MERRY CHRISTMAS

American Apparel jacket, Abercrombie flannel, UO bag

Christmas wasn't much of an excitement for me since I was stuck inside the house doing nothing. But hopefully.. hopefully next year's will be better.

After a rainy day

November 8, 2010

friday morning

UNLV campus

I took this picture right after I started to notice the gradual changes from the bright green leaves of the trees to a a more subtle yellow/orange color. After my Friday class finished, I walked around the campus with my friend wondering in amazement on how fast autumn is approaching.

making kimchi

my aunt, grandmother, and mother washing the lettuces

Every winter, my family makes huge batches of kimchi to eat  for the rest of the year, and until next winter. We usually make enough to last us a whole year. Although I didn't help out with my mother,aunt, and grandmother in washing,preparing, and seasoning the kimchi, I did help them with small tasks like moving the huge crates of radishes and lettuces and picking up little scraps of unneeded lettuces. The process of making kimchi is very long and arduous which leads to many people just buying industrial made kimchi. Although there's nothing wrong with buying kimchi from stores, it's always nice to have a home made kimchi seasoned to your taste. Fortunately, the day was warm and pretty hot for it to be called winter. My family is very loud and very... tough. :) Even though there were a few strangers and neighbors glancing at us and even just standing in front of us to watch us clean the lettuces, we continued our tasks in washing the kimchi without caring about the bystanders. 

the view from the streets

Still a lot to wash/cut/prepare.

sunday morning

December 8, 2010

chili's

chatting with my friend

This picture was taken on November 23rd. After a long day of studying, my friend decided to venture on into the night and get something to eat. Bored with spending the whole day doing absolutely nothing, I agreed to her sudden request and accompanied her to chili's. It's always nice to end the night with having a deep conversation with your best friend.

college and finals

I'm VERY sorry for the lack of update. Right after Thanksgiving I was so very sure of being able to blog, but then Black Friday came and then came the weekends and then came laziness. Finals are coming up next week and after that I'm sure I'll be able to update since I'll be on a month long winter break. :)

*edited*
FINALLY! finals are over and here I am relaxing on my computer chair doing literally nothing. It's time I get off my lazy ass and start blogging. I have tons of photos to upload and a lot to write about. My only regret is not putting any fashion posts up. Lately I've been feeling very fat and ugly, so I haven't really had the courage to post a picture of myself. ^^

happy thanksgiving

my cousins heating up gravy and corn

It's already December 18 and here I am, writing an entry on my Thanksgiving dinner. Like every other holiday, I was invited to my dear aunt's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. Unlike my parents, my aunt is a true believer in holidays and never forgets to celebrate this special time of the year with her family. After a long boring day at home, I drove past the speed limit to reach my aunt's house. With the chilly night freezing my entire body, I gave a little ring to the doorbell and out came my cute little cousin, Brent, who greeted me with a huge smile and a warm hug. Entering the house I smelled a nostalgic fragrance of turkey, corn, garlic bread, soup, and stuffing. Sadly, my aunt was feeling lazy and so we had to put up with a meal set ordered from another restaurant, but it was still better than nothing :)

turkey and stuffing

British girl

Since I can't regularly update my look of the day, my pupe coordinations will do for now. :)

fright at the bonnie screams

heading to bonnie screams

For the first time, I spent my Halloween shut inside my room studying and doing my homework instead of trick or treating with my friends. Just a year ago, my friends and I would never miss the chance to trick or treat and would stuff ourselves with free candies while excitingly looking for other houses with their lights on. With the sudden change of status from being a high school student to a college student, I suddenly lost my childish motivation to do the things I used to enjoy with my friends on one of the most important holidays. Thankfully, I was still able to hang out with my friends at the Bonnie Screams, which is located in the middle of nowhere in the Nevada dessert, and have our share of fright and enjoyment of Halloween as an adult. In the late evening, my friends and I drove in the dark for more than 20 miles to reach Bonnie Screams. Once we arrived in the small ghost town, we were surrounded by the eerily atmosphere of the so-called haunted town and boarded a small train that led us to the deeper part of the town. Once we got off the train, we began to line up for 4 different haunted houses, each with their own chainsaws to scare people. Waiting in line for 40 minutes just to get scared for a minute or two was dreadful and a bit pointless, but it was worth it. With the last scare, I ended the night with a sore throat but with an exhilarating feeling of excitement and exhaustion. :) Although it would be a bit risky to go trick or treating with my friends with my current age, I will never miss out on getting scared at Haunted houses on a Halloween night.  

monday morning

I need to invest in a better camera

Opening my eyes in the early morning, the bright sun seeped through my curtain and shined down on my awakened form. With the sun as my signal to wake up, I pulled myself out of the thick, warm comforter and groggily walked over to my closet. Realizing that my class didn't start until 1 p.m., I became determined to not waste the day sporting my lazy casual wear and instead pulled out my recently bought blouse from zara. With the sudden pick, various inspirations of different outfits came to mind and thus I ended up picking a bit of an indiana jones-esque outfit. Sadly, I didn't check the weather outside and was immediately embraced by the chill, cool breeze around my bare legs and thin blouse. In the end, I became a person with style but one without a common sense.

