A few days ago, we had a craving for Korean food. There are a lot of Korean restaurants within the GTA but we decided to go to somewhere that requires less traveling. One of the restaurants we usually go to is Gabin, located at Steeles Ave and Silver Star Blvd (within the boundaries of Scarborough and Markham). It's a small restaurant with a nice atmosphere. It offers wide choices of food including hotpot, stone pot foods, appetizers, lunch combos, bento, and mini Korean grill (it's nothing like the round Korean grills you normally see in a Korean grill house). The food is quite decent. I notice that when you go during busy hours such as lunch time, the meal portions are less than when non peak hours. The price is decent as well. Below are some of the foods that they offer. I usually get their bibimbap but after trying out Tsuki Izakaya's kalbi bibimbap, I didn't want to eat other bibimbap out there; well, at least for the time being I didn't. In addition, I decided to opt for something a little different.

I recently purchased the Milk Calcium Pack from The Faceshop about a week ago. I have perviously tried the Tony Mony Milk Calcium Pack and it seemed to work well. So, I decided to give this pack a try. It costed $2, and consisted of 10 'fingertip gloves'. The sales associate had recommended that product, and claimed that it really worked well in smoothing rough cuticles.

Just a disclaimer: I do NOT take care of my nails (other than doing the usual cutting the nails regularly.) I do, put nail polish from time to time but not as often. I have never tried 'pushing/cutting' my cuticles, nor have I gone to a nail salon for treatment. SO, my ideal form of nail treatment may vary from others greatly.

Prior to applying the Milk Calcium. My cuticles look a bit dry and chapped.

Putting the finger slips on

After application

Inside the package:

I recently received Face It Aura Color Control Cream SPF30/PA++ as a gift from Tin. I have been eyeing out this cc cream from The Face Shop for awhile now. It retails for about $40 CDN. Since it was a boxing day sale season she got it for a discounted price of about 50% off. What a steal! Yay! It comes in three shades: 01 light beige, 02 natural, 03 medium beige. I am reviewing the 03 medium beige shade.

It's very compact, which can be easily carried around your purse.

You can see the sponge applicator/puff resting on top of the separator.

A swatch of what the shade 03 medium beige is against my skin. During the summer this shade blends in well with my skin tone.

What it claims to do:

• It creates a radiant and brighter skin tone. 
• It has a darkening-proof formula that last 12 hr long
• It has a silver vine complex which creates a skin brightening effect

Directions:

1. Pump 1-2 times to release the formula.
2. After skincare, apply evenly onto the face in a light tapping motion using the enclosed CC puff.
3. Do the same for touch-ups.

Before I start, I would like to say that my skin is not perfect. My skin complexion varies on the season. It can get really dry during harsh winter climates and very oily during the summer. I have tried this during winter, at both times when my skin reached its peak of dryness and oiliness.

Tsuki Izakaya is not an authentic Japanese restaurant. It does not have an all-you-can-eat option as well. Despite its name, it is not specifically all Japanese food. In fact, they serve Korean food as well. Their Japanese dishes, has more of a Japanese style mixed with Korean style. I would say that their food is good. In addition, they have a wide variety of alcoholic drinks from both countries. With that being said - yes they do have soju, and they do have plum wine. I have never tried their alcoholic drinks but perhaps when I go back there I will. Now the location. It is located at Leslie and East Beaver Creek in Thornhill/Markham area. I went there for dinner when it was not packed. Overall the atmosphere was nice. It can be romantic for couples and fun for a group of friends wanting to catch up with life. The service was good. The lady that served us was nice, friendly, and helpful.

Below are pictures of some of the food that they serve. From the pictures you can see that they use red/purple rice rather than white rice. I have only seen those used in Korean dishes before and never in Japanese dishes until now.

