We all know someone: Backseat driving

I'm starting this series called "We all know someone" which should be a self explanatory title. We all know someone who backseat drives, whether this is your parents or your friend, or a random stranger you picked up on the street, these people are extremely annoying.

And if this is you.

Don't do it.

Because in all honesty, backseat driving is distracting. I rather concentrate on the road than your shitty advice. So, thanks. But no thanks.

Cheers and have a good weekend!

♚ Yushi

What it means to be: A university student - in the summer ☼

Contrary to what this post may lead you to believe, I actually don't lounge around in the summer, I don't really have time to and I'm so tired when I come home from that I just want to die a little bit. If I do lounge around, it's to watch netflix on my tv, and Gone Girl is on it right now, and that movie is just so good, so good. 

But if you are a university student in the summer, you might feel these things:

▽ In which if you're lounging at home, your parents tells your lazy ass to go outside and do something

▽ In which your mom believes that you should be learning or studying something during the summer in preparation for next year...(like wtf, seriously wtf, what is there to study???)

▽ In which days are spent sleeping till 1pm

▽ In which you feel restless

▽ In which summers are 4 months long, which means, they are extremely long, and there is too much time on your hands

▽ In which your sleeping schedule is completely messed up

▽ In which there is so much struggle to meet up with friends - so much struggle

▽ In which all your friends are on different parts of the world

Cheers, and have a good weekend!

♚ Yushi

The Wonderful Coffee part 2: Tastes of the World.

I'm back again kiddies with another installment of the Wonderful Coffee Series (aka my personalized love letter to this magical elixir).
This time, we're going to talk about taste and flavors of different coffee beans from around the world (the most common ones ofc).

So let's get it started.. hey!

So I also realized that I didn't quite explain my purpose of why I'm doing this whole edumacation thing regarding coffee. But this is what I do. I obsess over things and as I obsess over them, I feel the need to talk about it constantly. It's annoying but hey, at least this way, it's productive?

I don't know. I really do hope it's enjoyable :')

♚ Cindy

What it means to be: Tuhao

This is a continuation from What it means to be: poor, since I had one person asking me what the word meant, I thought I might as well explain it.

Tuhao: a word that I adapted into the English language and that I drop often in daily conversations with my friend Cindy.
Origin: China

We use it to describe someone that is:

▽ Extremely rich

▽ Extremely extremely rich from China

▽ So like some newly rich Chinese kid, so newly rich, that the red RMBs he has are probably hot off the press

▽ So rich that they probably have private yachts and some secret offshore accounts in Switzerland

▽ Yet, despite the fact that they are so darn rich, we still associate them with like…country bumpkins

▽ So…very tacky

Man, tuhaos are awesome, and I wish they can just upgrade their style, so that they aren't only wearing brightly colored Uggs and those nice Burberry trench coats, with their MCM backpack and a HBA sweater, and a Boy London cap, all in one outfit, ONE OUTFIT.

We get it. You are ballin. SO BALLIN. Please buy a personal stylist, thank you.

ALSO - if you still haven't gotten the memo, tuhao is just the Chinese equivalent of ballin, but like a lot tackier. We still love them though. They make our world go round.

♚ Yushi

High park cherry blossoms ❀ ❀ ❀

Since I currently do not have the chance to visit Japan to see streets where cherry blossoms thrive and grow and multiply, I have to make do with high park.

I went to high park during peak bloom season, which to my luck, is also the time of the week when the most people go. Essentially, there were maybe five to ten people surrounding one tree to get as many pictures of it as possible. People brought professional DSLRs that put my shitty iPhone camera to shame. I went during the morning too, and there was already so many people. Last year, I went around 5pm/6pm, and hell, parking was a bitch. There were more cars than cherry blossoms. Lesson learned, this year I had to subway down in the morning.

Anyways, it's still a pretty sight to behold. I never knew I would be this excited about trees, but lo and behold, I am. That just shows you how my life consists of non-existent fun.

