experiences « ((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘experiences’

College Night at the Getty

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: events, experiences, interesting, los angeles, nature, pictures, view

06 June 2010

Every year, the Getty invites college students to come hang out and check out their exhibits. Panda and I went to enjoy the views, the art, and the free food! They had delicious garlic fries and sweet potato fries, along with a myriad of other tasty items.

Click through for the full picture!

: Looking up at the Getty from the tram station.

: On the Getty tram going up and you get a wonderful view of the 405.

: In the background, the city of LA sprawls behind the 405.

: Just a lonely palm tree standing there! And check out the pair of birds flying by.

: Oh yes, gotta love that layer of smog that envelopes downtown LA in the distance…

: And we have arrived, up on the hill where the Getty sits.

: It looks kind of like a racket or a beaver tail.

: And down there, the party! Lots of free food and mingling people.

: Overlooking the landscape of LA.

: You can see all the way to the ocean and beyond!

: There was a lovely garden at the Getty.

: The College Night sign projected onto a wall.

: As the night sky darkened, the city brightened with lights.

: They used a lot of “quieter” lighting.

: They had an artistic maze in the garden. I don’t think it’s functional.

: I’ve never been to that part of the Getty.

: Apparently the Getty has a library over there.

: It looks like an over-sized morning glory, doesn’t it? Maybe it is.

: I tried various ISOs and this produced brighter lights, but a much grainer quality.

: And now those same lights without the graininess and much darker.

: Returning back down to the tram station to go home.

Spring Sing duo

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: experiences, music, pauley pavilion, performance, spring sing, ucla

01 June 2010

los dos performing “our youth” from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Fabulous food

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: experiences, food, opinion, pictures

31 May 2010

I’ve had a major craving for Din Tai Fung that was finally satisfied this weekend. I’m amazed that there is only one shop in all of the country and it’s in a little unassuming plaza in Arcadia (although now it seems they have opened a second one not even a block away). They are renowned for their xiao long bao, which are these coin purse type pork dumplings. They have delicate skins and the insides have a juicy filling that makes it sort of like having a sip of a rich stock. I often went to have them when I was in Singapore and hadn’t had any since I returned 9 months ago! It was high time to see if the US store was as good as its Asian counterparts.

I was extremely satisfied with the little morsels, though they definitely could have been more filling (and given larger portions). Taste-wise, I can’t tell the difference between theirs and what I had in Singapore, so I was happy! I haven’t had better xiao long bao in the states. Though come to think of it, I don’t even see it on the menu in most places. My craving is still there, so I’m thinking I need to go back regularly. For me, it’s worth the 30-40 minute drive and 15 minute wait. Plus, I can take a detour on the way back to get cha for tea! The BEST boba shop I’ve ever been to. Now that is a satisfying meal and drink combo!

Birds in the wall

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, behavior, experiences, panda, videos

29 May 2010

About a month ago, I started to awake to noises that sound like wires being dragged along a wall (you know, like when you have cables dangling behind a desk and you’re adjusting them). A few days of that and we began to wonder if it was the neighbors getting up early each day and moving things around. However, one day it became distinctive scratching. So I posited that it was rats in the wall. Which seemed to all make sense as the noise continued, until THIS happened:

birds chirping in the wall from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

And that is how we came to learn that it was actually birds. I suppose they were building a nest and then when their young hatched, they started to chirp. So a good two weeks of this goes by and we had enough. Time to move the bed. The next morning, peace. Then the day after that, I heard them again. Less loud, but still there. Maintenance had been informed, but I guess they hadn’t gotten a chance to extract the nest. It got really annoying being woken up (usually around 7) by these noises, which included chirping, scratching, and even the thud when the birds flew in from the entrance of the air vent.

birds scratching in wall from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Geocaching

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: adventure, experiences, geocaching, panda, storytelling, ucla

24 May 2010

Yesterday Panda was feeling a bit antsy and wanted to move around. Knowing that I needed the exercise, I decided to go on a walk with him. I had mentioned awhile back that I wanted to do a treasure hunt on campus, so he suggested we go do that. You see, there’s this iPhone app called DreamWalk where you go to various places and either collect a stamp or get an instant win prize. Each stamp is a letter and if you get all the letters to a word, you can win a prize, like an Amazon gift card or movie ticket. Instant win prizes are some form of food that you can eat when you are in that area. Well, the only spots on campus are for stamps for the Victoria’s Secret gift card or a movie ticket. I wasn’t particularly interested in either, so we opted to try out the Geocaching app I had also gotten (and never really used).

