Japan

Photos: vending machine, Nagoya Castle, one of the temples at Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, orange wonder, sake at Meiji-Mura in Inuyama (Frank Lloyd Wright!), fancy traditional Japanese dolls.

Hong Kong

Photos: holiday display, stumbled upon a crustacean, Sham Shui Po, lollipops! (with the notorious Chungking Mansion in behind), top of Sha Tin shopping mall, snowflake.

I liked [...]

Albums Played

1. Kaleidoscope Heart -Sara Bareilles

2. As I Call You Down -Fistful of Mercy

3. Tron: Legacy -Daft Punk

4. Flags -Brooke Fraser

5. Flight of the Crow -Passenger

Movies Watched

1. Toy Story 3 -Disney/Pixar

2. Tron: Legacy -Disney

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 -Warner Brothers

4. Inception -Warner Brothers

5. Alice in Wonderland -Disney

Inspiring People

1. Emma Watson -actress/model/Brown collegiate

2. Mark Zuckerberg -founder/visionary architect/engineer of facebook

3. JK Rowling -writer/HP/lovely lady

4. Shaun White -pro athlete/Olympian/conquerer of all heights

5. Jason Mraz -musician/fellow blogger/revolutionist

Places Visited

1. Australia: Gold Coast, Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney (Summer 2010)

2. United States: summer home in Hawaii (Summer 2010)

3. Japan: Nagoya, Kyoto (Winter 2010)

4. United Arab of Emirates: Dubai (Fall 2010)

5. United States: road trip to Bridgeport (Fall 2010)

mistletoe

Santa and Mrs. Claus. One of the many fanciful festive displays in Hong Kong.

Merry Christmas!

fall semester 2010

Finals are finally over. Grades are posted. I couldn't be happier as I walked out of WEB into twilight, the fading sun and the lake reflecting behind the city lights. There were goodbyes, words exchanged and heart felt gratitude. I celebrated with friends over dinner and ice cream. Another year, another semester and we made it. A bittersweet ending.

tron: a look into the future

Tron is a world I've envisioned before, where modernism and surrealism build an electro city, illuminated with neon lights. 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Star Wars, pays homage to Back to the Future and introduced to Tron. This is an intense off your seat venture into digital love. I fell in love with Sam Flynn (played by Garrett Hedlund), mesmerized by a second avatar reality and lost for words by Daft Punk, the ingenious electro orchestrator behind the Tron soundtrack.

how the day sounds

I am bursting with energy after laughing non-stop with one of my dearest friends. And after all the sugar (chocolate chip cookie + berried n' chocolate), I am infinitely ten folds happier to no end.

::sidenotes: My heart is in Nantes. We love Charlie!

real art

Three hours of art modeling, restless stillness in a qipao and six artists painting me. I've now lived the definition of art is subjective. There were several other interpretations of me; this painting looks sur(real) and strikingly resembles me in a photograph.

winter is here

{photo taken in winter 2009}

There's something about winter I really love. Snow, snowfall, snow in the valley and mountains and snowboarding. An eminent sparkling winter wonderland appears again with the winter air. I'm bundled up in layers, looking like a marshmallow, while marshmallows melt in my hot chocolate. At home, I'm in my thermals and fleece pajamas. Going out to conquer a blizzard, I snowshoe wearing my boots, sometimes worn with neon tights and warm leggings. Sitting by a fire or at least pretending to with the heat blasted up, I listen to winter songs. And then I'm off again, frolicking in the snow.

on the road (like jack kerouac)

{The view from my window in the studio.}

I just wrote a song from my soul, one of my best songs yet involving fingerstyle guitar, open tuning and stomping. The untitled work in-the-making still needs lyrics, reverb, chorus and other effects. In all, I lurve this feeling of creating and this one small step towards an album.

Song influenced by: Led Zeppelin, John Butler, Elliott Smith, oldies and classic rock.

prelude to (thanks)giving

image via Laura Berger

Life is full of the unexpected and more complicated than I thought.
Yet despite everything, I'm still grateful for all the little and big things.
Family, friends, good health, to be alive, an education and music.

Everything was made to be.

into the ocean {coming soon}

I've been searching, trying to find inspiration to write songs. And...I think I'm close to finishing a song! I have the lyrics, chords for the verse and the backbone of the song. Now I need instrumental accompaniments, a keyboard and drums. I can't wait for how the rest is going to sound. Je suis très heureux!
Inspired by summers at the beach from the islands of Hawaii to the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand.
Song influenced by: Jack Johnson, Donovan Frankenreiter, Mumford & Sons, Brooke Fraser, Noah and the Whale and Beirut.

future album cover

Inspiration at 2 am. Photos from back in May.
Elliott Smith. Writing songs. J. Australia.
Twilight Concert Series. Chromeo.

as of lately...(pt. 2)

I have my own music studio to play in! Starlet red lipstick is a sure traffic stopper. Fall weather. Beginning to love the band, Beirut. Love Boy + Bear. Happy distractions. J.D.R. Driving to Sugarhouse and having a front row seat of life. Doing things I would usually never do or say.

it's not even 2011 yet and baby, I've got plans

Moving out of the house, at least for a summer.

