Taipei, Taiwan

International travel has left me BAMBOOZLED. (I wasn't aware of the present time or day until trying to write this post)
But for all the hassle of connecting flights and security checks, I finally got to settle in Taipei, Taiwan, or at least for a day. Tomorrow morning, I leave for the Philippines.

We flew on Malaysia Airlines from LAX (L.A. International Airport), which was pretty sweet for 14 hours of airtime. All kinds of Asian people, lady attendants dressed in Asian dresses (shocker), meals, leg space, and sweet monitors embedded into the seat in front of you, complete with games, recent movies, and music. All included in the ticket fare!

Taipei's airport was basically deserted when we got there. The advertisements were brightly colored, featuing cute cartoons, as one might expect an Asian country to have. There are signs about H1N1 virus and hand sanitizer everywhere - quarantine is no joke either, they had heat sensing cameras! COOL!

Fast forward 2 hours later, and we took a double decker bus to the hotel.

Mighty Fine Albums

WHAT MAKES AN ALBUM SO SPECIAL?
Vinyl, CD, or digital download, an album provides a true insight on an artist's creativity and hard work. Instead of listening to a 3 minute song on the radio, you are forced to bask in several songs from the same artist, track after track after track. Do these songs fit together? Does it bore you for a bit then finally pick up? Are you let down with the new musical direction? Or are you frantically skipping to the song you heard on the radio?

If you're lucky, you'll stumble upon a couple of mighty fine albums yourself. The albums listed below have not only heightened my respect for the artists themselves, but are solid gold from start to finish.

Take a break from our search-download-play state of mind, and just listen.

In no particular order...

Electronic-Pop
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF
by Imogen Heap

DISCOVERY
by Daft Punk

ANGEL MILK
by Telepopmusik

FAME
by Lady Gaga

LIKE VINES
by The Hush Sound

BAD
by Michael Jackson

THRILLER
by Michael Jackson

R&B, Soul - Hip-Hop
DIARY OF ALICIA KEYS
by Alicia Keys

THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL
by Lauryn Hill

MAMA'S GUN
by Erykah Badu

GET LIFTED
by John Legend

CORINNE BAILEY RAE
by Corinne Bailey Rae

GRADUATION
by Kanye West

Alternative - Acoustic
PARACHUTES
by Coldplay

OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SEA
by Oren Lavie

THE REMINDER
by Feist

INBETWEEN DREAMS
by Jack Johnson

MUTEMATH
by Mutemath


What are your favorite albums?

Measurements

I usually like to make my posts USEFUL to someone out there, but this drawing made me laugh. I'd say it's pretty accurate besides the too strong shoulde rs and pronounced hips. And the fact that I'm wearing heels, when the height recorded is me without shoes. Me and my mom were taking our measurements for our dresses in my grandparent's 50th anniversary.

I'm also going to play fashion blogger for a sec. Apparently, everyone thought my outfit was cute today. I felt like a comfy grandma.

BTW: these pictures are taken by my cellphone, LG Chocolate Touch (which I should write a review about) in low-light settings WITH minor touch-ups.

Where did you get your shoes?
My mom's Sporto Boots from the 90's. Found them in the garage.

you look like christmas.
comfy red sweater from thrift store, black turtleneck under summer dress.

calvin klein tights from TjMaxx, my oh my they are COMFY!

I still think the guys at lookbook.nu are the real fashionistas! I only put together outfits every once in a while.

One last thought: Gr, it's FINALLY getting colder. That means no more pretty leaves and opportunities to wear leggings. =[

super quick ! Opinion/Review: New Moon

QUICK VERDICT: Diehard fan or pressured to go, the impressive visual experience, believable acting, and of course, the complicated romance, makes New Moon worth your $9.