Photo by 路蹊刘 (Lucy Liu)

 I think a better idea for the future is to just buy a cherry tree and plant it in my backyard, so I don't have to trek all the way to high park, and plus I can monopolize my tree. If you want a picture with it. Pay up. Five dollars.

♚ Yushi

Questionable?? Asian fashion choices

I am Chinese, and this means, supposedly I should be able to shop for up to six or seven hours on stilettos that can probably kill a person due to how pointy it is. I need that level of tenacity. I need to train myself to wear heels for hours on end, since I'm failing miserably at it now, and I just choose to wear trainers all day every day.

And supposedly, as a Chinese person, I do not understand the concept of winter or snow or hail or rain since I will be wearing skirts and short shorts even when it's negative 20 degrees.

This also means I like outfits with bright colors - extremely bright colors, on things that shouldn't be brightly colored…like Uggs. So obviously the words 'monochrome chic' does not exist in China when everyone is trying to dress up as the brightest lightbulb in the room, or you know, a Christmas tree.

I also like my accessories extremely bright and pink too, that is, my MCM backpack.

All kidding aside, I am maybe allergic to color, as my wardrobe in the winter consists of black, and maybe muted creams or whites, but mostly black. In the summer, I dress more lightly colored, just to enjoy some of that summer spirit and not be a grumpy old hag all the time.

The thing is, I like color. I like color a lot, but it is extremely hard to wear color without blinding everyone that comes into your way or to wear color without looking like an overgrown fruitcake.

I would think that I need to eat some courage pills if I ever had to wear bright blue Uggs with a pink sweater and a pink MCM back and maybe that pink quilted Chanel bag.

That brings to me another point - brands. Why is it that as long as something is branded (YSL, or Gucci, or LV, or Chanel), then it is automatically stylish and fashionable? It's not. Also can I say that that big luxury logo on your leather bag? Tacky. Tacky as hell. Well…unless you can work it, in some way that's not mildly insulting to the rest of the public.

I never understood big logos on shirts, or bags, or anywhere, it just screams 'loud' and 'notice me', and I've always been a little bit more on the understated side.

Despite how much I dislike some fashion choices that people make, there are some people who can work everything I've said previously extremely well, wearing those Play: Comme des Garcons shirts and those BAPE hoodies that would put everything I've previously sad to shame. It's all on how someone styles something and what message they wish to convey through their clothes.

So, wear what you love, love what you wear, and if you like color, then wear the hell out of it. Be comfortable with the color you wear, even if you do look like a traffic light. I've told myself numerous times to branch out and dive into color, but it's all about the baby steps, you never know, maybe one day I'll step out looking like a fruit cake, and I'll love it.

 ♚ Yushi

Like us on FB @ yuandcee

3 Reasons why I hate summer

There are a couple things that I hate in the world marginally less than slow walkers on the sidewalk and a little bit more than war and world hunger: bugs, eyeliner smudges, and the sun (not in that order ofc). To my dismay, those things all occur during summer.

The sun: 
Ahhh yes, the sun -- my oldest enemy. Besides stairs and physical activity, I can count the sun as my worst nemesis. What other object in the world drains my energy like kryptonite so effectively since it's really unavoidable unless you stay indoors??? Only the sun can achieve such an impact on my body. I become the walking dead (show reference to be noted) and roam the streets, stumbling on things more often than what is deemed regular because I can't see. Nothing can stop the sun from coming into my eyes and causing them to water. Want to be attractive in summer??? That's impossible when I'm constantly in a daze with my eyes closed as I walk down the streets.
It also doesn't help that I sweat like the condensed 300lb man that I am. Thank the gods that I don't smell or else it would be a disaster.
To make things worse, I don't know if people can relate, but because of my hair colour, it absorbs heat like it's nobody's business. It's so crazy that I think you can probably fry something on my head.
I'm considering going blonde.

