Winter All Over Again

There's wind  advisories out for the SF Bay Area this week, but it seems like we need frost advisories as well.  With the temperature significantly dropping from last week's,  I can see my breath clearly as I talk or breathe.  Outside is freezing 🥶 and we can see plants, cars, and more covered with ice.  Honestly,  I don't know how I was able to survive my morning walk earlier given that I did 5 miles. I really don't know. 

Suddenly, It's Fitness Time

Never did I imagine I would one day start working out.  I've worked out before but nothing like what I've been doing for the past three and a half weeks.  It's not as much but it's been a great deal for me.  Morning walks at least three times per week with a minimum of two miles per day.  This week is a little different though.  Besides my cardio routine, I added some strength and resistance training as well.   Burning the calories also meant toning up, making it a necessity to incorporate that with my cardio exercises. 

Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Meteor Garden: A Netflix Original

 Who remembers that famous Taiwanese television series, Meteor Garden? For avid Asian Drama fanatics like myself, of course I remember! The series is based on the Japanese shojo manga series titled Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio. The series was so popular that Netflix released a Chinese remake of the said series. Let me tell you, the remake version is so much better than the first! It's cuter, more romantic, and funnier all together!

The story revolves around an ordinary girl named Dong Shancai, who got accepted into Ming De University, the country's most prestigious school. She comes from a loving and tight-knit family who barely make ends meet. She clashes with F4, an elite clique composed of the four most popular boys in the university, especially with Daoming Si, F4's spoiled, rich, and arrogant leader. As the story goes on, Daoming Si realizes that he's falling in love with Shancai only to find out she actually likes one of his best friends, Huaze Lei.

The group refers to her as "a weed that can never be brought down." She begins seeing the good personalities of each of the F4 members and slowly became friends with them. She and Daoming Si eventually falls in love with each other but is opposed by Si's mother due to Shancai's social standing being totally different from theirs. Facing many challenges in their relationship, the love and bond grew stronger and only one can guess what the ending would be.

Disney Plus Streaming Service

As a lifetime Disney fanatic, I was extremely excited when I learned of Disney releasing its own streaming platform – the Disney+. Finally, all of its films in one place! I simply couldn’t wait to have signed up for it.

They offer a couple of membership plans. One being about $8.00 per month. This plan includes ad-free access to all of the service’s streaming titles. There is also an annual plan for $80.00, which gives you the same access as the monthly plan. Subscribers can also choose the Disney Bundle plan, which includes Disney+, Hulu (ad-supported), and ESPN+ for $13.99 per month or with Hulu (no ads) for $19.99 per month. Seems to be all worth it for me! My subscription is the bundle since I already have Hulu before the release of Disney+, so I might as well as have ESPN+ as well for only a penny more.

With all that’s included in the plan, I have been enjoying all the streaming I get from it. What I don’t particularly like and understand though is that, for certain movies Disney releases on Disney+, they’ll require not only a paid subscription, but also an additional $29.99 on top of you monthly subscription fee to view the Premier Access movies. The thing is, I understand if they’d charge a fee to nonsubscribers to view such movies but what is the point of paying for your subscription if you’ll have to pay extra for certain titles released? A $29.99 fee to watch a newly released movie in addition to my monthly subscription is just too much. At that price, I just choose to wait until that particular “Premier Access” movie becomes just another movie added to their collection, just to avoid any additional fees.

To me, an extra charge for Premier Access is a bit ridiculous and I refuse to pay extra knowing I already have a service subscription. Let me ask you, if I may, is Disney+ and its Premier Access fee all worth it? Would you pay extra on top of your subscription?

My Life

     My life started when I gave birth to Sophia on August 27, 2010 at 09:05pm. At the age of 11, she’s full of life and wisdom beyond her youth. She’s as loving and caring as she is sweet and kind. Sunshine and happiness is what she brings to anyone she encounters.