Ice Facial

Have you ever tried the ice facial? When I have a little swelling or terrible puffy eyes, I will wash my face or rather the eye area with ice-cold water. 

I was taught this when I was working real late nights, and had to wake up early the next day. My eyes were bad. I tried this and it worked.

It’s not going to be working like magic. It did helped, it lessen the puffiness and it made my eyes looked “normal”. So next time you need to have a quick remedy for “late night eyes”, you can always give this a try!

Icing is one

First Female President - South Korea 2012

South Korean voters have chosen conservative candidate Park Geun-hye as their president. The daughter of the country's late dictator will become its first female head of state.


The 18th South Korean presidential election was held in South Korea on December 19, 2012. It was the sixth presidential election since democratization and the establishment of the Sixth Republic, and was held under a first-past-the-post system, in which there was a single round of voting and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes was elected. Under the South Korean constitution, presidents are restricted to a single five-year term in office. The term of incumbent president Lee Myung-bak will end in February 2013. According to the Korea Times, 30.7 million people voted with turnout at 75.8. Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri party was elected the first female South Korean president with 51.6% of the vote opposed to 48.0% for her opponent Moon Jae-in.

The National Election Commission said that Park had secured the necessary votes to defeat her liberal opponent Moon Jae-in.

With more than 96 percent of the votes in, Park had garnered 51.6 percent of the vote, compared with Moon's 47.9 percent.

"I will become a president of the people's livelihoods who keeps her promises to the people and open an era in which the people are happy,” park told a rally in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.

Turnout was nearly 76 percent, a significant rise on the 63 percent figure for 2007 elections.

Park served in the presidential palace, the Blue House, as her father's first lady in the 1970s following the death of her mother who was killed by a North Korean-backed gunman.

Her father,

Kiwi fruits for you Health

Kiwi fruit is the edible fruit of Actinidia Deliciosa, and hybrids between this species and others in the genus Actinidia.
Kiwifruits owe their name to a bird, native of New Zealand, named "kiwi",














and actually in many regions of Europe, North America and South America, kiwi fruits are generally referred to as "kiwi".
This fruit consists of a hairy, brown peel containing green flesh, with white pulp in the center, surrounded by black, edible seeds. The fruit has a sweet taste, similar to a mixture of banana, pineapple and strawberry. Kiwi fruits are native to China, where they were called "macaque peach"
Nutrition-wise, kiwi fruits contain about as much potassium as bananas, and also contain 1.5 times the DRI for Vitamin C.
It is also rich in Vitamins A and E, and its black seeds can be crushed to produce kiwi fruit oil, which is very rich in Alfa-Linoleic Acid (an important Omega-3 essential fatty acid).
Studies have proven that kiwifruits are useful in improving conditions of asthmatic children, and in decreasing the probability of colon cancer by providing a good amount of dietary fiber.
Please be aware that kiwi fruits can be

Please Don't - K. Will

Kim Hyung-Soo (Hangul: 김형수; born December 30, 1981), better known by his stage name K.Will (Hangul: 케이윌) is a South Korean ballad singer, vocal coach, dancer, songwriter,composer, and actor. K.Will first became known in South Korean through his single called “Dream” in “A Love to Kill” OST, released in 2006. A year after his single and 5 years after as a trainee and a vocal coach, he released his first album “Left Heart” in 2007. Then, after two years, he came back with a successful single, "Love 119," in December 2008. This was followed by a mini album “Dropping the Tears” in April 2009 and his second album “Miss, Miss and Miss” in November 2009.

Childhood

K.Will loved singing since he was little, and he began by singing along with his mother while she was playing the guitar. He has even been kicked out of a class once, because he was humming in reading class. After graduating from high school, he finally determined that he was going to become a singer, and told his parents. However, they opposed that idea and tried to compromise with him so that he could do music along with another work. It was too difficult for him to do two jobs at once, so he decided to just do music.

Pre-Debut

K.Will participated in auditions and looked for potential composers to be able to sing more. When he was a trainee, he would do anything to sing, such as performing at street concerts, singing backup, or singing the chorus for more famous artists. During that time, his friendships with today well-known artists--8Eight, Lim Jeong-Hee, SG Wannabe, Sweet Sorrow, etc.--started.

During his work as a vocal guide (guide vocalist), K.Will also was part of an amateur a cappella group and performed at street concerts around the country for two years.

