[Project 365] Day 12: Sunset

[Project 365] Day 12: Sunset, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

[Project 365] Day 11: Something Blue

[Project 365] Day 11: Something Blue, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

[Project 365] Day 10: A Childhood Memory

Before I even looked up what today's photo challenge was, I had already spent time during the day to take pictures of one of my favorite activities as a child... BUBBLES! =) 

I remember I used to sit on the front porch and just blow bubbles and make up pretend stories haha. I miss those sweet days of childhood. I went to Stop and Shop and bought a big bubble wand that I played with today. Who says adults can't have fun too? (I still don't quite feel like an adult though haha).

Trying to blow as many as I can!

Bigger bubbles =)

And I also have a photo of an actual childhood memory of mine... the days when I first started with equestrian :]

I'm the one on the little pony haha

That is one activity from childhood I really miss! I started with equestrian because my childhood best friend loved horses and spread it to me. I continued taking lessons until high school, when I fell off the horse while doing some low jumps and my parents wanted me to take a break. I did it a bit in my college's equestrian club, but I never had time because of my other obligations. I'm hoping to find time again when I go back to at least do a couple of more lessons before I graduate.

[Project 365] Day 09: Someone You Love

[Project 365] Day 09: Someone You Love, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

I figured that rather than picking one person, I could just do a compilation of pictures of the different people I love =) And I've been loving taking polaroids with my Fujifilm Instax Mini 25. There are the few shots I've taken so far, but they've all been with pretty awesome people :D Plus including a cute picture of my brothers that's one of my favs.

Emo Elmo

Emo Elmo, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

The real world ain't nothing like Sesame Street :(

[Project 365] Day 08: A Bad Habit

As my parents would gladly say, I definitely have my fair share of bad habits. I don't eat many vegetables, I have a poor appetite, I drink lots of Coca-Cola...

But I have to say, these days, I think my biggest bad habit is my sleeping schedule. I sleep late, and it takes me FOREVER to wake up. On the days when I don't have to get up for work, sometimes it takes me until 1 PM to get out of bed. I don't mind sleeping in occasionally, but it really does feel like a waste of a day when I wake up late lols.

[Project 365] Day 07: Fruit

[Project 365] Day 07: Fruit, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

Rainy Day

What I wrote on my rainy day off since I had nothing really to do... lol

It's just for fun so musical geniuses, please don't hate it for its mediocrity! I don't really know music theory so I just wrote whatever seemed to sound good in my head... and there are pauses because I was just recording as I was randomly playing so I had some brain farts.

i'll play you a song

i'll play you a song, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

what every girl needs...

what every girl needs..., a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

... is a pair of nice, black heels =)

[Project 365] Day 06: From a Low Angle

[Project 365] Day 06: From a Low Angle, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

I'd rather not borrow "Something Borrowed"

So, against suggestions, I decided to watch "Something Borrowed" since I was bored. I've read the book by Emily Griffin, as well as her other books, and I actually really liked it. It wasn't a difficult read, and despite the subject matter being kind of controversial, she puts it in a manner that makes you root for the protagonist, even if she's the "other woman."

However...like everyone else said, the movie is pretty crappy. Rotten Tomatoes gave it like a 15%. It was pretty terrible. It left out a lot of parts in the book, which kind of doesn't work since the plot is already kind of simple. There's a lot of random stuff in the movie...like the two girls suddenly bursting out into dance... uhh... I am confused. I guess it's supposed to represent their friendship but I don't remember the last time I spontaneously jumped into choreographed dance with my friends after sharing some big news.

But the one GOOD PART about this movie... I have to say.... is Colin Egglesfield. I don't know where the heck he came from, but he's is quite pretty to the eyes.

And props to him... he's dating an Australian actress... and she happens to be part East Asian! Whoohoo lucky girl.

And John Krasinski [the guy from the Office] is in it too! And he's cute too, in like a friendly, fun guy way. Though he's in kind of an awkward role in this movie... he basically took the role of the girl's female best friend in the book as well as acting as a potential love interest for her. At the very least, Ginnifer Goodwin got to act with some nice looking guys.

However...this movie is quite terrible. I'm still watching it and I'm bored.

[Project 365] Day 05: From a High Angle

[Project 365] Day 05: From a High Angle, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

[Project 365] Day 04: Something Green

[Project 365] Day 04: Something Green, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

There's all kinds of love in this world :)

[Project 365] Day 03: Clouds

[Project 365] Day 03: Clouds, a photo by franstarrr on Flickr.

There weren't really clouds in the sky today :( So I tried to go through taking a picture of the sky with the trees and sun and some bit of clouds in the sky.

Photoshoot in the Park

Today I saw some more lovely friends from home :) Got some yummy sushi at a place I never been to before. I always like trying out new restaurants and finding out new places to eat, and sushi is like my favorite food in the world, so it's even better to have found another place to eat it (and luckily it wasn't too expensive!)

