A Thousand Splendid Suns

Captivating is just one word that can best describe the book written by Khaled Hosseini.  If some of you haven’t read The Kite Runner and doesn’t know who Khaled Hosseini is, I suggest you better go to the nearest bookstore and purchase his 3 books. 

The Kite Runner (I might give another review on a separate blog) made me want to cry myself to sleep and in all honesty, it did cause me a sleepless night right after reading it.  However, given the situation and having read the second book of Mr. Hosseini, I can fairly say that “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns” were as soul wrenching, heart gripping a real page turner.

Both the novels of Mr. Hosseini made me understand and realize the trials and tribulations of a war torn country.  A Thousand Splendid Suns made me picture out what was really happening out in the real world.  The novel made me see the trials and all the heartaches a war torn country could ever experience. 

The novel dealt a lot with loss, pain, suffering, and even betrayal.  Of course, it is not all that bad; it had a lot of good points and values.  It taught the readers, how to HOPE even at your most weak moment, even at a person’s defeating hour.

At the end, who can be said as a true hero, the protagonist of the story?  Was it Mariam or Laila?  I leave it up to the readers to decide but for me, the two were the protagonists, they endured a lot of pain in their hearts and still survived the battle.  Mariam might be seen as the main protagonist but her role in the novel was not just to take care of her own heart but also those of Laila’s and even the future of the orphanage.

Bravado to the writing of Khaled Hosseini and may he always captivate our hearts.  Can’t wait to read his other book, “And The Mountains Echoed” 

Till next blog, 

Cafe Au Lait

As promised yesterday, I am posting my own version of CAFE AU LAIT:

Ingredients:
  - 1 cup milk
  - 1 cup light cream
  - 3 tbsp pf instant coffee
  - 2 cups of boiling water

Procedure:

1. Over low heat, place the milk in a pan and cream until hot.
2. Dissolve coffee in boiling water.
3. Beat milk mixture until foamy.
4. Pour milk mixture into the coffee pitcher making a hot stream

Above ingredients would produce at least 6 small coffee cups. 

If you would want a different variant of CAFFE LATTE, see below :)

Ingredients:
  - 2 cups milk
  - 1 cup freshly brewed dark roast espresso

Procedure:

1. Heat milk in a saucepan set over at medium-low heat
2. Whisk briskly to create a foam
3. Pour the espresso into coffee cups (the ingredients would normally make 4 coffee cups)
4. Pour in the milk while holding back the foam
5. Spoon foam over the top. 

NOTE: If you are creative enough, you may do any coffee art on the foam, like the below :) 

Till next blog,

Cupcakes by Sonja

I am not always into healthy foods and all the jazz.  I allow myself a few indulgences especially on my favorite foods but of course its not on a regular basis.  Maybe once a week or once every two weeks is fine to indulge on your favorite food.  

I have always been a huge fan of coffee and I guess will always be.  My daily routine would be: coffee. breakfast. coffee. work. coffee. lunch. coffee. read. coffee. dinner. coffee. sleep.  The cycle goes on every single day. Lol!

More coffee bean is used whenever I am stressed.  :) Ok so, I ordered another Latte, my all time favorite and I have to admit it is a very good Latte! I am a huge fan of "Caffe Latte", "Milchkaffee", "Cafe au lait", "Cafe creme", "Cafe con leche" or whatever you wanna call it.  

I am a huge fan and also a huge detractor whenever I don't get the right blend of the coffee. Well at home, I make my own recipe of it which I will gladly share with you on my next blog.

Going back, I so love their coffee, the aroma is perfect and the taste is perfect as well! Ranging from 1 to 10, I would it give it a 9 since the size of the coffee cups are the usual sizes that is being ordered but I prefer my coffee cup to be HUGE! GIANORMOUS actually, if there is one! :) 

I also ordered my all time favorite cupcake from Sonja's which is Choco Cream Cheese Swirl.  An absolute match made in heaven! What I love about this cupcake is that it is definitely not frothy or with a lot of whipping cream on top. 

