home.

I take vacations b/c I love to travel and I can appreicate the beauty of each place. I don't like going to another city to see another sky scraper. If I could, I would backpack and live in tents. It's not always about 5 star hotels and spa treatments for me. But I will take one of those luxury trip every year, just to unwind. But I also enjoy the rough trips where I didn't have hot water to shower for 3 days (Tibet, it was dry, so no funky smell, don't worry). I could rough it if I wanted to. But that's when I was younger and didnt know better. Now at least I would bring Baby Wipes to wipe my body.

Anyways, I don't know how else to put it b/c I don't know your exact financial situation. But girl, trust me, I've got month where I didn't know if I'd make my mortgage payment, but miracles always happen and my hero H comes to the rescue, lol. Speaking of him, i want to thank him for bring the luxury into my life. Before him, I never knew what room service was, I never went to a spa treatment (except for chinatown facials, $45 a pop), and I never thought I could buy anything full price. I remember nearly breaking down when he "forced" me to buy those pair of Juicy Couture flip flops at $45. He sat me down and said "if you like them, and they are comfortable, get it. you deserve it. and it will NOT go on sale!" that's the first time I let go and put down $45 for a pair of flip flops in exchange for my $3 Old Navy ones. he was right, it was sold out the second week and I never saw them on sale.

I will end this post with a story. When I took an internship in a fund management firm in Beijing, I lived with my mom's friend, who's a hmmm... ioono, some really important people in the government, I went to work everyday taking the bus. When he asked me if I was short on money since I wasn't taking a taxi, I said, no. He said if I thought the taxis were too dirty, he's going to ask his chauffer pick me up and drop me off everyday. I thanked him but told him I'd much rather enjoy the normal everyday life of the Beijing city, instead of isolating myself and keeping myself in a bubble. To me, I appreicated the crammed bus much more than the Audi A8L he had. That was an experience I couldn't get anywhere else, I didn't pay any mind to his "luxury life style". to be frank, I drive a Lexus, it's not a once in a life time experience for me to get chauffered around in an Audi, if I was in a car, I'd rather drive.

What I'm trying to say, luxury comes with appreication. What is caviar if you don't know where they came from and how to eat them? What is an expensive glass of wine, if you can't comprehend the bitterness? I don't drink wine, and have no desire to eat caviar. If it makes you happy and you know how desirable they are, then go ahead. Wether it's a handbag or a perfume, if it's a $10 or $1000, you love it and it makes you smile, then get it. The worst is to get something just b/c EVERYONE wants it. To have is to appreicate it, that is something no one can buy. Like my father said to me once when i was oogling over this ladies's head to toe LV outfit: some people are so poor, all they have is money. It's true, you could have all the money in the world, if you can't appreicate what money can buy, then why waste the damn money. I never thought to judge someone with the things they have. In nyc, you see them rich bithces everywhere with the latest bags. if you could justify spending $10,000 on a bag and it truly makes you happy and you could afford it? I really dont see why not.

self worth = net worth. you are worth what you think you worth ladies. spend that money to make yourself happy, that's why you worked so hard for!

p.s. I moved out of the family friend's house in Beijing in 2 weeks, I was sick of having people cook for me, wash my clothes for me, driving me around... i think the last draw is when his chauffer showed up on a Sat. morning and told me he's going to bring me to the Great Walls b/c his boss told him to since I might be bored on the weekends. YEA, seriously, going to the Great Walls in a Mercedes with a COMPLETE stranger. creepppy... i rented a studio in a student dorm, couldn't be happier.

anyways, if you've got questions, ask away. =)

and the show goes on...

today wasn't a particular good day at the office.. my firm announced the first quarterly loss since it went public in 1994 and our CFO and COO got the boot... the female CFO was freshly appointed in Dec. 2007, i'd say she did a great job on earnings conference calls defending our performance. it wasn't an easy yr for investment banks. we saw what happened to Bear Stern, and the word on the street is that we are going to be the next one getting the ax, but i highly doubt the govn't would let 2 IBs go down in 1 yr. anyways, bad situation state side always affect the markets else where. Asia market slipped about 13% couple days back and the central banks are tighten up funds to reserve for the worse times. Gas price is shooting through the roof. even I feel the pinch in my pocket from inflation. dude, a hot dog and a bottle of water on manhattan street is $4. say whaaa??

