Part One: San Fran, Las Vegas, Arizona
Annyeongs, kids.
I'm in Korea.
The past week has been good. Fast, and sometimes a little grumpy but it was a wonderful first leg of my trip.
First and foremost, getting out of New York City has been really good. To be surrounded by rolling hills, canyons and trees really does soothe the soul.
But it's been all a blur and I havent had time to process it all because I've been doing a lot every day. Two days into my trip, we celebrated my cousin who was getting married to a guy whom a lot of people think resembles Andy Lau. But dang, my cousin was friggin gorgeous. She seriously looked like a Christian Lacroix model: skinnier and taller than I. Some girls just have it lucky. Anyway.
The weirdest part about this part of the trip was that though five years have passed since the last wedding of the eldest sister, everything still remains the same. I slept in the same house and in the same room with the same cousin as I did five years ago. We went through very similar itineraries as we did five years ago. It was like deja vous all over again with slight alterations here and there.
The wedding itself was gorgeous (duh) and I used the opportunity to attempt at wedding photography which turned out quite pitiful considering everyone in our family has a camera (my cousin has the new 5D with video function T-T) so all my relatives were constantly in my shots. -_-
The next day nineteen of us embarked on a roadtrip which took us from SF to Arizona to see the canyons and then Vegas. I can say that I wasn't the happiest camper due to the fact that we were always eating chinese buffets or Burger King which resulted in abnormal bowel movements (plus I wanted to try food that's authentic to the local area). But in the end, it really was enjoyable particularly since we got to meet new people and chill together as a family, quirks and all.
The canyons were gorgeous.
Ka, a new Cirque Du Soleil product, was stunning.
There was a Diesel outlet store in Vegas. =) I got all my cousins hooked. XD
A new friend decided to try Roulette for once at the casino. He placed $10 on the number 28. It just so landed on that number. He instantly wanted out. I was like "meh looks like you earned a couple of dollars to get you a mcmuffin for breakfast" He shows me his chips, he earned $300 instantly. He asked me if he should spend it all on poker, I said he should be content with what he has. To my surprise, he actually didn't gamble it all.
Back in SF, I thought it would be quite dull in comparison given that I'd have two days to mull about. Yet my cousin graciously took us to an icecream shoppe and a bakery, then to the Ferry building, and then we took the ferry over and met her there to see the California Red Woods.. unfortunately one of our members got lost so we didn't get to see the largest and most famous of the trees because we accidentally took an unmarked trail rather than the concrete one.. no wonder it was so hard to friggin climb. But that morning my cousin came up to us and asked us if we wanted to go to a "Quest Crew party" and I was freaking out because I've been wanting to meet Quest Crew. So we had to skip a nice dinner due to our extended hike in the woods, and got pizza at my cousin's house and proceeded to walk over to the club afterwards. We skipped all the lines and got in right away and then skipped all the lines to meet the crew because she knew the club promoters who also helped me take the pictures. I didn't have a fancy photo for them to sign so my cousin gave me her David Copperfield ticket that we saw in Vegas.. lol. The guys were so cute! I guess because we were first, therefore they were more energetic, and I got a very enthusiastic hug from D Trix and a very pleased high five from Ryan upon sharing with him how much I like his piano music. And yes I wiped out on my heels while trying to get into a picture but luckily landed on the couch behind them. To my embarassment, I kinda jumped to see Ryan first and then proceeded to ignore the two guys next to him (including the guy who rips off his shirt in the finale) and made a beeline to D Trix who I find so endearing. lol. Then there was another awkward hour of mulling around until the performance of watching guys checking out girls on the dance floor (hence partially why I don't like to dance). We got lucky with the performance and decided to stand to the right hand side of the stage.. but turns out they would be dancing on the hardwood dance floor and so happened to face us rather than the front. So I got the best position in the house considering I'm a head taller than most people. They did their winning performance, someting along the lines of this in addition to a few more dance remixes... as they were about to exit, Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' song came on and D Trix stayed behind along with Hok on the dance floor.
