World Cup!!!!!

I can't explain how much I'm excited about World Cup 2010 - I waited for four long years. My youngest Soapy was only three month old when I watched my favorite team Italy winning the Cup four years ago with my sister who was visiting us.

It's not widely popular sports in the U.S., but I grew up watching football (soccer) since I was a little girl. I love the sports not because of gorgeous players (well, maybe a little bit), but the game itself. Many people here in the U.S., say that it's too slow compare to NFL, NBA, MBL and NHL, but I totally disagree. I think soccer is one of the most exciting sports in the whole wide world.

I love listening to the sound of horns throughout the game and I love to scream when the kicker strike the ball. I'm always mesmerised by their footwork and it's really fun game to watch. And don't forget about the gorgeous bodies - they work so hard for that!

Japan made it and I hope they play well. My sister is cheering for Spain which I'm thinking they'll win the Cup.

Kaka - Brazil

One thing I'm really disappointed about is David couldn't play his last World Cup due to the injury. He was in the bench watching his team playing against U.S.A. He looks so unhappy because England didn't win the game - tie game is like losing.

By the way, Annie Levobitz shot these photos of start players before the Cup for Vanity Fair which is on stand now.

So, are you watching World Cup????

This Is Why Your Mama Taught You To Wash Your Hands!!!!

I've written a post or two about irresposible dog owners who don't pick up their dog poop before(I'm too lazy to post the link here). My motto is if you can't clean after your own dog or cat, you have no right to own one. I've talked about my kids playing on the grass right in front of our condo or my in law's house and sure enough, we see dog poop laying around. It's dirty and they transmit disease and those irresponsible people have not idea - it really make me angry. Really angry.

I watch "Monsters Inside Me" on Animal Planet every Wednesday regardless the grossness. It's about parasites in humans. Yes, it sounds totally gross and if you watch this show, there are many moments where you just want to vomit. My husband refuses to watch it with me. He gets sick just thinking about tapeworms and such. Seriously people, it's disgusting, however, I've learned so much from this show: how delicate our body is, and how important it is to pay attention to our environment. Parasites love to eat you - intestines or eyes or brain. Sorry, it's graphic, but it's true!

My mom used to tell me to wash my hands every time I come home, and tells me still today to make sure to wash my hands and my daughters hands when we come home from outside. And I'm so glad she taught me tirelessly about the importance of washing hands.

The show "Monster Inside Me" talks about the horrible experiences that many have gone through that are caused by parasites. Most of them don't know they have them until they get really sick. Today's episode was about a boy who lost his sight in his left eye due to nasty parasites. And believe it or not, there are many people whose eyes became the host of parasites.

Do you know how people get it? Many come from dog that's infected or touching dirty soil that have come in contact with infected animal's feces or dirty water. If you or your kids play outside without knowing the soil has parasites and touch your eyes, or mouth, or even touch some open cut on your skin, that's how parasites get into your body. They love human body because it's warm and moist inside. They lay eggs and have parties in your body. Humans are their great host.

True, getting infected by parasites are rare, but it happens. And it happens by touching poopy soil or dirty water or whatever, you get it without knowing it. It's really, really scary. So, if you are okay with it, I suggest you to watch the show. I don't want to get paranoid, but I think this show has reinforced my belief about being fanatic about washing hands and keep your stuff clean. That's really the only way to prevent it.

Trust me on this - wash your hands and don't put your dirty hand near your mouth!

Enjoy While You Can..

I've been spending a lot of time on the beach with my family and friends for the past few months.

I think the oil spill has set off the alarm clock in my body - it's ticking.

I go to Lido Beach at least twice a week now with the girls.

I'm extremely fortunate to spend my life surrounded by beautiful beaches in Hawaii and Florida. I'm such a beach gal.

I know it's bad for your skin to lay down under the sun, but no one can stop this girl from doing just that - well, of course I will never forget to use sunblock at all times.

