The Big 2.0

20 is just a number, except when you're me and 20 is no longer just a number but an abstract concept that scares me and that I don't want to approach. However there is no running away from 20, and it's right there waiting for you with open arms (that have deadly spikes on it) ready to hug you, just like how 30 is waiting and how 40 is waiting too. If I could, I would run away from 30 and 40, and run back to when naptime was allotted so that I don't have to feel so guilty that I wasted 4 hours on sleep (yes, I nap for 4 hours).

And because I'm Yushi, I like to make lists, so here is a list of things I hope my 20s will be, or not, since you know, for some reason I never am able to completely follow through on my lists (see example: my summer 2015 things to do list).

▽ freedom, lots of freedom, lots of exploring other cities, and lots of living not in one place
▽ friends, not lots of friends, but enough so that I don't feel lonely and wallow in my sadness
▽ family, to be with my brother a lot, to go on lots of family trips
▽ love, lots of love, or maybe not lots of love...
▽ lots of creativity, especially with this space right here, to do more of what I'm doing with this space right now and to explore other possible formats (look into photography!)
▽ happiness, lots of exploring of what this stupid word means, and if I'm able to fully achieve it, and if when I have achieved it, what next?

This list can basically be summed up as "lots of" everything. I have these years to just do absolutely anything, so why shouldn't I? Who can stop me? Certainly not you, or me.

We are only bound by limits that we have placed upon ourselves. When we have realized that really there is no boundaries, wouldn't that mean that we are truly limitless? That means from now on, we can only go up.

Cheers, and happy birthday to all my fellow Leos, Virgos, and August babies.

♚ Yushi

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

Why I like Cindy

In lieu of Cindy's birthday coming up on the 24th (go wish her a happy birthday please), I really wanted to talk about why we're friends, or why I like hanging out with Cindy in general.

Cindy is…

Exactly like me. Except shorter. She's also a dog person (while I like cats). A lot more chill. An emotional rock, can't even say the word "feelings". Yes…we are the same person, except I cry like ten times more than her.

It's difficult to explain when you find someone that understands you and gets you without you over explaining, and without them judging you, you feel like you're at home, there's a little crook in their heart specifically for you.

She is the opposite of a negative Nancy. She's like a positive…Polly. Or something. She always cracks funny jokes, and her snaps give me life. She has that weird funny dance or jiggle with weird circular arm movements, but I have grown to love that too.

But most of all, I think people will like Cindy because she's cool. She's very real and she is able to hold a conversation in about anything. And what I look for in a friend the most is one that keeps on open mind, that is open to new things and not thinking things are too "weird" to try or to like. (Since hey, everything is cool, as long as you're genuine, you're cool.)

I would totally go for Cindy if I was gay, alas, sadly, I am not. I will settle for being her best friend and sharing her with her stupid boyfriend.

Cindy's my partner in crime. She's the other 1/2 of this blog. I have become a lot happier since meeting her, and now I want to really live, as opposed to…not living. And really, she's my fave girly in the world.

♚ Yushi

Frugality is our middle name

So here we are... us trying to be frugal. Frugality is our mantra and we will chant it any chance we get. AKA I just dropped way too much money on my tattoo, and I'm too poor to even buy a tshirt. So I will chant this MANTRA. 

Saving money is difficult. I finally realize this. How do all you guys do it? I actually can't stop...buying useless shit. I really do need that tshirt though. Really need it. Really.

Yeah, I should really clean up these sketches, but hey, there's beauty to raw things right?? That's a saying right?

I actually really like shopping with Cindy, we don't really browse, we just scan, and it's as if we have x-ray vision, we can finish scanning the whole store in like five minutes. We can see through all those Forever 21 mountains of clothing and we can be done with the store in five minutes. You try that. But in all seriousness, doesn't Forever 21 have way too much inventory?! I always get a headache when I'm in that store. My kind of store is those where they only have like three pieces of clothing and they come in three sizes, and that's all in their inventory. Makes shopping so much easier no? 

Have a good weekend everyone! 

♚ 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

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

What it means to be: Poor

I'm sure we've all been through this situation (unless you're super tuhao - if you want to know the meaning of super tuhao, please message me, and I will elaborate). (Also, if you are super tuhao, why are you reading this blog????? go be tuhao please.)

♚ Yushi

Yushi's Guide to Life: Shutting people down

This type of situation happens to me daily, when people don't understand something or they themselves have never tried it, but they still end up hating me for liking something they might not possibly like. In this case, ever since I listened to Korean music, I have people questioning my tastes and asking why this and why that. Or maybe, I'm dressing a certain way, and I have people questioning what I'm wearing, and they just hate on me for it. It seems like I can do no right in this world, and I'm constantly offending someone. 

So, I guess I can tell all those people, "hey, no one cares about your opinion, so why don't you STFU and rain on someone else's parade".

People seriously need to chill, and stop thinking that I care about their opinions about my too bright lipstick, 'cause guess what. I don't. 

