impressionism

Playing: Out of My League-Fitz and the Tantrums
Rereading: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

When school let out for the winter holidays, I went off with a Tina, Taylor, and Sophie to go hiking. Usually, we would celebrate by getting lunch and then going shopping for an excessive amount of time, but we decided it was better to do a less expensive activity. We found ourselves at the Fish House Market & Grill for lunch, where we ordered their self proclaimed famous fish and chips. Everything about the restaurant was very average. There was nothing wrong with the place, but there was nothing exceptional either.

Left to Right: Tina and Taylor

Afterwards, we went to Irvine Regional Park, which was our desired location. We did the completely touristy thing to do and rented some of these bicycle things to go around the lake on. With the autumn appropriate weather and the yellowing leaves, it felt like we were part of an impressionist painting.

It's odd how Irvine Regional Park has wild peacocks just walking around the park. You would never guess that Orange County had wild peacocks, but sure enough, here they are. At school, it's winter formal asking season, so boys are going out of their way to ask girls to the dance. Since we were watching peacocks court peahens with their display of feathers, we all joked around that it was winter formal asking season for them too.

Left to Right: Sophie, Taylor, and me

Pretty much for the rest of the afternoon, we hiked over boulders and Tina even forced us to go to the top of a cliff, which was a pretty tiring thing to do. Sorry about not posting for over a week, but my internet connection has been very slow and it's been almost impossible to stay connected for more than five minutes. I think I may have some pretty decent posts coming up soon (lots of food pictures). Happy New Years! What's your New Years resolution?

california dreaming

Playing: Submarine (Full Album)-Alex Turner
Reading: Dolce and Gabbana Convicted of Tax Evasion by Manuela Mesco and Giada Zempano

Left to Right: Sarah, Me, and Rebecca

Yesterday was the last day of school, so I met up with Sarah and Rebecca like I did last year. We're trying to start a tradition of some sorts. Sarah took the bus down to my high school and then we drove to Rebecca's house to grab her before heading off to the only Lollicup we know of that serves food. After a heavy lunch of popcorn chicken, potato twists, and sugary drinks, we decided to do something healthy and go to the beach to celebrate our Californian rights to a beach at all times.

We ended up at Balboa Peninsula because I've been watching a lot of Arrested Development lately and because Balboa is one of those places that you cannot visit during the summer a lot due to horrid traffic. There are so many tourists there that I feel out of place sometimes. It was so hot the day we went that we went into the ocean up to our waists despite the lack of swimsuits. For the past week, I have gone to the beach four times and I have not come prepared any of the times. Each time has been spontaneous, so next time, I'll have to plan on going there and bring my bathing suit with me.

Once we were completely soaked and smelled like the ocean, we walked along Newport Pier so that we could sit down and dry off. Unfortunately, we ran out of time on the parking meter, so we had to leave and we all felt too lazy to keep walking around Balboa.

We ended up at Sprinkles Ice Cream, since Sarah and Rebecca have never tried it before. Instead of the Sprinkles Sundae, I got a double scoop sundae with Cherry-Vanilla Ice Cream and fresh whipped cream this time. Unfortunately, the cherries weren't evenly spread throughout the ice cream, so it felt more like vanilla ice cream with sour cherries acting as more of a topping than anything else. The whipped cream didn't have much flavor, which was pretty disappointing. If you have suggestions for amazing ice cream places in Southern California, let me know and I would love to try them. Afterwards, we went to Fashion Island to walk around at before going home and unfortunately, the cute guy that worked at American Rag Cie is no longer there. He will be missed. How is your summer going?

joyride

Playing: Burning Pile-Mother Mother
Reading: Exclusive: John Galliano, in First Interview Since Firing, On Addiction, His Outburst, and His Future in Fashion by Vanity Fair 

Yesterday marked my last day of real school. The next few days will consist of final exams and yearbook signing, not to mention the mourning of all my favorite seniors graduating. Sophie and I celebrated by going on an adventure throughout Southern California. We first stopped by Sprinkles, which Sophie has never been to before. Normally, I don't like Sprinkles, but their Chai Latter flavor was actually pretty good.

