Silly inventions

I can't believe people actually thought of inventing these things... Full article here.

1) Cups & Cookies - It can hold 2-3 of your favorite cookies, and there are cups made for both right and left-handed people.


2) Transparent Toaster - Helps you keep toast from burning by allowing you to see it browning.

3) Toilet Seat Lifter - Hold your foot down on the pedal for as long as you need to pee. I guess it's kind of cool that it's hands-free .. more sanitary that way.



4) Light-Up Car Slippers - For those of you who get up in the middle of the night and need help getting to the bathroom without tripping over something, slip your feet into a pair of these and the LED lights will help guide your way.



5) T-Shirt for the language-challenged- Donde esta el bano? Lose the risk of butchering a language while you're abroad and just point to your tshirt! Hahahaha....

Sugar Up & Over-dose

I was talking to Catherin today about how much I like the new Starbucks Chocolate-Banana Vivanno smoothie and how it's actually not too bad for you: 270 calories, 6g fiber, 21g protein, and only 28g sugar for a 16 oz size. It's pretty tasty too, since you can tell that the banana is actually a real one, unlike the stupid frozen ones Jamba Juice uses....

I wanted to compare how these stats stood in comparison to Jamba's drinks, so I looked up the nutritional info for the two drinks that I got a few Mondays ago.

Caribbean Passion, Original Size:
420 Calories
4g fiber
87g sugar

Pomegranite Paradise, Original Size:
340 Calories
2g fiber
76g sugar

OH. EM. FREAKING. GEE.

I consumed 161g of sugar in ONE DAY from freaking Jamba Juice alone!!!!! 4 g = 1 teaspoon, 12 teaspoon = 1/4 cup... so really, I ate up 1/2 cup of sugar from those drinks.

I was probably sweating sugar out that week... *shudders*

289 times...at least

In the Bible, God is referred as "Sovereign LORD" 289 times.

LORD, (actually 'Yahweh'), is so holy of a name that the writers of the Bible didn't dare write it down but instead opted to use "LORD." 'Yahweh' is God's proper name, just as my proper name is "Nancy Wu." Given the significance of names in the Bible, it is especially important when we discover that Yahweh, God's name, means "I AM." God just is. . . He doesn't depend on anything else to exist; He just is, He has, and He will be.

Now, dictionary.com defines sovereign as "supreme power and authority," but I feel like Doctor Steve's description from AMI has more oomph and oooooh to it: Sovereign means that nothing can happen without first passing through God's hands.

So now, here we have an all-powerful, all-loving God who IS and at the same time controls all things in our lives and in this world. Take this statement to be absolutely and infallibly true, and apply it to our lives. This is huge! Like, really mind-blowingly huge! Every little part of my life has been in God's control this entire time, and it will continue to be for the rest of my life. It's even more assuring because I know that God acts in a way that is all-loving for me, giving me exactly what He knows is best for me.

So why am I writing this post at 1:45 in the morning? Today, I found out a lot of stuff that is going on with my family, and I guess I just wanted to process it all ...

With the recent earthquake in LA (no major damage, thankfully), a really serious car accident in the family (please, please pray!!), and just all the kinks that come with transitioning and living far apart and in new environments, I have to cling onto the promise that God is sovereign. He is absolutely in control of my life, of my aunt's life, of my family's lives. . . When Jesus says "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14:1), I can let my heart rest at peace with all the chaos going on because I believe in a God who is trustworthy and sovereign over everything. I have that promise, not just 289 times repeated to me on paper, but infinitely fulfilled for me here on earth and into eternity.

Read this!

Excerpt from Chapter 14 of Revolution in World Missions, by K.P. Yohannan:

Asia makes up the vast majority of 3.8 billion hidden peoples who are being missed by traditional missionary efforts and mass media evangelism. They are most lost of the lost -- trapped in utter spiritual darkness.


I am not trying to minimize the social and material needs of the Asian nations, but it is important to reemphasize that Asia's basic problem is a spiritual one. When the Western media focuses almost entirely on our problems of hunger, for example showing all these pictures of starving children on TV, it is difficult for Americans not to get the false impression that hunger is the biggest problem.


But what causes the hunger? Asian Christians knows these horrible conditions are only symptoms of the real problem -- spiritual bondage to satanic philosophies. They key factor -- and the most neglected -- in understanding India's hunger problem is the Hindi belief system and its effect on food production. Most people know of the "sacred cows" that roam free, eating tons of grain while nearby people starve. But a lesser-known and more sinister culprit is another animal protected by religious belief -- the rat.


According to those who believe in reincarnation, the rat must be protected as a likely recipient for a reincarnated soul on its way up the ladder of spiritual evolution to Nirvana. Though many reject this and seek to poison rats, large-scale efforts of extermination have been thwarted by religious outcry. As one of India's statesmen has said, "India's problems will never cease until her religion changes."


