I’m back to watching k-dramas ;D hehehe It’s been a while since I watched a whole series.. I think I didn’t watch any kdrama for almost a year?? I just didn’t have time anymore since I went back to school. The thing is once I started watching, I can’t stop :p It’s too addictive hehe It’s bad.. so I better not start all, or else kdramas would consume all of my free time 
After I was done with finals, I had some free time and finished The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince
I know that Coffee Prince was one of the top kdramas of 2007, and definitely one of the most talked about… and actually I already watched 2 episodes of it last year when I went back to Indonesia during the summer and it was quite interesting.. so I thought I should pick it back up before watching a different one.
Hmmm I thought it was alright. It’s good, fresh storyline, but nothing sensational hehe it’s not enough to keep me glued to the TV / laptop. And for me personally it was quite forgettable afterwards. Probably because I don’t like the actors and actresses. I don’t even remember the characters’ names right now… that means it’s really not memorable for me. I stilll remember some characters’ names from kdramas that I watched 3-4 years ago
So I planned to catch up watching more kdramas this summer.. and I brought my collection with me hehe a big stack of DVDs that I haven’t watched yet. So far I already watched 2 of them now…Since I’ve been out of the loop for a while, I have to depend on reviews now to decide what to watch. In the past there was a time when I actually was watching a drama that was still airing in Korea hahaha and I would be so unpatient waiting for the English subtitles to come out. What would we do without those amazing fansubbers :p ??I remember that was during My Girl and Goong time .. that was early 2005? gosh it’s been that long.
A few weeks ago (in San Jose) I finished Dalja’s Springs –another drama that has great reviews; it’s supposed to be funny and cute. After My Girl, my expectation is quite high.
I actually love ChaeRim the actress in her previous roles – and she’s good in this drama, but I don’t like the guys!!! So Dalja’s Springs also is just so-so in my book. .. is there no more good kdramas out there?? I think after My Girl really raised the bar high for me, and it’s so hard to find one that’s good.. that I can actually recommend to others to watch..
I finally found one this weekend that I would recommend to others .. it’s Queen of The Game This one is actually not on the -highly rated drama- list, but I’ve been wanting to watch it because of the actress – Lee Bo Young. I loved her in her previous dramas!! In fact I read some reviews that didn’t think too highly of this drama.. but I’m glad I ignore those reviews and watch this anyways.. because I love it love it love it!!!
The story is quite heavy :p it’s about family, business, revenge, and of course love. It’s quite sad too – lots of tearjerking moments – which I love hahaha.. I always love movies that can make me cry 
So it’s probably not for everyone hehe Oh btw, I just fast forwarded (can’t help it :p) the parts I am not interested in :p so maybe that helped too cus I may just skipped the boring subplots.
I absolutely love the couple. They have great chemistry and they’re both gorgeous!!!! Haha while watching this drama everytime Hendrik called me, I always said “oOhh cakeeeep bangettt” and he thought I’m just crazy to behave like that at this age hahahaha but seriously though, this guy Joo Jin Mo is just HOTness !!! but these pictures don’t do him justice — got to watch the drama!
ayat-ayat Cinta (literal translation: Verses of Love) — youtube link to part1
I found this movie accidentally on youtube the other day. After a quick Google to read what it’s about, I decided to watch it. I read that this movie broke the box office record in Indonesia. The official genre of this movie is actually religious; it’s an Islamic love story
So I gave it a try (in youtube it’s divided into 13 parts), it was already very late but I kept watching it until the end, I think until 2AM :p because it’s good !! I liked it! I think it’s one of the best Indonesian movies I’ve seen. The 2 main actresses are so pretty.
It’s a novel adaptation and as usual fans of the novel seem to not like it because they have really high expectation and kept comparing the movie to the novel. Just like Harry Potter movies, I love everyone of them, but I know people who read the books think the movies didn’t live up the the novels.
The one thing that bothered me though, is the fact that they all speak Indonesian in the movie. Some conversations were started in Arabic (first few sentences), and then usually they continue speaking in Indonesian.. I think that’s supposed to mean that they’re conversing in Arabic???? I don’t know if that’s the intention, it’s just my interpretation.. isn’t it unrealistic for the Egyptian characters to be able to speak Indonesian fluently ?? I read some viewer comments on youtube that said the actors’ Arabic were really bad hahahaha… I guess that would disturb the enjoyment of the movie for people who actually understand Arabic. Lucky for me that I don’t. I can imagine if they made this movie in Chinese and have lots of Chinese conversations in them; Bad pronunciations (by the characters that are supposedly native speakers) would totally ruin the movie for me.
Anyways… here’s the music video of the OST… I like the song
I also found the electronic version of the novel.. I might read it this weekend, hopefully it doesn’t have too much Arabic
I just came back from grocery shopping at Safeway, it’s only my 2nd time there in the past 4 weeks. The past 3 weeks I’ve survived on Korean groceries. But today I thought I should get more normal and healthy food such as yogurt, cereals, etc.