Makeup: 

As a follow up to heat and sweating, my makeup melts off during the day. It's disgusting and I'm probably the only one that experiences this since every LA blogger looks perfect all the time even at Coachella, being outdoors the entire day. It's probably just me and my weird pores that somehow secrete more oil when it's covered. Especially with eyeliner, it doesn't matter how waterproof it is, it's going to smudge. Mascara does too since my eyelashes point downwards... 

UGH. 

And I'm too lazy for touch ups throughout the day, so what ends up happening is I turn from normal basic girl to the grudge.

Maybe I should abandon the lost cause of trying to look presentable and embrace the natural look with an edgy twist -- by actually going barefaced. 

The bugs: 

Okay, I take back my statement about the sun being my worst enemy.

Bugs.

Bugs are the worst. Why do they exist, and in swarms??? Me being the uncoordinated and unequipped with reflexes person that I am, can't dodge gnat swarms when I see them too late, so I get a face full of them every time I go out past 6pm. Sometimes if I'm not careful, I get them in my eyes too. The struggle is so real. 

But the bug issue doesn't end there. There are also mosquitoes, the bane of my existence. Vampires in a smaller more deadly and annoying form. Instead of being shiny and angsty, these blood suckers leave you with gigantic splotches of itchiness and agony. 

I need to get a hazmat suit to get away from these disgusting spawn of satan. 

Not to mention there's also the need to wear shoes that are open toed. Flipflops and sandals are disgusting because your feet are exposed to the dust and dirt of the world.
Also the birds that chirp at 7am in the morning, way before my bedtime. 
Did I talk about the humidity yet??? You can practically drown in the morning moisture.

Why is summer still a thing??

I am a firm supporter of the Ice Age 2-- the movie was hilarious. 

♚ Cindy

Like us on FB @ yuandcee

Cindy's summer dream: The Porn Star Body

So I wanted to elaborate on my summer goal of the "porn star body" and why I wanted to achieve it since it seems so explicit and every time I mention it, people look at me weirdly. In my opinion, the porn star body is the new model body. Before, I think the ideal cover girl, unrealistic, physical standards for women where thigh gaps and ribs... but now, the ideal body type is boobs and ass. 

Not just any boobs, but perky, perfectly shaped "natural" boobs, and squishy, round, bouncy ass. That's the standard, and I'm down with it because it gives something to work towards :') 

Especially since ass can be developed by squats-- well, that's my hope anyways.

That's the benefit and merit of the "porn star body". Unbeknownst to the general public, the adult film stars featured in those risqué videos work hard at the gym for that sculpted body and when you see it in action, it's unphotoshopped. So in a way, that's the most natural body ideal. (read: I'm ignoring the surgical enhancements that some.. not all, choose to buy). 

Yushi doesn't agree. Her ideal body type is the flat as a board and curved like a square look. I think this is the symptom of the "grass is always greener" mentality. Because I am living that body type and I can tell you that not having curves is a PAIN. 

The picture is censored because the internet does not allow child pornography and thus my body, which resembles that of a 12 year old boy, must be hidden from the innocent internet community.

My boyfriend can vouch. 

"You're a boy." Jason, W., 2015

With this body of mine: lack of boobs, no hips, unusually wide shoulders for my body, no waist, disproportionately large thighs-- it makes for difficult clothes shopping. For example:

Problem 1: 
There's a large gap between the waist of my pants and my body despite the legs fitting.
Why is this? 
Because no hips.

Problem 2: 
My shorts ride up on my when I walk no matter how well they fit.
Why is this?
Because no ass.

Problem 3: 
I can't ride bicycles or sit on hard chairs too long because:
a. It hurts and,
b. It makes one side of my body numb
Why is this?
Because no ass.

This is just a small sample of my first world, prepubescent body struggles.