Destination: somewhere pretty.

Dubai

Ski Dubai: -4 degrees Celsius

Hookah cart at the Souk

Burj Al Arab: dreamy sailboat

Atlantis Hotel: The Palm

Arabian Gulf

Dubai reminds me of Star Wars; the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) in the sky and modern architecture defying the limits of design. Experiencing the unbearable heat and humidity prove there are endless possibilities to building anything, especially when you see Ski Dubai. I am in awe with this futuristic, faraway city.

Bridgeport

Trace Inn: antiques off the wall

golden leaves

Red Hill State Park: a lake reflection of autumn

There were churches with no one inside, barns marking the miles that passed and mailboxes lined up on the edge of the road. Driving along, we landed on a unpaved, dirt road and rocks sputtered underneath our tires. Over the phone, I yelled to my brother, "we are in nowhere man's country! And...I just saw a yellow butterfly." That's the kind of road trip it was, on a two hour drive from Effingham to Bridgeport, Illinois. All I can say is that it was well worth it. I was beginning to like road trips and understand the true meaning of country road, take me home. I visited a friend, who I haven't seen for two years since Germany. Fall was in the air, the leaves were turning crisp brown and there were clusters of red, orange and gold in the trees. The smell of a campfire, standing in front of that lake and being surrounded by fall, my mom, a real friend and along with new friends was all I needed in that moment.

St. Louis

Gateway Arch: Thomas Jefferson

bicyclette carriage

Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher steamboats
(feat. Tom Sawyer)

sew vintage with a needle and a thread

blow dryers in the front window of a barber shop

Some highlights and things I did:
listening to Elvis Presley
reminiscing on reading Mark Twain
traveling back in time
pho & dulce de leche gelato
Jack-In-The-Box run
being Will Smith in I am Legend
zombies in the dark

a time traveler

I think back to the beginning of summer, when the world seemed to make sense in notes, rhythms and rhymes. I think of J and how much I missed him then. I still miss him now and the way we were. Yesterday, there were unexpected tears. Words were said and I realized I lived under an empire of tyranny. And instantly, I wanted to go back to the beginning of summer, back to the place I once knew and loved. Then I thought of today, an indescribably, better and brand new day. This guy went entirely out of his way to open the door for me. I met new people and another guy had said to me upon meeting, that it was entirely serendipitous, and it really was. Although I like to say I'm tone deaf in learning Mandarin, I had a few good laughs over speaking and translating a foreign language. A new friend waited for me after class. These past weeks at night, I've walked by soft shadowy blurs cast down by a streetlight. I am fazed by bicyclettes. I just smile by thinking about this idea of love, the person who might possibly like me and the person I am mad-head-over-my-heels about. I'm already looking forward to next week, a reunion with a dear friend on an exchange in Illinois, possible globe trotting and world exploring. I can't wait. I live in the past and I live in the future. I've had my share of days that seemed to go right and days that seemed to go unbelievably wrong. There's no where I'd rather be than here, this moment, in the present and all the while being nostalgic, time traveling to the past, future and back.

one word: love

photo via lovelife

Oh, vanilla bean frap ice cream...I love you. I love you Thursdays. I love you Fridays. I love you weekends. I love you sunny afternoons. I love you Ringo. I love you the-person-who-makes-me-happy. I love you hardwood floors. I love you Room 306. I love you homemade meals and desserts. I love you laundry detergent. I love you messages between friends over the airwaves. I love you real letters from real people. I love you friends and family around the world, at home and everywhere. I love all of you, really. Love love love.

All you need is love. I'm in love with life and I just can't hide it.

a real life toy story

In Toy Story 3, Andy leaves his fond memories of childhood and well-loved toys behind for college. Then came along, a real life toy story. I lived a dream come true for Andy or any kid at heart out there. I actually got to take my toys with me to college, in the library. I used Legos to teach biology. I never owned Legos until now and so I was quite ecstatic to play. Even if the other students thought they were too cool to play with toys again, I enjoyed every moment of it.

musique! listening to + swooned by

Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More

Joshua Radin - Streetlight

Brooke Fraser - Something in the Water

Chromeo - Don't Turn the Lights On

William Fitzsimmons - The Sparrow and the Crow

Elliott Smith - XO

Album Releases

Sept 14 2010 - Chromeo - Business Casual

Oct 12 2010 - Brooke Fraser - Flags

Oct 12 2010 - Joshua Radin - The Rock and The Tide

it's official

For a little less than a year, I've been thinking about and wanting to be a biology ta. Now my dream has come true. I am a bio ta! And I couldn't be more grateful to have this opportunity.

Oahu

swimming with turtles in North Shore

crash into me during sunset

sun-soaked perfection

a distorted reality in the waters

"it's the Black Pearl!"

A two week retreat back to our home away from home in Hawaii.

Some highlights and things I did:

Swimming with sea turtles

Giovanni's

Snorkeling at Waimea Bay

Beach hopping in North Shore

Sunset Beach

Kayaking at Kailua

The Black Pearl docked at KoOlina

Beach bum

Playing my guitar every morning

on the balcony with an ocean view.