One Piece Boxes ($14)

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Furikake Panda ($4)

“Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering — because you can’t take it all in at once. “

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”

“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.”

“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.”

“If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all.”

“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.”

“Your heart just breaks, that’s all. But you can’t judge or point fingers. You just have to be lucky enough to find someone who appreciates you.”

“When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that’s when I think life is over.”

Original image from kaaaates[dot]tumblr

Twig & Thistle are sharing these adorable DIY Valentine Fruit Stickers. My boyfriend is definitely getting a  ”We make the perfect pear!” and  an “Orange you glad you’re my valentine.”

Anyways, she linked an article on her twitter entitled “Complementary medicines can be dangerous for children”. As a strong advocate of CAM and integrating CAM with allopathic medicine, I had to read on and yes, there were points that I just had to comment on.

Complementary medicines (CAM) can be dangerous for children and can even prove fatal, if substituted for conventional medicine, indicates an audit of kids’ CAM treatment published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. But parents often misguidedly think CAM treatments are better for their children because they are “natural” and therefore less likely to have harmful side effects, say the authors.

I want to start with defining complementary and alternative medicine or CAM. Complementary medicine is medicine that is used with allopathic medicine, and alternative medicine is medicine that is used instead of allopathic medicine. What I want to point out here is that medicine is still medicine. “Natural” medicine is still medicine, and you should treat CAM and allopathic medicine with the same level of seriousness.

Secondly, “every action causes an equal and opposite reaction”. I push you, you fall back. I take antidepressants, and there may or may not be side effects of headaches, nausea, increased/decreased appetite, increased/decreased sleeping, etc. I use ginger root, and there may or may not be side effects of heartburn, lower blood pressure, and decreased ability to form blood clots. Natural treatments still work by having some kind of biochemical or physiological effect on the human body.

Furthermore, I would like to emphasize the fact that using herbs or remedies that are associated with the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine without the direction or supervision of a TCM practitioner is not using Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is analogous to taking any pharmaceuticals without the approval of a medical professional.

In over three quarters of cases (77%) the adverse events were considered to be probably or definitely related to CAM, and in almost half of cases (44%) the paediatricians said the child had been harmed by a failure to use conventional treatment in favour of CAM therapies.

This is where there can be a disconnect is between patients and doctors. Some doctors insist on allopathic medicine when some parents want to use traditional or natural medicine. The key to have doctors who are trained in both – physicians with an allopathic medicine background that understands natural medicine enough to integrate the two into their practice. As an advocate of CAM, I do not shun modern western medicine – I embrace it. But I do believe that the two types of medicine excel in different areas. Traditional whole-medicine systems medicine such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or ayurvedic medicine are generally better in things like the prevention of disease, and integration of nutrition into everyday life. Modern western medicine excels at intensive-care cases like when I need surgery or when I fracture my ankle.

The best medicine isn’t the use of one modality over another. The best medicine is the integration of different modalities that is tailored to each patient’s individual needs.

Love Actually (2003)

This is one of my favorite movies of all time – and it was set around Christmas. It’s one of those movies where there’s a bunch of separate stories but all the characters are somehow connected. There’s the platonic love, the secret crush, the stale marriage, the familial love, and of course — romantic love that pulls at your heartstrings.

Millions (2004)

I saw this one back in the day with my favorite cousin and kid brother at the artsy theater in town. Another story about the what’s really important in life, and like Love Actually, it’s not really a Christmas movie but a movie set around Christmas time. It even has appearances from everyone’s favorite Catholics saints like St. Peter and St. Francis of Assisi.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

A classic. It rhymes and has the best character designs.

A Christmas Story (1983)

“You’ll shot your eye out!” A classic story to reminds us about a time when we still asked Santa Claus for what we wanted for Christmas.

A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Everyone knows this Dickens story but what better way to revisit it than with Jim Henson’s muppets and sing-a-long songs.

Humankind is shaped by its experiences with societies and people—real or fictional.  The world-renowned Sherlock Holmes has captured the hearts of billions, including my own.  Somehow Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has created a global delusion that his sleuth is a work of non-fiction.  Many people are taken back when told that Holmes never lived at 221B Baker Street; as I am taken aback when people claim that he must have once walked the streets of London.

Perhaps it was his impressive display of wide-ranging knowledge that convinced his admirers of his existence.  His extensive command of chemistry and law has dazzled his fans.  Furthermore, his practical comprehension of politics, botany, geology, anatomy, forensics and cryptanalysis completely made up for his unfamiliarity with literature, philosophy and astronomy.  More than just brains, he was an unquestionably skilled violinist, boxer and fencer.  Not only was he a logical, deducting machine, but also a master of disguise—often able to fool his colleague Doctor Watson.

