Becoming a Survivor Fan (Again)

It's been a long time since I've written a blog post and writing this now even feels a little foreign to me. I've been tied up with work and summer school, but hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon!

I wanted to do a post about Survivor because season 31 is currently in production, and the theme is Second Chance. Essentially, Survivor is bringing back past contestants to compete for their "second chance" at the 1 mil. The castaways that were chosen were voted in by Survivor fans.

I remember watching Survivor as early as the fourth grade, when my dad was rooting for Rupert on Pearl Islands and I laughed in his face when he got voted off :). Eventually I stopped watching the show, but a couple years ago I started getting into Big Brother, which, by association, brought me back to Survivor. I started on season 28 because I heard it was great (and it really, really was!) and I've been watching since. Given the new twist for next season (second chances), I wanted to familiarize myself with the players I missed out on so I could hopefully know some of the back stories of next season's players.

I decided to watch season 26 Blood VS. Water first because I was interested in that twist, and both Ciera and Vytas from that season are returning on Second Chance. Apparently, the public consensus on 26 is that it was kind of lame, but personally I really enjoyed it. I loved watching Hayden, whom I was familiar with from Big Brother, because his spat with Tyson over "rustle feathers" and the ensuing tribal council where they had to pick rocks was simply one of the greatest moments in reality TV, in my opinion. Ciera voting out her mom was great. Tyson picking up the win was great. Overall, I thought it was a pretty satisfying season.

Then I decided to watch season 25 Philippines, because working my way backwards, 25 was the next season with a returning contestant on Second Chance: Abi-Maria. While Abi-Maria was kind of frustrating to watch, it's always cool to see a villain in their element. Granted, Abi-Maria's form of "villain" was not strategic, she was just mean. Still, she caused drama which always makes for great TV. I thought 25 was pretty "meh" overall, but it did introduce us to Malcolm Freberg who is now one of my all-time favorites. It's always nice to have a cute, unproblematic white boy on reality TV.

As for the season 25 winner, do I think Denise deserved it? Sure, but I think Lisa deserved it more. The only thing that cost Lisa was her constant squabbles of "good vs. evil" and "finding herself" on Survivor that distracted the jury from her gameplay, which was actually so on-point. Lisa was a constant swing vote which put her in a great position, she discovered Malcolm's idol and made a play out of it by saving her closest ally Michael Skupin, she eventually blindsided Malcolm, and basically, she wasn't at all the sheep that everyone made her out to be. The second best choice was Denise, sure, but I'm sour on Denise because of the insensitive way she berated Abi-Maria at that one tribal council. You'd think a therapist would know better.

My third season to catch up on was 18, Tocantins. I really enjoyed seeing JT, Stephen and Taj as a power trio, and I think JT definitely deserved the win in the end. Yes, he did get a lot of strategic help from Stephen, but he absolutely crushed the final tribal council whereas Stephen pretty much choked. Stephen is going to be on Second Chance and I think he has a fairly good shot at going far if he can get his ducks in a row early on. Tocantins was also the first season we met Coach and Tyson. Coach was absolutely awful, and yeah, so was Tyson, but at least Tyson was strategic.

I then decided to watch what is widely considered the best season of Survivor ever: Heroes VS. Villains. What an awesome season. It was my first time seeing Boston Rob since I used to be a fan back in elementary school. It was my first time ever seeing Russell and Parvati play. Overall, it was super satisfying. Parvati was my favourite player of the season by a long shot. I love how she used Russell to her advantage, and her double immunity idol move was epic. I feel like women often get the short end of the stick in this game, but Parvati is just such a force. I have to say, I even enjoyed watching Russell play. For him not to get one jury vote was kind of sad to me. As for the winner, I thought Sandra was a poor choice. Yes, Survivor is about social game, but in my opinion the jury should reward big, risky moves, and Parvati should've won. Don't get me wrong, I like Sandra, but her game was much safer. I guess that's what happens when we're left with a jury full of big egos.

It's kind of embarrassing how many seasons I've burned through already, but I recently finished Cook Islands too, and I totally loved it. At first I was weary of having the tribes split up by ethnicity (Asian, White, Black, Latino) and I thought it was just going to dredge up racist remarks and cultural insensitivity, but it was actually so nice to see more diverse representation on this show that usually comprises of mostly white people. The final four consisted of two Asians, a black woman, and a Mexican man, which is a great win for cultural representation in media. Saying goodbye to all the butthurt white men along the way (namely Jonathan and Adam) was super satisfying. I thought Yul was a great winner, and Ozzy a great runner-up. And of course, I loved watching my fav gal Parvati on another season.