This picture is from the day we went to Lido Beach last Sunday.

My BFF "A" and I have decided that we go to there every Sunday from now on.

We don't want to take our beautiful ocean for granted.

We want our children to enjoy every minute of it.

And we don't want to say, "Oh my god, we should have gone to the beach more often" when and if oil starts to wash ashore here on our beaches.

I tried to take some videos and show you how beautiful our beaches are.

I also tried to catch videos of birds flying right above our head, so my apology for moving the camera too much...

And listening to one of my "it" song by Katy Perry "California Gurls" makes my beach day so perfect!!!

Video of our kids and birdies on Lido Beach - btw, "A" is trying to tell me to ask someone to take our group photo.

And we did - the first pic is the proof!:)

My raved song "California Gurls"

Hairier the Better...

I was listening to the radio while driving home. DJ asked, "Is your man getting too comfortable being with you and not keeping up with his appearance?" - he wanted the listeners to call in to see if women like clean shaved man or hairy man... Many thinks that clean shave is better and that they want their BF's or husband to look professional.

I, on the other hand, I like facial hair on men and more the better. I like Bushy Man. Yes, I believe full beard men are sexy. Am I werid? Maybe... Here are some great examples that beard is super cool on super cool men.

Christian Bale

My Tom...

De Niro definitely looks sexy with the full beard...

Eric Bana is a great example - he looks so much better with facial hair.

Have you seen Troy? Gosh, I almost died because he was so handsome!

Not clean shaved, but a little on George. Sexy...

Ryan Gosling

Viggo Mortensen

Ed Norton

CK (Charles Kelly)

Look at him, he's so tall and perfect amount of beard. Love it.

So, do you like beard?

One Fine Day ~ The Day Before Memorial Day on Lido Beach ~

I went to Lido Beach (yes, that's right, our favorite beach) the day before Memorial Day on Sunday with my dear friend A and her son D. We decided to snap some pics on our own and see who takes better self-picture : Maki or A? I took this pic and A took the one below...

A is such a beautiful lady - she looks just like my favorite actress Kate Beckinsale. I'm serious. It wasn't so crowded at the beach, but it took us 30 minutes to find a parking spot. A who was there before me called me almost in tears that she hadn't found parking. I got there, we circled around the road and I told her on the cell, let's park at the circle (St. Armands Circle) - we walked 15 minutes to the beach, but it was worth it.

When we got there, I reapplied sunblock on Ju Ju and Soapy. You have to do that - sun is so strong in FL. Then off they go, they were in the water non-stop. The water was beautiful, nice and just right temeprature. Birds were flying over us and waves hitting the beach. It was such a lovely day...

Girls and baby D enjoyed Fishy and Japanese tea (mugicha) which I frozed them in the bottles so that they wouldn't get warm.

Soapy???? What happened? Looks like a cave girl. LOL...

Soapy and Me. I don't know why, but lots of seaweed that day. A ton of them. It was kind of annoying, but still it was nice to be in the water.

Ju Ju is a mermaid. She doesn't come out of water - She is in the wanter through day and night. Even this day, she was in the ocean, then in the pool once we got back to grandma's. She truly enjoy being a swimmer.

The robot apparently managed to put a cap on the pipe. It's past midnight and there is no one from BP or Coast Guard to brief on this important event. Anyway, I'm pretty much giving up and come to understand that this oil will not stop until August. I was hopeful before, but I am not anymore. I think it's time for us to face the reality and approach this spill from a different angle.

All I hear nowadays is people criticizing and blaming on BP. It's no brainer that BP is responsible and should be held accountable. But right now, what we need to do is not protesting against the oil giant, but work together to find THE way to solve and clean up the oil that contiune to spread out in the Gulf. 37% of Gulf is off-limits for fishing. That's a huge number. And it's been reported that the oil is reaching toward Panhandle of FL, about 4 miles away, and it could reach to crowded beaches in Tampa area by end of this month. That's our reality. Many of wild birds that have been covered with oil and rescued are transported to Tampa area bay and beaches and released to the wild.

