Tuesday 30 June 2015

Morning Gem Recipe || Healthy Eats


Morning Gem Recipe 


I N G R E D I E N T S

2 medium kiwi
2 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup water

I N S T R U C T I O N S

1. Chopped up some mangoes and freeze them over night.
2. The next morning, take out the mangoes to let them defrost a little while you chop up the kiwi.
3. In a blender, pour in the water first before adding in the rest of the fruits.
4. Blend and enjoy !

hugs and kisses




Sunday 28 June 2015

All Time Favorite Books

All Time Favorite Books

You know when you watch people list their favorite books in 201x or in a month? Then you start to wonder what happens after that year or that month? Well, new books replace the old. So I decided to make a list of my all time favorite books that I have read before and still enjoy till now. It can be the most recent book I've read or something I've read a long time ago. It can be a week ago, a month ago or a year ago since I've read these books but still love them till this day. So here we go down memory lane with the characters.


The Red Queen 


The Young Elites


A Walk to Remember


The Book of Tomorrow


Clockwork Angel


Where Rainbow Ends


Made for You


Divergent


Throne of Glass


The Darkest Mind


These are all the books I would reread again and again without getting bored. I am not sponsored or asked to do this. I genuinely love these books and I hope all of you love them too. Tweet me or comment below your favorite books so I could check them out as well !

hugs and kisses

Saturday 27 June 2015

The Young Elites || Book Review


The Young Elites Book Review

A dangerous love and a bitter truth under a mask of bare naked scars. 

Adelina Amouterou is a malfetto; she is marked and ostracized by her community for surviving a virus that made so many others perish before her. She is marked in more ways than one– she lost her eye to the virus, and her hair turned shock white. But, she is not alone. Many others who were sick are marked too and some of them are gifted with supernatural abilities, powers. They are the Young Elites. Adeline never discovered her power until the day she was sentenced to die. As she joined the Young Elites and she discovered her deepest self and her hidden darkness. Slowly, the darkness inside of her betrayed her to become someone she is not. 

It was a blooming amazing, tale twister, and a satisfying good read ! I am craving for more and for the next sequence now. It consists of all the elements that you dig for in a fantasy/fiction story: romance, betrayal, thriller, sacrifices and power. The way Marie Lu tells the story and puts the world she created into words can make you speechless. Maybe she is a malfetto too, gifted with talents. 

hugs and kisses



Thursday 25 June 2015

All the Bright Places || Book Review


All The Bright Places

The bitterness of lost, the ability to gain strength from someone you love, and a beautiful story of how a broken girl was saved by a broken boy. It's a story of a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die.

I am deeply wounded by this book. It was asdfghjkl. I cannot describe.

Voilet lost her sister Eleanor in a car accident and since then she could not step into a car let alone drive one. She could never see the world the same way without her sister. Until this boy, Finch came into her life and showed her how to dance in the dark as you wait for your light to shine. He taught her how to let go but still hold on to pieces of Eleanor with her. With him, Violet became better, she became braver, and she became free. 

Although Violet was saved, Finch was not.There are somethings she could not understand about Finch and now, she could never get the chance to.

The ending was brutally unforgettable and beautifully sad. In the end,  everything fathom together like a puzzle.

hugs and kisses


Monday 22 June 2015

Red Queen || Book Review


Red Queen


Has there ever been a part of you that crave an ugly betrayal, unreachable love, and sparkle of fantasy in a book? Well this book has it all.

The land is divided between bloods, the Reds and the Silvers. The Reds are ordinary people slaves who have no power, not even over their own lives. The Silvers, however, are powerful, strong and talented. They are the nobles, the royals and the elites. In time of war, you would imagine the Silvers will be out in the battle ground, fighting for they are the ones with talent and with power but instead, the king and queen would not risk sending their talented out to die, they send the Reds to the front, not to fight and to be killed because the Red stood no chance. To them, one less Red means nothing but it means everything to Mara. Mara is a Red. Her father was sent to the battle field and lost his leg. Her three brothers went after and they have not heard from them since. Maybe no news was good news.

Mara was next, they will come for her and send her off to fight until one day she met her miracle or maybe her nightmare, Cal. Since she met him, things started to change. She was requested to serve in the palace for the Royals, the Silvers. She hated them but the price was her family safety and unless supply of food. How could she not? On her first day in the palace, she found out who Cal really was. Not only that, she too found out, what she is and what she can do. She was dangerous.

She has blood of Red but power of Silver. 

She was both and she was stronger then anyone of them. The king and queen decided to study her and said to protect her. At the palace, Mara act like their puppets, dance when they sing, talk when they ask, and lie when they threaten. At the palace, she saw the true evil of Silvers. They were not only selfish people but cowards who are too afraid to fight their own wars and willing to sacrifice the Reds. She was not alone and not the only Red who felt this way. A secret group of Red called themselves the Guards held an attack at the Silver's city. This alerted the Silvers that the Red had enough and demand a voice to be heard. There was one thing the Silvers honor more then power, their pride. The king and queen refuse to bend down from the Reds, even Cal. Mara was heart broken and was even more devastated when she found out her brother Shade was killed in the attack. The king and queen hides these attack and form lies to the citizens . This made her furious so she join the Guards. From then one, Mara was not Red, not Silver. She was both and she was stronger than anyone of them.