Rats eat or spoil 20 percent of India's food grain every year. A recent survey in the wheat-growing district of Hapur in north India revealed an average of ten rats per house.

Of the 1982 harvest of cereals in India, including maize, wheat, rice, millet and so on -- a total of 134 million metric tons -- the 20% loss from rats amounted to 26.8 million metric tons. The picture becomes more comprehensible by imagining a train of boxcars cars carrying that amount of grain. With each car holding about 82% metric tons, the train would contain 327,000 cars and stretch for 3,097 miles. The annual food grain loss in India would fill a train longer than the distance between NY and LA.



The devastating effects of the rat in India should make it an object of scorn. Instead, because of the spiritual blindness of the people, the rat is protected and in some places, like a temple thirty miles south of Bikaner in north India, even worshipped.

Clearly, the agony we see in the faces of those starving children and beggars is actually caused by centuries of religious slavery. In my own beloved home of India, thousands of lives and billions of dollars go into social programs, education and medical and relief efforts every year...



The real culprit is not a person, lack of natural resources of a system of government. It is spiritual darkness. It thwarts every effort to make progress. It dooms our people to misery to both in this world and in the world to come. The single most important social reform that can be brought to Asia is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over 300 million of my people have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. They need the hope and truth that only the Lord Jesus can provide.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty....I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

John 6:35, 48-51

Priority #1 isn't more food programs or charities -- the world needs Jesus.

Eat and eat till you're replete

When I visited the French Culinary Institute a few weeks ago, they gave me a grand tour of the entire school, including their 5-star restaurant where their students cook up fantastic meals for the public. They invited me in for a meal for 2 (on them), and I happily obliged and promised them I would make a reservation soon. So this past Wednesday, Mallory (a huge foodie) and I had the privilege to dine and feast at L'ecole for free!

We went in expecting a good meal, but what we received was mind-boggling VIP treatment! There were so many moments when Mal and I just stared at each other in disbelief. We were placed in the corner window seat, treated with complimentary chilled Fiji water, and even though we had already chosen our 5 courses, they brought out additional dishes "on the house" for us to try!!! Oh, the joys of being "special guests of the school." ^_^

Their baguettes are considered the "best in the city," and Mal and I tried not to fill ourselves up with this amazing bread... Thankfully, they brought out a complimentary beef tartar for us to eat before our appetizers came out. Raw meat never tasted so good.

1st course: Appetizers
Gnocchi Parisienne with Fresh Peas, Grape Tomatoes and Parmesan Reggiano
Five-spice Marinated Duck Breast with Pickled Cherries and Goat Cheese (YUM to the max!!!!)

They also brought out an extra appetizer just for fun: Shrimp, Tomato and Basil Pizza (the shrimp were ginormous and super fresh!)

2nd course: Fish
Fillet of Bass with Creamed Corn, Fava Beans and Grilled Squid in a Spiced Lobster Broth
Sautéed Diver Sea Scallops with Oyster Mushrooms and Sweet Curried Carrot Sauce (the scallops were the biggest scallops I've ever seen in my life -- 2-3 inch diameter!)




3rd course: Meat
Beef Tenderloin with Pomme Fondant, Cremini Mushrooms and Red Wine Reduction
Leg of Lamb with Sweet and Sour Black Pepper Sauce, Potato Gratin and Baby Bok Choy



And..they brought out an extra vegetarian dish as well! Carrot ginger soup and a sandwich...




4th course: Digestive Salad
Arugula, Peach Sorbet, and Ricotta Cheese


5th course: Dessert + Coffee

All of the desserts looked pretty good, and I was indecisive about which one I wanted. I asked Mal, "Hm. If I say that I can't decide between two, do you think they'll just bring out both for me?" I gave it a go, and when the waitress heard my dilemma, she said "Why don't we just bring out both for you." O M G. We were both like O_O "SERIOUSLY?!" To make matters even crazier, she asked us if we wanted their "really good" coffee or cappuccino, "on the house, of course." We both ordered a latte, decaf. Yum.

Chocolate-Almond Cake with Lemon Cream
Fruit Soup with Vanilla-ginger Ice Cream (the ginger hits you afterwards!! =D )
Apple and Cherry Pie with Cherry Sorbet (Don't be fooled by the humble name. It's actually a "deconstructed pie". The apple was wrapped around this cream filling and you eat it together with their cherries and granola "streusel topping" -- BEST dish of the night)



All in all, we were both ridiculously satiated with food and we felt gluttonous for eating 14 dishes between the two of us. Hahaha... Thank you, French Culinary, for a wonderful meal and mind-blowingly awesome experience!