Afterwards, we drove right down the street to the Newport Beach Public Library, which is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever stumbled upon in Orange County. If you like clean lines and modern architecture with big open spaces, this is the place for you. They're opening a cafe within the library soon, so it'll be a great hangout area one day. Plus, it's within walking distance to the shopping center that has Sprinkles, so you can grab lunch in that shopping center.

Since we were so close to Corona del Mar, we decided we might as well go visit it anyways. We spent a lot of time exploring the tide pools and looking at all the cute houses down there. Corona del Mar has two popular beaches, one for tide pools and one for swimming and having bonfires. I'm hoping to have a huge bonfire over summer here, but all the fire pits are taken by 10 a.m. so I probably won't be able to get one.

Our next stop was South Coast Plaza because we were running low on non-food places to go to. Sophie wants to be a design student, while I hope to work in the fashion industry, so window displays are the perfect thing for us to look at together. I can't get over how perfect Louis Vuitton displays always are. They're like works of art all on their own. Their displays always make the clothes look great, but also manage to be whimsical and beautiful at the same time.

We ended the day by going to Diamond Jamboree because we couldn't think of another place to do purikura in Orange County. I haven't been to Ajisen Ramen in so long, so I forgot how good their Premium Pork Ramen is. The pork manages to be juicy, fatty, and a tad crispy, while the soup is really creamy and flavorful. However, I still think the noodles taste kind of odd and Santouka Ramen is still at the top of my list for great ramen. After dinner, we ran out of money and didn't end up doing purikura, so we'll have to plan another day for that. Sorry that I have been missing from the blogosphere. I've been busy studying and being sick, so I haven't been up to much at all. Hopefully, summer will bring about a boatload of better posts.

LA's Grand Park

Playing: Mr. Tambourine Man-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lately, I've been going to Los Angeles a lot. Since my dad went to UCLA, he knows a lot of places to go to. For lunch, he took my mum and me to Mitsuru Cafe, which is supposed to be classic Little Tokyo. I figured if it's been in Little Tokyo for several decades now, it must be good. I ordered the Pork Udon, which was surprisingly tasty despite the plain presentation. The broth had a nice porky flavor to it in addition to the normal vegetable broth and the serving size was huge. After I ate lunch, I also grabbed some dango to-go from there and I highly recommend it. It's hot, sticky, chewy, and incredibly delicious.

After lunch, I explored downtown Los Angeles to get a look at LA's Grand Park, which I've been reading about on a plethora of architecture websites and in various magazines dedicated to Southern California. Since I used to want to be an architect, LA's Grand Park was the perfect place for me to explore. I wanted to be an architect until I learned that their pay is pretty low. USC invited me to an architecture program over the summer, but I can't do it, since it's during the same time as an internship I'm applying for. By the way, here I am, in my adventuring clothes that aren't that great for adventuring in real life: an old Burberry sweater, an Ann Taylor LOFT t-shirt, Citizens of Humanity jeans, a Burberry Prorsum purse, and a Gucci silk scarf.

After Occupy Los Angeles, the city redid the whole park, since it was going to cost a lot of money to fix all the damage done to it by the protestors, so the city decided why not just change it completely? I really like how they redid it with all the sleek, angular buildings. The bright pink chairs on the lawn looked vaguely Seussical to me.

They had this wonderful fountain there and an area for kids to play in the water. I really want to come back here with my friends in our bathing suits that way we can lounge in the fountain and get a few photos before we get kicked out for being a public disturbance, since I'm guessing sitting in fountains isn't appropriate even though I saw many people walking through it. At night, there's supposed to be an incredible light show that they do with the fountain, but I didn't stay late enough to check if that's true.

What I really liked about LA's Grand Park was how accessible it was. You literally could walk across all 12 acres of it without feeling tired and walk to Little Tokyo in less than 10 minutes. Everything was done perfectly and the architecture was incredible. I started out from City Hall and then headed towards the LA Opera, so the architecture went from classical to modern to (sorry to say it) outdated. LA's Grand Park is in a pretty safe part of the city too. Since it's a very business oriented part of town, I think it's generally safe from gangs, since there just aren't that many non-businessmen people around. It's also close to the police station, so having a police presence probably makes it safer too. Overall, I definitely want to come back here soon with some friends. The architecture is amazing here and it's just so beautiful. If you're ever in Los Angeles, you have to spend an afternoon exploring it.

