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Game Review: The Last of Us

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Hello video game of the year! Wow! This is actually the most amazing game I’ve come across yet in 2013. After finishing the new Tomb Raider, Deadpool, and Bioshock Infinite, I honestly thought that there was no way any game could exceed my expectations. I’m happy to say that I was very wrong. TheLastOfUsJoelEllieArtwork

Who knew that the apocalypse frenzy in games would still cling on now that 2012 is long gone. If you enjoyed games such as Dead Island, then this is the game for you. The Last of Us, sadly, is only out for PS3 at the moment, but Play Station owners everywhere should definitely look into purchasing this game. Unlike State of Decay, this game is more linear and tends to stick to the story more than it offers side quests. It has a fantastic plot line and the gameplay almost never gets repetitive.

The Plot: 9.5/10. This games kicks off with a great intro that will leave you stunned. And as far as I can tell, there are no major plot holes to cringe at. It is set in the US after the discovery of parasitic spores that can take over the host’s brain. The game begins after a twenty year time skip following the introduction of the story, and shows the juxtaposition of the main character’s life, as well as the society he lives in before and after the apocalypse. The ending was chilling and melancholy, and succeeded in making me feel rather uneasy. I loved the cinematic values of this game as well as the story.last2

The Gameplay: 9/10. The gameplay overall was very smooth, an the graphics were simply stunning. It is a third-person perspective game that centers around one main escort mission. I personally hate escort missions as I find them to be rather tedious, but The Last of Us, like Bioshock Infinite, managed to make the task enjoyable rather than exhausting. Overall, this game has a lot of replay value.the_last_of_us_ps3_game-wide

IGN gave this game a solid 10/10. And although I was skeptical about that score at first, I changed my mind almost immediately after I’ve started this game. I think my favorite aspect is in the realism of the game, the protagonist is not a super-human who is invulnerable to any attacks and can take on a million infected without batting an eye, he’s an average survivor. This game takes away the false glory that some other games paint over the idea of the post-apocalyptic society and gives us a more realistic view.

 

The Pope is okay with Homosexuality?

Homosexuality has been an influential aspect of our current society, especially in the pop culture of youth. Many of today’s pop icons have exposed themselves to be gay; be it from Ellen Degeneres to Adam Lambert, they are all figures in the public

Retrieved from: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2013/7/28/1375012993070/Pope-Francis-012.jpg
Retrieved from: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2013/7/28/1375012993070/Pope-Francis-012.jpg

that effect some part of our society. But there has always been this forbearing of disapproval that has been expected from the religious perception of homosexuality.

However, Pope Francis recently announced, ” [i]f a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?” This is a staggering quote considering the much heated debate among the religious community about homosexuality. To have the leader of the Catholic Church reveal that as long the LGBTQ community are faithful to their church, that they should not be “marginalized because of this but that they should be integrated into society.” The Pope also stated that his main concern about gays was the exploitation of homosexuality for greed and political lobbying.

In an ever-reforming world, where society is revolutionizing. Historical figures are also in the midst of coping with compliance of the non-traditional ways of our current society. This month, Queen Elizabeth gave her royal consent for gay marriage-just a matter of formality, nonetheless, it still signified changing times- and now Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic realm has given his approval of all people of God. The world is surely evolving; who knows when our generation becomes the leaders of this world, what we will change.

 

Information provided by: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23489702 

Zombie Apocalypse!?!?

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If you watched Brad Pitt’s latest blockbuster movie World War Z, then maybe you would remember that the zombie pandemic originated with a rabies-like case along with a breakout with rabies in Taiwan.

taiwan

Well, recently, after a long 50 years without any rabies case, the rabies virus has re-emerged in Taiwan when 11 dead ferret badgers were confirmed to have been infected with the virus.