What I love about this cupcake is that it is ultimately mouth watering and must be on-refrigerated.  According to the official Facebook page of Cupcakes by Sonja, Choco Cream Cheese Swirl is a perfectly moist Valrhona chocolate cupcake with cream cheese surprise.  

Overall rating for the cupcake, a perfect 10! You guys should try this out! Seriously, it is a cupcake to die for. 

If you want to visit its Facebook page, see below link:

https://www.facebook.com/CupcakesBySonjaOfficial

Sad note though, I missed their ScoutCampusTour at my Univ, last 15 May 2015.  :( 

Also, guys, this is not a paid advertisement.  I just love their cupcakes!  

Till next blog, 

19 You + Me by Dan + Shay

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S-Ac3uVAPZY/maxresdefault.jpg

I am soooooo loving this song :) of course I would gladly share the lyrics to the song.  In case there is something wrong with it, just feel free to comment and I will definitely edit the lyrics.  

below is the link for their youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzfuLcIRK_M

**********************************************************
It was our first week at Myrtle Beach
Where it all Began

It was 102 nothin to do
Man it was hot
So we jumped in

We were summertim sippin', sippin'
sweet tea kissin' off of your lips
T-shirt drippin', drippin' wet
How could I forget?

Watching that blonde hair swing
To every song I'd sing
You were California beautiful
I was playing everything but cool
I can still hear that sound
Of every wave crashing down
Like the tears we cried
The day we had to leave 
It was everything we wanted it to be
The summer of 19 You and Me

We had our first dance in the sand
It was one hell of a souvenir
Tangled up, so in love
So, let's just stay right here


'Til the sun starts creepin', creeping' up
Right then I knew
Just what you were thinkin', thinkin' of
When I looked at you

Watching that blonde hair swing
To every song I'd sing
You were California beautiful
I was playing everything but cool
I can still hear that sound
Of every wave crashing down
Like the tears we cried
The day we had to leave 
It was everything we wanted it to be
The summer of 19 You and Me

Watching that blonde hair swing
To every song I'd sing
You were California beautiful
Beautiful, beautiful

Watching that blonde hair swing
To every song I'd sing
You were California beautiful
I was playing everything but cool
I can still hear that sound
Of every wave crashing down
Like the tears we cried
The day we had to leave 
It was everything we wanted it to be
The summer of 19 You and Me

First week in myrtle beach where it all began....

Remember that......

Following my blog post yesterday about Dad Bod, I am writing this blog to promote health and wellness.  Like I said yesterday, we should aim for a healthy body not just a sexy body to impress people.   We must always remember what we were taught in kindergarten, “Health is Wealth”.

I was never a health buff when I was younger, I keep on eating all the junk food I could, all the fast food I can see and never thought about eating any vegetable or fruit thinking I’m invincible and can’t get fat and will always have the body and metabolism of a 20 year old college student. 

I was never so wrong in my life!  When I reached 27, my metabolism just got too slow! Yikes! I couldn’t lose weight as easily as I did when I was 23 and most of the time, I’m craving for sweet treats and feeling sleepy!

I ate all I wanted back then and didn’t give a damn about all the junk that goes into my body!  Then all of a sudden, my back always hurts and when I went to my physiotherapist, he told me that my body can no longer support my weight! Yikes! Since I have scoliosis and lumbar strain, there is a certain weight that I would be comfortable only and once I reached that limit, I couldn’t gain any single pound anymore or my body would just give in!

So right then and there, I decided to control my food intake especially junk food cravings and started to go to the gym. My goal that time was not to just lose weight and rock that mini skirt and tank top but rather be healthy.  I didn’t know that all the years of neglect on my body would take a toll on me that soon. 

I made a choice of eating healthy and exercising every day. When I was younger, I always made an excuse not to exercise and say, nah, I'm busy, maybe some other time.  Then again, being sick hit me hard.  So I gave it a try and it rocked my world! I love going to the gym.  Most of my close friends were like, “Woah! You’re sweating at the gym?!!? Seriously?!?!”  They know I’m not a health buff but I wanted my body pains to go away and concentrate on being healthy. 

There are times when I want to give up especially when I already lost some weight but I never gave up on losing the unwanted weight and my back never hurt after that! Lets always remember that our health is prime priority.