Before the Storm.

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last posted. I have been back in California for almost a week. Next week, I'm finally heading over to Baltimore to start my college life! I'm a bit nervous but excited at the same time...

Anyways, I found some pictures taken during a short family trip up to 陽明山 (Yang-Ming Mountain) in Taipei. It was a beautiful day, right before a typhoon hit Taiwan. 

The sky was azure, and I thought I could see clearer from the mountain than I previously could. For some reason, this shot is particularly blue...

Shanghai.

 *None of the pictures I took really shouts "Shanghai!" when you look at them. I kind of just took whatever I found interesting.*

Over the weekend, I visited Shanghai. It's a place that means a lot to me; I spent three years there, met some awesome teachers and made some life-long friends. 

The city hasn't changed that much. Skyscrapers, clamor, semi-gray skies all felt so familiar. After arriving at the airport, I took the maglev to find Audrey, my friend from St. George's. I stayed at her place, and her family was more hospitable than I could ever ask for.

I went to visit my old school Dulwich College Shanghai. It was a pity that the guards refused to let me in, so I could only take a picture here.

東京 T O K Y O Part 3.

Hello everyone, this is my last post of my Tokyo series!

On the last day, my friend Hikari showed me around again. In the morning, we went to としまえん (Toshimaen), a theme park in Tokyo. It's a pretty old one, and the rides aren't that intense. What I really liked about the park was that there were very little tourists, so we could go on the rides as many times as we wanted. Most of the tourists were in the water park. We said we would go there next time. 

This year's advertisement for the water park. It says "teriyaki"  there... meaning it's time for people to grill themselves under the summer sun?

東京 T O K Y O Part 2.

Hello everyone, this is part two of my Tokyo 2014 series.

On the second day, we revisited a few places I went the previous summers, because it was my brother's first time visiting Tokyo. In the morning, we went to 浅草 (Asakusa). 浅草 is a very traditional place, famous for its temples and 祭り (matsuri) festivals. It's definitely one of the hottest locations to visit for tourists all across the world.

東京 T O K Y O Part 1.

Hello everyone, I've returned from my trip to Tokyo. It has been 3 years in a row that I go to Tokyo during my summer vacation, showing just how much I love that city. I had 3 full days to explore Tokyo. There's always too much to explore but too little time...that's why I still haven't been to other places of Japan, yet.

I would like to split my trip into three posts. Enjoy reading! 

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On the first day, I finally met up with my Japanese friend from high school, Hikari. She kindly spent an entire day to show my aunt, brother and I around. We went to 原宿 (Harajuku) and 表參道 (Omotesando); both are very famous shopping locations full of tourists, though the former is mainly for younger people, and the latter is more high-end. 

竹下通り (Takeshita Street) in Harajuku.

It's usually really crowded, but this was taken at around 10am.

Wolf, Forest, Magic, Adventure

I have just finished re-reading the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by British writer Michelle Paver. I do have to admit that I don't read a lot, so I don't have much authority to promote books. However, I can surely say that this is, without doubt, an incredible series.

The story is set 6000 years ago in prehistoric Europe. Torak is a boy of the wolf clan. Along with his friend Renn and Wolf, they embark on adventures to defeat the wicked, power-hungry soul eaters who try to control all the clans with the power of the other-world.

Chapel

It has been almost a month since I graduated from St. George's School. I've already started to miss the beautiful campus and some friends, even though the feeling isn't as strong since I'm enjoying my summer vacation at the moment. My friend who graduated last year told me that I will really start missing high school once college starts. 

I took a lot of pictures of St. George's School during the last few weeks of school. One of my favorite sessions was shooting in the majestic chapel. I find the chapel exceptionally beautiful when it was empty.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Hello everyone.

Spring break's already ended, and school has already resumed for almost two weeks. However, I'd like to write about a short trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano during my break.  

Founded in 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano is one of the oldest Missions in Southern California. It is a beautiful and popular place to visit. There were a lot of kids there during my visit :) Must be a great place for school outings. This was my second time visiting. I thought San Juan Capistrano was so pretty that I had to come again with a proper camera. 

The ruins are breathtaking! According to the audio guide, the mission collapsed during a huge earthquake.

The Fault in Everyone's Stars...

A few weeks ago, my friend Audrey asked if I wanted to read the book The Fault in Our Stars. She said it’s a really great sad love story, kind of like the ones you see in tragic, beautiful Shoujou mangas. I thought, why not? That book is super popular apparently.

I just finished the novel on my current flight to Los Angeles. I’d have to say that I was slightly embarrassed for shedding tears on a plane with strangers sitting beside me. It’s humorous, it’s heart breaking, but most importantly, it somewhat changed my way of viewing things.