I took a lot of photos of Los Angeles that day and if you'd like to see them, click here.

LACMA

Playing: Off to the Races-Lana Del Ray
Reading: Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life by Lisa Chaney

Left to Right: Sarah, Rebecca, and Me

 Last weekend, I took my friends, Sarah and Rebecca, to Los Angeles, so that we could have a day of artsy, urban fun. Before we headed off to LACMA,we grabbed lunch at Johnnie's New York Pizzeria. Amongst the three of us, we had four cameras, not including our phones, which would've made it seven, to photograph our food and activities. Excessive? I think not. We're planning on submitting this photo to Pictures of Asians Taking Pictures of Food soon.

When we got to LACMA, we decided it was necessary to join the toddlers and parents, playing around in the noodle exhibit. Our maturity levels have really skyrocketed recently. Here's a good time for my outfit post: I'm wearing an Urban Outfitters scarf, a silence+noise blazer, BDG jeans, Cole Haan oxfords, and a Burberry Prorsum purse.

We walked through my favorite building at LACMA, which houses all the modern, contemporary, and pop art. Unfortunately, the second floor, which is my favorite floor, was closed due to new pieces being moved in. However, I still love the pieces in this collection, especially the ones that make you think, "What the hell?" It can also be very inspiring for interior decorating ideas, which is probably the last thing an artist ever wants to hear. Seriously, though, I love the quirk factor of modern art.

On the first level of the modern art building, they have these huge rusty metal sculptures that you can run around in like large caves and more importantly, have sporadic dance parties in. Sporadic dance parties are the best only when they have no reason to exist other than for the pure fun of it. They're probably even more fun though, when you're in an interesting or beautiful place. I should go to the desert with a huge group of friends to have a dance party. But then if I plan that, doesn't that make it a planned dance party instead of a sporadic one?

One of my favorite movies in the world is Ferris Bueller's Day Off, so I forced Rebecca and Sarah into reenacting this scene from the movie. Our spacing is a bit awkward and it's a tad too dark, so we'll have to redo this scene at the Getty or at MOCA. Rebecca and Sarah still need to watch the film, so that they'll know what to do and then I can truly act out my Ferris Bueller dreams. Ferris Bueller really is one of my role models. I told that to my APUSH teacher and he told me I need higher standards. It probably didn't help that I told him I also look up to Holden Caulfield.

After LACMA, we visited Whimsic Alley and let out our inner geeks. We decided that Rebecca would be a Hufflepuff, while Sarah would be a Ravenclaw. I would hope to be a Slytherin because Slytherins get what they want and are supposed to be extremely loyal to their friends. (Just as a side note, Slytherins aren't intrinsically evil.) Walking around Wilshire Blvd. is a lot of fun, since there's so many interesting places to eat and there are several tourist traps there plus the architecture there is incredible. It's definitely a must see area for architecture nerds like me.

By the way, there's still time to enter my 250 Follower Giveaway!

The City

Playing: Out of It-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Plane carrying Italian fashion heir Missoni missing off Venezuela by Laura Smith-Spark and Sarah Aarthun

Spent my second to last day of holiday (aka my freedom) in Los Angeles, exploring the area. Originally I had planned out an architect's field trip, so I could check out some buildings I had been eying online. After our first stop, my parents asked if all I had planned for the day was to look at buildings and when I told them yes, they took the day into their own hands and made it more family appropriate. By that, I mean they made it more interesting for the other members in my family. We went everywhere from Melrose Avenue to Santa Monica and I hope to explore a Fred Segal store once my brother goes back to school, since he hates shopping with me. I have officially been back in school for one day and I can already feel my happiness being drained kind of like Harry Potter and the dementors, you know? Since school is back in session, I shall be studying more, which means my blog posts are going to become less adventure-y and more what-I-do-in-my-next-to-nonexistent-free-time.