So together, let us pray for my transcendence into the realm of curves so that there's "one less boyish boy."  (J.B 2010)

♚ Cindy

Let's talk about manbuns

Well I can't really explain why it's happening, but I know for sure that it is happening. Like the plague working its way through Europe in the Dark Ages, this trend is permeating every aspect of fashion and corrupting every catalog. Buzzfeed (the love of my life) says it's part of the lumber sexual look. But is it really???

Yushi and I question the purpose of this look and all the people that follow it without looking into the process first. What is the point of the small knot on your head that's barely visible? There is no purpose. I can barely see it, and when I do, I question the purpose of life.

But perhaps the purpose of the manbun is the same as the purpose of the ant. It's practically invisible, but when there's a crowd of them, it's weird and unnerving.

I'm being a hater. But as the old saying goes, hater's gotta hate and potaters gotta potate.

♚ Cindy

Let's talk about New Balance

Good morning y'all. Today is about a pair of shoes I can't live without.

My pair of go-to shoes is a pair of New Balance WR996 that I bought a year ago. It's navy blue with tiny little flowers in a multitude of colors like red, orange, yellow, and it's a pretty darn girly sneaker.  It doesn't really dress up an outfit, but it sure can dress down one and in a super casual outfit city like Toronto, Canada, that's certainly useful. You don't see ladies wearing flowing chiffon dresses with three inch high heels, but I sure can wear a chiffon dress with my New Balance sneakers.

Except, I realize that no one in Toronto really wears New Balance. In winter I mainly see Uggs, and in summer I mainly see Toms or Keds or the like, I see boat shoes and docs, but no sneakers. That makes sense since New Balance is hardly a brand that Canadians are raving about.

And since I bought these pairs of NB in China, where it's the shoe that youngsters and hipsters alike choose to wear on a day to day basis I feel pretty out of place when the streets aren't wearing it in Canada. But that's granted given how Canada views New Balance.

In China, the marketing of these shoes are targeted towards youngsters, with commercials that have plotlines about falling in love and pretty people wearing pretty shoes. You don't see New Balance running shoes geared towards running performance in commercials, you see the common shoe styles that are more for walking or casual wear (e.g. NB 574). At a point, New Balance has become a fashion sneaker rather than a running shoe in China.

When you look at the Instagram of various New Balance. The shoes that are heavily advertised in Canada are performance running shoes whereas in Asia (since China has blocked Instagram) you see an emphasis on casual every day shoes with style and comfort placed as a factor before performance running.

Though, what really gets me hooked onto New Balance is their commercials. Brilliantly made, they're called "mini movies" in China and features a story line with actors in it all wearing New Balance shoes. Before I know it, I've been brainwashed into liking a certain pair in a certain frame. Pretty colors, muted film, and a soundtrack that is ethereal and calming, with a script that is sometimes funny, sometimes inspirational, and often thought provoking. New Balance in China puts more effort into their advertising campaigns more than anything else.

When I give into a commercial of New Balance, I'm not giving into pretty shoes, I'm giving into this lifestyle, this image, and this feeling. 

I'm a sucker for fashion and comfort, and a sneaker that is able to be pretty and that lets me power through the day is a win win in my book.

My favorite shoe is definitely the 996 for girls which has a variety of colors, prints and designs. It's a thinner shoe compared to the 574 (the most common style number). The 574 has probably the most variety, with new designs every season. It also has the most shoe sizes so many couples opt to match with the 574. I've also been liking the 1300jp, the newer 580, 999 (the lavender ones look sweet), and 1400.

If you want to learn more about the different style numbers of New Balance shoes, check this out: A Quick Guide to New Balance mathematics.

These are my own pair of New Balance:

They're a little beat up, but I still love them.

♚ Yushi

My face and plastic surgery

The other day I read an article about plastic surgery.

Actually, practically every day I read an article about plastic surgery, and it's due to the fact that  I'm so interested in this idea of plastic surgery that I read so much about it. I'm not going to lie and say I haven't thought about plastic surgery since the truth is, I have thought about it, a lot. I've thought about it whenever my parents or my relatives comment on how I look, and I've thought about it when I see other people in the media. I mean, who doesn't want to look like a better, more enhanced, more put together version of themselves?

