The heat is killing me...

The heat is killing me...



...and when it is combined with the moisture in the air, why, that spells complete disaster. It really puts a damper on my mood. >_<

I had my yearly check up with the eye doctor this morning~ there was a lot of waiting...and waiting...and waiting. I have always dreaded going to the eye doctor because my eyes would simply get worse each year and my mom would yell and yell...it was all very unpleasant. Today was the first time I went without her (she has always insisted on coming with me) and also the day I got a prescription for contact lenses. I have despised wearing glasses all of my life, not simply for aesthetic reasons (glasses are considered "trendy" nowadays which is stupid because I would dump my glasses the minute I get clear vision) but because they're inconvenient and uncomfortable. I hate how heavy they are and I hate how it constantly slides down my nose. Lately, I've been also having these annoying dizzy spells. My vision is blurry, even though I am wearing my glasses. This makes it very hard for me to study.

I went grocery shopping with my sister right after the appointment, buying ground beef to make spaghetti for lunch and some cream cheese so that I could make some cheesecake in the future. ^.~ The rest of the day was spent helping my friend out at her family's bubble tea drink shop in Waikiki. She also sells fruit smoothies, fruit bowls, Vietnamese coffee, and shave ice.

I had my very first bubble tea drink! There were many different flavors available, including coconut, papaya, lychee, green tea, peach, mango, cappuccino, coffee, mocha, chocolate, honeydew, taro, strawberry, but I had the original milk tea. I also had two sips of Vietnamese coffee. Vietnamese coffee has a nice and strong flavor and I rather like it, even though I've only had five sips of coffee in my life. This is not because I hate coffee...it is simply because I could not be bothered to spend so much money just for a drink. But I oh, I do *love* the smell of coffee! ~_~

Another thing I've been loving lately are carrots. I don't know why, but I'm really starting to like carrots! And that means cooked carrots of course! None of that raw-food nonsense. I can't eat salads...munching on raw greens make me feel like a rabbit. I'm not a rabbit.

I'm also finally reading a novel again! :) For a while, I've taken a liking to non-fiction, but I'm eager to get back to fiction. Right now, I'm reading "Love Over Scotland" by Alexander McCall Smith. I simply adore McCall Smith's books! I have "Shelter" by Susan Palwick next on my list...I've never read any of her books but the prologue grabbed my attention.

I also feel a very faint sense of happiness today. It is not overpowering, but it is there. I am usually unhappy, and this may be due to the negativity at home (with the constant yelling)... There isn't necessarily anything to be angry or yell about...oddly, it almost seems like a sort of habit. It simply wouldn't BE mom if she WASN'T yelling. (Not that this fact makes the situation any less horrid!) People outside of this family do not have to deal with this, so they would not understand, but it is strange to feel happiness for something that other people take for granted.

Half of Summer Break GONE

I can't believe an entire month past since my last post. o__o; I thought I would have more time over the summer, but my schedule is more full than when we had school. My schedule for the past two weeks went like this:

8:30am-12:30pm SAT prep class
2:00pm-4:00pm Work
5:00pm-6:45pm Psychology 101 class

I usually come home exhausted. The only difference is that I don't have homework every night so I can watch Japanese dramas and make wallpapers. XP I finished Security Police and Pride...and I want to watch Tokyo Love Story next! :) Sometimes old-school dramas are the best~ better than the current ones playing.

Today was actually the last day of my SAT prep class (yay!) but I'm probably going to fill up that time with more work. ^^; I gave myself a day off from work today to start on my term paper...but so far that hasn't happened. ><; Where did my self-discipline go???

Overall, the SAT prep class didn't do much for me except give me more practice. I already knew all of the strategies from reading the books. I don't think my scores improved at all. It is more or less the same and still within the same range. *sigh* On the other hand, I really enjoy my psychology class. Professor Wood is good at talking so it is easy to listen to his lectures.

Summer To-Do List
SAT prep classes
Psychology class (Still in progress...)
Study for psychology exam
Term paper (compilation of 10 articles)
Draw pictures
Sew a top
Relearn crochet
Cook and bake
Take my senior portrait
Read a book

I added some new pictures in photography. I realize that the pictures reveal a tiny glimpse of my life (and Hawaii)! I hope people enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy taking the pictures. :)

I'm Back!