By the way, I'm wearing miu miu sunglasses (borrowed from my mum for the photo), a BDG cadigan, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, a Marc by Marc Jacobs necklace, H&M jeans, an Alexander Wang purse, and Converse sneakers.

A Very Sophie Christmas

Playing: FALL-Cider Sky
Reading: The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (Not that one...)

My parents ditched me last weekend to go to to a Christmas party, so I had no where to go and Sophie, being the amazing friend that she is, took me out for a day of fun and creativity. She took me to this yoga studio to make Christmas ornaments, which I kind of slaughtered, but no worries, I'm going to try again! I've always wanted to do a themed Christmas tree, so if I were doing one, my theme for this year would be stars and the sky.

Afterwards, we walked around this little ditch area in my town and explored, while dancing to the Cure and the Police. We like to dance a lot and this is one of my favorite photos of Sophie; she looks so happy and like she actually enjoys spending time with me. After we explored for awhile, we decided to catch a showing of Looper, which was so intense, at the dollar theatre. The only complaint I have with Looper is that the makeup artists changed Joseph Gordon Levitt's face too much. Did I tell you about how I went to go see Lincoln for APUSH extra credit and my teacher, Mr. Harrington, sat right next to me? He chucked popcorn at me and now in all his classes, he does Audrey fangirling over Joseph Gordon Levitt impersonations that are painfully accurate. (I LOVE HIS CLASS THOUGH.) After watching Looper, Sophie took me to dinner because she's a nice person like that and then let me bum around her place until my parents came back home. Thanks, Sopher Gopher, I owe you one.

Later on (not with Sophie), I went to Target to buy some Christmas lights and I'm super excited to say that the Target and Neiman Marcus collaboration hasn't sold out, since it's too expensive for Target shoppers and too cheap for Neiman Marcus' audience. I grabbed a Marc Jacobs scarf, which is so perfect and it's conservative enough that I think men can wear it too. During the post-Christmas sales, I'm going back for the Tom Browne blazer! The Christmas cards were just so cute and for Christmas this year, I'm giving heart felt cards. My group of friends is doing a secret Santa and I just wanted to show you how cute the items I bought for Jackie are. (Just don't show her! She doesn't know yet!) The cupcake bath bomb is so cute and realistic looking, while the hand scrub and lip gloss just smell insanely good.

I actually got some requests, which I'm shocked about, to do a separate blog of extra photos from my life such as cute things, my food, and just more photos of well, me. WELL, today's your lucky day, I created a tumblr for all of you (but mostly me) that stores all my extra fun photos that didn't make it on my main blog. So if you like photos of Vivian and me dancing sporadically in Disneyland, attracting a crowd of bystanders, then The World is just for you. Really, knowing you guys want to see more of me makes me feel so loved.

PS I apologize for being a cruddy blogger. Not much of interest has been going on in my life.

In the Middle of the Desert

Playing: Out of It-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

For my birthday, as I mentioned previously, I went out to the desert to explore and be free with my friend, Sophie. From where we live, it took us over three hours to get to Noah Purifoy's Outdoor Desert Museum, which we found out about from a book called Weird California or something like that. I'm quite surprised that the GPS was able to find it, since we had to go along dirt roads to get to it and my GPS has a hard time finding places even in urban areas.

My parents took one look at it and asked why I had taken them to a junk yard, so they hid out in the car. Not to mention, it was below fifty degrees, so they weren't up for freezing to death with Sophie and me. One of  my favorite pieces from the museum was this TV clump that you see as soon as you drive up to it. It would've been great, if all the TVs had different clips going on, but then again, there's no source for electricity there.

There were some shacks there that reminded me of Lost and/or camping conditions that were just a tad more luxurious than that of Chris McCandless' camp out (Into the Wild allusion? Got it? Just checking). The run down shack was a bit creepy and Sophie agreed with me that this place would be rather scary at night. Translation? We get scared way too easily.