Right now I'm watching Survivor China to see how Peih-Gee fares, since she's going to be on Second Chance. So far, so good!

Big Brother Canada 3: Thoughts so Far

(OMGGG I wrote this a week ago but forgot to hit post... Please excuse my stupidityyyy!)

We're more than halfway through the season and I haven't written a blog post about BBCAN3. I think it's because the season has been so up-and-down in terms of which side of the house gets power, and there are so many game-changing twists that make it really hard to keep track and form a solid opinion about what's going on. It's way different than season 2 where about mid-way, the "evil" side of the house lost power and basically fizzled out from there. This time it's a bit more of a ping pong match.

Last night was a TRIPLE EVICTION, which is absolutely nuts. In the end, I really enjoyed the concept because it proved where everyone's head is at, and it forced them to start playing more strategically. (Spoiler alerts ahead)

Brittnee won HoH (yay!) and nominated Zach, Kevin and Pili. I really think she should've nominated Bruno. I know her goal was to split up the couples, but Bruno, individually, is a much bigger threat than a couple at this point. He's so sneaky, he manages to get in everyone's ear, and he has a way better understanding of the game's mechanics than, say, Zach or Pili or Ashleigh. Bruno is playing a game almost identical to Derrick's, just slightly worse, and it's really frustrating to watch because everyone falls for him. To see Bruno win would be a huge bummer.

So then, as it goes, Bruno wins POV. It was a Big Brother gift for Brittnee to win HoH, so naturally Bruno had to win POV to balance out the good. I guess with this season you can't have too much of a good thing. But it wasn't all bad - Bruno's goal is also to eliminate the couples (as he made clear for the past couple weeks), so it didn't make sense for him to use the POV. The vote would be simple. Everyone would save Pili and the biggest physical and social threats, Zach and Kevin, would be evicted. Except Bruno DID decide to use the POV.... On Zach?! On his number one target? WHY!!!

These are the things that annoy me about this game now. Everything is so fast-paced that you don't have a chance to see if/when allegiances shift. Everyone's a flip-flopper. I miss the Big Brother seasons where it was simpler and clearcut as to who was working with who, and who everyone's enemies were. Remember when Janelle literally could not care less about the majority, stuck to her guns, and worked closely with Kaysar knowing full well he was public enemy #1? Those were the BB days!

Alright so Bruno uses the POV on Zach, and Brittnee decides to nominate Willow in his place. Another head-scratcher. Why Willow? We discovered prior to the nominations that Brittnee didn't trust Willow. Fine, but Sarah trusted Willow and Willow trusted Sarah, so presumably Brittnee could use Willow to her advantage and they could work together to eliminate the rest of the house, right? Wrong, I guess. Nominating Willow wasn't a BAD idea, it just wasn't the BEST idea. She should've nominated Ashleigh to further diminish the numbers on the other side of the house.

Then, as if the episode needed one last confusing move, Sarah chose to save Pili instead of Willow, one of her closest allies. I think this was a case of over-analyzing the game to be honest. She figured Zach and Bruno would save Kevin (since they presumably had a bro thing going on) and that God and Ash would save Pili, so she saved Pili to ensure a girl would stay over Kevin. Little did she know that Zach and Bruno saved Willow instead of Kevin, and had she just voted the way she wanted to, Willow would still be there. Even if it came out to a tie, at least Brittnee would have to break it and she would be somewhat in the clear for Willow leaving.

In the end I would consider this triple eviction a half-win. Kevin leaving is just... incredible. So good. But Willow leaving is a little underwhelming. Overall, the season isn't shaping up to be so bad. It's no BBCAN2 but it's certainly better than the past couple seasons of BBUS. Some things are going well, like the fact that Brittnee, a plus-sized WOC, is doing really well in a game that typically favours white men. At this point, I would be pleased to see some combination of Brittnee, Sarah, or God in F2. That would be ideal.