So hot.
If anything, Jabba, Kaba and Quest Crew have just made me realize that dancing does not have to do anything with grinding or sexual perversion, but creativity, fun and character which is why I really respect them.
Anyway, the next day, my cousin and I bumped into D Trix again at Fisherman's Wharf in a chocolate store. All I could do was stare, my cousin was looking and then I think he felt us staring and proceeded to give an awkward wave. So cute.
So I've had a bit of time to think and here's a few random things that have crossed my mind the past while. They might not make sense but in the context of the trip it's really got my wheels turning:
-Designers are always told to think in the 'what if'. But during the wedding, I was always thinking of how it could be done better from the design of the cake to the way the professional photographers were shooting. It made me realize how I am so uncapable of just enjoying the present rather than constantly critiquing it. There is a time to be critical and a time to just let be what be. I just need to find that balance.
-Surrounded by the glory of nature on that bus tour has made me realize that while the human tongue makes great boasts, God need not speak a word. For in the deafening silence of the mountains, nature roars at the greatness of God.
Surrounded by stillness, you could feel God's presence, His fingers that brushed past the mountains. As I wrote before, being surrounded by moutains makes me feel so insignificant yet at the same time, stand in awe of His Majesty. I can't explain what it felt like the past week nor could you even catch a glimpse of it, unless you too, were standing right there beside me. I have never seen so many types of mountains: mountains with yellow grass, mountains with yellow grass and trees dotting the scape, mountains made out of red sandstone, mountains that had a checkerboard pattern thanks to the rain, mountains out of grey, mountains that were red, mountains that were covered with evergreen. Omg, it was just insane as to the beauty in the diversity of just mountains. And I just love it, you can't experience the vastness of the mountains in a picture, you have to be standing there to even feel just remotely how small you are in comparison. Which is why, sadly, I can't just show you one of the many photographs that I took: they seem flat and only boast a fraction of the greatness found in God's workmanship.
Five years ago, my cousin introduced me to this song called 'Always' by Hillsongs while our large family was taking a bus to a cruise after the wedding. It has been a song that I've really cherished and I occasionally post parts of the lyrics here. It goes, 'did you rise the sun for me? Paint a million stars that I might know Your Majesty? Is your voice among the wind? Is everything I know marked with my Maker's fingerprints?'
And I love this first verse for it speaks out the intimacy that God shows us through creation: intimacy yet the feeling of how insignificant we are at the same time. But yeah, this past roadtrip, my cousin and I listened to the same song again like we first did so five years ago.
-I really like San Francisco. I'd live here but I'm really scared of that overdue earthquake that is going to destroy most of the west coast.
-We were sitting in the lobby. Behind me was a large painting of a sunset in the sky with a house and balloons. We got talking about creativity and what it meant to be creative as individuals. Is the ownership of an SLR a mark of artistry? He remarked that what I photographed, he would consider artistic yet I said I knew nothing about the technicalities of a camera. Ask me what my aperture is set on and I most likely do not know.
He asked me what I saw in that painting behind me and I said "loneliness". He shot back, "lonely but beautiful" and I had to agree. And that was the sum of how we saw creativity most of the time, that as designers and artists with visions that go beyond what most people can see, creativity in its purest form of borderline insanity is rather quite lonely. People can only admire what you do from a distance because you've traveled so far to get where you are at, it's hard for them to catch up. In fact, it's quite overwhelming.
I took a look at the picture again, and just had to say "actually perhaps that's what a dream is. Perhaps in that picture, the subject is not you alone. What you've envisioned, your dream, is that house and those balloons are the people who believe in that dream enough to make the house fly. And I guess together you share the beauty of it on Cloud No.9"
He said, "I guess that's what the church ought to be like."
Even though it does seem lonely at times, there are moments like these, those moments where you share a dream with someone and they surprise you by interrupting your thoughts by filling you in with the exact words that you were about to express that makes you realize, perhaps there are people out there who understand precisely what you've been dreaming.
