Baked Beans - Love it or Hate it

I have not been a big fan of baked beans for as long as I remember.

I almost hated it, if there is a food I dislike the most it would be it. I am not a fussy eater but there is something about baked beans in ketchup that makes me turn my nose away whenever it is served in meals or when spread over bread. But still I will swallow the portion served on my plate, albeit with inward cringing.

However, in 2012, when I was invited by a nice American family for a meal at their home (Thank you, Lisa and family for that memorable experience), I was served baked beans as part of the meal and I mean it when I said I am not a fussy eater, I took a bite... MAN, the US baked beans are WAY TASTIER THAN THE BAKED BEANS SERVED IN MY COUNTRY!

I even asked my friend Lisa where I can get the canned baked beans and I brought a can home all the way via the long haul flight.

Some pix of 'Bush's Baked Beans', chose the 'vegetarian' version to bring home, beats me why the selection as it was a year ago when we made that purchase in Super Walmart!

I finally made a decent meal with that lone can of baked beans this month, a year later, I added an egg to it for taste and hubby commented, "Why can't our baked beans be as tasty as the US baked beans?" Beats me... I shall make a mental note to bring back canned food in our next trip to the US, whenever that is. ;)

Popera - Classical Cross-Over Singers

I found this gem of a duet of two talented South Koreans (one is American Korean):



The conductor can really sing!!! However, I am more wowed by the lady, American-born Rose Jang, daughter of a National Seoul University graduated who then pursued his doctorate at Princeton University and finally settled down with his family in the USA. Quote from her biography:

"Princeton-born Rose Jang is an acclaimed award-winning Korean-American pop opera artist who is well-known for singing operatic arias, musical and classic pop songs."

A very private person online, I cannot get much personal information in English about American born Rose Jang, but I gathered if she was 30 in 2009, (as quoted in one news report), then she must have been born in 1979. That's all I gathered. The rest are polished background info easily found online.

I love her voice and her whole persona. I noted that in 2011 in an interview in Korea (most recent video I could find online) - she has put on quite a bit of weight, more like water retention on her face and arms. Her voice is still splendid nonetheless.

The other classical cross-over singer I like is Hayley Westenra. She's in her 20s now and has been singing since she was a little girl, then blossomed into a wonderful teen with a big voice.

I hope Rose Jang and the New Zealander Hayley can perform a duet some day, or maybe Rose may attempt a cover of Nella Fantasia or the English version with lyrics penned by Hayley herself - Whispers in a Dream as embedded below:

It is only viewable on desktop/laptop but not on mobile.


There are many more talented ladies (and even little girls) in this genre. Usually they dislike it when you refer to their genre as poppera or popera (pop+opera), so classical cross-over it is!

If you haven't checked out this genre before, search for these two names on youtube, and there are scores of many more like Sarah Brightman, Katherine Jenkins, Celtic Women, and oh, the ever so adorable Jackie Evancho (- there are many more you just need to discover them as it will do no good to list them out one by one!

Happy listening!

Greetings from the Future

Hubby and I went on the Spaceship Earth at Disney World, Orlando, Florida, and during the ride, there is this interactive screen in front of us and we are supposed to answer some questions and we can actually look at the future, our future by the answers we give. OH yeah, hubby is a bit 'shy', and low profile (despite being on display on my profile all over the Net), so I chose this 'flashed' image of his to include on this blog. And yes, we went 'skiing' on our Spaceship Earth ride and the future of medical industry will be really amazing with remote surgery up the mountains. :-)

Despite the answers being canned, and the result being predetermined by Disney, it was fun, and makes you think of the future.

What will the future be? There's a saying that - You are what you wish to be, the future is what you wish for it to be.

Have a happy weekend and here's to a good future to the world!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair! - Disney Princesses in DisneyWorld, Orlando, Florida, USA

My first 'encounter' with Rapunzel was during our first visit to Magic Kingdom in Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA - not exactly the real Rapunzel, but a little girl with Rapunzel's long blonde hair in the pix above.

The costume and the wig are just so cute!!!

My favourite song in Rapunzel is the Healing Incantation:


And here are the pix of the 'real' Rapunzel:

She's a pretty one isn't she? And the little girl in pink is wearing the Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora)'s costume.

This is one pretty short blogpost as well for Monday blues...

Have a magical week ahead!!!

Prepare to be dazzled - Freakonomics

"Prepare to be dazzled." - Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink

I finally got down to 'reading' the audio CD of the "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Jevitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it is an audio CD read by Stephen J. Dubner.

