Bubbles

I was feeling a bit down, so I went through some photographs.

I found this one taken over winter break, back in January (or perhaps it was December...):

My family and I were on a walk in a relatively nearby hiking trail when we came across a family entertaining their little boy with bubbles.

I didn't want to seem like a complete stalker and didn't get a closer picture of the cute guy popping the bubbles, but I got something that was also quite dear.

Just look at all those bubbles... :) I think it cheered me up a bit.

Three From One

I find it extremely interesting that with the help of a few tools (and seriously, it's only the click of two buttons), I can get vastly different photographs.

These two are both from the same photograph, and neither of these look like the original.

(That little dark spot in the sky is a glitch in my camera... the poor thing managed to get a spot inside the lens somewhere.)

Notice the difference between the two? How about taking a look at the original...

Hence the result: three from one.

And by the way, getting a camera that properly takes photographs in darker conditions is also a good idea. Once the light dims, my photographs come out fuzzy. Perhaps it's time to upgrade... (or hijack my roommate's DSLR, as I've already repeatedly done :D ).

Culprit Caught

Annelise gave me a mini canvas and easel, which I've kept sitting on top of a stack of CDs.

I recently discovered that someone had sneakily painted a masterpiece on it!

 

I didn't have to go far to find the culprit...

 

Next time, you're going to have to learn to cover your tracks better, sakura blossoms.

Rain

It has been raining quite a bit around here, and while it makes getting to class a nightmare (it's rather difficult to concentrate while sopping wet), it also gives us new, interesting worlds to explore.

Take this basketball court I saw, for example. It was just sitting there in plain sight, but apparently humans can't go there. Once the rain stops, it disappears.

I guess I can't myself crossover to the basketball hoop. In the meantime, I'll just have to ask my reflection what that world was like.

Sandwiches

I think one of the highlights of weekend brunches are make-it-yourself-sandwiches. They give you bread, lettuce, tomatoes, ham, cheese, turkey, and so on, and it's not spread chock-full of mayonnaise and whatever else they might choose to give me a heartattack with.

Well, I'm not that serious of a stickler with healthy food, but nothing beats something that tastes delicious and feels clean.

Totoro agrees.

The Invincible Phone

I've had this phone for three years, going on four. That's impressive for a phone.

More impressively, I've managed to step on it, sit on it, drop it on cement at least five times, among other things, resulting in large scratches across its front, flying parts, and generally what I would call "Processes of Breaking a Phone."

Yet, against all odds, it is STILL FUNCTIONING.

I thought I'd delivered the final blow when this happened a few days ago:

I was actually more fascinated by the parts that flew off than my initial "Well... I think I finally broke it. For real."

Look at that, isn't the green thing just amazing?

Well, it still worked. Without the green thing. (I thought it was the receiver, but I think it just enhances reception.) Luckily or unluckily, I managed to push all the pieces back onto the phone, and it's back to its glorious invincible life.

Silly thing.
I can't live without it. Even though I hate on it, I'm actually growing fonder of its stubbornness.

Footprints

A few days ago, while walking across the street to the dining hall for dinner, we saw a small group of guys jumping in and out of a plastic tub filled with flour and water. We weren't sure what they were doing, but it was rather amusing to watch them squish through the tub. I still have no idea what they were doing, and never got to see them finish their project.

We later saw something they created, probably unintentionally; a lovely set of footprints.

When Life ...

When life gives you anime-faced bananas, take pictures.

  

 

Happy New Year

My mother and grandmother are wonderful cooks.

Yesterday and today I was summoned home to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and happily ate (and took photos of) my favorites that my mother and grandmother cook.

Among the dishes were nian gao (my absolute favorite!), 

Hong shao shrimp,

Lovely green string beans, that looked so fresh and welcoming,

And more. Needless to say, our dinner table was quite overflowing.

Today, my mom insisted I go back and eat won tons and tang tuan.

If every meal were like this, I would eat way too much to be healthy :)

Fruit Tarts

I almost completely forgot!

I mentioned how our school now has rather delicious fruit tarts for sale, slightly making up for its usual lack of tasty pastries. I couldn't help myself over the weekend when I went through Old Union, and bought a fruit tart to take a few photos. And to eat, of course.

 

Ah, the satisfaction that a good fruit tart brings...

Graphics

Is it silly that for my computer science class (intro to java, CS106A) I entered the graphics contest with something whose programming is very minimal in complexity, spending most of my time drawing the images instead?

I felt like sharing a few of the drawings I made for my project, and here they are.

 

I think I had a bit too much fun just doing the images.

Sketching

Drawing while at a lovely house in Trieste.

It's only a pity you can't really see my drawing that well because of how brightly lit the place was :)

I love sketching with ink because it is so bold, and I don't have to worry about being a hundred percent accurate. It's just about jotting down quickly what I see, and if objects aren't quite as big as they ought, it doesn't matter.

The Food That Was Better

One of the things you really miss when living in a dorm is amazing food. Not to say our food is inedible (though at times we joke that it is so, not without reason), but these other things are far more incredible.

My breakfast for the few days I was in Tokyo consisted of this every morning, bought from the little shop across from our hotel:

Where would I ever be able to buy something so simple yet so satisfying here?
Let's not even get started on the pastries.

Ah, Italy. How I miss your delicacies and Grazis.

To be fair, though, our school did recently start offering some tasty fruit tarts, though the price may seem a tad bit absurd. Perhaps not, considering it's paid through my meal plan, since the maximum number of meals is too many for 99% of the student population. I'm not quite sure if anyone even has the time to eat three times a day; most likely, you will have class through breakfast or lunch. That was my case, anyway, and I don't mean to generalize too much.

Did I also mention that our Asian-themed dining hall only serves the best food at lunchtime, when I am least available? It's rather unfortunate, as I do thoroughly enjoy the cha shao bao and the fried rice, as well as the daily rotating side dish. Broccoli is also a guarantee, cooked not too well-done, not too raw, and usually mixed with some bok choi and always with that lovely sauce. I think I'll get a picture of lunch and post it sometime.

So yes, we do have some good lunch meals. Still, I will have to wait to taste a fresh bowl of ramen again.

The Very Short Tale of a Pillowcase

Something else I occupied myself with over winter break was this simple pillow case. Well, I thought it was relatively simple to take strips of cloth and sew them in a quilt-like manner, but took a surprisingly long time (and much "Stop thinking and worrying Carol, just do it!").

It started off with chunks of cloth.

 

Progressed somewhat to more shapely figures.

And steadily, I sewed the edges of the individual pieces together. As an accidentally added bonus, this photograph includes most of my comfortable setup in the living room.

Finally, a bit of a closer photograph (with my feet poking in at the bottom, haha).

 

:) Hurray! Although there seem to have been no photos of the back, which I found extremely interesting to create. Perhaps I'll retrieve the pillow and take better photos of it for later...