Kiss the Year Goodbye

YO HO YO HO
HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE.

Before I post my New Years resolutions I wanted to reflect on this past year. Throughout 2016 I constantly found myself thinking, this is too hard... I don't want to do this anymore. Life would throw one obstacle after another and it always felt like the earth was pulling pranks on me. Like why does it need to start pouring rain when it's already been a horrible day? So dramatic.

But about a month back I had a realization that 2016 has actually been my best year yet. Life on Earth is always going to be difficult, and the moment I began to understand that it will always get harder, I learned to cherish every single moment, the highs and the lows.

Soooo as an appreciation post for 2016, here is a list of many awesome things I accomplished/experienced/learned this year!

• I opened my first etsy shop and got quickly bored of it.
• I celebrated my first birthday away from home. 
• I had a $200 sushi meal with Alison sponsored by my amazing cousin.
• One of my best friends got on a plane for her very first time, left California (also for her very first time), and visited me for Spring Break. 
• We took a 2-day trip to New York where we went to a set location of a TV show Jasmine really likes.
• I booked my first Air BnB place and it was the worst experience ever. (Dumb things I do to save money)
• I won my first merit-based scholarship. I didn't realize this until I went to the scholarship reception, where it was evident that not all the recipients there had financial needs. 
• They flew me out to Atlanta, Georgia and paid for my hotel and meals.
• Coca Cola sponsored the event and gave me a personal Coca Cola bottle with my name printed on it.
• I cried on a plane. Not because I was 3 months old and screaming from God-knows-what. But because I learned the value of home and how much people really mean to me.
• I took a road trip to San Francisco with some friends.
• I got to stay overnight at my friend's house that Google was paying for.
• I visited Google's headquarters.
• I flew to Arizona and spent 3 days at the home of the CEO and founder of my favorite non-profit organization.
• I visited the headquarters of my favorite non-profit organization.
• I became the Pennsylvania Youth Ambassador of my favorite non-profit organization.
• I learned to ride a horse.
• I went to Italy with 3 of the most incredible people in my life, where we learned to love and hate each other in so many ways.
• I went to a Ludovico Einaudi at Renzo Pianos' Auditorium Parco della Musica where I was nearly convinced that I was dreaming.
• I got bombarded by men claiming they were Colombian as they danced towards me and my friend to seductive music.
• I saw in person masterpieces by Michelangelo, Giotto, Parmigianino, Brunlleschi, Ghiberti, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, okay pretty much every Ninja Turtle and Italian Renaissance artist.
• I had gelato almost every day.
• I was homeless for two nights.
• I learned to discover a new country's language and culture without phone data (I highly recommend trying this actually).
• I went to the Motherland for the 2nd time, but first time without my family. 
• I lived with my mom's aunt for some time, where I was able to learn more about the world my mom comes from. I went to one of the most sentimental place of my mom's childhood and there was something beautifully haunting about it.
• I learned that my grandma is an amazing sewer and we had so much fun crafting together!
• I got on my longest flight yet (16 hours) where my chair did not recline. 
• I slept at an airport... on the ground...twice.
• I got literally the most convenient job I could have at this time.
• I had my first real company dinner where they paid for our three course meal, twice.
• My managers cooked us a Thanksgiving meal.
• I paid my own rent for the first time.
• I moved into my first apartment.
• I got my first credit card and just applied for my second one.
• I got robbed $1000 from Zipcar but learned why I should always invest in better insurance.
• My sister, Grace, and Amber visited me in Philly.
• Grace came again and so I wasn't lonely on Thanksgiving.
• I cooked a horrible Friendsgiving dinner cause I suck at cooking.
• I won a total of 5 private scholarships, for a sum of $9,500.
• I went to a Sia concert!
• I had my first critique where people said my work was their favorite.
• I bought Creative Cloud!
• I lost count of my all-nighters.
• I went to nrb and Love Letter every time I went home.

Okay, I am going to stop there haha. I can seriously go forever. I am so grateful for the people who made this year so special for me. I don't have a lot of friends, but the few who stick by me are more than enough. Comparing this year's reflection to last year clearly shows how much I've grown in just one year. 2017 is going to be an interesting one....and I am so. damn. excited.

Food Porn

Here is a random food porn update!

Nothing is more convenient than walking ten steps and finding a place to eat that is worthy of high yelp reviews. Although Korea doesn't use yelp, the endless rows of great restaurants make up for it. Plus, it makes eating out much more adventurous. 

After failed attempts to go to some of the restaurants on our list, Sheena and I found this gem in Hongdae! I think this place was called something Deli which was very unrelated to the food they served. Honestly Koreans probably just found the name "Deli" cute. 

Pho that was potentially from Hongdae as well.

Tiramisu crepe cake...somewhere in Korea....LOL

One of the best soondubu I ever had!

Katsu and soba in Itaewon!