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While most cases still appear near the mountainous areas of the island, the Taiwanese government is working towards bringing in more rabies vaccines for both pets and humans, hoping to contain the outbreaks in certain areas. However, the fact that the disease was found in areas so far apart – from central to eastern to south-central Taiwan — suggests that the disease may have been lurking in the mountainous areas for years before it was discovered by health authorities. Since the cases seem to appear near several national parks, government officials suspect that the virus originated from people releasing their Chinese-origin pets that may have been smuggled into Taiwan. The virus found in Taiwan is 88-92% similar to those found in Mainland China.

Rabies is a viral disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans, often through a bite from an infected animal, and is invariably fatal as it attacks the human nervous system by travelling to the brain through the peripheral nerves. There’s often an incubation period after an individual is infected, which can lasts up to a few months, depending on the individual; however, once the rabies symptoms appear, it is usually untreatable and fatal within a few days. The early symptoms of rabies include malaise, headache, and fever, which then progress to pain, violent movements, and depression. Rabies victims usually die of respiratory insufficiency.

Rabies Victim (Warning: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZbrNN9KeUI

I guess you can say that rabies is 100% fatal once the symptoms begin to show.

(But I did come across a documentary on YouTube the other day about a girl who actually survived rabies!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjybyV5-sfY

Although the WHO is working hard towards eradicating the Rabies virus, Rabies still cause about 55,000 human deaths annually worldwide, with 95% of human deaths due to rabies occur in Asia and Africa, and roughly 97% of human rabies cases result from dog bites.

Saying good-bye to the Rabies virus shouldn’t be hard, since we did eliminate small pox entirely, so hopefully this outbreak in Taiwan will be put into an end soon.

Video Of The Day

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video of the day

I found this video while researching Kobe Beef. Kobe Beef is made from a special breed of Japanese  Cattle that has fat scattered around its meat. this means that it is destined for a perfectly tender and flavorful steak. The video shows how someone believes Kobe Beef is made. Enjoy the video!!!

Look fabulous even when you run away! Sign up for some Parkour

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RUN AWAYYYYY
RUN AWAYYYYY

Most people nowadays train in cool Martial Arts. Karate, Judo, Taekwondo! Yeah! Go self defense!

But there’s a secret art that many people don’t know about! And that is Parkour. When Parkour is mentioned, we often think about the people who do backflips off buildings and roll all over the place. The cool montages on Youtube are what often come to mind. However, Parkour is much more – and much less than what you think it is.

However, I can attest to the fact that it is hilariously fun, and it is readily available to be taught right over here: http://nolimitsafc.com/

It’s not just the sport that makes it fun. The way classes are taught and the whole theme of the building literally screams “COME AT ME BRO.” It’s massively different from traditional lessons! It’s a massive changeable obstacle course where fun, expression, and freedom of movement thrive.

I was originally trained  in Wushu, but one of the reasons why I left was because of the environment. It was stressful. I hardly knew anyone for the four years I trained in Wushu. Each class was constantly a competition, with the teacher praising and selecting whoever he thought was the best. Talking was not permitted, and people were often yelled at for many different reasons, including being late or goofing around. I love Wushu, but unfortunately, I just couldn’t stay in that environment anymore.

No Limits AFC is completely the opposite. Instead of focusing on being the best, they literally tell you: leave your ego at the door. It’s not about competition, it’s about expressing yourself through moving, jumping and vaulting in creative ways. The building is splattered with graffiti, there’s loads of different obstacles, poles and bars to climb around on and the whole place is extremely chill.

I have to say that the sport is tough to get into. Be warned: if you want to fully enjoy Parkour, you’re going to have to take the necessary precautions. Every sport is dangerous to a certain extent, but Parkour can seriously injure you. It’s not for kids who want to jump straight into tricks. You need to pound the basics into your body, literally, because if you’re inexperienced and you try to do a vault outside on HARD concrete, you are going to hurt yourself.