To set a balance in Holmes, Doyle flawed his creation.  As talented Holmes was he was also one of the most callous, sardonic, arrogant pricks ever.  If Holmes had lived today, he might have been diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder.  He went through periods of severe depression followed by periods of drug-or-Rubik-induced euphoria.  “My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants” (Doyle 1:108).  Even Doyle agrees that Holmes is a monster—attempting to kill off the detective several times.

However as unrealistic as Holmes may be there have been times when I have empathized with the man and even equated his personality to my own.  My brain may not be filled with the same type or amount of information that Holmes carried, but my obsession with knowledge and my love for enigmas are identical.  And although I am not proud to admit it I have been known to be impassive, cynical and egotistical.  But the most salient similarity, and the underlying reason for my Holmesian passion, is that Holmes and I share the same goal—to find the single, objective truth.

Objectivity is essential to the foundation of the scientific method and yet an improbable goal that researchers can only strive for because human emotions and imperfections will spoil results.  Holmes was able to cast aside emotion for the sake of discovering that truth.  The immortal detective has inspired me to follow a similar path—to conduct medical research as objectively as possible.  Although, I may spend my entire life and never discover anything, I hope to keep Sherlock’s enduring motivation to “play the game for the game’s own sake” (Doyle 2:363).  Learning does not present itself as a chore, but rather as motivation.

I love acquiring new information in order to erase any doubts and reinforce prior knowledge.   My mission is not receiving fame for finding some obscure incarnation of the sorcerer’s stone, but rather having the brainwork to give my life meaning.  “I cannot live without brainwork. What else is there to live for? …What is the use of having powers, Doctor, when one has no field upon which to exert them?” (Doyle 1:113).  Holmes has shown me the waste of idle days.  As relaxing as those days may be, perfection removes all excitement from life.  Challenges are a necessity of life -  otherwise we would grow listless with boredom as our minds deteriorate due to inactivity.

Sherlock Holmes is more than a fictional character; he is my passion.  He has instilled a mission into my life—to seek the objective truth.  There will always be more mysteries to solve.  It is only when “the subjective becomes objective and we can say confidently that we have reached our goal” (Doyle 2:546).  Brainwork is essential to avoid idleness.  As humans age, amyloid-beta proteins build up causing the growth of plaque in dendrites, which are like “branches” of neurons that receive information.  Learning stimulates the development of dendrites.  However, idleness hinders dendritic-production, leaving us essentially brain-damaged.  To avoid that fate brainwork needs to be integrated into my daily life.

My boyfriend suggested that I was inspired by Vienna Teng. At first, I retorted saying that I did enjoy her songs but I did not think that they inspired me. (Me enjoying her songs is a big understatement by the way, my twitter name – @thetower is for her song “The Tower“, likewise the name of this blog comes from her song “Feather Moon“).

In any case, I thought about it, and then I realized that I did admire her or was inspired by her but not just because of her music.

Vienna Teng was a Computer Science major at Stanford. She graduated with her B.S. in Computer Science and went on to get a programming job in the Bay Area. But she wanted more do more than just work in a cubicle, so she began to focus more on her music ~ and then she went on to make many CDs that fangirls like me play on repeat.

I got to go to a Vienna Teng concert in Santa Monica earlier this year. It was amazing to finally get to see Vienna Teng and Alex Wong play live! But more importantly, it got me on this Vienna Teng high that lead me to resubscribing to her blog. It was through her blog that I found out that she’s was going (now gone) back to school to study sustainable enterprise.

This is why Vienna Teng inspires me. She makes me believe that I can study a lot of things in my life and be a lot of different things. I know Vienna’s parents asked her a lot of the same questions that my parents are asking me now. “What are you going to do with neuroscience?” “What are you going to do with nutrition?” “Will you be able to get a job with that?”

I see Vienna as a person who finds her passions and goes with it. And I know that there’s a line between passion and practical, but she makes me think to myself “hey, she’s okay. I’ll be okay too.” ~ And that is why Vienna Teng is on my Facebook profile as one of the five people who inspire me.

I wanted to jump into the conversation but then realized that I couldn’t pick out just a few favorites. All my teaware, tea accessories, and coffee accessories are dear to me because of one reason or another.

Teapots:

IngenuiTEA: My first teapot was the IngenuiTEA from Adagio Teas. I got this my first year of college when I first got into tea. This is the perfect teapot for your dorm room or work environment. I loved having this teapot in the dorms because it was durable and microwavable. Likewise, this was my favorite teapot to use at my lab until we finally invested in a electric water kettle. The downside to this teapot is that you can’t remove the leaves from the water so oversteeping was an issue until I got a cotton filter to use with the pot. That way I could remove the teas once it was done steeping.