Personally, I don't think this museum was meant to be an art museum. I feel that it's a place for exploration and was meant to be a surrealist playground, where you can be free and run around without having anyone judge you. This was one of my favorite scenes there. It looked like a post-apocalyptic town with nods to alien architecture. This is going to sound beyond ridiculous, but we kept on waiting for something creepy to happen. Something about the vibe and loneliness of the area really made Sophie and I wonder.

Luckily, I had my dad there to protect us, since he's probably the manliest guy in my life. Plus, he doesn't mind photographing Sophie and me, while we danced around the area. Oh, here's something freaky: Sophie and I could've sworn we heard a chainsaw going off, so we freaked out and ran off to the other side of the museum. Then we brought my dad to the area where we heard it and no one was there. It was also odd how we saw two other cars there, but we never ran into the other tourists.

And one last photo for today. Sophie and I were sitting in an igloo in the desert in the middle of nowhere. Fascinating. Overall, Sophie and I agree that this is one of the best things we've done together and that we definitely have to visit more surreal places. Other than the occasional chill we got from being creeped out, I highly recommend visiting this place. It's unlike anything I've seen and the landscape is perfect for photos. And if you're on a quest for beauty like I am, this is a good place to start.

The Desert

Playing: Meet Me in California-Plain White T's
Reading: "It's OK Not to Play" by Krista

For my birthday yesterday, I seriously thought I was going to stay cooped up in my house, working on all my homework given to me by my lovely teachers, but I decided last minute to go on an adventure in the desert. Luckily, Sophie was able to join me. On our way there, we stopped off at a KFC in Banning to have all you can eat friend chicken like the health nuts we are. Aren't we the most awkward friends, when it comes to taking photos?

Somewhere in between Banning and Yucca Valley, we drove past a wind farm, which is one of my favorite things about the desert. I find them to be very beautiful and I enjoy looking at them quite a bit. The weather was a bit odd, since it was super sunny one minute and stormy the next, but it allowed me to take some pretty awesome photos.

When we got into Yucca Valley, Sophie and I goofed around and took tons of photos. I love hanging out with Sophie because we never do something that people would think teenagers would consider fun. We're on a hunt to enjoy everything the world has to offer us and we're on a quest for beauty. When the sky is immense and the scenery is beautiful, what else can we do other than pretend we're Brandon Flowers? For some reason, I really like the idea of doing the Brandon Flower pose all the time.

Actually, the main reason why I took Sophie out to the desert was to visit Noah Purifoy's Outdoor Desert Museum, but I'm having trouble limiting how many photos I want to share with you, so we explored the museum before we explored Yucca Valley. We went to a lot of antique stores, vintage stores, and charity shops in the search for something beautiful, but we didn't end up buying anything. There was a group of photos from the 1940s and 1950s that I wanted to buy, but they were averaging $3 each, so I skipped on them.

Before we headed home, Sophie and I photographed a lovely sunset since sunsets are always prettier in the desert. We found a zine that introduced the surrounding area, so Sophie and I are thinking of making an exploration zine for our school. Not sure how my peers will react to that, but it's not for them; it's for my personal happiness and enjoyment in life. I'll show you the museum we went to later on. Please stay tuned for that! Tomorrow I'm building a catapult with Justin and Hoho before I head off to the last Jack's Mannequin concert at the El Rey Theatre. It'll be my fifth time seeing Andrew McMahon and my second time seeing him for my birthday. It'll be bittersweet, watching him perform as Jack's Mannequin for the last time.

This is Halloween

Playing: Just Like Heaven-The Cure
Reading: Fashion Illustrations By Fashion Designers by Laird Borrelli

Hilary as a cat and me as the Cheshire Cat

Halloween, Christmas, and New Years have to be my absolute favorite holidays. For obvious reasons, Halloween ranks pretty high on my list. I love to get dressed up, I love Tim Burton appreciation season, and I love running around at night. This one guy in my English class hates Halloween, so I had to explain to him that Halloween is the start of Tim Burton time and he told me he hates Tim Burton and that Burton is just a psycho, so I'm considering defriending him on Facebook.