The CD has been bought when hubby and I were rushing to literally buy up to the maximum limit for tax-relief purposes some more than one year ago, along with many other reading materials now lying nicely on multiple shelves at home.

I love Malcolm Gladwell, and I've heard of Steven Levitt, so that is strong enough reason for me to grab the Unabridged version of the Freakonomics - A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything - and New York Times Bestseller (which is kinda like cheating as the co-author and the voice beind the CD, Dubner, writes for the New York Times, oh well).

Why do people cheat? Cheating may not be part of human nature but it still happens... whatever if worth having is worth cheating for - "Cheating is getting more for less".

Okay, I am not judging the authors... I am just paraphrasing from what I hear being read. Just couldn't resist the play of words.

"To catch a cheater, you have to think like one".

From the back cover of the CD case:

QUOTE
"Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? If drug dealers make so much money, why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?"

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt s not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddes of everyday life - from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing - and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventionl wisdom on its head. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: Freakonomics.

Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner showthat economics is, at root, the study of incentives - how people get what they want or need especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freaknomics, they set out o explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of acrack gang. The truth abuot real-estate agents. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.
UNQUOTE

Hubby has returned from his work trip, hence I have put a hold to my listening of the 7 hours worth of audio. Yeah, it was more to entertain myself while I was home alone when hubby was away on his work trip those few days. I am hardly half way through, but I already like what I hear. Will continue with the rest when the time comes.

Worth listening to/reading. Highly recommended!

Why are Caucasian Kids so adorable? - Our trip to Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA

Why are Caucasian kids SO ADORABLE?

Our trip to Disney World, Orlando, Florida was our first 'real' contact during the daytime with the US.

Being fond of children, having no kids ourselves, the first thing that struck us in the days that follow is how ADORABLE the caucasian kids are, from babies to tots to pre-schoolers to elementary schooler and to early teens... after that they are budding beauties and handsome hunks when they are already gorgeous teenagers, some who are not even 18 yet can pass off as someone more mature. I guess the same can be said all over the world - kids growing up too fast!

A random shot of a group of teens who were ahead of us in the line.

A group of school kids performing in their choir.

Being in Disney World, you can expect to see kids EVERYWHERE, nearly half my photos are of kids whether intentionally or unintentionally.

While waiting for the show in 'China' to start at EPCOT (one of the four parks in Disney World. We spent two-whole days in EPCOT.

Cute sisters on the Disney bus.

The younger sister smiled sweetly.

Bro taking a pix of his sis at 'Japan' in EPCOT.

This little girl in the pink skirt actually 'danced' and moved from her spot to the next spot randomly while the Disney Photopass (you can google more about it) photographer was trying to snap a still pix of her. I couldn't help laughing at the cute little girl's antics and finally the Disney Photopass photographer removed her camera from the tripod and followed the girl's movement. At Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) - one of the four theme parks in Disney World.

This cute little boy gave a scare to his parents when he went out from the unsecured gate of the grounds we were at and his mom shouted for him, alerting his dad who ran after him and carried him back and securely locking the gate. He was just so cute - it was already dusk, hence the pix isn't that clear. -Fort Wilderness Resort, one of the many resorts in Disney World.

Little girl with King Louie from Jungle Book at Animal Kingdom, one of the four parks in Disney World.

Soft baby hair, curly long eyelashes, big beautiful eyes, cherubic pinkish cheeks, and sometimes sprinkled with freckles, red lips... oh, they are such angels - brunette, red-haired or blondes alike!



Of course, despite my infatuation with Caucasian kids, I find that every child is just as cute and adorable. This group of siblings, most presumedly of South Asian descent were very talkative during our Jungle River Cruise.

And they were very responsive too!

Double the cuteness, TWINS! With Chip and Dale. And I cannot even guess their ethnicity. At the end of the day, children will always be children, innocent and universally adorable.

I love children so much my ovaries are throbbing now. Okay, abrupt end of blog post.

Do search for my other blog posts on our trip to Disney World by searching the tag "Disney"


This little boy seated in front of us during the Safari at Animal Kingdom, one of the four theme parks in Disney World is just so adorable - he reminded me of my good friend, Mei's only son:

Ariel, the Princess Mermaid - Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA

The little mermaid gained her name Ariel in the Disney cartoon of a Princess Mermaid, who is the daughter of Triton, the King of the Sea.

She is a typical case of those who will not settle for your fate given to you at birth, she does not feel she belong to the sea, she long to be walking on the ground like humans do.