WHO YOU'LL SIT NEXT TO: General fans (the obsessed ones have already seen it), dates, girls, groups of teenagers, moms, boys dragged along, girls

PLOT: Bella doesn't want to age. Edward makes a clean break from Bella and leaves her devastated. Bella becomes a social recluse, has nightmares, and sees apparitions of Edward every time she does something dangerous. Bella befriends ridiculously buff, werewolf Jacob. The definition of Jacob and Bella's friendship constantly gets blurred. When Bella gets word that Edward will kill himself, she jets off to save him...and I really don't want to reveal the conclusion.

SPARE ME: Bella's pathetic depression, cheesy humor, Bella's depression (it's that annoying)

Vibes: American University

I'm a HORRIBLE blogger. There were so many things I could have ranted about, such as my first (and last) homecoming dance, my first trip to NYC, my school struggles, the pretty sights I've been seeing this fall (I swear I've seen the prettiest foliage this year...I love fall!!), the annoying college process. The list goes on and on and on...

But tonight, I will post about the vibes I got from my visit to American University, a private university in D.C., and also the only private school I'm applying to (price IS important).

Enjoy and read analytically!


Why AU? Awesome communications and study abroad program, location (beautiful suburban D.C.), size (medium sized)
I'm interested in... SOC- school of communications
Yikes ! AU estimates that the price for a full time undergrad for 1 year is about $40,000 + (tuition+room/meal+other expenses)
BUT their financial aid dept. has a good rep and they make sure their students don't run into any administrative problems (we're talking faculty and student advisors that are easily accessible)
They're so D.C... The overwhelming majority of students here are enthusiastic about politics, extremely driven, and competitive. They are also white...and rich.

Alas, another rainy day (perhaps this is a sign???). Yet the rain didn't detract from the beauty of the campus at all. Even driving there was a sight to see, as we drove by Embassy Row and the residential area of upper class D.C. Upon entering the actual campus, I was attracted to the abundance of beautiful trees and very elegant buildings. My tour guide, Nadia, described AU as the best of the worlds, and I agree. It's a college nestled in residential D.C., and a shuttle and metro ride away to the more city like D.C.

Most kids dressed casually and some girls donned colorful rain boots ( I need to get myself a pair). To sound stereotypical and shallow, the students looked like the politically oriented, studious, intellectual people they probably are. There are many more girls than guys, and there is a strong gay community. I feel a teeny bit out of place because politics confuses me (well, not the actual process itself, but the issues, which takes tons of research to truly understand). I feel like a complete slacker compared to them. In the info session alone, I was intimidated. This one senior from D.C. said his school required the completion of 1 internship - he had 5. A junior from New Hampshire volunteered on various political campaigns. Even the parents were asking questions like they were journalists on a mission. Will I rise to the challenge or blend in the background next to these ambitious students?

Why so serious?

I was surprised to see that not many people were wearing AU apparel, but the tour guide was very excited about their basketball team (they have no football team). Again, sports don't really mean much to me, but I do appreciate good school spirit. I think I'd have fun watching a basketball game here, but I do wonder how spirited AU actually is.

A view of AU's pool. Access to their nice gym is free, but it ought to be for their sticker price.

some students (mostly female) in one of the cafeterias

Dorm life here is comparable to College Park and UMBC (i.e. community bathrooms), but they have a really nice closet system/arrangement of furniture going on here.


If College Park and American were the same price, I think I'd still go to College Park. American is wonderful, but it seems...older, too refined for the state of mind I'm in right now. Maybe when I'm older.

UMBC Campus Visit

This is the second campus I've visited (first one was College Park), so I'll do a quick run down of first impressions and some comparison to College Park, since they are both part of the University of Maryland system. Think about what YOU want in a college, then form an educated opinion!

Why UMBC? Price (public state school), location (near Baltimore inner harbor), size (medium sized)
I'm interested in...media & communications ( an extremely new major to UMBC's curriculum!)
It's kind of different...there are no rolling green hills, Greek life isn't huge, and sports aren't huge (homecoming = soccer, they made it to the "Final Four" of chess last year)
BUT you are guaranteed a quality education and many support resources!