It was one of the most comforting and rather surprising conversations I've had in a while.
-I blog to make what I do sub consciously, conscious. That when I digest all that I've been doing, feeling and thinking, that I can further understand why I do what I do and why I act the way I do whether it is right or wrong. And I guess that first statement is saying something too: to understand why I blog.
-I have a lot of deep body issues that I am in the process of trying to fix (well asking God to fix). I stumbled upon 1 Peter again and this time when I read the part about how your beauty should not come from outer appearances but of the inner gentle and quiet spirit, somehow the part where it says 'THAT IS OF GREAT WORTH IN GOD'S SIGHT' just really stuck out to me because I've been searching and seeking to find the treasures that God so finds of value that this world does not hold dear. Just the fact that it says that God values this, somehow made me realize that I ever more so need to search for this.
-During the trip, all I could say to most of the things and people I met was, 'baller'. God has blessed my family richly in terms of finances. I met a guy who lives in an apartment on top of Elements shopping plaza in HK... which basically houses Valentino, Megu and Lacroix and sits right next to the sea overlooking the HK skyline. I got to visit my cousin's apartment: a two storey loft in SF downtown and it literally looks like it came out of Architectural Digest with concrete floors, matching minimalist steel and glass furniture, huge walk in closets and even a mini gym and a balcony with lounge chairs.
It's hard not to get sucked into the sheer extravagance of the lifestyles people lead. You don't see many girls with a Chanel J ceramic watch strapped to their wrists (I'm pretty sure it retails for about $10k at least). But, as I shared with my cousin, I've been muttering our treasure is not found here on earth but in heaven, likewise our citizenship does not rest here but in eternity.
Thank God, He upgraded me to business class on JAL which allowed me to lie back and wear slippers and fast forward through movies. lolol
And now I'm in Korea. I guess I just binged all my memories out to solidify them for the future and to remember how God has blessed me on this trip!
I'm in Korea.
The past week has been good. Fast, and sometimes a little grumpy but it was a wonderful first leg of my trip.
First and foremost, getting out of New York City has been really good. To be surrounded by rolling hills, canyons and trees really does soothe the soul.
But it's been all a blur and I havent had time to process it all because I've been doing a lot every day. Two days into my trip, we celebrated my cousin who was getting married to a guy whom a lot of people think resembles Andy Lau. But dang, my cousin was friggin gorgeous. She seriously looked like a Christian Lacroix model: skinnier and taller than I. Some girls just have it lucky. Anyway.
The weirdest part about this part of the trip was that though five years have passed since the last wedding of the eldest sister, everything still remains the same. I slept in the same house and in the same room with the same cousin as I did five years ago. We went through very similar itineraries as we did five years ago. It was like deja vous all over again with slight alterations here and there.
The wedding itself was gorgeous (duh) and I used the opportunity to attempt at wedding photography which turned out quite pitiful considering everyone in our family has a camera (my cousin has the new 5D with video function T-T) so all my relatives were constantly in my shots. -_-
The next day nineteen of us embarked on a roadtrip which took us from SF to Arizona to see the canyons and then Vegas. I can say that I wasn't the happiest camper due to the fact that we were always eating chinese buffets or Burger King which resulted in abnormal bowel movements (plus I wanted to try food that's authentic to the local area). But in the end, it really was enjoyable particularly since we got to meet new people and chill together as a family, quirks and all.
The canyons were gorgeous.
Ka, a new Cirque Du Soleil product, was stunning.
There was a Diesel outlet store in Vegas. =) I got all my cousins hooked. XD
A new friend decided to try Roulette for once at the casino. He placed $10 on the number 28. It just so landed on that number. He instantly wanted out. I was like "meh looks like you earned a couple of dollars to get you a mcmuffin for breakfast" He shows me his chips, he earned $300 instantly. He asked me if he should spend it all on poker, I said he should be content with what he has. To my surprise, he actually didn't gamble it all.
