VepoRub + Socks, n Ricola

Since I got pregnant this time... I feel like I'm getting all kinda sick/flu/cold, one after another. I cannot take my dear helper Nyquil right now, I gotta find ways to get better. I mean, right now, I am coughing bad, especially in bed. Daytime, I suck Ricola. That's the best cough(sore throat as well) drop! I used to go to bed with Ricola in my mouth, well it works, but just kinda yucky... Then I just remember this myth.
"When your baby is coughing bad and cannot sleep, rub Vicks VapoRub on her feet and put socks on."

Yea, I heard that for "baby".lol And I don't know why, but I heard it works. Every time when my kids got sick, I just forgot. Hmmm, this is the best time to try!
Michele was coughing hard in bed last night too, so we both tried.
What do you know, it worked! Well, I gotta admit, that jelly kinda feeling inside the socks is not the best feeling, but at least we could fall asleep in peace! Whoever discovered this is a GENIUS!

Purple Doritos

I found this Purple Doritos... it's Spicy Sweet Chili flavor, at Subway, it was like... 6months ago? I don't like... more like I CANNOT STAND those all Cheese flavor snacks. So when I found this Purple one, I was so happy n it was very YUMMY! Unfortunately since then, I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Then just the other day... we went to Best Buy, n we found this by the cashier! WOW! But why Best Buy??lol

Anyway, for those who never seen this Purple Doritos... This is it!

Everybody’s Favorite! BEEF BOWL!!

That’s right. If you’ve been to Japan, you’ve probably experienced, n you must loved it! Most of military people who went to Japan love this too… Japanese own, BEEF BOWL!!!
You see Beef  Bowl restaurant almost everywhere in Japan, well there’s some in NY n Cali too. But you can’t cook THAT taste yourself… until NOW! I found this recipe from Cook Pad, n I tried it last night… IT WAS JUST LIKE THE ONE!!! If you like it, you gotta try this!

Ingredients:

• Thin sliced beef   1.5lb
• Water   3cups
• Onion, thin sliced   2
• Paste Ginger   1tbsp
• Soy Sauce   4tbsp
• Light Soy Sauce   4tbsp
• Cooking Sake   6tbsp
• Sugar   6tbsp
• Salt   just a pinch
• Japanese Soup Base(Hondashi)   1tbsp
• White Rice   As much as you want

* It may be hard to find thin sliced beef at regular grocery store. If you have oriental market or Japanese store in your area, I would suggest go those stores.
*If you go to those oriental store, they should also sell Ginger Paste in tube(in yellow box) just by Wasabi tube n stuff. That would be very convenient.
* Since it was based on Japanese measurement, you may wanna adjust a lil bit too.
Direction:

1. Boil 3cups of water in a sauce pan, put sliced onion and cook until onion’s softened.
2. Add Sake, Sugar, Salt, both of Soy Sauce, then put beef and mix well.
3. Cook in medium heat for 10min or more, then add Ginger.
4. Cook a little more, and adjust the taste with Sugar n Soy Sauce as you like.
5. Put on cooked White Rice.

It’s very easy! And I would say this recipe is the closest “Beef Bowl Restaurant” flavor I could get. My hubby is a Beef Bowl lover, n he’s very satisfied! Oh, our house smelled like a beef bowl restaurant too!

Viva Glam Gaga

I had lunch with my friend today, n she gave me a surprise gift! Ta-da! Viva Glam Gaga! Yay! It's SOOOO pretty!! I haven't wore this type of pink for a long time, but I LOVE PINK!! As soon as we came home, yes, I couldn't wait to try it on(even though I only have to go pick up John after that...) OMG! It's so pretty!!!! Lately I've been wearing only nude colors, n I almost forgot how pretty pink is!! Now I feel like to put full makeup...lol I love it!!!

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Windows 7

We got ourselves Dell Laptops for Christmas present. Yep, one for me, one for him.:)) Now we are experiencing Windows 7. I liked XP better than Vista, but I had a good feeling about Windows 7.
Since I do some graphic work for my hobby(?), I always wanted Mac, but here is the problem. The software I use is all for Windows. N they are expensive… If I switch to Mac, I will have to buy whole new software… that will cost almost same as Mac itself. So I’m still stuck with Windows…
Ok, now, I installed my Adobe Photoshop n Illustrator… Photoshop worked, but Illustrator doesn’t start! What!?!?!? Oh, btw, those are not new version…lol That may be why, but still… It worked no problem in XP!
Then I found this. In Control Panel, there is Programs and Features, inside there, there is “Run programs made for previous version of Windows”. Click that, then follow the instruction, it will search the programs that have problems with Windows 7. Of course I found Adobe Illustrator in there, so I click there, n it let me choose to use XP for this software. Now… Ta-da! I can use Illustrator! I thought this is great!