Afterwards, after some driving around, I ended up at the park with my friends Robbie and Amelia. Robbie and I were taking some photos with our DSLRs. Sadly, it was SO HOT outside and I am not a good enough driver to take us to anywhere nicer... but I still got some shots I liked haha. While we talked about life, I was also snapping away. 

It was a good day :) I really want to practice taking more portrait and nature shots. My creativity is quite lacking. But it's fun to learn :D

[Project 365] Day 02: What I Wore Today

Pretty simple. I didn't have much time today because I got back really late, so I just took a quick picture of my outfit. I volunteered today, so I wore some more business-y clothes... I have been helping out at the Business office for a non-profit organization. So I feel that it's appropriate to wear more business casual attire, even if they didn't tell me to and if some people wear jeans. Clothes show respect in many ways too.

It's been a pretty interesting experience so far. I never worked for a non-profit organization, and I think the atmosphere is pretty nice. All the people are really understanding and open, and I think it's admirable the causes they work for. I just don't know if I could ever see myself doing that full-time, but I think I definitely want to help out with organizations even if it's not part of my job.

However...waking up at 7 AM is the worst. I don't know how I'm going to survive the real world!

[Project 365] Day 01: Self-portrait - My father's eyes

So starting off the 30 Day challenge, I took this picture of myself.

So one might wonder why I chose to take a picture where my face is blurred? But actually to me, this picture is representative of a self-portrait of myself. I chose to use a magnifying lens to focus on my eye making it bigger and to have that as the focus of my portrait.


Ever since I was a kid, I've hated my eyes.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel that way until I became immersed in a more Asian environment. When I was younger and was the only Asian kid around, I was occasionally teased with the tugged of the eyelids in an upwards direction. Silly me, I thought it was a game until one day I came home doing it and my father was less than pleased.

But it was being amongst Asians when I really started to hate my eyes. Because they were small. Because when a non-Asian person makes fun of Asian eyes, that's considered racist. But when an Asian person makes fun that someone's eyes are small, there's not quite the same standards against that.

For the longest time, I would get remarks about my little eyes. Because they are small, smaller than most people around me, and I don't have the holier-than-thou double eyelids that is so craved by the mainstream Asia. And I would joke along with it about my eyes, yes haha, I have widescreen vision. Even my relatives teased that my eyes were small like my father's.

I hated it.

And then I was going to college. And my parents asked me THE question - did I want to get double eyelid surgery? Since I was starting in a new place, no one would know.

I thought about it, I really did. I have nothing against plastic surgery or people who choose to do it. After all, women wear makeup, there's a lot of things doing to enhance one's appearance. But I wasn't sure if it was for me.

And then one day in college I realized - my eye's are like my father's. My father who has always supported me. And while people come and go, and life is not forever, these are the eyes that would be mine. The ones that my father gave me. The ones that I can pass on to my children.

That was the day I stopped thinking of my eyes as a curse, but more as a gift from my dad. And yeah I still am not quite fond of my eyes. And people still make fun of me for having small eyes, or no eyes. And yeah I hate it a lot.

But I am waiting for the day when I have enough confidence in myself to not give a shit and be proud. For when I can say, yeah, I have little eyes, widescreen vision. But there's nothing wrong with that.

So for my fellow little eyes out there - I'm not saying there's anything wrong with makeup, getting surgery, eyelid tape, eyelid glue, and whatnot. But if you choose to do it, do it for yourself. Not for other people. And love yourself nonetheless.

This is my self-portrait.

30 Day Challenge

I AM GOING TO START MY PROJECT 365 AGAIN. No more being a lazy bum.
But I feel like one of the problems was that once I left London (when I did it last year), I ran out of ideas on what to take pictures of. My creative inspirations have been quite lacking in that regard.

So I'm going to try taking on this 30 Day Challenge to kick off my Project 365. Hopefully... I will make it through and stop being a bum!

Day 1: Self-portrait
Day 2: What you wore today
Day 3: Clouds
Day 4: Something green
Day 5: From a high angle
Day 6: From a low angle
Day 7: Fruit
Day 8: A bad habit
Day 9: Someone you love
Day 10: Childhood memory
Day 11: Something blue
Day 12: Sunset
Day 13: Yourself with 13 things
Day 14: Eyes
Day 15: Silhouette
Day 16: Long Exposure
Day 17: Technology
Day 18: Your shoes
Day 19: Something orange
Day 20: Bokeh
Day 21: Faceless self-portrait
Day 22: Hands
Day 23: Sunflare
Day 24: Animal
Day 25: Something pink
Day 26: Close-up
Day 27: From a distance
Day 28: Flowers
Day 29: Black and white
Day 30: Self-portrait


Check out the group on Flickr!