This book was absolutely, without a doubt, an amazing, well-written story of two bloods; one fighting for pride the other fighting for rights. It was moving and exciting. It comes to a point where the characters felt so real and you worry for them as they whisper to your ears about the danger. The romance and the betrayal in this book can make one scream to the top of their lungs and when it's over you don't feel the soreness or the ache, instead you crave for more. I seriously have no words to describe.

Conclusion: YOU. HAVE TO . READ. THIS. BOOK !

hugs and kisses

Thursday 18 June 2015

Four || Book Review


Four Book Review


You know the feeling when you connect to the characters in the book, you become part of them as they dwell closer to your soul? You know when you end a book, it's like saying goodbye to a friend because you will never know what will happen to them after the 'the end'? It has been two years since I've read Divergent and yesterday, I picked up this book and started reading it. I fell right into my feelings again. The connection slowly sparks as pages turn. It's like memories being replay but with new memories added on.

Four was an amazing book. It tells the story of Tobias before he met Tris. You get see his point of view as well as his thoughts and feeling; his pain behind his strength and his love behind his hate. This book was nicely written and connects perfectly with the Divergent series. When he met Tris, all the feels were rushing through my veins. I was on the edge of my seat, falling in love with the way they fall in love. Tobias makes me feel safe and when I read this book, I understand him more then I did when I read Allegiant. It was a magical book full of history, action, romance, and strength. The chemistry between the characters in this book was amazing and brutally unforgettable.

hugs and kisses

Friday 12 June 2015

Spring Chai Pudding

Spring Chai Pudding


I N G R E D I E N T S

1 cup almond milk
1 medium Asian pear
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup chai seed

I N S T R U C T I O N S 

1. In a jar, pour 1 cup of almond milk and 1/4 cup of chai seed. Mix them together.  
2.Then leave it over night in the fridge or  leave in in the fridge for 20 minutes in the morning.
3. Peel and chop the pear into bite size pieces and also chop the  cashews into smaller pieces.
4. Add the pear and cashews into the jar. Enjoy !

hugs and kisses

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Chinese Made Simple


Mung Bean Soup


I N G R E D I E N T

8 oz  mung beans
1/3 cups brown sugar

I N S T R U C T I O N S 

1. Soak the beans for 2 hours
2. On a pot, add in 2 liters of water and let it boil. 
3. Add in the mung beans and leave it to boil.
4. Constantly stir the beans so they don’t stick to the bottom.
5. When it’s cooked and soft, add in the sugar.
6. Let the sugar dissolve on a low heat.




Azuki Bean Soup (aka Chinese red bean soup)


I N G R E D I E N T

16 oz azuki beans
1/3 cups brown sugar


I N S T R U C T I O N S 

1. Soak the beans for 2 hours
2. On a pot, add in 2 liters of water and let it boil. 
3. Add in the mung beans and leave it to boil.
4. Constantly stir the beans so they don’t stick to the bottom.
5. When it’s cooked and soft, add in the sugar.
6. Let the sugar dissolve on a low heat.
Note: After turning off the heat, leave it to cool. Once completely cooled, transfer to a Tupperware or any container and store it in the fridge. It can last up to 4 days !

hugs and kisses


Saturday 6 June 2015

Simple Perfectly Grilled Salmon

Simple Perfectly Grilled Salmon

I N G R E D I E N T S

1 lb salmon
salt
pepper

I N S T R U C T I O N S 

1. Wash and slice your salmon to about 2 inches thick.
2.Rub the salmon with pinch of salt and pepper.
3. On a hot pan, drizzle some oil and let the oil heat up for 3-5 minutes.
4. Gently place your salmon on the pan. Let the salmon grill for 3 minutes on each side.
5. When the salmon is done on both sides, place the salmon on a rack. This allows the oil to drip away be still leaving the flavor and the fat of the salmon. 

NOTE: If you do not have a rack, you could make your own ! Simple take a plate with curve edges, then place chopsticks on it!














hugs and kisses

Thursday 4 June 2015

Mango Nectarine Yogurt


Mango Nectarine Yogurt 

I  G R E D I E N T S

3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 small mango
3 nectarines

I N S T R U C T I O N S

1. Dice and cube the nectarines. Slice the mangoes to fine pieces. 
2. Measure out the yogurt and add them into a glass, or a bowl. 
3. Add in the mango and stir them around. Mush the mangoes with the yogurt so that they are all equally combined.
4. Top it with nectarines.

NOTE: You may also add granola, nuts and seeds if you like as the topping.

hugs and kisses

Monday 1 June 2015

Korean Clear Noodle Recipe || Healthy Eats


Korean Clear Noodle Recipe

I N G R E D I E N T S

1 pack of clear glass noodles
10 Chinese brown mushrooms
3 Spring onions
7 baby carrots
1 large onion
3 cups of bok choi chopped
5 cloves of garlic
1-2 tbsp oyster sauce
salt
pepper
Toasted sesame seed 

I N S T R U C T I O N S

1. Soak the noodles in cold water for 5 minutes.
2. While waiting for it to soften, chopped up the vegetables and garlic.
3. On a hot pan, drizzle some oil then add in the garlic.
4. Let the garlic cook so that the flavors of the garlic can defuse out. Then add in the mushrooms, carrots and onions. Let them cook for awhile before adding the rest of the vegetables.
5. Add in the noodles.  Use a chopstick to stir fry them around. I find that using chopsticks are easier but if you don't have them around, a tong and a fort works perfectly as well.
6. Pour in the oyster sauce and season with salt and pepper.
7. Stir fry them until they are all coated with the sauce.
8. Serve on a plate and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds. 


hugs and kisses