I was kinda shocked looking at the prices. I pretty much only shopped for things on sale haha. There was a time back in Columbus when Campbell soup was a staple of my diet heehe. So I know exactly what the price should be. I always got them in Wal-mart for $1.50-$1.70/can. Even after I moved to Austin I sometimes still bought these canned soups (my fave is the Select’s Italian Wedding Soup) and they’re still in that price range. Guess how much it is here? $3.67 !!! that’s more than double !!! Well I know in the past year inflation is quite high, but still..
Then I went to the dairy aisle to get my yogurt. In my head yogurt should cost 50 cents hehe or even less if I buy the multipack. Doesn’t matter what brand, usually between dannon or yoplait. But it seems to me that back in Indiana, one brand is always on sale on any given day and they’re always 50 cents. Over here they’re 75-99 cents !!
Then I went to the cereal aisle. I wanted to get the Special K bars for healthy snackings I know that usually a box of these is around $2.50.. it can be cheaper or higher but on average it’s around $2.50 for 6 bars. And over here?? It’s $4 something, I don’t remember the exact price.
Ok if you’re reading this you may think that I’m such a cheapskate I don’t mind being called a cheapskate, Well I’m just a very smart shopper hahaha ^_^ I know my prices. Even though the difference is only 50 cents or $1 but in percentages they’re like 200%!!!!
Hendrik and I often argue about this issue. We’re both careful with our spending, but in a different way. I think I’ve blogged about this a long time ago.. For example I still couldn’t get over the fact that last time we’re in Safeway when we first arrived here, he grabbed a $5 box of Lipton green tea (20 tea bags). 
I AM SURE that if he just spent a minute in that aisle and looked at other prices he probably could get another brand (dunno what) for much less. Or I bet he could have gotten a much bigger box for a different variety of Lipton tea for that price. I have these price limits registered in my brain. In my head, a box of tea should run around $2-$3. Grocery chains always have these advertised weekly sales on certain brands for almost every product category, and usually the brands not on sales have inflated prices.
But Hendrik’s pretty much blind about these everyday prices. Same thing occurs when we buy toothpaste, dishwasher’s soap, OJs, paper towels, bathroom tissue rolls, etc. I don’t care about brands for these things. If Colgate in on sale, I’ll buy Colgate. If Crest is, then Crest it is. Same thing for OJ with Minute Maid vs Tropicana vs Simple Orange — they’re all the same to me. I mean I have my price range, I don’t necessarily choose the cheapest thing out there, but I would always get the best price for the same quality !
If Hendrik were to buy these things, I can predict what he would get. He will always get Colgate for toothpaste, Minute Maid OJ jug (always the largest size), Tide for detergent, hmm what else, Listerine for mouthwash hehe. Sometimes in the grocery stores you can find coupons right there in the aisle (right in front of the food we’re buying) and I would check them out. They’re usually just 50 cents coupon or buy something get something else free. I do pay attention about these things. Hendrik doesn’t. One time when we went out grocery shopping together, which is not too often, I showed this coupon for Buy a Tropicana OJ and get a dozen of eggs free. Haahahaha.. that’s worth like $2. But Hendrik of course wouldn’t see that and just buy his Minute Maid OJ.
Also, I don’t understand why stores do this, but sometimes it’s cheaper to buy 2 small size than 1 large size items. You would think that there’s a discount associated with larger size, right? Usually that’s true. But I’ve seen many times that it’s not always the case. For example a 32 oz Orange juice is $1.99 (on sale) but a 64 oz of the exact same thing is $4.99. Now, if you see that would you buy 2 x 32 oz for $3.98 and saved a dollar or just grab the big size ? My husband predictably will grab the big size
Basically if he thinks he NEEDS it (daily necessity), then he doesn’t even look at how much it is unless it’s big purchases. Me, on the other hand, will spend a few minutes comparing prices just to save a couple bucks
BUT I don’t think too much when buying more expensive stuffs like purses, electronics (after some basic research online – of course) if I think they’re good deals. Like the other day I just bought a portable GPS, almost $200 – it’s already the best value for the money. It’s such a lifesaver for driving in a new city. When I decided that I want one, I got it the next day. Hendrik, in contrast, has been wanting to buy a good pair of headphones for while. For several weeks now, he’s been eying a $150 Bose headphone, which is undoubtedly of real superb quality, but he just can’t part with $150 :p because his current wireless headphones are still functional (but he just doesn’t like it). I’ve sent him some cheaper alternative on amazon.com but he can’t make up his mind because I know that deep down he really wants the Bose pair.