Logo_Original

However, don’t be put off by this. Spend a good amount of time in No Limits AFC. You may think that the first few classes are boring because all you’re doing is rolling and clumsily jumping over gymnastic blocks but trust me, what you will experience in the future is worth it. I can’t even land a front flip, but just trying one was absolutely thrilling. Finally being able to wall run consistently and smoothly vault over objects is an awesome feeling. It definitely pays off.

Plus, it’s UNIQUE. Do you want to stand out among your friends when you announce your hobbies? Saying “yeah I do parkour” is pretty bad ass.

Also, running away is probably the most useful human survival skill. Training it is a good idea. People may train in Karate and be able to kick some serious ass, but there’s always a chance of being out-punched. You could be knifed. Someone could send a gang against you. Someone just might be plain better at you than in Karate.

But hey, you can’t hit what you can’t catch!

I encourage you to try it out! Be open and friendly, don’t think about competition. Just think about fun and self improvement, and the rest will follow.

THE FIRST CLASS IS FREE

Integrate multimedia in your WordPress post through auto-embeds

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wordpress-logo-hoz-rgb
From the real deal. 🙂

In case you didn’t know, Youth Are Awesome is hosted on WordPress. Being a blogger means having multimedia-oriented features to convey your posts effectively, so for example, we YAA bloggers frequently turn to YouTube to share viral videos of the day to crack a laugh out of you readers. 😀

To incorporate these mediums of expression, we embed them on our blog posts. This method of integration usually involves pasting huge chunks of code into the HTML editor (or the “text” editor on WordPress). They usually look something like this –

youtubeembed

But can turn into something similar to this –

vimeoembed

So it isn’t quite the most user-friendly coding you’ve ever seen. As you recall in my blog post on how to get your food review on Urbanspoon, you also had to add the widget to your blog post by using a long embed code. That shouldn’t stop you from including wonderful videos and such on your blog, however.

To be WordPress specific, a protocol named oEmbed (don’t worry, I won’t spam you with technical jargon) allows us users to be able to embed such content on blog posts just by adding the URL (the “regular” link) in your content editor. If you would like to add content from these websites, this method eliminates the hardest part for you.

Since I want to include a Twitter status, I can paste the URL of the page that comes up when I select “details” when clicking a tweet:

Twitterembed

Make sure that they are not hyperlinked like the image down below. If they are, press the de-hyperlink button (it looks like a paper clip broken in half) while selecting the link.

TwitterEmbedHyperlink

What you see is this –

https://twitter.com/WentaoHello/statuses/349720783452516353

And tweets with attached photos turn out to be like this –

https://twitter.com/WentaoHello/status/353611968147492864

For videos and vlogs, this is how the auto-embed turns out by default –

I personally think that player window is too small, so I use the embed width=”” height=”” tag (with square brackets sandwiching the code) in the editor to change the size of the embed. Input your desired width and height in the quotation marks and add “/embed” (with the same brackets).

For reference, this is the setting I use –

Wordpressembed

Vimeo and Dailymotion videos also work the same way. I’ve adjusted the size of them too for the player to be bigger.

The YouTube video was the one I featured in this post and credits to their respective owners!

If you have images you want to share from your Photobucket, Instagram, or Flickr accounts, you can also directly embed them instead of uploading them again through the “add media” button”. For example, here are some shots I took –

http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o543/TheAsianPride/26ac862b-8566-404a-b231-0df919027422.jpg

http://instagram.com/p/Qxx-AKFD2K/

Unfortunately, there are no ways to scale your images from their uploaded size when using this embed method. 🙁

How about SlideShare and SoundCloud? Aside from embedding videos and images in my blog posts, I hope to use stuff from these two platforms to help diversify the content. Here is how they turn out when you use the direct link to embed them –

http://www.slideshare.net/Ordona547/the-math-in-pokemon

It’s the same as before; the credit belongs to the owners of all these examples.

