summer rains

it rained heavily last night, and this morning too. somehow summer rains just bring me a slight excitement, like a refreshment, a cool iced lemon teas on a hot day. 

summer days...

So Hanoi summer days have started with some rains, which helped a great deal to cool the heat down a little bit. I really do enjoy a "ca phe sua da" (vietnamese milky iced coffee). I purchased some painting papers, pens and drawing supplies, and even a small palette of watercolor to draw and pass sometimes. 

we're applying for visa to europe, hopefully that will be done soon. Unfortunately there is some Mers viruses going around in Korea and some countries similarly to sars. This put me off traveling for a bit, but i really really do eant to be able to travel to europe. Bry and I have never been there, and i'm sooooo excited that we have a chance to go soon. So please let the virus be over soon... so we can all safely go travel.

Bry turned the big master bedroom into our little living room/study/entertainment room, and we're loving it. I have a hugr window with a beautiful view, he has his big TV to watch football, we have a cozy room with airconditioning to cool off and chillax during this summer. I'm with a book, or drawing, or playing with laptop while he watches football or play on his ipad.. this makes a wonderful relaxing evening for both of us. 

garnet with rose gold

it is just simply amazing 😍😍😍

This is a red garnet with rose gold ring, which will be my newest addition to my jewelery collection. 

9nkc

a little coffee shop in Hanoi where I love to hang.

And my favorite drink vietnamese iced coffee with milk. Perfect combo for a hot summer day... Add in my favorite companion, le hubby 😘 then i am contented. 

don't worry, be happy

Hello June.. hello summer time, not exactly my favourite season but I still kind of love you.. ^_^

unboxing new camera

so i have ordered another camera - casio exilim ex-zr50 from Japan.

I'm so excited to be receiving it, it's said to be a decent good camera specially for selfies - and it's lightweight plus small and compact - will be easy to toss around and bring with me instead of my usual large DSLR (canon).

I got the camera in white, and also the camera case in brown leather. 

a typical day

is the day that i turn 27. had a fight with hubby last night over some mundane things... 

next year i guess i'll start to think about kids... it's time. 

all nighter

pulled an all nighter last night... its been a long while since i have had one of those.. i guess i expect i will be pulling another 2-3 all nighters soon. kkkkk hubby gone away for a business trip is not so fun. however, there is an upside to this, well.. being alone aint that scary, not as much as it used to be. 

ha...

the wait

waiting for the answer from the project. don't people just hate waitinng? :( specially waiting for months... oh dear.. :( am so anxious. 

i need to talk, i need to be talking to feel a tiny bit better about this. but i dont want to talk too much to people who i shouldnt talk that much about - you know what i mean. i just dont want to bored the hell out of them. :(

update

so i've lost 4kg so far. have reduced my cravings heaps, still got like 7kgs to go... i need a miracle. gah.. patient, patient... 

waiting for good news with the project. should be soon. am so tired and very much want the days to pass by quickly so much. but good things come to those who wait. so yes i am doing the waiting now. 

oh my god what i would give... 

am so inlove with this hair color. it's light brown. i have had permanent hair gloss applied to mine and my hair's now a dark brown. :( but now that it's been glossed, the gloss doesnt budge!!! so it's more difficult to lighten my hair color. argh i'm so annoyed. Once again I need to wait 2 more months and just hope that the gloss would budge a bit, then i'll go lighten up my hair. 

Just pictures from the internet of my desired hair color. i want to be a brunette!! 

tea tea

afternoon tea at home with mommy. 

diet

so much for my will power. i have ditched the lemon detox, but still kept exercising at least 30-45 minutes a day. lost only 1kg. kind of sad... but hey, it only works if i try harder. 

am on another diet pill, this time i hope it is easier to follow than the detox. 

I'm heading to saigon in the next few days, to catch up with the progress of paperwork we had done for our project. It's always so hard since i'll be having meals with my family daily. Fingers crossed. will power please stay with me. 

Here are a few photos i took with my mom when she came to hanoi for a visit. i love love love her so so muchhhh. 

hanoi

Had ramen at a japanese restaurant in Tay Ho. The ramen wasn't good, only the gyoza and grilled meats were good.

hanoi

morning hanoi... still cold, i never would have thought this but i have started to have a dislike for winter. 

ncis

my favorite character in NCIS ^_^ shes cool. 

waiting

the wait can be long and tiresome... am tired. so yes, hold on and be strong. it'll be worth it. 

airport

I like airports in general... well at least when i have company ^_^ 

let's hope mid 2015 we have somewhere wonderful to go to 😘

ốc đào - hcm city

went to Oc Dao for afternoon snacks with hubby. 