♚ 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

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Summer playlist #1

Summer Playlist #1 from yuandcee on 8tracks Radio.

♚ Yushi

Summer Goals

♚ Yushi & Cindy

2nd year recap: Yushi

2nd year is the year in which I:

▽ Learned how to use snapchat

▽ Stress more about GPA

▽ Stress more about my jobless future

▽ Realized that I'm worth so much more than a GPA

▽ Realized that I don't want to be a square box in the future

▽ Started running

▽ Cut majority of my hair off

▽ Cried way too much

▽ Spent money on things I really shouldn't be spending money on

▽ Skipped more marketing classes than I should've

▽ Skipped more accounting classes than I should've

▽ Skipped 0 finance classes - ACCOMPLISHMENT

▽ Grew up a little bit

To expand a little bit more, 2nd year is the year in which I met a lot of people who knew what they wanted to do and how they are going to do it and it only made my own aimless life pale so much more in comparison. Which is why Cindy and I started this. This is my baby, and it's something I've been wanting to do for an extremely long amount of time. It's also an accumulation of what I really want to do and what I really want to share with the world. Well this, and my snapchat pictures.

♚ Yushi

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

Things that need to be banned in 2015

In lieu of being the beginning of 2015, and Yushi said I can't do an year end review, here's a list of things that I want banned in 2015:

• Man buns that are way too tiny
• The opinion that "as long as it's cool, then it'll look cool on me" mentality (case in point the way too small man bun)
• AKA bandwagon-ing 
• Kylie Jenner's lips
• KimYe and their family
• Bold lips, hair, style, face, eyebrows, necklace, shoes, choices
• Republicans
• Democrats that act like Republicans
• Miley Cyrus (I think she's cool)
• Our obsession with celebrities and socialites
• The word "fleek". It's catchy, but so's herpes
• Complaining about things because complaints are annoying

But last but not least:

Yushi's list:  
"I want haters like Cindy to be banned. Because all they do is hate and don't appreciate"

♚ Cindy & Yushi

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

Exchange in 8 (months) | 1

When I was deciding on the destination for my exchange, in first year I was dead set on going to China. Beijing was my place, it was my city, and ultimately, it was home.

I don't think people realize how difficult it was of a decision for me to not choose China. To not choose China, means not choosing family, it means not choosing somewhere that I have wanted to be in and somewhere that I feel like I belong to since for ever. I have forever just focused on this one place that I have wanted to be in since I sometimes do feel out of touch with this other side of me. I feel that I am out of touch with who I am and who I should be even though I have lived in Canada all my life. I don't know what it means to be Canadian or Chinese or just whatever. I thought that going back to China for exchange and to be in a fully Chinese environment around people with ages similar to mine would help me really find who I am and if that is a country that I want to go back to and stay in the long term.

However, this was also my chance to branch out. It was the chance to really push myself outside my comfort zone. Why would I go to to a country that I knew the language of, that I somewhat knew the customs of, and somewhere that was honestly half an hour from my home. If I ever wanted to know what my limits and boundaries are as a human being, this was the time to stretch myself to the max. To throw myself into a completely unknown country, and to see if I'm able to sink or swim. I like challenging myself, and I like learning about myself. I like going to foreign countries and just dive right in. I know it will be tough, especially for an introvert like me, but it is something that I know I want to be able to do for the future. I will work abroad in the future, and if I am not able to adapt to that country and to the people there, why would anyone want to work with me?

When it came to choosing countries, I knew what I wanted and I knew what I didn't want. I know I didn't anywhere in South American or Australia. I didn't want anywhere in Asia (because really), and I wanted to backpack Europe. I wanted to see this world, this vast world, and I wanted to see the other people that lived in this expansive world. I am tiny. I am miniscule. But, I want to see. I have this hunger for adventure, for movement, for change, and for opportunity.

In the end my short list consisted of Mannheim in Germany, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, St.Gallen in Switzerland, and Bath in the UK. The major reason that I chose Germany was that, hey, Germany's economy is booming, why shouldn't I go? Why shouldn't I go to the best university in Germany to learn about another culture, learn about another race, and to learn about myself? This is my challenge to myself. To live and record my days in Germany, in which I am completely alone in a foreign country. I will bring y'all along on this venture, on this exploration.

I am not a box. I am a sparkly unicorn. I want to be adaptable, and I want to be flexible. I want to be someone that will affect and influence others. I want to grow. I want to learn. I want to challenge myself.

See y'all soon. More Germany posts will come.

♚ Yushi

About Yu&Cee

Yuandcee (stylized Yu&Cee) is a lifestyle blog dedicated to spread a little bit of happiness to everyone's lives. We will have enough sparkles and magic here to last you this lifetime and maybe the next. We aspire to provide entertaining criticism for all you magical unicorns.

We're two girls, armed and dangerous (with our laptops and tablets), planning on spreading our influence in all things zen and happy. Pew pew.

Much love, kisses, hugs, and other nice sparkly shit,

♚ Yushi & Cindy