travelling, and randomness.

random photos from the last few days...including a couple of buildings i visited that was part of this architecture conference that was going on at my school, the flowers are from the conference- we got to take a bouquet back to our dorm!! our dorm smells of flowers. :-)
oh- i got that scarf....zebra print with sparkles- anyone who knows me knows that i like animal print (as u can see by the photo above).

tomorrow morning (suuuuuuuuuuper early in the morning) we are leaving to go to Kaohsiung.. it's a city in south western taiwan. it's the 2nd largest city in taiwan. it's on the ocean side!! we're gonna see water and mountains! wooohoo! i haven't seen that in a while.

TODAY marks the 6th week that i have been in taipei. it's so great to live in a city!!! so convenient, there's stores and food and people everywhere. it's great! i definitely would like to study abroad again for my masters. that would be great! :-)
being a student really brings amazing opportunities that would not have been given to me so easily if i was not a student.

this photo is a reminder of what i see every night in taipei (well, when i'm off campus and not doing homework)

question for my studio design................

in my previous post i mentioned that i am designing a baseball stadium for my design studio here at NTUST............so, i would like to know, from ur personal experience of a baseball game, what did you like/not like about the facility? if you have never been to a baseball game, then think about any other stadiums that you have visited or concert halls.

also, if you could add anything to the building, or the site to be more ppl friendly (gathering spaces/retail/hotel/etc....) what would you like?

i'm sure u get my drift.............please leave a comment....oh--the budget: all the money in the world..........plus sustainable features.

xie xie.

this is a google earth image of the site.
it's across the street North from Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall:


close up view.............it's the whole block. there are some existing buildings on the site. i have yet to figure out what they are used for. the security guard at the site would not let us in. :-( BUMMER!!

black nail polish and halloween........

i found black nail polish at the local Watsons (it's like a mini-walmart).
luckily there's pantene pro-v here........i have yet to find pantene pro-v hair spray. :-(
i've been able to find quite a few brands that we are familiar with back in the U.S.

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it's that time of year again.
i want to be a fairy.



NTUST is hosting the 2009 Conference of Green Building....check out the link.
http://www.taiwangbc.org.tw/

it's going to last about 4 days. they are taking us around taipei to show us good examples of sustainable buildings. taipei barely has any interesting building to look at. :-(
however- this is a great place to study urban planning and how a city works....still highly educational. ;-)


anywh0- i don't feel like typing anymore.


toodles.

thinking about my cello.......

warning: this entree is about my cello life.....nothing about taiwan......so, if you don't want to read about me rambling about my cello, then come back later!!!!haha... i don't want to bore u.

so, sometimes i have moments when i want to practice my cello, or wished i had practiced it more when i was actively playing my cello.

for those of you who don't know, i played the cello from when i was 7yrs-17yrs old. 10 years. i had private cello lessons once a week that whole time. i was a cellist in multiple orchestras for 8 years and competed in a couple of cello competitions. placed 2nd in one of them. and didn't get placed in the other one.

since i have encountered many ppl asking me what a cello looks like, i have decided to paste an image of a cellist..... to prevent any confusion.
BTW- whenever i get asked what a cello looks like- there is this flame inside of me that burns so hard! you don't know what a cello is? ur a fool!! (sorry, for the aggression- but it's kind of ridiculous when an adult asks me this).

you know---it's strange.....during the last year of playing my cello, my teacher (the nicest lady in the world and a talented cellist, Miss Yang, she's from China) would always tell me to play with more emotion. well, that always flew way over my head. i would always think: how do i play with more emotion? more vibrato? more pressure on my bow!??? whaaa'?

so, the years went by.......i stopped playing my beautiful cello by the end of 11th grade.....life was good........no more cello lessons, no more practicing and no more orchestra rehearsals.......BUT-then in college, several years later--i picked up my cello again...and started playing...and i realized exactly what Miss Yang meant about emotion.
and the only way it came was through maturity. I FIGURED IT OUT!! i had emotion! and felt it! it came years later. amazing.
but seriously, how can one expect a 15 yr old to play Vivaldi with emotion and passion? unless he/she has incredible talent and genuine passion towards their music. i definitely did not have genuine passion back then. potential?....yes...lots; but passion: nope.

my cello skills have dwindled away. i can still read notes and know where to go on the finger board.....but in order for me to get back to the best i was, i would need to invest weeks, or even months of practicing. i don't have enough motivation for that.