When this whold thing started, I said in one of posts that "what if oil starts to show up here in FL?' - now it's becoming a reality. I'm terrified. Every time when I see dark oil gushing into the water, I feel like I can't breathe. And every time when I see the oil covered ocean on TV or in the photos, I can almost feel our planet is gasping for air. I cry every day because overwhelming emotions fill me up and I can't help it.... Now, my girls know about oil and they ask me about it every day and night. "Did oil stop, Mommy?"

I believe it's important for them to understand what's happening to their favorite ocean. The girls and I watch CNN together and let them see BP's live feed or the images of affected animals or coasts...

I pray that if we can't stop this for a while, at least we can contain and clean it as much as possible... And I pray for BP, too, so they can come up with some answer to this non-sense.....

Are You Ready For Some Bikinis!?!?

{Maki's "it" bikini this summer}

Summer is officially here! I'm jumping and dancing with joy - my favorite time of the year...

I love bikinis and it seems I can never have enough.

I'm extremely in love with the bikini from Victoria's Secret shown in the photo above.

The color is so pretty and the shape is lovely.

It's the perfect bikini for me.

I want that blue handbag with bamboo handles along with it, too...

Have you started shopping for swimsuits?

Do you shop online or do you have to try them on first?

Here are some of bikinis I thought cute and gorgeous.

So girlies, Got Bikinis?

{Victoria's Secret Collection}

By the way, both this stripe and the blue ones on top are on sale for $9.99 each!
Ha!




{Vix}


Vix always makes gorgeous swimsuits. A bit expensive, but they are indeed beautiful creations.

I love this pair - the colors are absolutely gorgeous amd so perfect for summer..

{L Space}

I realize I really like Bandeau bikini the best...

I really want this top, but it's SOLD OUT already!

Yeah, the Bandeau top is lovely and the bottom is also pretty!

The back is sexy, don't you think?

I really like the top, but of course, this one is also SOLD OUT! :(

I think it's really pretty.

This is me looking at my little Soapy playing with my friend's new baby...

Oh summer, I love thee....

Sincere Gratitude on Memorial Day

My girls and I were having dinner when my oldest Ju Ju asked me, 'What's Memorial Day?" - So I explained it's the day we pay our respects and show gratitude towards all the men and women who dedicated their lives to this country. Well, it's kind of hard to understand the girl who is only 6.

She asked, "What does it mean to dedicate their lives?" I tried to use simple words and did all I can to explain to her, that many wars have been fought in the past and still today, and that many men and women go to far away to fight for this country and often times, they die to protect us from the bad guys. Her next question was of course, "Why do they have to fight?" - My honest answer was, "I don't know, but if they don't go, who would go to fight it? Would you want to go?"

Ju Ju: "I don't want to go to war, it's scary..."
Maki: "That's right, Ju Ju. War is scary. That's why all the service men and women are there to fight for you, and Mommy, so we don't have to go. And sometimes, they get hurt or they lose their life."
Ju Ju: "Oh.... That's really sad, Mommy...."
Maki: "I know.. So Memorial Day means to be thankful for the people who died for this country and pray for other people to come home safely..."
Ju Ju: "Okay, I'll pray for them too..."


Whether we believe in fighting the wars, I will never stop praying for those who're fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for their safe return. And I feel tremendous saddness for those who lost their lives. Many of them are so young.. People can say whatever they want, but those guys are there to fight thousands and thousands miles away from their family and friends, and the country they love, because nobody else will.

So I can at least be thankful and pray for them to be safe and come home safely....

On a different note, Dennis Hopper past away Saturday. He was one of my dad's favorite actors - and we'll miss seeing him in the big screen... Rest in Peace, Dennis, you're one hard-core and

charismatic actor....

Have a great Memoria Day my darlings.....

xoxo