but i still have a job, so it's all good... i can still afford food.. so that's good.. =)

speaking of food, i definitely have been putting on some pounds lately. H and I are on a strictly salad dinner diet. weekends are our cheat days. i think it's a good start. i mean, for him, he's home all day. so he's at the gym running, swimming and weight lifting. while the only lifting and running i do is picking up the print outs at the printer. sigh... sitting my ass at work and not moving is my biggest problem. i don't even have a lot of meetings, so i don't gotta walk to nowhere.

i took a vacation. feeling refreshed. but the show goes on, i'm back to the routine and i need a fresh start. the summer definitely brought the heat to nyc, so all that humidity made me feel so icky going out, but then again, the heat makes me sweat, so that makes me feeling revived.

i don't agree with dieting. i believe in life style changes. small things can make big impacts. i've experienced weight loss before. good and bad weight losses. the only GOOD weight loss i've done is just the simpliest things - be active, take walks outside, even if i just go to CVS and check out make up for 2 hours, i'm not sitting my ass on the couch. eat healthy, eat light, eat smaller portion, don't get too full but never let yourself go hungry. while living in boston for a VERY hot summer, i decided to not cook up a steam every single day. i forgo the rice cooker and got a big ass pot to make green bean porridge, and put it in the fridge for second day lunch. i also bought a lot of fresh fish and veggie for dinner, cus it's so easy to make microwave steamed fish and just drizzle some oil and soy sauce on it, SOOO GOOOD! i'll show you guys how to make it one of these days.

so basically, 2 things, be active and eat light. you know i'm a big foodie, so i can't just NOT eat or restrict myself what to eat. i need variety. but the main thing is to control portions. OH, and CUT OUT SUGARY DRINKS. i can't believe how easy it was and how effective it was. maybe b/c i'm not a big soda person anyways, but just reach for a glass of water instead of vitaminwater or something is going to do some real good things for your body. some people don't like the taste of water, but it's all about getting used to.. just suck it up for 2 weeks and you won't even notice it anymore.

right now im at my heaviest.... i'm 5'2, 135lbs, 27% body fat, 34b - 30 - 37. the skinny i've ever been is 115lb and i think i had a 26in waist (judging from the pants i used to wear). i've taken Hydroxy Cut before, that shit makes you jump off the walls, if u want to feel excited and nervous 24/7, you'll feel like ur body's on a esspreso overload and your mind's on crack. but i did loose weight and felt tired all the time.

i've never been skinny. my whole life, i've been the healthy, sporty, chubby kid. thank god for giving me some boobies, so at least i look feminent. i think i'm comfortable with 120 - 125, though i'd love to be 110lb, but i think that'd be extremely hard to maintain. i wonder how nichole richie did it. she probably did coke everyday and eat salad with lime juice. see i can't do that. i want to look like a woman with curves. i'd love some big ol' butt, but that's not my bodytype. i know i will always have nice racks, as long as i don't go below 120lbs.

my body type is a pear shape. narrow shoulders, no waist, big ol' titties and no ass. i think i have similar body type as nicole richie and christina aguerilar (however you spell her last name). they are petite, narrow shoulder, and can have a gut when they are heavier. so when i work out, i need to focus on Core and Upper Body strength, well, and a whole bunch of other things too. i had a personal trainer for a while, so i kind of know what to do in gym, the weight training stuff.

ok anyways, sorry for the long post. i just wanted to let you guys know my 2 cents on body image, since it's a hot topic now that the weather's getting hotter. my skin cleared up!!! guys, if you have horrible horrible skin, just do a facial, they'll pop your pimples and clear your black heads. you might look like a messed up pizza face for 2 days, but after those pimple heals, you'll have clear and glowy skin.

oh yea, i need to do a post on Luxury Items too. there seems to be a lot of comments about how i can afford trips, buy this buy that, lv bags this and that. i'm not offended at all by these comments. i used to wonder about how people can afford a whole COLLECTION of makeup too, that's like $300 worht of eye shadow in one pop. so i'll do a post about why i can afford these things.. maybe it could be a Women's Personal Finance 411 post.. ahhhh.... coolio... =)

ONE MORE DAY UNTIL THE WEEKEND!!!