Duets are my absolute favorite thing to do as a cellist!.......ooooh how i loved those moments. so beautiful.

here are a couple of great youtube videos of the Rastrelli cello quartet. the first link is exquisite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I26V_CeC2ak&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFk_y2Dwwpc&NR=1

i wish i played a composition that required me to use my cello as a drum..sigh.....(check out the 2nd link for that).

if i ever start up my cello again, i would focus on jazz music..........i have a lingering passion for that genre.

can't sleep.............

..i've been going to sleep super late and waking up super late......i've never been that way!


i'm craving warm pita bread, stuffed with fetta cheese and basil...and dipped in hummus...mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! so good! yum.



went running today on the track with some friends..it was raining lightly...we still ran. it was about 10pm. quite nice! it's not cold at all (well, for me at least). the track is adjacent to keelong drive. this is one of the main streets in taipei. the equivalent of barton rd...but way busier. it goes on for miles and miles.

anywho- it's much better to go running at 10:30 because there are less cars and the exhaust smell is much lighter. i definitely don't want to be inhaling all of that exhaust from the cars/scooters and buses while i'm running.

one lap = 200m.......or was it 100m... i don't remember! i'm guessing that 8 laps= 1 mile. i should do the math.

people here don't really work out. the guys love to play basket ball....so starting at around 5pm, the basketball courts and tennis courts get really busy. but the girls here don't work out. i've heard some of them say they don't want to get skinnier, or they don't want to have buff legs or arms......so strange. one of my friends thinks that if she does crunches once a week, her stomach will get flatter and buffer...i was like..girlfriend, if that really did happen- i would have a great body-- it takes SO much more effort to actually loose weight and get toned.....some ppl here lack basic knowledge of being physically fit. fortunately, for them, they don't need to know much- they're all naturally skinny!!!! ( and yet some still think they are fat...pretty sad).

it seems that no matter where i am in the world, i always, on a regular basis, run into these ideas of how a person should look:: they must be pretty, skinny, have nice skin, have nice clothes...........this mentality exists everywhere! i thought this was more of a U.S. thing.....it seems to be human nature. people care too much about stupid things like that. they need to chill out!

oh- and whenever i say i'm from the U.S., people get very interested....the other day marie and i were at the cafeteria, and these 2 girls came up to us. they asked if we were from the U.S. and if they could talk to us and "be our friends"...hehe.. so cute! we were, unfortunately, running late for our class and told them we most definitely would the next time we see them. i felt kind of bad....but we were seriously going to be late for studio if we didn't leave at that moment. AND- it was the first day of studio, too.
i still feel bad tho.....i really hope i bump into them at the cafeteria. well, even if i did- i wouldn't recognize them- so, hopefully they'll come up to me again!

still craving hummus................................

OH! if you would like me to try some sort of food...or do something here in taiwan and share it with you guys on this blog, Please leave a comment! i hope i get interesting requests! :-)

i should try to fall asleep.

toodles.


p.s...Leona Lewis' second album "Echo" comes out in November!!! i would be so excited if it was released in Taiwan the same time. i'm hesitant to believe that it will................well, that's one Christmas gift i definitely want! ;-)

is that you, typhoon?

okay- so ever since i've been here, the weatherman has been saying that there's going to be a typhoon in taipei. there are typhoons going on in the Philippines and it's moving towards taiwan....

we've been getting heavy rain this week, and today it was windy all day.....so, there might be a typhoon............i'm hesitant to believe it.
OH! wow---i just saw a series of huge and bright lightening...and it started to rain a little. i didn't leave my dorm today-- i didn't want to get swept away!!...well, i actually was concerned about my hair getting frizzy....