K.Will is frequently mistaken as the songwriter for TVXQ's “Hug” and it was clarified by an interview on KBS World.

Career

2006-2007

When K.Will was helping Rain produce his second album, he was noticed by 

California Audio Show

Welcome to California Audio Show - Aug 9th - 11th, 2013

Sponsored by The Absolute Sound and Stereophile

The very first, inaugural show was held in July, 2010 and it is created for the public.

The purpose of this show is two-folded: to address the passions of the enormous group of music lovers, and hobbyists who we call audiophiles, and to introduce the hobby to a new generation of audience. 

High-end audio is a

Loudspeaker

LANSCHE AUDIO NO.7 LOUDSPEAKER

Smitten!

Loudspeaker designers constantly strive for lower and lower moving mass in their cones and panels, but what would a driver sound like if it had no moving mass—or no moving parts at all?

The massless driver is the holy grail of loudspeaker design. It’s the moving mass of speaker cones, domes, and panels that introduces a whole host of distortions—distortions that designers devote an inordinate amount of time, money, and effort combating. A diaphragm, no matter how light, has inertia that, when it is at rest, makes it want to stay at rest. It’s not just the diaphragm that moves in dynamic loudspeakers, but also the voice-coil former, voice coil, and suspension. And when all those parts are moving, they tend to keep moving after the drive signal has stopped. It’s not hard to imagine how inertia plays havoc with a loudspeaker’s ability to faithfully reproduce music’s dynamic structure: Transient leading edges are not as steep as they are in life, and notes don’t end as quickly and cleanly as those produced by live instruments. Moreover, loudspeaker drivers misbehave in a whole host of other ways—breakup modes, temperature-dependent dynamic compression, non-pistonic motion, non-linearity at high excursions, and magnetic eddy currents, to name just a few. To be sure, great advances have been made in these areas during the past twenty years, particularly as a result of exotic-materials technology. But at the end of the day, we’re still listening to cones, domes, electrostatic panels, or ribbons moving back and forth.

Enter the corona-plasma tweeter, a device that produces sound with no moving parts. As explained in more detail in the sidebar, an electric arc stretching between two electrodes causes the air around the arc to become ionized. By modulating the arc with an audio signal, the ionized plasma around the arc is made to expand and contract, creating sound—no diaphragm, and no diaphragm- induced distortions.

Plasma transducers have a long history dating back to 1900(!) but have never gained much traction in audio (see the sidebar). One company committed to the technology is the German firm Lansche Audio. The speaker company bought the rights to a corona-plasma tweeter in 1999 and has since offered many loudspeaker models built around this exotic driver. Lansche redesigned the corona-plasma tweeter in 2006, and currently every product in its lineup is based on this unique driver.

After hearing something quite special from the second-to-top- model Lansche No.7 loudspeaker at the 2012 CES, I asked for a review pair. The No.7 is a three-way, seven-driver system employing four 8.7" woofers, two 4" midranges, and the horn-loaded corona- plasma tweeter in the baffle’s center. The $108,000 No.7 is a

The Best of Me - Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an internationally bestselling American novelist and screenwriter. He has 16 published novels. Seven have been adapted to films, including Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, The Last Song, and most recently The Lucky One.

Nicholas Sparks
Bestselling Author Nicholas Sparks
Born	Nicholas Charles Sparks December 31, 1965 (age 46) Omaha, Nebraska
Occupation	Novelist, screenwriter
Genres	Romantic fiction
Spouse(s)	Cathy Sparks
Children	Miles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie & Savannah

On June 17, 2011, Nicholas Sparks stated on his official website that Warner Bros. had bought the movie rights to his novel The Best of Me, published October 11, 2011. The production date for the movie has not been verified, although Sparks believes that filming of the movie will start in 2012.



In his seventeenth novel, "The Best of Me," Nicholas Sparks seems to have the romance novel formula down to a science. Attractive boy and girl from different sides of town meet and fall devastatingly in love? Check. Couple torn apart by war, parents, spouses, or traumatic past? Check. Shocking tearjerker ending? Double check. Sparks has mastered the art of writing novels that tug at readers’ heartstrings, evident from his novels selling over 77 million copies worldwide.