Another thing we couldn’t agree on is about upgrading our LCD and computers. So far I’m winning In this case Hendrik is a little out of his usual character because he really really wants to upgrade our desktop computer. HE NEEDS IT and HE WANTS IT even though it’s going to cost us several hundred bucks. Last time he said we need a new video card, bigger hard drive, and a new LCD monitor. I was like, “What is wrong with our 21 inch monitor now (other than the fact that it’s SUPER HEAVY AND BULKY) ?? WHY do we need an LCD monitor??” He said it would better for his eyes, better resolution, yada yada yada……… BUT we don’t NEED it !! We both have laptops which are our main PCs, the purpose of our desktop computer is only for my downloads and playing games :p Everything else we do on our laptop. I reminded him we just got a new video card for it not long ago. Then I checked our newegg account and yup got proofs, we just bought a new videocard less than a year ago, after I moved to Austin. So I don’t approve replacing the monitor because I don’t think it’s necessary to spend $200 to replace something that has no problem. But I agree we need to buy extra HD since we’re running out of space. Hendrik left the shopping part to me because he knows this is my specialty hahaha. I got us a 500 GB Maxtor external HD for only $75 which I think is a realllllly good deal.
Earlier this week Hendrik was looking at our credit card statement online while talking on the phone with me. “What is this $100 charge for Mercy Corps?” he asked. “Ooh itu, gua nyumbang buat earthquake di Zhong Guo”, I said. And his response, “WHHAAAATTTT???? $%%*()*&)%*%!!!” He’s like he still couldn’t buy the headphones because sayang duit and I go around donating $100 just like that ?? But to me I didn’t think much when I decided to donate. I just read some news and some accounts on the victims of the horrible disaster, and I think $100 is not that much for us (it’s like 2.5x our average dimsum bill) but can go a long way for them. So that was a couple of days ago and today at work out of nowhere on MSN he reminded me again to NOT donate money without telling him again Hahaha he’s still bitter about it. Then to make matter worse, I told Hendrik (I really can’t hide anything from him) that yesterday I just bought a $100 Dooney & Bourke wallet hehehhee. Well it’s on sale… normally it’s $185, so it’s already discounted. And I have a weakness for stuffs on SALE He’s like “You’re OUT OF CONTROL!!! ^)*&^*&%&*!!” Hahahahaha Anyways… *Note: we’re not really fighting… *
I’ve read a lot of articles about how differences in finance & spending habit can ruin a marriage. Even though we bicker a lot about these issues, fortunately they’re really small differences. In general our finance philosophy is the same, so we’re good
Filed under: ramblings
It’s my 3rd week in San Jose and I love it here.. It would be awesome if I could get fulltime job in this area after graduation. Hendrik already agreed that next time around he will follow me wherever I go. I also already told my mom that I won’t even apply for or drop my resume to companies in the midwest or the south anymore! :p I want to move to the coast.. West coast or east coast :p but preferably the west coast hehe…
The first thing I love here is the weather.. oh so nice.. well it gets hot during the day these last few days but I don’t feel it since I’m inside all day.. Everytime I’m outside it’s always in the 70’s or low 80’s hehehe. Look at the current weather.. it’s past 9PM in Austin and it’s still 89 degrees. Whooh ..
Then the diversity and the culture here is just so great !! Not just at work but the local community..
But the cost of living here is so scary :p
This morning on the way to work I passed by a Shell gas station and the price for regular gas (cheapest) is $4.64 !!!!! I used to fill up my car with premium gas.. my car didn’t require premium gas but from the beginning when the car was brand NEW (that was 7.5 years ago) we fed it premium hehe so I just got used to it and somewhat afraid to affect the engine or car performance if I switch. So when gas price climbed up to $2, then $2.50.. I still sticked with premium hehe.. Then sometime last year I think when it passed $3 I finally made the swith to medium grade hahaha Now that it’s nearing $5 should I downgrade again? :p
gasbuddy.com provides a nice map for gas price in a city.. here’s a snapshot of the situation in SJ vs Austin
Last weekend I had lunch with Niaz who is on a long-term work assignment in the area. I was surprised to learn he’s still here. I knew he was going to work here last year when I was still in Indiana.. so it’s been a year and didn’t know he is still here. Anyways it’s nice to see a familiar face. So he was telling me to be prepared of all the tax deductions from my paycheck hehe. California is a high tax state 
And he also told me that according to his calculation even if he makes $150k in salary here it’s still barely enough to support his lifestyle hahah
So I thought I should also look into this if I’m serious about moving here hehe
Bestplaces.net compares 2 cities on more than 100 attributes.. here’s the overview result of SJ vs Austin comparison.
*GASP* Is that for real?? $167K is the comparable salary for $100K in Austin??? I tried another website, CNN Money and the result is pretty close.. $162K in SJ = $100K in Austin.