I am so sorry.

お久しぶり皆さん!
It has been a long time everyone!
With all of the school engineering projects in February, my trip to Japan in March, and exams in April-May, I have been swamped with non-stop work. However, I did not forget about "Inspiration," now called, "yukari studio," and I have been waiting a long time for the opportunity to revive it! Since today is Memorial Day, that chance has finally come! ^__^

I'm actually not too happy about the layout, even though I was very determined to make it better than anything else I've done in the past. {-_-}

The revamping took two days since I wanted to redo the content of every page. Many of my very old drawings have been removed (look how clean the page is!) I might re-scan some drawings that I am still fond of, but most of them were done when I was in middle school. I think this summer would be a good time to start drawing again and add some new illustrations. There is still a few things that need to be added to the digital section, but I'll get to that later. The photography section was very difficult to organize, but I managed to get that done. Pictures are separated by subject, and you might spot some new-old pictures that you haven't seen before. ^^ Of course, there will be much more pictures coming soon, since I love taking pictures!

As you may have also noticed, I have "goodies" listed in the navigation, but there is no link up yet. That is something new that I am working on for the visitors~ please look forward to it!

End of Winter Break

Again, I haven't blogged in a while. I don't blog much, do I? o_o;

School starts tomorrow...I don't think I'm ready to go back. But that doesn't matter. I still have to go. -_-

Back in December (previous post), I created a goal list. Here's what I've completed:
1) Complete all homework assignments.
2) Work on school projects. (Nope.)
3) Study for the SAT. (Kind of? Not enough time.)
4) Revamp the entire Love-Train network. (Half finished.)
5) Bake yogurt cake.
6) Learn how to use the sewing machine.
7) Draw. (I drew so little that it doesn't count.)
8) Brush up on my Japanese! (Tried to.)

I regret fooling around during the break...I could have gotten some serous studying done. I did manage to make a new layout for the Love-Train.net domain and for Chantilly. There are three more layouts to go. A full revamp of this site should be on the way...I'm only worried about whether I have time since school is starting tomorrow. I am also considering changing the name of this site because I found another art site named, "Inspiration." -_- What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

Today was an "okay" day. Not much happened. I read Lovely Complex volume 3, made mochi, and sewed an owl. See? Not much.

Tonight I plan to play with some clay (finally!) and watch another episode of Galileo. ^.~

Merry Christmas!

Haha, it's kind of late right now (okay, realllyy late). But still. :D I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas today. Truthfully, Christmas day has never been special for me - in fact, it can be quite boring since all the shops are closed. But I was smart because I went grocery shopping on Christmas Eve so that I could make my brother and sister lasagna. Making lasagna is fun and I like how you can virtually add any ingredient you want. I prefer my lasagna with plenty of mushrooms and spinach~ yum!


Different angle, with some cheese sprinkled on top.

I meant to finish Orange Days by watching the final episode today, but there were some complications so I watched Security Police episode 1 instead. It stars Junichi Okada. <3 He's beautiful. The drama is pretty good so far. Lots of (literally) ugly bad guys. Okada plays Inoue Kaoru, an officer who is a part of the security police. He is cool when he takes down bad guys, but his character is extremely eccentric (I've been meeting alot of strange characters in Japanese dramas lately). Many people have good intuitions, but his sixth sense seems to be sharper than others. He also has moments when he "spaces out" but he can always spot a bad guy in the area from their movements. Inoue can also sense when a person has ill intentions or malice.


Here he is, spacing out. xD

I'm also watching Galileo, another Japanese drama that involves mystery. I can only catch up on watching dramas during long breaks. :D I have so many things I want to do over the break that I'm not sure if I can accomplish them all. Here are some of the goals I hope to reach by the 14th of January:

1) Complete all homework assignments.
2) Work on school projects.
3) Study for the SAT.
4) Revamp the entire Love-Train network.
5) Bake yogurt cake.
6) Learn how to use the sewing machine.
7) Draw.
8) Brush up on my Japanese! じつは日本語あんまり知りません...-_-;

A few days ago, my sister taught me how to crochet! I can do it (sort of) but I need alot more practice if I want to make amigurumi...*o*

Again, I wish everyone a safe and happy winter break!