In "The Best of Me," Sparks adds the presence of unexplained mystical presences that help shape the characters’ lives. Ultimately, "The Best of Me" is about

Bibimbap

Bibimbap (BEE-beem-bop): One of the most popular dishes in Korean cuisine, bibimbap is a nutritious rice dish of steamed rice and pre-cooked vegetables (usually spinach, bean sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, egg and lettuce. It can also contain ground beef but can be ordered without meat. Dolsot bibimbap is the same dish served in a hot stone pot (the pot is pre-heated in oven) to make the rice on the bottom crunchy and to keep the dish hot for a longer time. Bulgogi (BULL-go-ghee): Literally meaning "fire meat", bulgogi is thinly sliced, usually rib-eye or sirloin, marinated grilled meat. Gochuchang (GOH-choo-jang) paste: spicy red pepper paste sold either in glass jars or plastic containers that can be purchased at any Korean or Asian food market.

Ingredients

• Steamed white rice
• Bulgogi, recipe follows
• 1 carrot, julienned
• Cooked bean sprouts, sauteed in a little sesame oil or peanut oil and seasoned with salt
• Cooked spinach, sauteed in a little sesame or peanut oil and seasoned with salt
• 4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced and sauteed in peanut oil and seasoned with salt
• 1 egg, cooked over easy
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• Soy sauce, to taste
• Gochuchang Paste, recipe follows

Directions

*Cook's Note: This can be done in a regular bowl or a hot stone bowl. If it's in a hot stone bowl, the rice becomes crunchy because it's still cooking.

Put cooked rice in large slightly shallow bowl. Place bulgogi (with juices from cooked meat) and veggies on top of rice but place separately so you can see each ingredient beautifully placed on rice. Put egg on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce.

When ready to eat, mix all ingredients together with some

Earthquake struck northeastern Japan

TOKYO • A strong earthquake Friday struck the same Japanese coast devastated by last year’s massive quake and tsunami, generating small waves but no immediate reports of heavy damage. Several people along the northeastern coast were reportedly injured and buildings in Tokyo and elsewhere swayed for several minutes.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 and struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at 5:18 p.m. (0818 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The epicenter was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) beneath the seabed and 240 kilometers (150 miles) offshore.

The area was shaken by repeated, smaller aftershocks, the agency said.

After the quake, authorities issued a warning that a tsunami potentially as high as 2 meters (2.2 yards) could hit. Sirens whooped along the coast as people ran for higher ground.

Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi, reported a tsunami 1 meter (1 yard) high and other towns reported smaller tsunamis.

About two hours after the quake struck,

Heavy snow alert in Seoul - Dec 5 2012

Workers clean the snow at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, capital of South Korea, on Dec. 5, 2012. The weather forecast agency issued a heavy snow alert in Seoul Wednesday. (Xinhua/Park Jin hee)


Residents walk in the snow at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, capital of South Korea, on Dec. 5, 2012. The weather forecast agency issued a heavy snow alert in Seoul Wednesday. (Xinhua/Park Jin hee)


Workers clean the snow at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, capital of South Korea, on Dec. 5, 2012. The weather forecast agency issued a heavy snow alert in Seoul Wednesday. (Xinhua/Park Jin hee)


Residents walk in the snow at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, capital of South Korea, on Dec. 5, 2012. The weather forecast agency issued a heavy snow alert in Seoul Wednesday. (Xinhua/Park Jin hee)

Below are pictures

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: 

A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny, by Robin Sharma, is an interesting book — as the subtitle suggests, it’s a fable, and it’s one that will certainly make you give some thought to your life, your goals, your dreams and how your daily habits help you reach those dreams. In other words, right up the Zen Habits alley.

The author is a leadership expert and author, and he fills the book with a combination of life strategies. Many of these are useful, but whether they work in combination is the real question.

The Fable
The book takes the form of a fable about Julian Mantle, a high-profile attorney with a

The Racketeer - John Grisham

‘The Racketeer,’ by John Grisham
The Ex-Lawyer (Disbarred) as a Good Guy

At one of many moments in John Grisham’s new novel that find Malcolm Bannister, its main character, taunting federal investigators, he announces: “There is simply no section of your vast federal code that you can possibly use against me.” Mr. Grisham more typically writes about victims or escapees from the law, not about anyone with the nerve to flout authority this brazenly.