I mean, I like other features in Windows 7 so far, like this Windows Live Writer. Well, since we are using Wi-fi, we are always connected to Internet, but if I go somewhere with my laptop n decide to write blog somewhere doesn’t have internet connection… I still can write n save it. I think it’s cool. OK, gotta be honest, actually this is the first time for me to use this Windows Live Writer.lol But it has preview tab n stuff, so I think this would work.
What else… It’s basically same Windows, so easy to use, n of course it’s faster. I am pretty sure I will find more about Windows 7, n I will keep update!

Seafood Cream Gratin

If you don't really know what really is, according to my hubby, it's like Baked Cream Ziti?lol It is very popular in Japan, but obviously it's not Japanese dish. I used sea food since it's Lent today(my hubby is Catholic), plus I like sea food better, but you could use chicken, n add more vegetables, if you like.

Ingredients:
2stick of Butter or same amount of margarine
1 Onion, sliced
Shrimp(as much as you like)
1cup of Flour
6cups of Milk
6cubes of Cubed Chicken Bouillon
A half box of Elbow Macaroni
1cup of Whipping Cream(Heavy Cream)
1can Baby Clam
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Direction:
1. Turn on the oven for 450 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet or a sauce pan, add onion n shrimp til it's cooked.
2. Reduce the heat. Add flour, mix very well. Be careful to not burn it. Add milk. Mix well until flour is desolved.
3. Add bouillon. Mix well. Add Elbow Macaroni. Keep stir til macaroni is about cooked. I would say about 10mins.
4. Add baby cram n whipping cream. Stir until it's thickened.
5. Pour into oven-safe dish. Put mozzarella cheese over it, then top with parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 mins.

It's actually very easy, n YUMMY! I got this recipe from Japanese cooking recipe site called cookpad. I have been trying a lot of recipes from this site, n they all are easy n yummy, plus most of them have picture directions. I love it! You will see what I try...hehehe.

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A Boy or A Girl?

I went to my second ultrasound appointment yesterday. It supposed to be the ultrasound for checking my cervix length, which is internal ultrasound, but the Sonographer was VERY nice n she did regular ultrasound so we could see how's the baby doing. She also told as we might be able to see the gender of the baby.

My guess was... definitely a GIRL! Why? Because I had bad morning sickness(or should I say all day sickness...), craving for veggies n fruits, didn't care about meat at all(usually I am a meat lover!)... Well besides all those myth, I just compared myself in my experience with the pregnancy with John n Michele. Then I felt it's a definitely a girl!

So... what the Sonographer said... "It's 80% a GIRL!"

Ha! I knew it!lol I know it's not for sure yet, but that's what I felt!

February 18, 2010 -16w1d-

"It's 80% a GIRL!"

She actually moves a lot! It took some time to capture this pic...lol

Is that her brain?? Wow...

The Sonographer calls this "Alien picture"....lol

Aww... Look at her little foot!!! It's about 1/4 inch now.

Actually I was very nervous about my cervix because of my last miscarriage. But she said it looks great for now! I will have another internal ultrasound in 2wks, then a regular ultrasound in 4wks. I get nervous everytime, but it's good to see how's the baby doing!

First Ultra Sound

Alright... I am gonna start Baby Blog, I guess...lol It's always exciting to see these ultrasound pics! So since I am in "over 35yrs old" category(well, I just turned 35 though...), hey look at the bright side! I can get more ultrasound appointments! Yay! These are my 13wks ultrasound pics.:))

January 29, 2010 -13w2d-

"The baby looks GREAT!"

The baby's still little, but we can see his/her face n tammy!

He/she is rubbing his/her face with his/her arm! Like a kitty!lol

Now he/she's rubbing his/her eye with his/her right(?) hand! So cute!

This first ultrasound is to see if there's either a high risk or a low risk for the baby to have down syndrome, because the pregnancy in "over 35yrs old" category have more risk for down syndrome. What they see is that they measure the back of neck size of the baby, if the size is bigger then more risk for down syndrome. Fortunately, our baby looks GREAT!!

I also had the blood exam n all, it all came back with "low risk"! Now I gotta take GOOD care of this baby!