Ultimate FRIENDS Questionnaire

I just finished watching all ten seasons of Friends on Netflix and, let me tell you, I am emosh. It took me a few months to get through but it was worth it. I don't think there is any show on TV currently where the characters warrant that kind of emotional viewer attachment. Seriously, I felt like I was saying goodbye to my 6 bffs! It's ten seasons long but I guess that's what makes it special: you don't feel like the plotline is rushed and you get to know each and every character. I found this "challenge" on Pinterest and thought I would roll them all into one post. OH and, spoiler alert. I ruin the whole show.

Favourite season. I'm really not sure what my favorite season is considering I watched them straight through on Netflix. 

Overall favourite character. My overall favourite character is Rachel Green. She, by far, showed the most character development. She went from being annoying and jobless to having baby Emma and getting a high-profile job at Louis Vuitton. I literally felt proud of her by the end! I felt proud for a fictional character!

Chandler, Joey, or Ross? It has to be Joey. 

Rachel, Phoebe, or Monica? Rachel, for the aforementioned reasons.

Overall favourite couple. Honestly, Richard and Monica. Even though I feel like it's blasphemous to say anything other than Chandler and Monica or Rachel and Ross, Richard and Monica were just top notch.

Favourite Monica boyfriend. Richard!!!! Bless Chandler but I was seriously hoping she would end up with Richard.

Least favourite Monica boyfriend. Pete. He was a freakin' weirdo and they were not cute together.

Favourite Rachel boyfriend. My mind says Rachel and Ross but my heart says Rachel and Joey... (Tag is a close third because he was definitely the cutest).

Least favourite Rachel boyfriend. Sadly Rachel dated a lot of duds but my least favs have to be Joshua (JoshWAHHH) - I also didn't like him on The OC, there's just something off about him. Also, duh, Barry.

Favourite Phoebe boyfriend. Look, I know it's controversial not to say Mike, but come on: David! He was so cute and I was waiting forever for him to come back from Minsk so they could be together. Dumb Mike got in the way :(

Least favourite Phoebe boyfriend. The one that shot a bird... What was his name? Gary? He was so gross.

Favourite Ross girlfriend. I mean, I have to say Rachel because she's my favourite overall character, but aside from Rachel I would say Julie. She was really decent and they were super compatible. Also Mona, but Ross completely ruined that.

Least favourite Ross girlfriend. Charlie. Gosh, I hated how she ping-ponged between Joey and Ross, and then ended up ditching Ross for that Nobel prize loser. Elizabeth and Emily are up there too.

Favourite female secondary character. Three words: "Oh. My. GODDDD." Janice, of course. Every time she appeared was my new favourite moment of the show to be honest.

Favourite male secondary character. Gunther! He provided the lifeblood of the show: Central Perk!

Least favourite female secondary character. Definitely Rachel's sister Amy. Bleh, she was horrible. In fact, anyone from Rachel's family was pretty bad.

Least favourite male secondary character. I think I'm gonna go with Phoebe's half brother. I mean, he was soo ill-equipped to be having a child, let alone three! Ah he was just so cringey.

Favourite Rachel hair. When she first started to wear it long and straight. 

Least favourite guest star. I wasn't crazy about Brad Pitt's guest star role if I'm being 100% honest. It was kinda lame haha.

Favourite Phoebe song. Aside from Smelly Cat which is just iconic, I would say the one where she wished them all happy holidays. "Monica, Monica, have a happy Hannukah.."

Favourite wedding. Mike and Phoebe! It was so nice that they had it right outside Central Perk :)

Who are you most like? I guess I would say I'm most like Monica in terms of competitiveness and appreciation for food... But I don't have her anal retentiveness, that's for sure.

When did you start watching? I had seen episodes here and there on TV, but I started watching all the seasons in full last Christmas break.

Most touching episode. The one where Monica found out she couldn't have babies. I may have sobbed.

Funniest episode. What's coming to mind is the episode that Chandler goes to Yemen to escape Janice. "15 Yemen Road, Yemen" Hilarious!!

Favourite moment. I don't know if I could pick one moment only, but I loveddd when Phoebe challenged Ross about evolution and nearly crushed his soul. So good.

On a break or not? Yes, I think they were on a break. But it's both of their faults that the parameters of the break were not clearly defined! Obviously they had different expectations!

Favourite actress/actor. Jennifer Aniston!

Did you like the way it ended? Yes, I do like the way it ended. I don't think they could have ended it any better. The only thing is I think Rachel should've gone to Paris and if Ross was really into her, he should've gone too.

