Saturday, December 29, 2007

Salvador De Bahia, Brazil

Salvador De Bahia

Colonized by the Portuguese
Flooded with African slaves
Coffee, Cotton
Now Ford Automobiles
Gotta be one of the most amazing countries in the world.

Bom Dia! Welcome to Brazil.

Snippets


Sao Paolo International Airport
















Capoeira: preservation of Black culture in the modern world



















Intro: Brasil


























Elavator@ Salvador De Bahia: Upper City to Lower City


























Pelourinhno: Old Town built by the Portuguese

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

tick tock tick tock

So the past few days i've spent in Santa Monica has been spent slow, relaxing, reflecting.


There're always these split paths that we have to choose between. There's that fixed resolved life with that concrete path that people from our country seem to take all the time. That rigid seemingly steel-bound kind of education and eventually into the white collar industry. and there's also that fixed route that many people who choose to have their initials on a dotted line end up with.


Sitting at the crossroads, i know i am going home eventually; Just wondering what i ll be missing out on the other path, that which is unknown, exciting, full of surprises. where could it take one? Dublin? Idaho? Bangkok? Newport Beach?


It's interesting to know what's going to happen 3 or 4 years down the road, actually it's relieving. It's like we always want to have this little crystal ball in front of us to have a sneak peek into whats coming up next. But that's how it has been all these while. What if life can take another unexpected turn? A greenpeace advocate, a member on board the republican's campaign, a wildlife enthusiast, a singer-singwriter? Is the path home just far too predictable?


In the mean time, i can only rely on short journeys to help explore new boundaries.


and to borrow a photo from Jill to help encapsulate these thoughts:



Patrick Park - Life is a Song


You say life is a dream where we can't say what we mean

Maybe just some roadside scene that we're driving past

There's no telling where we'll be in a day or in a week

And there's no promises of peace or of happiness

Well is this why you cling to every little thing

And pulverize and derange all your senses

Maybe life is a song but you're scared to sing along

Until the very ending


Oh, it's time to let go of everything we used to know

Ideas that strengthen who we've been

It's time to cut ties that won't ever free our minds

From the chains and shackles that they're in


Oh, tell me what good is saying that you're free

In a dark and storming sea

You're chained to your history, you're surely sinking fast

You say that you know that the good Lord's in control

He's gonna bless and keep your tired and oh so restless soul

But at the end of the day when every price has been paid

You're gonna rise and sit beside him on some old seat of gold

And won't you tell me why you live like you're afraid to die

You'll die like you're afraid to go


Well life is a dream 'cause we're all walking in our sleep

You could see us stand in lines like we're dead upon our feet

And we build our house of cards and then we wait for it to fall

Always forget how strange it is just to be alive at all

Sunday, December 23, 2007

today i felt like a millionaire

So this morning i headed down to the beach for a run. It's been a long hiatus since the last run. I remember those days doing marathons with the guys but now i am just evolving into a lazy sloth at college. But this morning's run brought back some random flashbacks about running. It was especially nice to run in a new place because you get to see new things and you just KEEP ON RUNNING...

and the lives of the rich and famous by Santa Monica Beach... here:

ok running gear out. BEAUTIFUL weather today












millionaire houses by the beach















Muscle Beach





















More millionaire houses by the beach













and the European community i met! some rugby FINALLY.















Saturday, December 22, 2007

sometimes we think.

... why do we always care about the destination? Do fishes know where they're swimming to each day?

Semester in reflection:

I came searching for an experience OUT OF THE ORDINARY. an experience different from the grey back home. an experience seemingly enchanted. it was as though i came searching for Narnia, or perhaps the tin-man, or maybe something out of J.K. Rowling's mind.

13,000 miles away.

The first few days you find yourself with everybody, but with no one at the same time. Seemingly incessant talking, yet no conversations emerged. Tons of people around, yet altogether lonely also. Sometimes a defeaning silence. It was really awesome.

Then you start to know people. you explore organisations. you go for classes. you do your homework. you attempt to attend every single activity which the residence hall's organising. Bit by bit life transcends into this little hamster wheel, spinning round and round and round and round...

For a minute you hang on to what you believed before you came; the discipline, the fellowship, the word, the prayer, the wheel. Then things get the better of you. People, places, peices. So many new characters to meet, new cultures to experience and definitely, a ridiculous amount of brewed beverage.