Then, I come across this article - About Face:Why is South Korea the world's plastic-surgery capital?

In which, I basically realize, this idea of enhancing my face, and improving my looks has been ingrained since I was very young. I grew up with people saying to me, "oh your eyes are pretty small", and it's these off handed comments repeated ad infinitum that has instilled within me this need to change my looks. It has also caused me to look towards plastic surgery as a means to change my life for the better, because at a point I thought that if I changed what I looked like, my life would be smooth sailing.

But, I live in Canada, where your visual appearance is not as important as your persona, your personality. It's a place where you want people to think of you as 'interesting' rather than just 'pretty'. This means that even if I did completely change my face, if I wasn't interesting, I still wouldn't be able to land a job at Google.

This emphasis on personality, and interests, and this 'you' that is not only your appearance, does not happen as much in Asia. School uniforms are rampant, students are always in groups, and people will always want to follow trends. If the school flower* started rocking one lipstick color, probably by the next day everyone else will rock that lipstick color too. I find that in Asia due to some traditional thought by my good ol' man Confucius, individuality is not celebrated. This collectivist ideal to blend in, and to work as a team has existed since you are a pre-schooler. Which is why it completely makes sense, that even as we age, we want to blend in, we want to look pretty not to stand out, but because if we weren't pretty we would actually stand out. Which is a no no.

This idea behind why people get plastic surgery is due to a mindset. A mindset that isn't able to change with a few articles, because this mindset is deep rooted within the society. If anything needs to change, it's the mindset of a nation. To change a nation's original clockwork is not impossible but certainly not able to be achieved in the short run.

There are still days when I think that plastic surgery is the answer to all my problems and it takes a great deal of persuading from the other part of my brain to tell me that even if I did get it, I would not magically be happy. It's just hard for the other part of my brain to tell me that when I'm bombarded with pretty people every time I go on the internet. It ultimately comes down to the fact that I need to find within myself, internally, what I need to be happy, and that probably isn't my external appearance, probably. I have to be happy with what I've got - even if that is two eyes of different sizes.

♚ Yushi

*school flower = literally 校花 = the prettiest girl in school

Wongfu: Accumulated

Wongfu always ends up making me think more than I like to on a Tuesday (though to be fair this video was actually posted on a Monday, in which I would have to think more than normal on a Monday, and that would just not be pleasant). 

I originally got into Wongfu videos because they were funny, however I ended up watching some really well thought out content designed to question certain aspects of our life. In the original Facebook post regarding this video on Wongfu's page, they had deemed this video to be geared more towards an older audience, but even at my ripe young age of 19, I can understand the underlying sentiment behind the video. 

At what point in our life is simply liking someone not enough? I mean, when two people go to the same high school or the same college and they are able to be around each other essentially every day, a simple "I want to see you" will result in the two actually being able to see each other. Though, as we grow older, many of our friends will move around the city, the country, the world. No longer, will a relationship just be simply safe within the boundaries of our university walls. Then a couple has to factor in travel in order to see each other, and whether they are able to decide on one place to live with each other, and with that there are many more factors. Maybe one person is not able to give up a career in one city, and the other person is not able to give up the comfort of being in a 'home' city. Then, how will their love test against reality?

There are realistic factors breaking relationships every day. From that, more and more, we will lose this will, this hope, this faith, to love. We will become more complacent, and we will marry for realistic reasons. We will marry because, it is the age to do so. Sometimes, an 'I love you' is no longer enough, when you yourself have no curiosity, no faith, and no hope in love anymore.

I wish you to never lose this idea: that love is all consuming, it's powerful, and it will be enough. We will grow old, and we will leave this make believe bubble that we have created for ourselves and will will finally join reality. But, in the depths of our heart, maybe we can still keep some of that make believe.

♚ Yushi

A 'Furious' Review

This is a Furious 7 review brought to you by Cindy and her opinions.