MAC Modern Twist Lash Chlorafill Lime Mascara

Recently I thought I would treat myself to some new makeup so I hit up the MAC counter. My intention was to try out the Studio Fix liquid foundation, but the MAC lady decided it would be good for me to try on an entire makeup look...

You know, MAC is sometimes too overwhelming for me. All I wanted was to be color-matched for foundation and the lady insisted on doing my whole makeup. It's fine, I like having my makeup done and I wasn't going to object, but sometimes too much is too much. I felt quite pressured to spend lots of money on products I didn't need, and her disappointment in me saying I only wanted the foundation confirmed it. I get it, the goal is to sell products, but overwhelming the customer in the process is probably not a good idea.

Anyway, she insisted on trying out this god-awful lime green mascara on me, so I'm here today to implore you not to buy it.

Just look at this crusty Shrek mascara. Why MAC decided this would be a fun color for a mascara is beyond me. It looks like mold grew on my eyelashes.

The idea is that you put on black mascara as a base for the lashes and then coat them with the green, but it turns out it just becomes a clumpy mess. The only plus side is that the brush is quite interesting and it was nice before she added the snot, so I would actually consider buying this mascara in black. Or heck even in purple or navy! But the lime? Definitely not. And DEFINITELY not for $24... Are these people crazy?

And in case you're wondering what came about from the foundation, well she sold me a shade that was way too orange for my skintone. Either that or it oxidized weird after wearing it for a while. You can probably tell I'm a little less than thrilled with my experience at the MAC counter.

Clips From February 2015

Since I'm too shy to vlog properly, I thought it would be fun to make short videos every month, containing a one second-long clip from every single day. I thought this would be a fun exercise because it's super easy to keep up with, and editing took me no longer than about 20 minutes.



February, overall, was pretty dull. It snowed like crazy and midterms got the best of me towards the end of the month. On a positive note, however, I celebrated my 22nd birthday with my family on February 25th, and I bought myself a few gifts!

I'm super excited to be starting March, because that means it's one month closer to spring :)

Target Canada Liquidation: Thoughts and Haul

The sad time has come. Target Canada is closing its doors. Unfortunately the American chain didn't do so well here, likely because the public's expectations were quite high. I don't think Target execs realized the fact that Canadians shop in the States so frequently, and are aware of how great Target is there, because when it arrived here we were welcomed with barren shelves and pitiful lack of variety. They failed to recognize how much we know and love American Target. They didn't prepare themselves well enough to have new and exciting products shipped over. They opened too many stores too quickly. They jumped right in when they should've had a test run first.

That said, I reasonably enjoyed Target Canada. Yes, it was poorly stocked half the time, but I did find certain items that I thought were worth buying. They had a great little home decor section, and stocked Elf and Sonia Kashuk in their makeup aisle. I found my use for Target, but apparently the same can't be said for the rest of the Canadian population. It's a real shame that they couldn't get it together, but after they announced their closing I knew that meant they would begin putting everything on sale, which I was definitely excited for.

A couple days ago Target advertised a massive liquidation: everything in the store was marked down to 10-30% off... Wait, 30% off? That's considered massive liquidation? I suppose they're going to gradually mark the prices lower as the store reaches its end, but it's still sad that they couldn't even get people excited for their final hurrah in Canada.

That said, I ended up buying some goodies because I figured I better take advantage while Target is still around. Here's what I bought.

Of course I hit up the makeup section and was pleased to find out that the cosmetics were 30% off (the better end of the sale spectrum), so I took the opportunity to buy three old favourites: the L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base, Essie Good To Go top coat (from $8.99 to $6.29), and Maybelline Stiletto Liner. I also got the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara and the Maybelline Age Rewind concealer which are new products for me.

Then in the home decor section (20% off) I found these interesting "sea urchin" wall decorations (from $19.99 to $15.99) that I thought would look cool in my room. Also from the home decor section (not pictured) I picked up a plain wooden 5x7 picture frame (from $5.99 to $4.79).

Finally I got this set of three shelves (from $24.99 to $19.99).

I think the sale was worth it for home decor and makeup because home decor is already quite inexpensive at Target normally, so at 20% it's even more worth it, and 30% off makeup can make a sizeable different so I took advantage. I'll probably end up going back in maybe a week to see if the sales got any better. But for now... RIP Target!