International McDonald's part 2! I had the Rio Burger...which to be honest defeats the purpose of my international mcDonald's quest. Damn...should have went with the bulgogi burger (oh well, next time hehe).

THIS WAS SO FUN THANK YOU SHEENA.

Watermelon slush at an adorable cafe where IU filmed one of her music videos.

WHY IS KOREA's PIZZA SO FREAKING AMAZING.

Lame version of what they sell at 626.

Delicious Jeonju street food.

French Toast from Green Eggs and Ham in Philly.

Magpie official makes up for "The Pie Hole" cravings I get when I am not in LA.

Okay I got lazy with the captions. 

Titanium

On October 21st, 2016  I had the amazing opportunity to watch Sia perform in same spot I witnessed Kobe Bryant play one year ago.

For those who do not know, Kobe Bryant is my "work ethic role model," while Sia is the embodiment of the artist I strive to be. So, to be able to watch both of them live (and in the same place, too!) has been a dream.

I am not a big music person, and it is actually Sia's position as an artist that empowers me. Her work is incredible, and her concert could be described as an immense interactive art installation.

Anyways, Thank you Sia for inspiring me an artist.

Arrivederci Italia

I'm currently at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Roma, waiting for my plane to Seoul. It's my first time sleeping at an airport and it is my shift to guard our stuff as my friends sleep. (We took some clothes out of our luggage and made ourselves comfortable on the floor. Hehe, sorry Mom!)

I've been so busy seeing Italy that I didn't get to blog as much as I planned, but at least I kept myself busy throughout!

Reflecting back on my trip, I realized how much I love language and culture. Knowing a little bit of Spanish made picking up Italian much easier, and seeing the Natives giggle at my attempt to communicate with them always brightened up my mood.

Anyways, here's a long post of a short summary of an amazing two weeks in Italy.

Shortly after making it to Florence, we took a day trip back to Rome to go to a Ludovico Einaudi piano concert.  Under the moonlight, classy musical lovers gathered in an outdoor auditorium to hear the live music of this great musician. During one of his pieces, rain began to gently drizzle over the audience. I closed my eyes as I felt the raindrops dance to the sound of each key tapping on the strings of the grand piano. Even thought I'm usually not a fan of this genre of music, the magical ambience convinced me to fall in love.

The concert ended around 11 p.m. and our bus back to Florence wasn't until 6 a.m. so we waited outside the bus terminal and it was cold and miserable. Hehe.

I've mentioned earlier that the food in Italy is nothing to rave about, but there was one place that stood out to me. We found an expensive, organic/vegan bar and restaurant that we went into just to get wifi for directions. The smoothies we ordered made me feel very at home because it was definitely a treat for California tastebuds. And by that I mean it tasted way too healthy. But I loved it. My friends not so much haha.

I've also made it a goal to eat McDonalds every time I visit a new country and order something from the menu that they only offer there. They give beer with their meals here! 

The road signs in Florence all have cute designs like this. So creative. =]

One of my favorite Renaissance paintings: Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. It's really all the Renaissance art that made me most excited to visit Italy. That being said, while I was at the Uffizi Gallery, a young boy walked up to Giotto's Madonna Enthroned and ran his fingers across the 700 year old painting. A piece of my heart broke that day. 

At Mercato Centrale with my fellow small eyes.

The only graffiti art I enjoyed in Italy. This artist put a whole bunch of famous paintings like the Mona Lisa and the Girl with a Pearl Earring, portrayed them under the sea, and hid them all over Florence. 

The amazing Duomo designed by the even more amazing Brunelleschi, seen from Giotto's Campanile. The 414 steps to climb this tower was hell after the 463 steps we climbed in the duomo. And although that sounds bearable, with the uneven stone steps and tourists crammed like sardines, it was quite horrifying. (But still worth it!)

VESPA VESPA VESPA. I love the colorful scooters that fill the adorable streets. I can never take the smart cars seriously, so I'm glad they have the Vespas to make up for the embarrassment. 

More than just a leaning tower; it's a hat!

Boboli Garden. Absolutely beautiful.

The small, beautiful town of San Gimignano, about an hour and a half away from Florence. This photo REALLY does not do this place justice. But that's kind of my fault for bringing a prime lens to this day trip. This city has one of the best views of endless green fields and the homes that decorate the hills are adorable. San Gimignano is kind of the picture perfect place you imagine when you think of Europe. That being said, I don't have any picture perfect photos. LOL

Ravioli and Italian white wine by the beach. <3

Of course the best is saved for last. My visit to Cinque Terre was the most anticipated trip. Costal views will win my heart any day, and the colorful houses on the cliff make you instantly fall in love. We were able to visit all five towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso) in one day, and even squeezed in Pisa right before. 