TL;DR:

Don't watch this movie if you don't like to have a good time.

Let's get this started.

I watched Furious 7 in theatres in Imax, the day before it was supposed to come out (April 3rd) which was weird, because I thought the premier date is the date in which the first showing happens. I guess it's more of a suggestion. I'm going to break down this movie into 3 parts: plots, likes, and dislikes. I'll probably throw in a rant here and there for my own venting purposes. Let me just note that I am in no way being satirical.

PLOT:

The movie is set in the timeline after the events of Tokyo Drift and Hong's death. I never quite understood why the producer/director/decision makers decided to make that choice for going back in time... Whatever maybe it was contractual obligations to Hong??? Because they're making all of their viewers go "huh?". Let's be real. You don't want to think when going into these movies.

Anyways. Jason Statham is the bad guy in this film to give Furious 7 the more testosterone it needs to become a REAL action movie/s. His character is the brother of the bad guy in the last movie, which Dominic Toretto's team put in the hospital, so now big brother is out for revenge. Jason Statham's character kills Hong, and now Dominic Toretto and his team is out for revenge. The way for them to have their ultimate, city destroying show down is through obtaining the software called Heaven's Eye.

That's basically the gist of what happens. Yeah there are some other things, but…

Likes:

To put it simply, I liked everything. Anti Fast and Furious -ers willpoint out all the flaws of FF and say that it's "IMPOSSIBLE". Well, do you go and point at Harry Potter and tell me that's impossible too? Oh yeah that car can't fly cause physics. IF you wanted the real world show, then just go outside and sit on your porch and just enjoy the world. But me, like many movie goers are there for the experience and adrenaline that you can't quite get anywhere else. I'm living the life of Dominc Toretto through the big screen, driving ridiculous cars, flying between buildings, being invincible... Everything about FF makes you want to crave that kind of excitement. Their extravagant yet grounded lives that are bound by family values are presented every second through out the movie by Vin Diesel's tough man drawl. The music and the scene cuts of scantily dressed women describe the perfect Cancun frat party but the occasion is so much more. They're gathered there to celebrate "expert driving" and genius engineering. There's an art to the world of racecars. Perhaps FF is a parody of that F1 world, but that doesn't mean it's an invalid art form in itself. Also, the people who point on that this movie doesn't follow physics or there are too many gears or "why are there never any cars on the roads?" are the same people who point out that there are African children dying of starvation when you can't finish your food. Why can't we just have nice things.

The difference between the FF franchise and the Transformers franchise is that FF stuck to what it did well. FF is the combination nice cars, hot girls, and rap music without taking itself too seriously. Transformers however has this weird ego that comes with Michael Bay movies where it takes itself too seriously and forgot it's specialty which is shiny cars that turned into bad ass robots. Instead, it has become a patriotic "let's vaguely save the world with 3 guys" kind of film. If I were to pose an analogy then at a party, Expendables is the reserved veteran who has killed people, FF is the quiet guy you know will hurt you if you mess with him, and Transformers is the douche who is yelling for people to fight him. Real manliness is within the first two films.

I also say that the Fast and Furious franchise has more testosterone though because if we say that the Expendables is the manliest testosterone filled movie, then we are simplifying men and their many facets. Testosterone is also sex drive and DAMMMMN is Furious 7 sexy. From the women, to the music, to the cars, to the explosions... Everything was catered to the male audience. It was a beautiful masterpiece that Michael Bay movies can't compare to.

This movie had it all:

• Ridiculous muscle humour that Dwayne Johnson brings into the Franchise
• A hot hacker who is not Ludacris
• Bumpin' music
• Ridiculous stunts (they jump between 2 buildings.. In a car... By driving it)
• Manly sentiments
• Weird Vin Diesel angles that make him look kind of like a potato head

Dislikes:

I wouldn't have minded more imports (models, cars...) but it was only 2 hours.

♚ Cindy