I hope to see more multimedia features sprang up here on YAA and if you encounter any difficulties, let me know and I’ll help you to the best of my knowledge. Be innovative with your approach to blogging. 🙂

Maneki-Neko, the cat figurine that’s been beckoning luck into Asian businesses

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Bye bye to you too,

Been to Chinatown? Perhaps you’ll find some of these symbolic figurines in many shops at Dragon City Mall. Were you at a bubble tea place recently? You’ve probably met one of these cats.

I’ve been at a loss of words to describe this cat that greets customers in with the charm. Is it a “fortune cat”, “lucky cat”, “money cat”, or how about “that Chinese cat with the waving paw”? The proper name for this universal symbol (at least in many Asian countries) is maneki-neko, or literally translated from Japanese (nope, not Chinese) to English, a “beckoning cat”. Ever since the late Edo period, it has become a favourite to ring in the good luck.

Must Love Cats” loves it:

(Cat lovers beware – this isn’t the only version of the origins of this cat either since many legends exist to explain the prominence it now enjoys today.)

The colours and gestures of the placed figurine matters when this lucky charm is intended to achieve a certain goal!

(luckymanekineko.wordpress.com)

InterACTIVE – Before I go, do you personally feel that these figures are beckoning or waving at you? Drop off a comment for me 🙂

(whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com)

 

Double Chocolate Chunk Salted Caramel Cookies

The other week my friend announced that she was moving to BC. Being the avid baker I am, I bake my friends and family treats for every occasion; holidays, birthdays, and of course, when they move. The catch? My friend’s move Cookieswas only days away. The recipe I bring to you today is a sweet-lover’s dream, picked based on my friend’s tastes and, of course, the massive time restraint I was under. I chose to make cookies because not only are they quick, but they

are also great for travel and super portable. This recipe was so delicious I’m tempted to make more for when my family next goes on a car trip!

I used Martha Steward’s recipe for double chocolate chunk cookies, which turned out phenomenal- crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. The recipe called for melted milk chocolate added to the cookies in addition to cocoa powder, which filled the cookies with a super chocolatey punch. The chocolate chunks the recipe called for were also an improvement over normal chocolate chips; with a glass of milk these cookies were simply put, satisfying. Even without the added caramel centre this recipe is a strong one, and

The caramel centre stayed soft and chewy for days after the cookies were baked- delicious
The caramel centre stayed soft and chewy for days after the cookies were baked- delicious

definitely my first choice when choosing a double chocolate cookie. Easy to make and absolutely delicious these cookies are a perfect place for the novice baker to begin from.

Once I had made the cookie dough I rolled it into about one and a half inch balls, which I then split in half and placed a caramel in the centre of each, before rolling each ball back together. I used just regular bulk caramels for the centre, which I found to be too big and cut in half. Make sure that when you make this recipe the caramel is completely surrounded by dough before cooking, otherwise the caramel will ooze out when it melts and make a mess! To top the cookies I sprinkled each one with a touch of sea salt to give that salted caramel effect. I’d recommend cation with this however, as I used chunks of sea salt, which were too big and, well, salty for the cookies. Use finer ground salt to top the cookies, and apply it sparingly.

It’s Shakespeare in the Park!

 

Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare in the Park
Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare in the Park

The beloved and timeless story of star-crossed lovers, adventure and passion in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is playing again at Mount Royal University.

If you are like me, Shakespeare in the Park is a summer tradition. To lay out a blanket or lawn chair, enjoy an ice cream cone with a couple of friends and watch wonderful poetry from up and coming Alberta artists.

Shakespeare in Park is playing at the outdoor amphitheater at Mount Royal University, the price is pay-what-you-will and it ends Saturday, August 10, 2013. For more information visit, the Theatre Calgary website.

Girl Power Inc.

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girlPowerLogo_1In my previous blog I had the opportunity to attend the Finding Kind Documentary at the ConcocoPhillips Auditorum. After the documentary there was a wonderful key-note speaker: Dana Kerford the founder of the Girl Power Incorporation and had the opportunity to learn a lot.