Here is the part where she is longing to be walking instead of swimming and getting wet all day long:



The video was taken during the Little Mermaid show at Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA, the show was named Meet the Little Mermaid or something, and we thought it was similar to the photography session the "Meet the Princesses" but then we discovered it took place in a theatre, so it was a show after all. The red-haired princess is pretty, though, the pix at the top cannot do her justice hence I took videos of her as the video is slightly clearer than pix.

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL SEA WITCH
So she made a deal with the sea witch to help her turn her tail into human feet, but in return, she had to 'give' her voice to Ursula. Oh, did I mention Little Mermaid is infatuated with the Prince she once saved from shipwreck? I say infatuated cos it was only after that the feelings turned into love, :-) At least by my definition.

This is my most fav part (my own video on youtube) - Shameless Plug - do subscribe to me on youtube if you may. Thank you!

The part where Ariel sings for one last time before she turned human, and lost her voice to Ursula, the evil sea witch, as part of the bargain to turn her fish tail to human feet.



As per my previous blog entry on Snow White and Sleeping Beauty here I love to sing "a a ah, a a ah" to Disney Princess cartoons, in lyric-less tunes when I was a little girl (still love those tunes even now!).

The Little Mermaid show at Disney World, Orlando, Florida, was cute! Ariel 'sitting' down most of the time on the coral reefs, then they let the screen do the story telling to summarise the whole cartoon. Makes me feel like I wanna be a little girl again in order to be fully immersed in the magic of Disney!!!

In my previous blog post on Disney Princess dresses for little girls, I left out this pix of Ariel's costume!

http://suesanctuary.blogspot.com/2012/07/disney-princesses-little-girls-dresses.html

Beauty and the Beast - Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA

The pix above was taken during our second day in Disney World, Orlando, Florida, on March 25, 2012 at EPCOT. I will be blogging all about EPCOT in a single blog post and the Flora Festival that was going on when we were there... soon, I have mentioned it will take me many many blog posts to fully 'capture' our experience in Disney World. :-)

Beauty and the Beast - Belle isn't exactly a princess until she fell in love with the Beast, and broke his curse and he turned back into a Prince and they got married and lived happily ever after. Of course, in every fairy tale, there is an antagonist/villain, in this case, it is Gaston, the ever conceited man who wished to marry Belle just because she is the fairest maiden in that locality and he felt that her beauty matches his handsomeness, whatever it is he called it.

Anyway, I love her gorgeous golden ball gown! Which in the Beauty and the Beast Musical/Show at Disney World, Orlando, at one of the four theme parks, Disney Hollywood Studios (former MGM) - she only wore it for about two minutes in the last scene. The rest of the play, Belle wore her normal garb, grey and sometimes with a black hooded coat when she is in the outdoor scenes.

Here goes.

Out of the three princesses who were 'waiting' for the people in the one-hour-long-line to reach them and snap pix with them, Belle (Beauty) was the only one who got down on the floor to talk to the little ones, the other two in that 10 minutes we were in the 'chamber', preferred to either stand or sit on the stools provided. And she is the most authentic looking among the three princesses! Check out my blogpost on: Do you believe in the green dragon? Under July 2012 blogposts

Don't you love her gorgeous dress, the ruffles and oh, the rich golden yellow colour, I love her dress the most, I don't have a particular fav Disney princess, just fav points about each one of them.

Anyway, enough about the signing autograph Belle - let's see the pix from the show - this will be a long LONG LONG pictorial blog post. I was snapping away every other second during the show at the open air amphitheare (with shade).

40+ pix ahead (snapshots from the Beauty and the Beast show at Disney World, Orlando, Florida)

Before the start of the show - seated behind us, we can clearly hear a little boy kept asking his mommy, is it time yet? Is it time yet? is it time yet? Are they starting soon? Are they starting now? Until finally she said okay, now there are 10 more seconds, and exasperated, she counted down from "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 there", and at that exact second she said 'there', the screen/curtain were drawn and the announcer spoke.

Talk about exact timing! The mother whoopped in joy and said, THERE! Mommy's watch is timed according to Disney time, down to the exact second! I let out a loud chuckle and hubby turned around and gave the mom a thumbs up and she laughed. lol

And the curtains were drawn again and we walked out from the amphitheatre.

It was worth the arrive-half-hour-earlier wait - we arrived half an hour before the show started and we could only manage to get an aisle seat (no obstruction, yes!!!), but towards the top of the theatre.

If I have a child/children in the future, I will definitely bring them to watch this amazing show!!!