The best cold noodle ever!

And my hunnie made it for me. Yummmm....

Happy Hump Day~

ok i know, before you start, let me just say, i finally got around to put my folded laundry back in the drawers after 5 days sitting on my bed. i simply slept next to them and careful trying not to wrinkle them. H wasn't happy that the 4 piles of laundry took his place, so yea, i had to put them away.

i should have taken a picture of my vanity desk, my computer desk and my dining table. so you would understand the amount of shit i have to sort and organize and put back to the right place. i think this is when i realize i'm just a hoarder and i should stop buying so much shit for no damn reason. and stop lying to myself that i'm a "beauty blogger" i have a passion for beauty products, that's why $30 blushes are totally worth it.

shamed, i am. i could give you thousand excuses as to why the Italy trip pictures are still sitting on my C drive. but my condo was out of power last night due to thunder storm and i really really wanted to upload pictures last night, not the night before, but last night. and it didn't happen. sigh... i promoise you, it will be up on Friday the latest!

by the way, what does any of you use for photo sharing? i downloaded shutterfly, but it won't let me upload 100 pictures at a time. that's unacceptable in my world. anyone's got a better idea?

Dior kiss

The new Dior Kiss at Sephora.

I'M BACKKKKKKKKKK.........

hello mi ladies..

i apologize for ignoring the blog, even though I've been back from Italy since sat. night. but i felt like i needed serious pampering before i could even start blogging, for one thing, traveling is tiring, and the flight was delayed, and then i got mountains of laundry to do (actually, H is doing that, but still, I worry about him doing laundry, that's considered stress too), and my apt is a mess, b/c SOMEONE *ahem* H didn't clean out the fridge before we left and turned off the power to the entire apt. do you know what happens to frozen food if they are in a hot, hmm, i don't know, 80 degree enviornment? they blow up like a bubble fish!!! and everything is molded!!! with that yucky ewwwy green/blue/purple/gray shit all over the fridge!!!

wooooo saaaaa.....

so yea, mucho delay in reporting back to my blog, b/c of.. hmm... my molded fridge.

now, onto the important things, here is a list of the entries i need to post.

1) Italian trip pictures.. of course, hot italian men included.. with gelatos are on their sunkissed hard abs. jk about the last part. =)
2) the massive amounts of shits (makeup) i received while i was gone. 4 packages guys. all in one shot!
3) weekend pictures from boston..
4) travel skin care HORROR. my skin hasn't been THIS bad since 10th grade!
5) a long long long entry about traveling in general. i feel the need to inspire fellow travel bugs. this is triggered by an american teeny popper girl asking me at the port of sorrento "are you buying tickets to capri? what is there to do? are there any places to shop?" THIS IS WHY PEOPLE THING AMERICANS ARE IGNORANT, BECAUSE OF STUPID QUESTIONS LIKE THAT! shopping? you came all the way to italy to SHOP? do you have any idea where on the freaking map you are at right now? do you know where capri IS???

sigh... wooo saaaa.....

okie, anyways, before all of that, i need to inform you guys that posting won't start until next week or even the week after, b/c right now, i refuse to come out of my vacation mode, and this weekend we are going to boston for my friend's bday bash/bbq/exam therapy, she's taking the big CFA exam (6 hrs) on sat. and she needs to get trashed that night. next weekend, boston friends coming to my place to visit, mainly to use the poool and to get away from boston.

i promoise to post thoughtful posts. =) a lot of food, makeup and travel picture porn for you to enjoy. i am not abandoning my blog ladies, pls check back for more updates!

alright, now i'll go catch up on my beauty blogs.. all 4358503 of them, multiple by 2 weeks worth of posts... yea, so what's popping over at MAC anyways?
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interesting... found it on a INSEAD alumni blog.. very much true kiddos, my #1 suggestion is to grow some thick skins before you even think about start working.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.