What is Girl Power Inc.?

It is a program that empowers tween girls to develop a strong sense of self and love themselves by maintaining and managing their friendships. During these workshops the girls are given tools to put out “friendship fires” (conflict) with utmost respect. We all know the difficulties with dealing with any type of conflict, this program gives the girls practical and step-by-step instructions to be successful.

While Dana was speaking to us she mentioned four important rules of friendship:

1. No friendship/relationship is perfect!
Each individual has their flaws and so does the friendship, there will be conflict- it is expected.

2. Every friendship is different.
Our friendships may not be like on screen friendships in shows like Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, and Gossip Girl but that is okay. Some friends may not be ones to share our deepest darkest secrets with while others may be.

3. Trust and respect are the two main qualities in a friendship.
It is obvious if it isn’t two way, and respect is shown the friendship will not last. If you don’t trust your friend how do you expect your friend to trust you?

4. Friendships change-that is normal.
It is highly unlikely for you to be BBFL (Best Friends For Life) people change and so do friendships, its okay and normal.

Girl Power has something for everyone! Tween Girls and Parents of Tweens- it is extremely important to understand how to handle situations correctly with your children when they are upset by everyday contact with friends. I strongly urge you to register for these workshops, not only is it important to learn how to tackle tough situations but it is extremely important to have confidence. Girl Power provides both!

To register or learn more go onto https://www.urstrong.com/GirlPower/About/

Girl_Power_final_logo

Top 3 artists from my playlists: July 2013

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To keep myself busy throughout the summer, I often turn to a familiar and reliable companion: music. These are 3 artists/duos whose songs I’ve constantly re-played this month, as I can’t seem to get enough of their beautiful music:

1. Woodkid

Yoann Lemoine is a jack-of-all-trades concerning the music industry as he has graphically designed and directed many music videos for Billboard topping artists such as Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, on top of being a stellar singer-songwriter. He has a wonderful voice and his respective music videos are quite visually appealing. He is most famously known for his hit songs “I Love You,” “Run Boy Run” and “Iron.” However, all of his songs have the potential to be a hit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og0z_fKOi6U

2. Alex Clare

Alexander Claire is a British singer-songwriter with a rich, melodious voice that often results in my replay button being sorely worn out. He is known for his hit song “Too Close” and is often considered,by many of his fans,to be the male version of Adele.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Jr4xIc-Zs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivyb3VIl-6o

3. MSMR

This wonderful duo hails from New York and consists of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow. I’ve viewed lots of MSMR interviews and in all of the interviews, they seemed very humble and sweet. Lizzy’s singing voice is very unique and smoky, and she has a rasp that’s is most prominently displayed when she’s speaking. They are known for their hit songs “Hurricane,” “Bones” and “Salty Sweet.” Combined with Lizzy’s husky voice (which has been compared to the likes of Florence Welch and Lana Del Rey) and Max’s amazing beats, this duo is a sight to behold.

All of these artists are absolutely amazing and it was really tough to pick and choose only 5 of their songs. If you’re interested in learning more about these artists, you can always check their Facebook pages or find them on YouTube and iTunes! Next month, I’ll post 3 more artists/bands whose songs I’ve constantly been re-playing!

Sun & Salsa Experience: Salsa

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A staple in the Sun & Salsa Festival each year is of course, the Salsa Competition! Each year, the various businesses in the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone(BRZ) compete to make the best Salsa. Visitors can buy chips during the festival at the special chip tents and then visit one or more of the salsa stations to see which one they like best. Visitors would then go online to vote for their favourite Salsa, and the winner would receive a prize.
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This year however, was unique in that the festival organizers opened up the Salsa Competition to outside vendors to participate. As a result, there were even more stations(22) and some unique ones such as some of the Ward 7 Alderman and some radio stations, who each had their own special recipe. I was only able to try 6 of the salsas, but make sure you check out the festival website for more details and the this years winners!