Catalina Su's diet tips

CATALINA’S GUIDE

you have to be 100% ready - if you’re 85%, forget it and start when you’re 100%

every morning - wake up, pee, brush teeth, do everything you have to do-point is to be awake and moving around for a little, then right before your dress - weigh yourself naked

- drink water with lemon

- breakfast - eat raw - apple 

- coffee - black - no nothing, no sugar, no nonfat milk, NOTHING just black this is if you drink coffee

- drink water again

- 8 raw almonds

- water again 

LUNCH

- salad with chicken or turkey, easy on dressing, no cheese

- water again

- apple or grapefruit

- water 

- almonds if your dying

when you get home - pee and weigh yourself naked, you should be the same weight as you were in the morning.

DINNER 

- steamed veggies 

DO NOT SNACK at night if you must - raw red bell peppers

CARDIO as much as you can

If you do this for 5 days, I promise you’ll loose pounds. 
If you get weak, you can incorporate white fish at night with your veggies.

Quick story, my healthy bf in San Fran use to be 120. She went up to 132. She asked me to help her loose weight and this is what she did (above). Before she started, I asked her to give me her daily eating routine. She was suppppper healthy. One slice of sprouted bread for breakfast, salad for lunch, light dinners sometimes and sometime normal dinners but always healthy, snacking here and there. The point of me telling you this is that, if she didn’t shock her body and go raw, cut out all the small details she would have never lost the 8lbs that she lost. She ate healthy and that’s fine if she was happy with her weight.

So if you’re generally pretty healthy you have to kick start raw. 

You have to see the pounds come off to believe. 

You have to weigh yourself twice a day - always naked. You have to know where you stand, daily.

This is what should happen: 

Monday morning 130 - Monday before dinner (pee out all your water) 130

Tuesday morning 128 or 129 etc……..

Wednesday morning 127 or 128

slowly but surely

If you can do this for two weeks, it will be life changing. I said 5 days above but if you get through 5 days just go hard and try 10 days. That’s what I did to go from 116 - 118 to 113 -115 not raw but strict to consistently stay there. Two weeks is more of a guarantee to keep it off.

It will be hard, so you have to really want it. You almost have to have a fuck food attitude. Two weeks is NOTHING. Think of this as cleansing your pallet. After you get to where you want, check out what I eat, cause I love to eat and be lean.

You too, can have the best of both worlds.

Original post by Catalina Su.

flowers

You know am in hcm city when there are fresh flowers. ^_^

Btw my iphone 6+ had cameras problem yesterday. I couldn't take a clear photo!! it was all blurry. Omg how scarry.. :( 

Please don't break down, phone - I have only had you for a very short damn while.

broken ip6+ camera

damn.... my iphone 6+ 's camera is still twisted. I can't take any decent photos and we all know how much I love just taking random photos of everything... :( am heartbroken. in vn there isnt anywhere that does the international warranty for iphones. I'm just gonna have to wait until we get back to Hanoi, and bring it to fpt shop to get it fix. am hopefull that they are able to fix it. goddamn i have only had this iphone 6+ for like 2-3 months. wth... 

Here's an example shot - of course the walls are straight, the damn camera is hust being "bendy"... -_- *speechless*

snack

Had one of this cookie for a mid morning snack, though i am not hungry. Ok, so it is so not wise to be putting food nearby. I should take them out and leave them far far out of reach. 

can't wait until lunch. And i have also decided that I will be buying a new running machine when i get back to hanoi. I wish i can beat those chill and wake up early in the morning to walk downstairs in the apartment garden - then I'll save the money. But anyhow, we know that will not happen in this stupid winter weather.

tea

just ice tea this morning. less guilt. lol. 

Phu My Hung in the morning is pretty chillax. love it.

morning

usual morning. 

does it count if i just order, take pic and not drink it? :)) am kind of scared of how many calories are in a caramel macchiato?

I love phu my hung most as a living area in the whole of vietnam. so beautiful!! spacious and greens

at mom's

yep, a few skincares products i've brought with me to hcm city this time. The huge Sisley toner is actually my mom's - since my own toner was also big and took up too much space in my skincare/makeup bag. 

Apart from that, a few skincare creams and what not, which I have bought from my last trip to my dermatologist.

I love how mom's bathroom always look so much better than my own in Hanoi :( well generally our place in hanoi is in desperate need for sorting out. but we may not be living there for so long - so hubby and I kept putting off cleaning. 

home is the best

yes being home is the bomb!!

grandma's homecooked. yay. and of course the special pink red grapefruits.

home made

So... yes living in a family with a husband is making it hard to continue with the detox in an extreme way. :( my hubby is always hungry, he is extremely skinny as well. So it's kind of difficult to tell him to go out and eat by himself while I stay home and starve myself. 

Cooked a nice home made meal for him yesterday, I had only the melon soup and some eggs, no rice. 

From the morning until now i'm still just having drink 2 glasses of the lemons, chillies and syrup mixture. It's the afternoon and at night when hubby is back from work which is hardest to continue starving myself without food. while he ofcourse like a normal human wanting to have food for dinner. 

new year day

few snaps of Hanoi streets on new year day. 1st Jan 2015.