7 Quick Takes Friday

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Happy Friday! Announcing the birth of little Benjamin, 10 pounds 9 ounces :)

Nope, that’s not my baby. This cute little gigantic baby (you should see him with other new borns in the nursery, all the nurse who saw him exclaimed "wow") is my boyfriend’s nephew, who arrived this morning at 10:22 a.m. There’s nothing more wonderful than awaiting the arrival of a newborn, what a great way to start Mother’s Day weekend ;) 

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Currently watching:    Food Inc.  

I would never consider myself to be particularly “food conscious”. And by that, I don’t mean simply being conscious of  our food’s nutrition value, but also where it came from, how was it being processed, etc. 

Growing up in Hong Kong, I went to the market with my mom all the time. We have vendors selling fresh vegetables, fresh fish that was caught or brought in from the fish farm that day, butcher selling fresh meat & live chicken; so really, what you see is what you eat. Fast food chains are, of course, everywhere. Yet, the interesting thing is, they are never considered to be cheap (we don’t have $1 meals in Hong Kong). At least for my family, fast food meals are for special occasions, like getting a 100 in a test, or a special treat.

When I first came to America, I was surprised by how “convenient” everything was. You can get everything - meat, veggies, fruits - all cleaned, boned, and packaged into a nice, clean, little container! Seeing all the live stocks at the market in Hong Kong, I certainly know that meat don’t just ended up nice & clean in a package on its own. Obviously, someone will have to process the produce in a factory somewhere. But what surprised me in Food Inc. was how inter-connected our food industry is to some of the problems in this country - health, disease, employment, even immigration. 

Food Inc. is a very well-made documentary. At the end of the film, the producers even provide you with a list of  practical things that you can do to help. As consumers, we pay for all the food that we put into our mouths every day, if you’re interested in learning more about the food that you eat, you should really watch the film. It’s pretty mind-opening.

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Currently reading:    A Thread of Grace by Maria Doria Russell

The truth is, once you’re out of college and get a real job, it just gets more and more difficult to find time to read. At least that’s the case for me - I used to read a ton over school breaks, but now it takes me FOREVER to finish a single book (except for Harry Potter, ha).

Anyway, I’ve been reading A Thread of Grace for a while now, and I only have a few more chapters to go! I’ll definitely share more once I’m done :)

-- 4 --

Remember the Royal Cupcakes from my last post? In case you wonder how did they turn out, here’re some pictures!

Filling the cupcakes with jelly is probably the most complicated step.
We used the old school ziplog bag method

The strawberry filling inside was definitely the best part! 

-- 5 --

And speaking of Royal Wedding... for those of you who’ve seen this picture a million times, sorry, I just have to post it in here. The newest member of the British Royal family is simply too stunning.

-- 6 --

There Be Dragons. Who’s excited about There Be Dragons opening today? I AM! Our FOCUS team is going to bring a group of students to watch it next Wednesday. I’ve heard nothing but good reviews about this movie so far.... soooooo excited!

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Last, but not least... check this video out.