Austin actually looks really good on the profiles.. lower cost of living than national average.. very high numbers in the education profile (a lot of advance degree residents), pretty high average household salary, much lower crime rate.. hehe I couldn’t agree more actually. Austin IS an awesome city.. my only gripe is just the weather and location in the middle of the country :p
Well it all depends on what kind of offers I’ll get this fall.. I guess we’ll decide when that time comes .. hopefully before the end of this year I’ll know where we’re going to live next..
I didn’t have the intention to create a new blog.. but l’ve been tired of friendster blog’s very limited features and theme. What I don’t like most about it though is the fact that friendster sends out notifications to all my fs friends everytime I posted a new entry :p I know that everyone probably just ignore or delete all fs notification emails anyways.. but still I just don’t like the feeling.
so.. the domain name is virgotarrius.. everybody could guess the meaning, virgo (hendrik) + sagittarius (me). This also wasn’t planned hahaha.. the name just came to me last night around midnight. I first checked if vera.wordpress.com is still available or not…haha of course not! I wanted a pretty word for my domain name .. and found a list such as epiphany, evanescent, serendipity, amaryllis, bliss, rhapsody, etc… well all taken. Then I thought of using december, december18 (my birthday), and then I thought of my zodiac.. and ta daaa.. virgotarrius… hahaha.. Since the meaning is a combination of hendrik and me, maybe he can start blogging here too We can make this a joint blog hehe. He’s mentioned to me quite a few times in the past that he wants to try blogging, but never really did it.
And I successfully imported all of my previous entries from fs blog to here.. the process was quite simple !! took me less than 5 minutes ! seriously !
So anyways.. first post on wordpress today.. I want to share some web goodies that I’ve found
mysoju.com : must visit if you’re a kdrama / jdorama / taiwanese drama lovers… tons of subbed dramas, all streaming links. I finished watching a complete series of My Lucky Star (taiwanese series starring Jimmy Lin!) in one weekend last month kekekeke after my final exams. It’s my first taiwanese drama since…hmm I don’t even remember. I would recommend it ! Jimmy Lin is such a babyface!! Can’t believe that he hasn’t changed much in 15 years! He was so popular when I was in junior high.. so that’s like a gazillion years ago.. He’s born in 1974 which makes him 34 this years but he looks at least 10 years younger. Oh, I feel so old…even though I’m younger
A similar site of this is http://aznv.tv. I haven’t watched anything there yet, but I saw the list and it looks like a pretty good list too. Another one which has been there quite a while is http://www.crunchyroll.com/
For American tv series.. try hulu.com .. highly recommended by my coworker here. It has complete episodes of a lot of american tv series (my fave The Office is available there) and some movies too. And they’re legally free to watch if you don’t mind some ads !!
With all those sites around, I don’t really need tv this summer
Filed under: geek
Really cool site.. here
2 Gb of FREE photo storage space plus some advance photo editing tools ONLINE!! You can also log in to your picasa, facebook, flickr, etc album and edit your existing photos directly ONLINE from your web browser… the website interface is really cool too.
Really… is there anything better than this right now in the market? But keep in mind that this is for the average user, like me and you? :p … of course this can’t replace Photoshop CS3 (which is too complicated for me) but may not be for some people.
Filed under: ramblings
I love the Adobe cafe!! I really feel like I just came from kampung to kota I think the quality and selection is comparable to Google’s cafeteria which I’ve been to last year.. but on a much smaller scale.. google has like 7 different cafes I think on campus.. here we only have 1 big and 1 small one. And the other big difference is that at Google everything is free.. unfortunately we have to pay here haha but regardless i really like it :p working 5 yrs at my previous company, I guess I don’t have a high expectation hehe
anyways… was surprised to see tempeh on the menu this week..
of course back in Indo tahu/tempe is one of the cheapest food you can find.. but here tofu+tempeh belong to the healthy/organic food group.
so here’s a menu sample for Thursday and Friday this week…
and in addition to these daily menu, there’s a full salad bar and a make-your-own deli sandwich bar, variety of juices (fresh cantaloupe juice anyone?), smoothies, organic snacks :p Some juices like OJ and I think cranberry are free and bottled water is always free.
So far I’ve tried a panini, a pizza, a cup of soup (chicken curry), a stir fry, and made my own sandwich… all good so far the pizza and panini are really good!
hmm what else yah, I went to the caterer website hehe and saw that they’re really into the environment, health, organic food, etc.. not surprising after seeing what they offer..
some interesting facts :
1. their kitchen is trans-fat free
2. whenever possible they buy organic produce locally
3. Milk, dairy and cheese products are hormone free, only use cage-free eggs
4. all turkey and chicken are hormone and antibiotic free
5. Salad dressings, salsas and aioli’s are housemade and contain no pre-prepared or frozen products.
and there are more statements on their websites along the same tones…
why am i so excited with just a cafeteria? hehehe