There are quite a few on campus, so we headed to one near the IM field and John Wooden Center. I had no idea what exactly to expect or look for, so I felt rather silly standing next to a bike rack, trying not to draw attention to myself while searching. After taking a look at the hints, I was able to find it and was surprised at the huge water bottle full of little goodies! There was nothing I wanted/needed, so I left it as is, but there were some cool items. With our first find under our belt, Panda and I found another one to locate. This time, he saw it and we sat there as two guys on a bench nearby probably wondered what we were sitting on the ground for.

On our walk to the next site, we came across a Star Wars photo shoot. Darth Vader was hanging out around Broad Hall and two Storm Troopers were near the parking structure, one posing in front of a vent and one posing in a tunnel. Amused, we stayed out of the way until people started to walk into the shots, then continued down the tunnel and into the parking structure. There we found our next geocache, cleverly hidden (but unfortunately rusted shut!). I spent a good 15 minutes prying the thing open because I’m stubborn and would never allow such a thing to foil me! 😛 Finally, we headed over near the Chancellor’s residence for our final one, which was in an area most UCLA students are probably not aware of.

After that, we headed back, proud of a good day’s work. It was great to get out, enjoy the day, breathe some outside air, and be active! In the future I definitely want to have more of these adventures with Panda (I don’t think I’d have as much fun alone – plus, it’s a perfect way to spend time together). We even decided to do some team building along the walk back and gave each other piggyback rides, then took turns guiding one another as one person kept his/her eyes closed. Yeah, yeah, cheesy, but we had a lot of fun bonding in so many ways! 🙂

Late night commotion

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: events, experiences, helicopter, police, ucla, videos

18 May 2010

In the wee hours today, just past midnight, this helo just wouldn’t leave the area. In fact, I’d even say it was circling frantically. Or maybe it just felt so because it was traveling in tight, fast circles as its spotlight pointed straight at the Strathmore Regency. A friend who lives there told me that the police had their guns pointed at a guy and they were told to stay away from the balcony. The noise above lasted for about 15-20 minutes before I presume they apprehended the man and the police presence subsided.

helo circling westwood from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

And the view from our porch:

helo overhead from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Preserving little lives

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, experiences, thailand, travel, travel tales, videos

15 May 2010

I had noticed a plank of wood floating in the waves at Nai Harn Beach, so I decided to pull it out. But once I saw that these mussels had made it a home, I couldn’t let them die! And thus I released them back to the wild ocean currents.

the mussels are aliiive! from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Old times

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: experiences, friends, houdini, los angeles, panda, performance, ucla

14 May 2010

Tonight was my first time going to Spring Sing in Pauley Pavilion and it was a really fun experience. The one thing I love about being indoors is that I won’t get cold! So tonight I could really focus on the performances at hand. Also, I went with Panda and Houdini and some other friends I haven’t seen in a long time, which made it very enjoyable too. Now what really struck me about the night, as I was watching all the great entertainment that Company (the crew that does the comedic skits between all the acts) does, was how much I will miss some of my Bruin moments.

A lot of what they do is inspired by making parodies of what life on campus is like for students and there are more than your fair share of inside jokes. I haven’t been away long enough to really miss college, but hearing about swiping into the dining halls and the crazy squirrels reminded me of the fond memories I’d created along the way. There was one joke about passing out a book called “Wild Animals” on Bruinwalk that I didn’t get because it came about after I left. I’m going to be sad when more and more of those references begin to slip by me as I get outdated. Thankfully, there will always be our staple jokes about Trojans and North vs. South campus and Bruinwalk. I’m starting to miss the good old times, when I was one of those “in” students who understood everything.