video blog « ((little fat notebook))

The cheapest way to get around Hong Kong (other than walking, of course) would be these ding dings. They’re also a great way to watch the city go by you and enjoy the outside weather. They can be quite jerky and get too hot in the summer, but it’s fun to see the bustling streets pass by you.

riding a ding ding from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Elephant ride

laelene Posted in photo blog, video blog，Tags: animals, experiences, fun, interesting, pictures, thailand, travel, videos

19 March 2010

A short clip of an elephant ride I took and some pictures to go with!

elephant-riding from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

The elephants coming in so we can hop on for a ride!

Aww, I was tempted to try to "shake hands."

the youngest elephant driver was only a boy

This little boy may be young, but he's an expert elephant driver!

Here comes my ride, ready for a spin.

I joined a mother-daughter pair on our elephant.

We were so high up I got a close look at these butterflies!

view of the skin around the ear of the elephant

They've got this crazy coarse skin that feels really cool. Also note how their ears are used as racks for the hook used to cut up wood.

Check out how cool it is. 🙂

Oh dear, he just decided it was time and went for it.

Those hooks were used to get pieces of these trees for the elephants to eat. Apparently they find it very tasty.

We had a nice field to roam around and at one point, it looked like the people were floating in the trees.

And after our little spin around, it was time to return to the loading dock and head off to the next adventure.

Finals tradition

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: experiences, friends, fun, interesting, los angeles, memories, ucla, undie run, videos

17 March 2010

At UCLA, students like to de-stress during finals by doing some silly things, like Midnight Yell and Undie Run. In case you feel like you’re missing out on the fun, here is a look at what it’s like to be a part of the Wednesday night tradition that grew so big it was banned. It would have been tonight (and I know a small group still showed up to do it – we’ll see how that went down when the Daily Bruin comes out tomorrow).

To start, there is a lot of cheering, singing, screaming, and all-around joy.

undie run from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

At the stroke of midnight, the crowd begins to move, hollering at the top of their lungs. Note the traffic lights that have been disabled – police took measures to ensure motor vehicles stay away from pedestrians overtaking the roads.

undie run begins from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

In the recent year or so, the route of Undie Run was changed to go through this tunnel, which actually makes it quite fun since it’s so thunderous in there.

through the tunnel from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Bruins enjoying themselves always shout “UC! LA!” and do multiple 8-claps (not captured).

spirited undie run from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

The last “legal” Undie Run was re-routed once again so that it ended not by Powell Library and Shapiro Fountain, but on the IM field, where there were plenty of lighting and spectators, including this helo!

helo checks out undie run from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

All in all, a great celebration that gives students a relatively innocent outlet for the intense studying that had taken over their lives for the past week or two. It’s a pity the university wasn’t willing to work out another revision to allow it to continue. I’m sure the students will continue to fight for it, until they either get it back or find a new way of letting out their tension.