I Can't Subtract.

[During an experiment at Physics EA class, period 1.]

Judy: What's 25 minus 15?
Me: 15! No, wait...10!
[pause]
Judy: ...Isn't it 5?
Me: ...
[Ryan was listening to this.]
Ryan: You guys are in PreCalculus, right?
[Judy nods.]
Me: -_________-

Adventures with Gingerbread

Last Sunday, Erica and Jenni helped me bake gingerbread cookies for the Japan Trip Craft/Bake Sale which takes place the next day. With the recipe taped on a kitchen cupboard, I handled the wet ingredients listed in the recipe and Jenni took over the dry ingredients. Halfway between mixing and stirring, Jenni discovered that there was not enough flour at Erica's place. We looked at each other and then at the pouring rain out the window. Erica got her slippers dirty and I got my socks wet, but we didn't let that stop us. xD We walked back to my place to get more flour and continued on with our baking. :D

Baking is definitely a tricky process. The dough refused to cooperate with us. Erica's sister had warned us that because Hawaii's weather is slightly warmer than most places, the dough will be softer. I let Jenni do the rolling because I always get the dough stuck onto the pin. I don't know how she does it. @_@ I wish I had more patience! We made three batches of cookie dough - two for cookies and the other batch for making gingerbread houses. =) We kept rotating them and putting them into the refrigerator in hopes that the dough would harden. Chilling the dough did not make too big a difference as it was still difficult to cut out the shapes, but we tried out best. After cutting out the shapes, Erica carefully transfered them onto the pan with a spatula. We decided to make gingerbread men, Christmas trees, and snowmen. :D I decorated the gingerbread men with m&m buttons and used a toothpick to make a face. Poking holes for the eyes and mouth was fun. =)



Cookies don't normally expand, do they? These did. There was no trace of those scrawny little gingerbread men we cut out - out of the oven, they're big guys. When they were baking in the oven, Erica peeked through the lit window and exclaimed that some cookies were sticking to each other. This worried me. But when we took the cookies out of the oven, we smiled at the sight of gingerbread men holding hands. <3

"Aww, they're friends!"

One batch of cookies came out a honey-golden-brown color. The other batch was a darker shade of brown. Erica worried that we burnt them. I joked that we could still sell the burnt cookies by saying that we added cocoa powder to that batch. XD But they tasted alright~

Jenni was evidently very enthusiastic about making gingerbread houses because she brought lots of candy to decorate them. I did not have any candy at my place so I brought mixed nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, you name it) and animal crackers. ^^;;; I haven't made gingerbread houses since elementary school. I used to make them using milk cartons, graham crackers, frosting, and gummy bears. Reminiscing triggered something in my mind. A sudden realization hit me!

Everyone I know uses graham crackers to construct their houses and I have never seen anyone use real gingerbread. @_@; But I guess the name works better. Graham cracker house doesn't sound as pretty.

We were all pretty excited to be making our first gingerbread house from scratch and with real gingerbread. I happily thought to myself, "These will be genuine gingerbread houses, not fake ones!"



Making gingerbread houses from scratch is no doubt a difficult task. It is no wonder people used graham crackers - they are easy, convenient, and uniformly shaped. We had to cut out dough with a knife to make the rounded corners straight. My gingerbread house kept falling down. The trick is to be persistent...and to stick it into the freezer before it falls on you again.


Presenting the gingerbread house before it goes into the freezer.

(I only notice now that one side of the roof was lopsided. Oh well.) The frosting hardened pretty quick and I was eager to start the decorating~! I started by slithering frosting on the gingerbread and sticking snow caps onto the roof.


Me & Erica's gingerbread house (left) and Jenni's (right).

Jenni decorated the top of her roof with peppermint kisses and used cereal to create the look of a tiled roof (she loved the idea after seeing it in a Martha Stewart magazine). I wanted to give my house color and variety so all four sides were decorated differently. Erica helped me decorate one wall with a variety of nuts (Jenni commented on how they looked like bricks), another wall with a candy cane, the third side with red & green gum drops, and the fourth side with peppermint kisses.


Isn't it pretty?

I propped a "reindeer" on top of the house for a finishing touch. (In actuality, I have no clue what animal it is but it passes for being a reindeer. ^.~)


Finished product!