Travelogue
JAPAN
I went to Japan during the summer for my graduation trip with Senpai, a senior a year ahead of me. This was the second time I had been to Japan since a cultural exchange visit in Tokyo in 2005, and it was every bit as fantastic as I had hoped it would be. A decade later, I visited Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo with buddies Shasha and Ruru – a great time was had. Then again in 2016 for a 9-hour layover from Singapore to USA, when I dragged Ottie to check out the city of Narita. It was a good decision. (2010, 2015, 2016, 2017)
TOKYO
Ghibli Museum + Shimokitazawa + Ropponggi + Namja Town + Harajuku + Akihabara + Shibuya + Asakusa
KYOTO
Lodgings + Teramachi + Arashiyama One & Two + Fushimi Inari One & Two + Keiko-mama + Maiko Makeover
OSAKA
22,000 Steps + Universal Studios Japan + Nyan Tsume Cat Cafe
NARA
Nara Park One & Two & Three
NARITA
Narita Transit Program
HAKONE
Open Air Museum One & Two
HOKKAIDO
Furano Lodgings + Tomita Farm + Shikisai no Oka
MISCELLANEOUS
Crazy Moments + Souvenirs
INDIA
Two girls visit India for a June wedding. (2016)
CHENNAI
Wedding + Shopping + Mahabalipuram
USA
What was supposed to be a six month stint as an intern at UCLA, turned out to be two and a half years at the best job in the world. This is a documentation of my life in the west, from the hybrid perspective of a resident alien subsisting in the city of angels. I went back to the midwest to get married three years later. (2011-2013, 2016)
MINNESOTA
Steam Threshers Reunion & Outfit + Minnesota Renaissance Festival + Mall of America + Itasca State Park + Winter Outfits One & Two & Three & Four & Five & Six & Seven & Eight & Nine + Sledding + At Jeff & Dominique’s + Unglued Craft Fest + Hjemkomst Center + Wedding One & Two & Three
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles
First Impressions + Santa Monica One & Two & Three & Four + Venice Beach + Hollywood + Sawtelle + Marina Del Rey One & Two & Three & Four & Five & Six + Downtown LA One & Two & Three & Four + Culver City One & Two + San Gabriel + The Grove + UCLA + Visiting Friends + Last Days in Los Angeles + Pasadena One & Two + Native Foods + R+D Kitchen & Blu Jam Cafe & MILK + Churros Calientes
Museums
Aquarium of the Pacific + Hammer Museum + LACMA One & Two + Getty Center One & Two & Three & Four + Getty Villa + Natural History Museum
Theme Parks
Universal Studios + Six Flags + Knott’s Berry Farm
Sites
Kenneth Hahn State Park + Runyon Canyon Park + Griffith Observatory One & Two + Lake Arrowhead + Los Angeles National Cemetary + Malibu Creek + Santa Clarita Paintball + Salton Sea & Salvation Mountain + Yosemite National Park + Grand Canyon
Events
Anime Expo 2011 & 2012 & 2013 + San Diego Comic Con 2011 & 2012 + Wondercon + May the Fourth + Earth Day Latino + Burning Man Decom Party 2011 & 2012 + Halloween 2011 & 2012 + HARD Summer + Ecochella + Beverly Hills Film Festival One & Two + Orange County Fair + Independence Day + Old Spanish Days Fiesta + The Sketchbook Project
San Francisco
Haight & Union + Fisherman’s Wharf & Exploratorium + Palace of Fine Arts & Baker Beach + Sutro Baths & Golden Gate Park + Mission District & Chinatown
Las Vegas
One & Two & Three & Four
NEW YORK
Empire State Building + MoMA + Times Square One & Two + Madame Tussauds + Blue Mountain Gallery + Statue of Liberty + The Metropolitan Museum of Art + Museum of Natural History + Grand Central Park + Little Italy + Broadway + Eyebeam
QATAR
Qatar was a 12-hour layover from Singapore to South Africa. Needless to say, I took advantage of their free guided tour into the warm embrace of the desert. (2015)
DOHA
Doha City Tour
SOUTH AFRICA
Ottie and I crashed with some friends at presumably one of the world’s most beautiful countries. Blue skies, clear mountains, verdant green fields – it felt like we were in real life photoshopped landscapes. It was glorious. Oh, and we got engaged. (2015)
CAPE TOWN
Fish Hoek + Boulders Beach + Fairview Wine & Cheese + Darling + Yzerfontein + Groote Schuur Zoo & Rhodes Memorial + Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden + Food + Engagement at Signal Hill
JOHANNESBURG
Premier Hotel O.R. Tambo + Rhino Post Safari Lodge + Wildlife in South Africa
INDONESIA
Four days of lounging, eating, and back to lounging again with Ottie on a relaxing getaway an hour’s ferry away from home. It was decadent. (2015)
BATAM ISLAND
Day 1: Harris Resort Waterfront + Day 2: Lounging by the Pool + Day 3: The Most Beautiful Day + Day 4: Sunken Pool Bar
KOREA
My second venture into South Korea (the first being a family trip in 2000) was propelled by Ottie’s job as an English teacher in the town of Sangju. I spent three weeks there- one of which coincided with Chuseok- enabling us to explore during the holiday period. I went back again in winter two years later to say goodbyes to the warmest people I know, but took the opportunity to take all the outfit photos at pretty places. Saranghaeyo, Korea! (2013, 2015)
SEOUL
Myeong-Dong Art Market + Oissii & Steak 59.5 & Mad for Garlic + Godabang Cat Cafe + Trick Eye Museum + Lotte Hotel + Dongdaemun Market + Namsan Tower (Seoul Tower) + Seoul Comics Road + Itaewon & Myeongdong + Bukchon Hanok Village + Dongdaemun Design Plaza
GAPYEONG
Petit France + Nami Island
BUSAN
Haeundae Beach
GYEONGBUK
Sangju One & Two & Three & Four & Five & Six & Seven & Eight + Gumi + Andong
MISCELLANEOUS
Couple Clothes
THAILAND
Ottie and I walked across the border from Cambodia into Thailand, where we spent two nights in the city of smiles. (2014)
BANGKOK
Bangkok + Video Compilation
CAMBODIA
Part of January was spent on a last-minute backpacking trip to cultural and historical sites with Ottie and friends. It was an adventure of wondrous structures, beautiful sunsets, and a taste of life. (2014)
PHNOM PENH
Queen Wood Hotel + Killing Fields & Genocide Museum + Wat Phnom
SIEM REAP
Lotus Lodge + Pub Street + Floating Village + Angkor Wat + Angkor Thom + Ta Prohm
MISCELLANEOUS
Video Compilation
CHINA
Spent the December holidays in Shanghai with two of my favourite people, in which I test our decade-old friendship by being That-Pest-With-The-Phone-Going-Around-Taking-Videos-of-Everything. (2013)
SHANGHAI
Wan Shou Zhai & Nanjing Rd + Cirque le Soir + St. Ignatius Cathedral & Shanghai Museum + Yu Garden & Tsui Wah Restaurant & Han Ji BBQ + Jing’an & Tian Zi Fang + Oriental Pearl Tower & The Bund + Video Compilation
HANGZHOU
First Snow at West Lake + Video Compilation
ARGENTINA
I spent a month in the beautiful capital of Argentina, courtesy of my two superiors at UCLA. It was a dreamy place and, while it was starkly obvious as to my status as a minority, exacerbated by the fact that I knew not a lick of Spanish, I would return in a heartbeat. (2011)
Posts about my travels in Buenos Aires are as of writing, yet unwritten.
BUENOS AIRES
Birthday