But “The Racketeer” is an unusual book for Mr. Grisham. Unlike many of his others, it has no soapbox to stand on and is not out to teach lessons about justice. This book is much more duplicitous than that. In its early stages it does follow the familiar Grisham template, in which a lawyer finds himself unexpectedly in legal trouble. But then it breaks out into the exhilarating tale of how Mal, a disbarred attorney, now a savvy, self-taught legal scholar, leads his pursuers on a long, winding chase.

Mal begins the book as a convict,

Cakes - from Baking to Steaming

WE often associate cakes with baking. 
But for those of you who do not have an oven, you can steam your cake, too. 
Steamed cakes are healthy! 
Here are three recipes for you to try out.

Steamed Sweet Potato Cake 

Ingredients

• 100g purple sweet potato, skinned and cubed
• 80g castor sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 70ml evaporated milk
• 130g superfine flour
• 1/2 tsp double-action baking powder
• 1/3 cup grated white part of coconut

Method

Lightly grease sides of several heatproof cups. Scatter a little grated coconut over the base of each cup.
Steam sweet potatoes till soft and tender. Remove and mash finely. Sift the flour and baking powder together; set aside.
Place egg yolks and egg whites into two separate mixing bowls. Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar until light and thick. Add sifted flour mixture, evaporated milk and mashed sweet potato. Whisk until well combined and smooth.
Whisk egg white until just frothy. Add cream of tartar and remaining sugar. Whisk until mixture is stiff and holds its shape.
Fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture in two to three batches using a metal spoon. When well blended, spoon batter into prepared cups and steam for 10-11 minutes or until cooked through.

Related Recipes by Ingredient

• purple sweet potato

Drunk driver - A boy loses his mom and sister

                                      

I saw a cashier hand a little boy his money back at the mall, the boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll.'' The little boy turned to the old woman next to him, ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?'' She replied, ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.'' Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. 'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.' I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.'

His eyes were so sad while saying this, 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.'' My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said, 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of himself. He was laughing. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

Automobile - from old to new

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods.

Benz "Velo" model (1894) – entered into anearly automobile race as a motocycle

The term motorcar has also been used in the context of electrified rail systems to denote a car which functions as a small locomotive but also provides space for passengers and baggage. These locomotive cars were often used on suburban routes by both interurban and intercity railroad systems.

It was estimated in 2010 that the number of automobiles had risen to over 1 billion vehicles, with 500 million reached in 1986. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China and India.

The Nissan Leaf is an all-electric car

Most automobiles in use today are propelled by a internal combustion engine, fueled by deflagration of gasoline (also known as petrol) or diesel. Both fuels are known to cause air pollution and are also blamed for contributing to climate change and global warming. Rapidly increasing oil prices, concerns about oil dependence, tightening environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling work on alternative power systems for automobiles. Efforts to improve or replace existing technologies include the development of

Health Benefit of eating Dragon Fruit

A pitaya or pitahaya is the fruit of several cactus species. "Pitaya" usually refers to fruit of the genus Stenocereus, while "Pitahaya" or "Dragon fruit" always refers to fruit of the genus Hylocereus.
These fruits are commonly known as "dragon fruit" as in the Chinese huǒ lóng guǒ, "fire dragon fruit", and lóng zhū guǒ, "dragon pearl fruit". The Vietnamese thanh long meaning "green dragon", the Indonesian and Malaysian buah naga, the Lao mark mang gohn, and the Thai kaeo mangkon or "dragon crystal". Other vernacular names are strawberry pear or nanettika fruit.

The vine-like epiphytic pitahaya-producing cacti of the genus Hylocereus are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Currently, they are also cultivated in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia(especially in eastern Java), Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and more recently Bangladesh. They are also found in Okinawa, Hawaii, Israel, Palestine, northern Australia, southern China and in Cyprus.

The fruit was probably introduced by Europeans who brought it from the New World. In the case of Taiwan, the fruit was brought in by the Dutch.

Hylocereus blooms only at night; the large white fragrant flowers of the typical cactus flower shape are among those called "moonflower" or "Queen of the Night". Sweet pitahayas have a creamy pulp and a delicate aroma. It is also grown as an Ornamental plant, used in gardens as a flowering vine and a house plant indoors.

         

The dragon fruit is usually a dark red color, although some types of this fruit are pink or yellow. It is an extremely beautiful fruit that has