This is probably a horrible way to start off this post, but we couldn't take pics outside because it was raining all day. But as mentioned, this is not your typical green, quad based campus. I'd call it "industrious" and the buildings are very business like. Walking through the campus was refreshing because of all the diversity (both College Park and Baltimore push this aspect SO much). Most kids were casually dressed, and a lot of yellow UMBC hoodies brightened the otherwise very dreary day. This is going to sound so shaky, but it seemed like all the nerdyish kids seemed completely comfortable at UMBC. I could imagine finding a good group of friends here.

Walking's not much of a problem, seeing as most of the academic classes are conveniently placed in "Academic Row." The smaller classes have seats like traditional high schools, and the lecture halls are pretty nice (not as nearly as big as College Park). The overall atmosphere was chill (maybe because it was a rainy day??) and you really feel like as if you're in a semi-knit community.

Now on to the very few pictures my dad took...
This is the entrance to the gym. The gym facilities were not very impressive...in fact they were pretty dinky. The basketball court reminds me of North Point's gym, except bigger. If you're into physical activity, there are plenty of things to do, but the facilities aren't top notch at all.



Now on to dorm life! In my opinion, these dorms are better than College Park. The rooms are more spacious and no community bathrooms! If you're in a double room, you share a bathroom with the room next to you. Each room comes with a wardrobe since there is no closet, a microfridge, 2 twin beds, and a sink. Each floor is co-ed and has your standard commons type room.


Awh, man I forgot the name of this library. It has a coffee shop, a computer lab, areas for free tutoring/assistance, and of course books! They just added a digital photo database too. In terms of having access to materials, you're bound to find something revelent. But the library budget got cut recently (as well as College Park). Well actually, it seems like everyone's budgets are getting slashed these days.


The last stop was The Commons, a place for students to eat, play, and chill.

Beyond the campus you can take the MTA bus to the Inner Harbor or drive yourself wherever (freshmen can have cars in a satellite parking area).

Final shot:
UMBC didn't have that "wow" factor like College Park had. BUT I'm quite the introvert - the laidback atmosphere of the campus would really suit me. The size of the campus, its classes, and all the effort this school puts into making sure their students are on the right track are big plusses for me. Their Media & Communications track may be new , but I'm completely excited about the course load. They might not have the most prestigious journalism program or brand new facilities (like the Knight Building at College Park), but I don't think I'd mind going here. For now, I'm still pushing for that classic experience - feeling overwhelmed, football games, & school spirit .

My only irk is that their newspaper, The Retriever, sounds like it's written by rookies, almost like high school!

National Book Festival in D.C.

I've never seen so many literature geeks gather in one place at the same time. Myself included! I'm talking huge lines for big names such as James Patterson, John Grisham, Judy Blume, etc. Awh, man do I miss literature. Most of my reading material now are non-fiction, via magazine or the internet. I'm waiting for the digital age of literature...I soooo want a Kindle (or w/e version they have of it in the future) when I'm older.

The day started at about 7 a.m., meeting at Mcdonald's in good ol Chuck County. We were a couple hours early to the event - they were still setting up by the time we got there. So we took pictures!

and walked around.

Nicholas Sparks was only signing his latest novel, so I got a good spot here/suckers behind me (ended up being 4 total long lines!)

my view from sitting down/ look how enthusiastic she is!

Judy sigining my book =]

Then I went back to my friends faithfully waiting for Sparks to come. It was finally our turn, with no latest copy of his book, and took a quick pic. He was quite confused. We were quite angry. (my friend has the pic...)

After, we got out of that place, and chilled (literally, it was chilly and rainy) in D.C. Walked to Chinatown, jaywalked, ended up eating at Las Tapas, and for the most part, window shopped at H&M and Urban Outfitters. I got some good naps on the metro and the final car ride home. What an interesting day!

FOR THE FUTURE:

• screw book signing, next year I'm listening to the authors read and stocking my bag with free stuff.
• Tapas restaurants serve itty-bitty portions. (it's fun to share) So stock up! Unless you are in D.C., and each bite sized dish costs a whole meal.