Me with Victoria, the communist witch, and Chad dressed as Sheldon

It didn't feel like Halloween for me until I went out trick or treating like the five-year-old that I am, since no one dressed up at school other than me and a few poor boys that I forcibly dressed up as a cat. I started off the night with Hilary, Sarah, and Victoria, but then we met up with Evelyn, Chad, Simonne, and Jen. We ran around an elementary school's field and playground for awhile, but then it started to smell like someone was smoking pot, so we left. After a half hour or so, Victoria, Sarah, Hilary, and I separated from the other group and just walked around, acting like teenagers for once.

We started off by dancing around, acting like idiots, to some music that Sarah had recorded of her school's orchestra. Hilary refused to dance, so Victoria and I had to pull her along as Sarah photographed us like the paparazzi that she is. I like how happy I look in this picture and how embarrassed Hilary looks.

Sarah as Pacman and me

Then Sarah and I ran out into the middle of a deserted street and started dancing and jumping together. The other two were laughing at us as they photographed us. We spent a lot of time jumping and screaming at each other, now that I think about it.

Finally, we ended the night by acting like we were part of some bad film from the 80s, maybe early 90s. Look at how angsty and misunderstood we are. I have to thank Sarah for always being willing to do stupid things with me and for taking artsy photos with me. Oh, and for always telling me random facts that I'll never use and for reading my blog all the time and for going on adventures with me and for...If I keep this list going on, it might take a year or two, so I'll stop now. HOW WAS YOUR HALLOWEEN? What did you do?

PS I was going to go as Boy George, but I ran out of time to do my hair. And thanks Sarah for the last three photos!

Last Day of School

Playing: Midnight City-M83
Reading: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Left to Right: Me, Sarah, and Hilary

On the last day of school, I met up with Sarah and Rebecca, who both go to different schools than I, with Hilary. Our original plan was to walk to some place close to my school for lunch and then bum around, but then we decided we didn't want to see anybody from any of our schools, so then we decided we wanted to go far, far away. We ended up taking a public bus to go to the University Center by University of California, Irvine. For Rebecca and I, it was our first time using a public bus in the USA. I've only been on the European and Asian buses. Some guy got in a fight with the bus driver, telling him he was fat and needed to lose weight, so my first experience with the bus was interesting?

While walking around the parking lot, I had a mini nerd attack, when I saw this. First of all, holy cow, Darth Vader only had two kids and now he's making his wife and kids wear the same mask as him? Do you have any idea how hard it must be for him to tell his kids apart?

The long bus ride and walk after the ride were worth it, when we got our meals from Berkeley Dog. I ordered the Green Eggs and Ham, which was smoked ham served on a hot baguette with a fried egg, cheddar cheese, and pesto sauce. I liked how the yolk of the egg dripped out and covered the whole sandwich and how the pesto really served to brighten up the whole dish.

Left to Right: Me, Sarah, and Rebecca (Who Doesn't Want Her Face to Show. (She hates me!))

After lunch, we walked around the University Center, but then we headed over to UCI's campus to explore. Their school year ended before our year ended, so their weren't any students their to socialize with, but we had fun climbing trees, acting like hippies (shown above), and marching around, acting like we owned the world.

Photo courtesy of Sarah

Being the horrible child I am, I sat with my homie, Lao Zi, pretending to pick his nose. I know, how mature of me. Sarah and I helped the other statues of Magu, Li Bai, and Qu Yuan clean their noses too, which made Hilary and Rebecca laugh. I thought it was unusual how an American college's statue garden was home to four sculptures of Chinese people.

Left to Right: Hilary and Sarah

Before the hot California weather brought us back to the University Center for drinks at Cha For Tea, Hilary and Sarah had to climb another tree, while Rebecca and I sat on the grass, acting like children of the revolution. Just kidding, we were acting like lazy, little kids. Considering I live in California, I always imagine my summers filled with pools and beaches, but I always end up doing stuff like this. Exploring, you might call it. I never knew UCI had such a beautiful campus and that there was such a huge park in the back with gigantic trees, rocks, and statues to mess around with. If you're ever in the area, I suggest visiting UCI's campus just because it's so pretty.

If you're artsy, I suggest checking out Sarah and Rebecca's deviantArts, which I linked up above. Both of them are extremely talented!