Steve madden boots, H&M blouse, Zara blouse, abercrombie shorts, betsey johnson belt

jackass 3D

shirt from UO

With the chilly autumn weather, my friends and I decided to spend the day watching Jackass 3D. It was my first time watching a Jackass movie, and I am definitely glad I watched it. A movie containing violence, brutal pranks, drinking others sweats, being covered in feces,annoying laughs, and getting hit in the penis is what I would like to end my day with. After the movie, my girls and I went to Hooters and ordered the classic hooter wings, which was absolutely DELICIOUS.

the end of my trip to korea

My month long trip to Korea was great. Not only was I able to see these beautiful places in Korea, but I was able to meet my families (whom I haven't seen for 6 years). Everyone treated me so nicely and I really enjoyed my stay here, but I was ready to go back home to my friends and families in vegas. I would really like to go back someday, but for now, I'm quite content with where I am.

buddhist temple

 

A day after I came back from the 7 hour trip to Tongyang, I set out for Yeosu, a 9 hour trip, to visit my father. The ride to Yeosu was certainly tiring, but it was nice to see where my dad worked and lived. In order to show me the beautiful tourist sights of Yeosu, my father made my uncle and I walk on top of the mountain to visit the Buddhist Temple. The ancient looking temple was quite a scene as it took my breath away.

on top of the hill

After the trip to the beach, we came upon this small restaurant that was located on top of a very high hill. Once we entered the building, we noticed a fragrant scent of the local herbs and vegetables and an enticing smell of roasted duck. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. Having a traditionally healthy meal after a long day at the beach while enjoying the scenery was the best part of the trip. 

the beach

It was nice to sunbathe while watching my family enjoy the summer heat by playing in the ocean. My adorable little cousins were quite ecstatic and their bright smiles touched me in the deepest part of my heart, but unfortunately, mother earth called and so I couldn't play out in the ocean. But observing the beautiful scenery in front of me was quite enough to leave me happy and content.

arrival at the small island

The white beach sand was ENDLESS and the clear, blue ocean was absolutely divine. Girls in their bikinis, men in their swimming trucks. Laughter and excitement filled my ears as we all ran towards the inviting water.

looking out into the ocean

The sun was shining brightly, the smell of the sea was empowering, and the ocean was endless. The boat ride was very peaceful and exciting, I was actually looking forward in seeing this little island that the local people raved about. My aunt told me that the little island we were going to had a little private beach and isn't crowded like most other beaches in Korea.

on our way to tonyang

I was absolutely delighted at the fact that we would writing this small boat to reach the quaint, serene little island located 20 minutes away from the main land.

surrounded my greeneries

october and midterms

Kristen playing with Jake and Russ

During the past few weeks, college has been occupying me 24/7, and instead of blogging, I have been studying, doing homework, completing projects, and trying to ace quizzes. Although I realize that college is a MUST in order for me to get into the medical field, it makes me wonder if I'm making the right choice on studying to become a pharmacist. Writing is my passion and I absolutely love reading in my free time, but the constant pressure in getting a good job and making decent amount of money clouds my mind and heart from setting out to do the things I really want to do. Even though I have been interested in art and writing since my younger days, the pressing matter in having a successful job made me interested in becoming a pharmacist. I’d like to say that my determination in becoming a pharmacist isn’t half-assed or something that I’ve thought out of nowhere and I understand that becoming a pharmacist takes a great deal of effort and willingness. Although I am quite set on studying hard to become a successful pharmacist, there are times when I want to continue to relinquish this small hobby of mine and just wander off to a quiet park or an isolated field of grass and just continue to write about the things I love and hate. Which is why I have my blog to continue this small passion of mine. But without it, I would be lost and enraptured by this boring and stressful life of mine. Although I won't be able to update my blog regularly, I would still like to keep this little diary of mine lively and interesting enough to capture my future audience. I’ll try hard to update a bit more frequently since it is, after all, my love and desire to do the things I like to do. Enough said, I should start updating the last of my trip to Korea pictures.

october

At 8 a.m. in the morning, I woke up to a sharp alarm of a text message from my friend. Still half awake, I groggily got up and opened the balcony door expecting a bright sunny weather, but instead, I was met with a cloudy, windy day. Listening to the soft breath of the wind as it enraptured my whole body, I began to smell the slight change of season. Smiling as the cool wind greeted my body, I listened to the squeaking of the swings from a nearby playground and opening my eyes, I witnessed the slight change of leaves on the trees in front of my house. Goodbye summer and hello autumn. I now have an excuse to replace my summer wardrobe with something that would fit with the theme of fall.

while looking around the hotel, I spotted...

peekaboo

my little cousin using the restroom. :)

Antique girl

my pupe. 

I am absolutely in love with my pupe's current theme which is antique girl. And so I thought I'd share my doll's coordination on my blog. :) enjoy.

seoul

the view from namsan tower.

namsan tower

namsan tower

train tracks admidst a forest

train tracks amidst a forest

As you can see, the heat in Seoul is just UNBEARABLE once it hits the month of July and August. I'm still amazed at how my grandmother convinced me to go walk outside for a breath of fresh air, but I am glad I did. Once we stepped outside of her little apartment, she led me to this beautiful scenery where a single line of train tracks were found in the middle of a forest. BREATHLESS is the word I had used to describe my astonishment in seeing such a landscape. Again, I would use this image as something found in a miyazaki film, but OH. You should know by now at how obsessed I am with his works. :)

say hello to moi.

Please excuse this vain picture of myself, but I must insist that this was not posted out of greed or selfishness :)

Waking up early to bid goodbye to my dear father was a total failure, but I was able to wake up with a refreshing mind and outlook to another bright day. "GOOD MORNING my dear readers" was what I was supposed to say, but I guess it won't be a bad idea to bid goodnight either. "GOODNIGHT."

relaxing near dongdaemoon

ssamzigil

shops next to the ssamzigil

way to the little cafe upstairs of ssamzigil

Located in the corner of Insadong is a complex called ssamzigil. Green Plants and vines surrounding the building and the little cafes and boutiques inside the mall are what you call A TRUE DISCOVERY. All the little handicrafts sold in the boutiques are all handmade and the people who made it are so sweet and courteous. I will definitely be back to visit you again.