Salsa Stations:

1 Shine FM

2 Peppino’s

3 Sam’s Bar & Grill

4 Molly Mallone’s

5 Original Joe’s

6 Anejo Restaurant

7 Kensington Jugo Juice

8 The Yardhouse

9 Winebar & Brasserie Kensington

10 Fresh Is Best Salsa Company

11 Cococo Chocolatiers, Inc

12 Kevin Taylor 4 Ward 7

13 Osteria de Medici

14 Julio’s Barrio

15 Oaktree Tavern

16 The House Coffee Sanctuary

17 Marathon Ethiopian Restaurant

18 Sunridge Nissan

19 Alderman Druh Farrell, Ward 7

20 Broken Plate/Midtown

21 Flipp’n Burgers

22 Sunnyside Natural Market/Sidewalk Citizen Bakery

23 Second Cup
IMG_20130721_130804 IMG_20130721_131036

Sun & Salsa Experience: Stages

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This year’s Sun & Salsa Festival was a blast. There was so much to see and eat that 6 hours was just not enough. If you weren’t down in Kensington on Sunday, then you were missing out. From dancing to music to salsa, it was just an all around amazing experience to go and celebrate the day in the community. This year, the festival was set up into 6 stages:

Stage 1: Cultural Stage

Stage 2: The Evolution of Urban Dance

Stage 3: Car2Go

Stage 4: Open Streets & Shop Task

Stage 5: Street Performers

Stage 6: Street Performers

It was really cool to see how that while each stage had a distinct feel, they all combined to create that distinctive Salsa festival feeling. Some of the highlights included the Car2Go VIP zone, which showed off many smart cars in action, and there was also a challenge to parallel park a smart car into tight spaces! Then, of course, were the various street performers: there were human sculptures, magicians and freestyle dancers, all of which brought in the atmosphere of the day. Lastly, are the vendors: there were many familiar companies and organizations(too many to name), but it was also cool to see some new start-ups and local vendors in the festival as well!

Check out the pictures below:

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Sleepless Nights.

Disclaimer, this post is extremly cheesy and very personal. If you get bored or happen to fall asleep reading it, just look at the pretty gifs.

Have you ever just had one of those nights where you just can’t seem to fall asleep. Those nights where no matter how hard you try to hit the hay, something always seems to clutter your mind. You know, those late nights, where all you can ever think of is something that you may have done wrong or memories of the past you wish to relive. Those nights where your mind begins to dream, yet you are awake, and those dreams are actually figments from the past.

This has been my problem for quite some nights now. I’ve been having sleepless nights just thinking about the strangest things. Things that would never even cross the sanest of minds. Things like, have I turned the lights off in the hallway, which actually came first, the chicken or the egg, if I were to drink 6L of water would I explode? And for some reason, you just always seem to have the urge to go to the bathroom. And when you do, it’s when you just got comfortable in the bed. Then later you realise, you didn’t actually need to go to the bathroom.

My mind has been having problems and has always seemed to be cluttered. Past the midnight hour, my mind would wander off into the abyss of my thoughts. Exploring thoughts I never actually had before. Thoughts that often lead to the greater question of the meaning of life. Thoughts that would later become sweet memories thought to be forgotten.

These memories become alive in the darkness of my room. Only light peering through is the moon’s silvery face. And in her eerie light becomes my past. The past where I get to watch it all in front of my eyes. I’ve remembered memories of my childhood. Days when I’d get scared whenever I’d eat a fruit seed because I thought that a tree would grow in my stomach. Days when I would play with every toy so I wouldn’t make the rest jealous. Days where I’d watch the raindrops on the windows fall. I remember memories of friends and great experiences I had watching fireworks and seeing the moon rise over the mountains.