Forever Young

An old picture from 2007, but appropriate for my day :)

Some of the most amazing people in my life :)

Spent some time with today with two of my best friends from home, Sonia and Lois. These two have been with me through thick & thin, through the good and the reaaaally bad. Spending time with them always makes me feel warm inside hehe like even though we're getting older, these are the things that will never change<3 And shout-out to my twinnie Melissa, who's all the way in HK...miss youuu!

I'm so grateful for wonderful people who are willing deal with me, even with all my imperfections.

In that situation, I think I'm so extremely lucky :D

friendship never ends

The best kind of tired is after spending lots of time with loved ones.

It was really nice because this week I got to see a lot of different people :)

First, I went up to Rochester last Sunday in order to visit Mike & people now that the MCATs are over. It was nice because it's been a while since Mike wasn't stressing out about studying for the MCATs, so it was like we had time just to relax and not worry about any impending doom. And he's living in a house full of people so it was fun to hang out! I got to see a lot of the old CSA e-board which was fun... good to see that things are always rollin' with CSA!

I've been super into polaroids again, ever since I got my new Instax Mini 25. I've been wanting to get a new instant camera since the film stopped being produced for my old polaroid, but I never got to it. But these cameras have gotten a lot more cheaper than back in the day, so I figured I should go for it! :)

My new toy :)

Being in Rochester for the week was pretty bum. A lot of the times during the day I just chilled around. Nighttime was when everyone was more free (or the people who didn't have anything to do became more active at night) so that was fun! One of the best nights was when we finally had a bonfire! This was a goal for like two years so I'm really glad we were able to do it!

Also, I got to spend some time with my littles. Ate yummy food and attempted to teach them to ride bicycles! We managed to get through that with few injuries.

And of course...the midnight premiere of the last Harry Potter movie! I don't know, I didn't think the movie was particularly good or bad... I think it was just along the same lines as the other movies. Just something that had to be seen. Of course, it's sad to think that it's all over but I'm glad I got to see all the movies to the end. I remember I had the biggesttt crush on Daniel Radcliffe when I was younger... haha

Harry Potter nerds filling the theater at midnight :)

And then this weekend I got to spend time with some amazing women. First I had a lovely dinner with Lu and Felicia, two of my friends from my Columbia University summer writing program. It was so awesome to catch up with them, and hear about what wonderful things they've been doing. And then I spent the night with Susan and Lisa, just doing the same silly things that we usually do. It was like being back in the college dorm again, and even though it was only a few months ago that we were in Riverview, I already missy it.

This was quite a busy week! A lot that I typed. But I'm excited for more ADVENTURES to come :D

I WILL RESTART...

MY PROJECT 365 STARTING JULY 4. I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO FINISH IT THIS YEAR!

Floral Print

In the past year, in both London and New York City, I've noticed that there has been an increasing amount of floral prints in fashion. In the past, I wasn't really into floral stuff or big prints because I thought it was too "girly" for me. But this summer, I decided to change up my wardrobe a little and buy some clothes that I normally wouldn't wear - such as floral prints.

College Fashion gives some tips about how to pull of the floral print :)

Did damage at UNIQLO, Forever 21, H&M, and Mystique Boutique in SoHo. But I'm pretty happy with my purchases :D Hurray for sales & digging around!

I still have to work on my fashion sense. But I mean, after living in two of the fashion capitals in the world, London & New York City, I should hope that there's been some improvement!

I <3 NY

Untitled, a photo by widescreenvision on Flickr.

i love being in the city with all the hubbub and activities going on :D

waiting for love<3

waiting for love, a photo by widescreenvision on Flickr.

playing around with some bokeh effects while waiting around in the union square station :)

the start of a new adventure :)

I always come back to this. Blogging in some sort of way.

I wanted to start one more new URL...just because my last one, the meaning behind the URL wasn't very good...it was more meant to be ironic. But I want to start off FRESH, on a HAPPY foot, with HAPPY THOUGHTS.


It's interesting how much blogging has taken over the internet. I remember when I used to just blog with my domain. And then there was Xanga, Live Journal, blah blahhh... I tried using wordpress earlier this summer, but all the blogs I follow are on blogger. So it just seems to make more sense to use this.

It's SUMMER 2011! I can't believe it. Technically, I just finished my senior year of college. But more on that later.

For now... today I did a lot of thinking about life, and how old I am now, and how much I have or have not done. And I realize that for years, I've been waiting to "grow up," for something to change and for me to get on with my life. But now I'm 22 and it's been long enough stalling.

This summer, I want it to be a summer of ACTION. So here goes.

SUMMER 2011 Goals [some completed]:
- Go to Six Flags
- Get to 105 pounds and stay stable
- E-Mail Professors
- Study LSAT
- Take photos at Central Park
- Watch Wicked
- Drive at least once a week
- Start writing a story
- Do Project 365
- Learn guitar
- Learn to knit
- Compose a song