Glass teapot: My second teapot is my favorite teapot. It was a Christmas present from my father so it’s very dear to me. But it’s also the most perfect size for “tea for one”. This glass teapot wins with its simple and elegant looks.

Cast-iron teapot: My third teapot was a gift from my boyfriend’s mother. It’s a simple cast-iron, but is perfect for long nights studying because it keeps my tea very warm for a very long time. I also love that I can reheat it by simply putting it back on the stove. I believe it was purchased from World Market, an amazing store with all sorts of cute steals.

Glass Pitcher: This is a the Handy Cooler from Lupicia. Perfect making large quantities of tea like for… a tea party or when you make to make a large batch of iced tea to keep in the fridge.

Tumblers:

Tea tumbler: This is the best frickin’ tea tumbler ever. The infuser design on this thing is amazing, because it prevents oversteeping and allows me to reuse the leaves throughout the day. It’s also microwavable and made of out BPA-free plastic (so it’s durable enough to keep in my backpack). It’s closes very tightly too so I don’t worry about it when it’s in my bag. I haven’t had a spill incident yet!

Coffee tumbler: This was my previous tea tumbler. It comes with a removable strainer but over the years it started to taste like every other tea I’ve put it in there. So it’s become my coffee tumbler, which is perfect because it’s amazing at keeping its liquids really, really hot for a really long time. I put my coffee in there at 8:30am and I open it up at around 1pm (which is when I usually get sleepy in the afternoon) and it’s still hot and ready to wake me up.

Mugs:

“Birds” mug: This is my favorite mug for tea. It’s decorated with rows of birds that look like they could be carrying tweets. It was a Christmas present from my roommate of three years. And it has a habit of getting tea-stained and cracked inside which makes it very nostalgic for me.

“Lab” mug: This mug resembles a lab beaker and most importantly it’s holds my special “hot water with lemon and honey” drink that is known to make all me and my roommates miracously better when we catch a cold.

“Quotes” mug: This was another gift from my boyfriend’s family. I like this one because of it’s larger size. It’s black with some inspirational quotes in rainbow colors. This mug usually holds my non-tea drinks: coffee, hot chocolate, hot cider, etc.

“Sunrise” mug: A favorite due to just its awesome size. I stole this one when I went to my parent’s house once. It’s a company-branded bug, my father works at Sunrise Telecom.

Tea cups:

Gaiwan: This is my most frequently used teacup, and my most personal one (in the sense that I’m usually the only one that uses it). I love this this one because it is a gaiwan so it has the matching saucer and the lid.

Glass teacups: This is my favorite tea cup “set”. These are double-glass tea cups so they’re perfect for keeping the tea warm and still being cool to the touch. They were a gift from my favorite cousin.

“Tea party” teacups: These twelve teacups (six of each design) were bought by my friends to be used for the themed tea parties that I host.

“European” teacup: This is my only European-style tea cup. I love it because of it simple design and color. It was a lot harder to shop for this cup when one might expect ~ we miraculously found this one in the clearance section of Macy’s.

Other accessories:

Milk/creamer pitcher & sugar bowl: This adorable set came from IKEA and I just adore it. The milk pitcher is a perfect size and I really like that sugar bowl comes with a lid unlike some other sets. But most of all I love the flower design on the set and the fact that it matches with my “European” tea cup and saucer. I’ve been getting more acquainted with the world of milk tea, since I’ve been having tea time more and more with my British friend. This milk pitcher is perfect for the whole milk, and well I don’t take any of my teas with sugar so it actually hides my lighters and candles for my tea pot warmer.

Tea Pot Warmer: This was a steal at $10 (at World Market). It’s cast-iron, so it keeps my tea very warm, very well. When used with my cast-iron tea pot, I can have the same pot of tea going for hours. This is especially usual for milk tea as milk tea is always the best when the black tea is boiling hot.

Thermometer: Normally for green teas, I just wing it ~ but every now and then, I brew some green tea with extra love and care for the leaves or my guests.

Strainers: We have my awesome cotton strainer (from Lupicia), the mesh metal strainer that came with my tea pot, another mesh metal strainer that came with my first tea tumbler, and my laser-etched strainer (from For Life). I normally use the mesh strainer with cast-iron my tea pot, cotton strainer with my glass tea pot and other small mugs, and the laser-etched strainer for larger mugs.

Penguin and Jack: Penguin holds all my napkins and Jack … is my trash can. He holds my strainers and left-over leaves.

Teaspoon: I measure my tea by the teaspoon. This teaspoon always sits in my tea cabinet ready for use.