I figured that a fun way to learn to read/write Chinese (Simplified) characters and expand my vocabulary is to learn some Chinese songs. So for every 10 online/textbook lessons that I complete, I’ll learn the lyrics to a song. Understanding what each word/phrase means and how to read/write the characters. Why Simplified instead of Traditional? No real reason except for that it’s easier to learn….i think i’ll eventually learn Traditional, but only after I’ve gotten a good grasp of Simplified.

My first song will be sung by 刘若英, titled ��. The video uses traditional characters, but still works well.

 

There’s a national fast-food mexican chain that offers fish taco’s (and chips) for $2.99.  It’s a pretty good deal, if you do it right.  Here’s how:  Pick soft shell (so you can cram more veggies in there).  After observing the people in front of me, who got their tacos wrapped in aluminum foil (this told me that I could have a super-large soft shell taco because it’d be wrapped up nicely).  Ask for only some cheese, but load up on the veggies (lettuce, cucumbers, cilantro, tomatoes, jalapenos, etc), and skip out on the sour cream.  When you unwrap the aluminum foil wrapping, some of the toppings and veggies will fall out, which makes for a great mini taco salad on the side.  Not a bad deal, considering it only cost $2.99. 

A lot of people automatically assume that a smoothie is high carb, high calorie.   But it doesn’t have to be.  You can enjoy a healthy fruit smoothie and still watch your carbs, calories by eliminating the sorbets, sherbet, and ice cream.  You can also substitute the juice with low calorie, low sugar juice (sugar substitute) such as the Ocean Spray Light juices, or just use more ice if you don’t mind it being less sweet.  Some smoothie places offer smoothies with a lower calorie, lower sugar base.  Don’t forget, a healthy fruit smoothie usually has at least half of the daily recommended fruit servings.  So drink up!