Back in SF, I thought it would be quite dull in comparison given that I'd have two days to mull about. Yet my cousin graciously took us to an icecream shoppe and a bakery, then to the Ferry building, and then we took the ferry over and met her there to see the California Red Woods.. unfortunately one of our members got lost so we didn't get to see the largest and most famous of the trees because we accidentally took an unmarked trail rather than the concrete one.. no wonder it was so hard to friggin climb. But that morning my cousin came up to us and asked us if we wanted to go to a "Quest Crew party" and I was freaking out because I've been wanting to meet Quest Crew. So we had to skip a nice dinner due to our extended hike in the woods, and got pizza at my cousin's house and proceeded to walk over to the club afterwards. We skipped all the lines and got in right away and then skipped all the lines to meet the crew because she knew the club promoters who also helped me take the pictures. I didn't have a fancy photo for them to sign so my cousin gave me her David Copperfield ticket that we saw in Vegas.. lol. The guys were so cute! I guess because we were first, therefore they were more energetic, and I got a very enthusiastic hug from D Trix and a very pleased high five from Ryan upon sharing with him how much I like his piano music. And yes I wiped out on my heels while trying to get into a picture but luckily landed on the couch behind them. To my embarassment, I kinda jumped to see Ryan first and then proceeded to ignore the two guys next to him (including the guy who rips off his shirt in the finale) and made a beeline to D Trix who I find so endearing. lol. Then there was another awkward hour of mulling around until the performance of watching guys checking out girls on the dance floor (hence partially why I don't like to dance). We got lucky with the performance and decided to stand to the right hand side of the stage.. but turns out they would be dancing on the hardwood dance floor and so happened to face us rather than the front. So I got the best position in the house considering I'm a head taller than most people. They did their winning performance, someting along the lines of this in addition to a few more dance remixes... as they were about to exit, Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' song came on and D Trix stayed behind along with Hok on the dance floor.
So hot.
If anything, Jabba, Kaba and Quest Crew have just made me realize that dancing does not have to do anything with grinding or sexual perversion, but creativity, fun and character which is why I really respect them.
Anyway, the next day, my cousin and I bumped into D Trix again at Fisherman's Wharf in a chocolate store. All I could do was stare, my cousin was looking and then I think he felt us staring and proceeded to give an awkward wave. So cute.
So I've had a bit of time to think and here's a few random things that have crossed my mind the past while. They might not make sense but in the context of the trip it's really got my wheels turning:
-Designers are always told to think in the 'what if'. But during the wedding, I was always thinking of how it could be done better from the design of the cake to the way the professional photographers were shooting. It made me realize how I am so uncapable of just enjoying the present rather than constantly critiquing it. There is a time to be critical and a time to just let be what be. I just need to find that balance.
-Surrounded by the glory of nature on that bus tour has made me realize that while the human tongue makes great boasts, God need not speak a word. For in the deafening silence of the mountains, nature roars at the greatness of God.
Surrounded by stillness, you could feel God's presence, His fingers that brushed past the mountains. As I wrote before, being surrounded by moutains makes me feel so insignificant yet at the same time, stand in awe of His Majesty. I can't explain what it felt like the past week nor could you even catch a glimpse of it, unless you too, were standing right there beside me. I have never seen so many types of mountains: mountains with yellow grass, mountains with yellow grass and trees dotting the scape, mountains made out of red sandstone, mountains that had a checkerboard pattern thanks to the rain, mountains out of grey, mountains that were red, mountains that were covered with evergreen. Omg, it was just insane as to the beauty in the diversity of just mountains. And I just love it, you can't experience the vastness of the mountains in a picture, you have to be standing there to even feel just remotely how small you are in comparison. Which is why, sadly, I can't just show you one of the many photographs that I took: they seem flat and only boast a fraction of the greatness found in God's workmanship.
