What's an absolute staple in Korean  street-food? Sweet and spicy rice cakes--ddukboki. We enjoyed this dish while walking the busy streets of Myungdong, and boy, were they tasty on a cold winter's night. :)  This dish consists of cute cylindrical rice cakes, fish cakes, and veggies. You can make it your own by adding in ramen, ham, etc. Although we like spice, we add ketchup in ours because this adds smoothness and sweetness. It's up to you.

Recipe @ http://www.tastymealsathome.com

A reason/excuse for our absence. :)

 

So after getting burned alive a couple months back (read previous entries for more info), I began to religiously slather myself with sunscreen. For the past few years, I've been using a brand named Clarins for my face. It has 30 SPF, and I was pretty happy with it....until...
until...
until...
until...
until...
(ok i'll stop)
until...I saw this article that was titled, "Most Sunscreens Either Useless or Unsafe."

I was immediately intrigued, and clicked on it.

Well, the article stated that most leading sunscreens like Banana Boat and Neutrogena barely made the list of the top sunscreens recommended by EWG (Environmntal Working Group, a nonprofit company). Matter of fact, I think only a couple of their many sunscreens made the list of the 103 recommended products.

At the end of the article, there was a cool link http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/findyoursunscreen.php?brand_id=188&query=search+terms that led me to a page where I could look up almost all the sunscreen products out there in the market. It gave me the risks and benefits as well as the latest investigations about the ingredients in a particular brand name sunscreen.

Out of curiosity, I looked up my precious Clarins product and was incredibly saddened by the results. In terms of sunscreen effectiveness, it was given a high rating. However, the health hazards rating was dismal. Most of the ingredients in the sunscreen were not FDA tested and there were things that were linked to cancer, and all sorts of other yucky things. :(

After reading the article, I decided to invest in a better sunscreen and become more aware of the ingredients in cosmetic products.

I encourage EVERYONE to take a sec and look up their sunscreens,,, and just be aware.... ok? please do this for me. :)