"Dragon's Den" Combo $18 - half size of Dragon rolls of Tuna, Salmon, and Avocado

Spicy Dragon Roll $13 - tempura shrimp, avocado, pickled pepper, cucumber with spicy tuna on top

Takoyaki

Kalbi Bibimbap - it had the red/purple rice rather than the normal white rice.They have other options of bibimbap such as tofu and beef.

Crispy Chicken

Wasabi Tako - raw octopus, wasabi and nori (seaweed)It's spicy a bit.

grilled fish

It started about three years ago, where I started building a certain routine where I would sleep at 4:30 am, and when I had no errands the following day I would often oversleep. Now, I'm not the best person for these kind of things. However, I'd like to share some tips and tricks I have noticed that work lately for me (If I put my mind to it I mean).

1. Don't have your phone near by.  If you use it as an alarm clock, fine. But place it opposite to where you're laying down. When I sleep, I charge my phone on  the right side of my bed in return I turn towards the left side my bed so I don't see my phone at all. Sometimes even placing it on a night stand far away from you helps because it teaches you to get up and shut that alarm off :) thus you avoid hitting that snooze button.

2.  Don't stare at your phone all night. We live in a technology world,  and sometimes we don't seem to get our hands off of our cellphones. There are nights, I tell myself 'okay 5 more minutes .. turns out I have extended that 5 minutes into 4 hours'. Did you know there are studies that show computers and cellphones contribute to decrease sleep, the screen alone makes us avoid feeling sleepy. Yes! That's right. So, stop staring at your phone and follow the rule above.

3. Stating the obvious DON'T drink any caffeinated drinks at least 5 hours before bed.  I don't think there's an explanation needed.

4. Laying down half an hour before the time you plan on sleeping. This may be hard for workaholics who believe that extra hour counts, but if you're someone who wants to be on time and get your full 7 hours of sleep then try doing this. Example - You want to go to sleep at 10 pm and you plan on getting up at 5 am, you should be laying down in bed at 9:30 pm. Take note - be cellphone free. Lay down, relax and let your mind be at ease. Eventually before you know it you'll be sleeping. Not to mention you'll definitely feel rejuvenated in the morning!

5. Squeeze time to work out. Given that working out helps in healthy living, it also promotes a better night sleep. You're hitting two birds with one stone!

6. Chamomile Tea. Drinking Chamomile tea an hour before you sleep helps. Chamomile is known for being beneficial in relaxing the brain and apparently helps with nightmares. Not too sure about nightmares, but when I really want to wind down I brew some Chamomile tea an hour before I sleep, and then I brush my teeth later. I find myself less tossing and turning in bed, before you know it I'm catching zZZZ's.

7. Have a warm bath.  Before going to sleep, have a warm bath/shower, doing this helps relax the muscles and definitely helps you wind down.

All these tips definitely help in getting a good nights rest enough to make you feel fresh in the morning. Hope some of you find these tips helpful!

Szechuan Chicken Lettuce Wrap for $12.40

Avocado & Lobster Cobb for $26.95 - Lobster meat with crisp bacon, hard boiled egg, crouton, salad, cherry tomato, and a poached shallot dressing.

Chicken Carbonara for $18.75

My family and I headed out to this local asian cafe, called Destiny on Saturday. I decided to take some pictures of the food, deserts, and drinks we ordered.  Destiny is a wonderful place to go to if you're in the Scarborough area however, there is another branch located in the Richmond Hill area. What I like most about Destiny (aside from the bubble tea), is the ambience of it. The interior design of the cafe makes the place look very classy, and chic giving that 'lounge' type feeling. I've seen a lot of teenagers and young adults appear in the cafe but that doesn't mean older adults are prohibited.

French Fries for the little one who was with us :).

I didn't eat the Seafood Fried Rice here, but it costed $8.99

I was the only one who wasn't so hungry since I ate some BBQ (guilty!) prior to going. So I ordered Caramel Ice Cream Bubble Tea. It's quite a lot for the price you are paying. $6.99.

The Deep Fried Mushroom for $7.49