Then step by step you lose sight of that carrot that hangs directly in front of you (it's really there still, all the while). Put on shades, close your eyes, fill the surroudings with smoke - just but a few of the countless ways you attempt to distract yourself from the carrot.

But what can i be thankful about?

The carrot's still there, i just checked. It's fresh and bright and orange. Despite the lack of attention i devoted to it, it stays fresh and more importantly, it remained there.

1. health
2. results
3. visa issues
4. a church
5. the beginning of a new fellowship
6. wind that blew and guided the sail ahead of time

4 months can change a lifestyle. but it cannot change a faith. the carrot's still there, still guiding.

Shades off.

Smoke cleared.

Eyes open.

same same but different

and so i vaguely recall having this title some months back during the epic trip. but today i had another sudden impetus to talk about skies. the same sky that's above your head is above my head too. but somehow different parts of the world captures the sky in such mystical ways...

exhibit 1:














and so this was about 9-10 months back. it must have been one of the most beautiful sights i've witnessed in my life. amidst the quaint, laidback, poor, quiet lakeside area of Phnom Penh. It almost seemed, like someone painted the sky that day; almost, surreal.



exhibit 2:














Santa Monica 171208. This is the California sky. Pale blue, faint, almost blurry. Its so wide and vast; no clouds, almost, dreamy.


exhibit 3:






Norway, Northern Lights - and then miles away up North another amazing sky.
+++
sometimes we ponder about how one choice can emerge to have countless endings/consequences, how the results can vary so widely across different pathways. I guess God created the skies like this, unpredictable, different, unique in ts own way, beautiful no matter what. Perhaps things we're waiting for are meant to be like that too. It's all beautiful, it's all hand-crafted by God himself.



Monday, December 17, 2007

a little bit of magic



this book told the story of Walt Disney and his little imaginary kingdom that he created, which eventually evolved to become the Disney empire today. 2 months ago i read the book, but i wasn't really impressed. It seemed like an average 'How to make ____ better' book. Yesterday at Disneyland i witnessed The Disney Way materialize in front of my eyes, when 3 park cleaners turned their broom-sticks and thrash cans into a little 'stomp'-like performance for the passing crowd. Whether it was staged or not, the transformation of a mediocre, unglamarous component of the whole picture to another 'attraction' proved to be The Disney Way working at it's best.


and to leave you with a little peice of magic...













Sunday, December 16, 2007

and so it is...


...and so in my boredom i decided to start writing again. i was never really a writer-writer but then a suden empiphany hit me and hence i am going to pen down my thoughts again. lessons in the past brought horrific memories but what i am learning now deserves a thoughtful comment, or two.














Course of the semester: Music 133 - Introduction to World Music
So this course was enlightening and an absolute eye-opener; definitely took me around the world in one semester. Honestly, studying for the finals of this class was somewhat of a irksome task because of the vast span of the content; on the other hand, attending class and learning the content was a wonderful experience.

Ethnomusicology. North India. South India. Iran. Iraq. Egypt. Turkey. Georgia. Bulgaria. Serbia. Russia. China. Japan. Indonesia. Zimbabwe. Central Africa. South Africa. Ghana. Nigeria. Cuba. Trinidad and Tobago. Brazil. Native American. Australian Abroginal.

That was the journey in one semester.

Of particular interest:
1. the influence of European powers on other nations/continents
2. the influence on religion on so many aspects of national music/identities
3. the influence of the triangular slave trade on music in Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago

Most prominent instrument:
Steelpan music - Trinidad and Tobago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnGPRQdEPWw

Most prominent dance:
Georgian State Dance Company (these men dance on their toes and knees. You won't believe it until you see it)
+++++

Highly anticipated Course for Spring 08: ARCH199 - The art of Skyscrapers

Saturday, November 10, 2007

NBA - Bulls VS Raptors - 10 Nov 07

Chicago - United Center

































Present Stars













Pre-Game








Starters



damn retarded contest - dunkin donuts race


And the winner.. if you have him on your card...






Kiss-Camera: Kiss if it's on you!??!

Live -









Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Reindeer Ranch Corn Maze















S'mores



















8degrees



































Enter the Maze














Lost














Scene from Signs?














Scene from Signs.

















i See.









randoms










entire corn maze - 12 acres











Pumpkin picking












inside the ranch house!













real cosy and warm














the end!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Dad's Weekend! Illini 31 - Badgers 25






























i block














3rd and Goal - 2nd touchdown














cheerleaders














dads giving a show at halftime














illini drum line














Game over - ILLINI BEATS THE BADGERS!