We ended up leaving so late, the train back was only running once an hour. When we finally got to the next train station around 11:30 p.m, there weren't any more trains running back to Florence until 4:43 a.m. We waited sort of miserably in the cold, dirty streets in the middle of nowhere, and when we finally got on the train back, we got caught for not having a ticket. (From our experiences, we never had our tickets checked before. Since it was our last day in Italy and we were pretty much broke, we decided to just hop on.) It sucked to pay a fine but that's okay we kind of deserved it haha.

We finally made it back to our home in Florence around 8 a.m.
Had to leave our home by 11 a.m.
Then wait for our bus back to Rome which was delayed from 2 to 2:30 p.m.
Made it to the airport around 7:30 p.m.
It is now 6:40 a.m. and I am waiting for my 4 hour flight which leaves at 12:40 p.m. and arrives in Moscow.
AND FINALLY:  a 9 hour flight to Seoul.

So I'm pretty exhausted right now, but the thrill of traveling makes it all worth it.

That's it for now! My time in Italy is coming to a close and as much as I loved it here, my heart is ready to move on to the next country!

Gratzie, Italia. Arrivederci!

Firenze

The other day I spent my very first day in Italy by myself! After traveling several days with my friends, I took a trip alone so that I could explore this beautiful country at my own pace. I first walked around for about an hour, people-watching at the crowded tourist destination of Ponte Vecchio. Then after endless hills that I regretted climbing (at the time) I found the beautiful Bardini Gardens.

Lastly, of course I ended my day with gelato! Confession: I started my day with gelato too but I forgot to take a picture so I bought another one at the end of the day. 

Roma

I am currently traveling without a laptop so my blogging is being done on my phone...which is kind of limited. Note to self: fix all formatting and add photos when possible.

My time in Roma has concluded. Yes, I still can't believe that I am in Italy. But somehow by the grace of God and a few extremely loving friends, this has all become possible. For two and a half weeks, I have the privilege of walking down the streets of a country I only dreamed of visiting. For the past year, I've been traveling all around the US, but as much as I love my home soil, I'm even more excited to say that I've stepped foot on European territory!

After spending 5 days in this majestic, historic city, it has occurred to me that I probably could never do a backpacking trip throughout Europe. Maybe it is just my passion for Renaissance art, but I am overwhelmed with how much there is to see  and even a couple weeks limits my time here.

Arrival: After about 22 hours of traveling, Hannah and I finally landed in Rome! Our homestay was about 25 minutes away from the airport and we accidentally took an illegal taxi. Whoops. Making foreigner mistakes as soon as we got there...hehe. Praise the Lord for watching over us LOL. Our homestay mom was extremely nice and prepared breakfast for us each morning. I'm not going to lie...Italy isn't really known for its food (especially coming from a Californian).

Colosseo and Palatino: I know it sounds cliche but the Colosseum is definitely my FAVORITE piece in Rome. I was absolutely blown away by the architecture, and it is definitely something you must see in person. The inside is quite fascinating as well, but my favorite view is from the Palatino! The Palatino is filled with beautiful Roman ruins. I love walking through the broken columns, wondering what kind of people once walked through the towering empire.

Vatican: To get to the Vatican, Michelle and I left the house at 7 am, got lost a little, and made it to the back of the line at 8:45 am. The doors don't open until 9 and the line already wrapped around the Vatican walls. We finally got into the museum at around 11 and yes I would say the line was worth it... Well only if you're into Renaissance art...haha. I put my camera away while I was at the museum so I can admire all the art so I don't have many photos. Each room was decorated from floor to ceiling  with detailed paintings that told stories and intricate patterns that made me wonder. Of course we ended with the Sistine Chapel where I got to see the works of Michelangelo, Perugino, Botticelli and more up close. All the paintings were so much bigger than I imagined, and just being able to sit in such a holy grail in history was an honor.

Anyways, Rome has been amazing, and as Serena Van der Woodson put it: "a summer in Rome? That sounds like a dream."

[pictures coming]

Let's Change the World Together

Earlier this week, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Atlanta, Georgia through a scholarship program organized by The LAGRANT Foundation. This was the first time I was ever flown out somewhere with all expenses paid, and to be honest I am still in disbelief of all that has happened. Let me just say that Atlanta is a BEAUTIFUL city. Anyways...

The first night started with a welcome dinner at the CNN headquarters. They provided us with a three course steak dinner as I feasted with 40 graduate and undergraduate visionaries all across the nation.

Throughout the next three days, I had the privilege of speaking to representatives from large corporations including the VP of Communications at Verizon, Coca Cola, Aflac, and more. I got to see the office space of various advertising and marketing agencies like Porter Novelli and BBDO.

I don't know what I did to deserve this experience, especially seeing how innovating and inspiring all the other scholarship recipients were. But these peers have emboldened me to use my gifts to give back to the world. We may be young and few, but we have the capabilities to change the world. This journey is not going to be easy, and I will definitely fail more times than I succeed, but I am so ready for it.