Five years ago, my cousin introduced me to this song called 'Always' by Hillsongs while our large family was taking a bus to a cruise after the wedding. It has been a song that I've really cherished and I occasionally post parts of the lyrics here. It goes, 'did you rise the sun for me? Paint a million stars that I might know Your Majesty? Is your voice among the wind? Is everything I know marked with my Maker's fingerprints?'
And I love this first verse for it speaks out the intimacy that God shows us through creation: intimacy yet the feeling of how insignificant we are at the same time. But yeah, this past roadtrip, my cousin and I listened to the same song again like we first did so five years ago.
-I really like San Francisco. I'd live here but I'm really scared of that overdue earthquake that is going to destroy most of the west coast.
-We were sitting in the lobby. Behind me was a large painting of a sunset in the sky with a house and balloons. We got talking about creativity and what it meant to be creative as individuals. Is the ownership of an SLR a mark of artistry? He remarked that what I photographed, he would consider artistic yet I said I knew nothing about the technicalities of a camera. Ask me what my aperture is set on and I most likely do not know.
He asked me what I saw in that painting behind me and I said "loneliness". He shot back, "lonely but beautiful" and I had to agree. And that was the sum of how we saw creativity most of the time, that as designers and artists with visions that go beyond what most people can see, creativity in its purest form of borderline insanity is rather quite lonely. People can only admire what you do from a distance because you've traveled so far to get where you are at, it's hard for them to catch up. In fact, it's quite overwhelming.
I took a look at the picture again, and just had to say "actually perhaps that's what a dream is. Perhaps in that picture, the subject is not you alone. What you've envisioned, your dream, is that house and those balloons are the people who believe in that dream enough to make the house fly. And I guess together you share the beauty of it on Cloud No.9"
He said, "I guess that's what the church ought to be like."
Even though it does seem lonely at times, there are moments like these, those moments where you share a dream with someone and they surprise you by interrupting your thoughts by filling you in with the exact words that you were about to express that makes you realize, perhaps there are people out there who understand precisely what you've been dreaming.
It was one of the most comforting and rather surprising conversations I've had in a while.
-I blog to make what I do sub consciously, conscious. That when I digest all that I've been doing, feeling and thinking, that I can further understand why I do what I do and why I act the way I do whether it is right or wrong. And I guess that first statement is saying something too: to understand why I blog.
-I have a lot of deep body issues that I am in the process of trying to fix (well asking God to fix). I stumbled upon 1 Peter again and this time when I read the part about how your beauty should not come from outer appearances but of the inner gentle and quiet spirit, somehow the part where it says 'THAT IS OF GREAT WORTH IN GOD'S SIGHT' just really stuck out to me because I've been searching and seeking to find the treasures that God so finds of value that this world does not hold dear. Just the fact that it says that God values this, somehow made me realize that I ever more so need to search for this.
-During the trip, all I could say to most of the things and people I met was, 'baller'. God has blessed my family richly in terms of finances. I met a guy who lives in an apartment on top of Elements shopping plaza in HK... which basically houses Valentino, Megu and Lacroix and sits right next to the sea overlooking the HK skyline. I got to visit my cousin's apartment: a two storey loft in SF downtown and it literally looks like it came out of Architectural Digest with concrete floors, matching minimalist steel and glass furniture, huge walk in closets and even a mini gym and a balcony with lounge chairs.
It's hard not to get sucked into the sheer extravagance of the lifestyles people lead. You don't see many girls with a Chanel J ceramic watch strapped to their wrists (I'm pretty sure it retails for about $10k at least). But, as I shared with my cousin, I've been muttering our treasure is not found here on earth but in heaven, likewise our citizenship does not rest here but in eternity.
Thank God, He upgraded me to business class on JAL which allowed me to lie back and wear slippers and fast forward through movies. lolol
And now I'm in Korea. I guess I just binged all my memories out to solidify them for the future and to remember how God has blessed me on this trip!
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