I’d remember them, yet no matter how sweet. The memories just get darker. And once I go deeper, I realise all the bad things I’ve done to people. This wakes me up from the fantasy and returns me back to the idea of insomnia. After not having slept for two days, it occurred to me, the internet was the best way to find a cure. They say in psychology, dreams are remnants of the subconscious. According to Freud, stress or some anxiety was keeping me awake. Buddhism calls for meditation in times of concious clutter. The idea of clearing ones head to make sense of everything.

Seeing no other choice, I tried it just to see what would it bring me…It brought me nothing. I know meditation works in the best of times, yet no matter how hard I’d clear my head, new memories and thoughts would overwhelm me and slowly take centre stage in my head. Then I realise, what if Freud was right. What if these memories and thoughts were just something that distracted me from what was truly bothering me. Was it some stress or maybe an anxiety. Or maybe I just missed someone.

I guess, I didn’t miss this person in the sense I thought I did. The thing is, when we miss people, I guess it consumes us and often times, I guess makes us miss that person more. I realised that, though friends are gone, they never leave. It was through those memories, the things my mind was trying to remind me of, that though we are separated, we touched each others lives in profound ways. That is the legacy that everyone has on the world. The one day where we imprint so much happiness onto someone’s life, that it slowly becomes them and changes everything about them. I guess my mind had it right all along. I guess it was speaking and I just wasn’t listening. I guess I didn’t want to listen. I realised that separation was something we’d all have to deal with. Those memories though, will always stay, and that is what united us.

The late night is never meant for those who are in love. The late night isn’t meant for those who are happy and content. The late night is meant for those who have nothing but sadness and fears. The late night is a time where all those fears and sad thoughts come to gain true insight. Where those thoughts could be rationalised and complied into a grander truth. I guess, while everyone had their blissful sleeps, I wonder how many people stay awake at night having the same situation.

Just a thought. Quite a sad thought actually, yet just as well. Bottom line here is, just hope you have a wonderful day. And hopefully a wonderful night and a great sleep.

Easy DIY Iced Chai Tea Latte

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“One sip and you might just feel like you’ve been magically transported to India. In the middle of a snow storm.”

                                                                                                                     -starbucks website

Summer is in full swing, so here is a delicious recipe for an iced chai tea latte! I was recently introduced to the wonders of tea, and right now one of my favourites is chai tea – try the Tazo Organic Chai Filterbag Tea for a convenient way to enjoy this exotic-tasting tea.

 

I love the iced chai tea latte from Starbucks, so I was excited to find that the recipe was so easy. I’ll definitely be making a lot of these, especially on the hotter days of summer!

 

Iced Chai Tea Latte

Ingredients:

Starbucks at home!
  • 2 chai teabags
  • water
  • milk
  • ice
  • sweetener

(that’s it.)

You can change the amounts of these ingredients depending on your taste. However, I suggest around 1/2 cup of water for 2 teabags, because the tea should be stronger since you will be diluting it with milk and water.

 

Instructions:

  1. Brew your tea as usual: Pour boiling water over your tea bags, then allow to steep for around 5 minutes. 
  2. Add your sweetener to the tea. Sweeten to taste.
  3. Fill your glass halfway with ice.
  4. Pour the tea over the ice – it’s starting to sound yummy, isn’t it?
  5. Fill the rest of the glass with milk.
  6. Drink immediately. (Not that you could help it.)

 

That’s it!

I have also heard that this works well with other strong flavoured teas, such as black tea or earl grey.

You can also make warm tea lattes by omitting the ice, which makes for a nice comfort drink. This way, you can take this drink into the frigidity of winter as well!

Before you go and try this, here is a simple trick that also works with other iced drinks. If you make another serving of the drink, pour it into an ice cube tray, and freeze it, you will get drink cubes that won’t dilute the flavour of your drink. It’s yummy and practical. Try it on the next iced drink you make!

I hope you try this out – it’s a fantastic recipe and great for summer.

 

Enjoy!