OMG!.......so, i experienced something yesterday that i've always wanted to experience. so, this past year i took a structures class. all year we talked about lateral loads and how buildings are designed to be flexible to absorb the load's energy. And- yesterday, there was an earthquake and i was in my dorm room!! YES! i live on the top floor of my dormitory building: 15th floor. The building swayed...it was so cool. I was actually taking a shower, and the towels that were hanging on the wall started to sway-- a noticeable sway...and i felt the movement..i thought i was imagining it b/c i've never felt anything like that...but it was way cool!! i prefer a sway to a jerking movement from being on the ground or second floor of a building during an earthquake.

Today there was a mini-earthquake. A light sway. I want to be on the 90th floor in Taipei 101 during an earthquake (floors 91-101 are not open to the public). I feel so safe in that building, i would love to experience its flexibility. especially, as an architect, it is so important to get first-hand experience of how these buildings perform during different weather conditions like earthquakes, storms, typhoons- strong winds & intense rain, explosions (unfortunately), fire, extreme heat/humidity, and extremely cold climates.

such a responsibility rests on the shoulders of architects, engineers, contractors, construction workers, and the companies producing structural members/building skins/HVAC systems/Mechanical systems...and the list goes on.........................


well, it's 2:10 AM...i'm listening to Leona Lewis' album called 'Spirit'...I love her!! she's been around for over a year- but i'm just really slow when it comes to keeping up with music and having a diverse music library....my cal poly peeps and a couple of NTUST peeps are here....they're talking, i'm blogging.......

today was a completely chill day. i just hung out and i needed my alone time. i was a little home sick today..but i'm better now!


oh, and thanks for reading my blog!...as you have already noticed, this blog is very informal...i don't capitalize and my grammar isn't perfect.........at least i attempt to keep up with my blog!




till next time.................toodles..............

p.s..i was bored so i did some photoshopping..........

it's been a month!!

hello there!

So, it's been one month since I have been here in Taipei! It went by so fast! I wonder if my other classmates from Cal Poly that are also studying abroad felt that their first month went by smoothly and quickly.

Today is Moon Festival!!!!! I don't really know what we're suppose to do today. I know that people go home during Moon Festival.....i should have booked a ticket back to L.A. darn.


Yesterday (friday) was our first day of studio! We got our assignment, and we are going to design a baseball stadium this quarter! That's pretty awesome. The Taiwanese are obsessed with baseball, so it seems suitable. Our first assignment from our teacher was to go to a baseball game that night, and to analysis the building, experience how people interact, and study spacial blah blah blah blah.........Whatever!--- that game was so awesome! It was Lions vs Elephants. This was my first time going to a baseball game ever, so it was pretty exciting. We sat on the side of the stadium that was rooting for the Lions. Elephants were the home team. The Lions got MURDERED by the Elephants. Oh-man. 3-0. So bad! (in the animal kingdom, a elephant would never attack a lion, btw)
Other than that major loss, the people were so enthusiastic, there were drums, horns, people were chanting their team's name, everyone knew the cheers and the hand signals...it was great!
SO fun. I had a coke and a mini individual pizza from pizza hut.
It didn't rain either! Which was perfect. Supposedly there's going to be a typhoon- but one thing i have learned, is that the weathermen here aren't very accurate when it comes to Taipei getting affected by these typhoons. There's suppose to be one going right now.....no rain whatsoever.

Well, we're gonna do sight analysis today for the location of my our baseball stadium....

till next time.........

I got featured on this plasma screen 3 times! haha....i kept waving my arms....;-)

comments!

special thanks to Lissette for fixing my comment box issues!.........now ppl can leave comments! yay!

Lady- ur just as cool as Zaha Hadid. ;-)
but Zaha Hadid doesn't invite me over to her house, so ur way cooler.....haha

temple/biking/toilets.........

http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc153/nkaloshian/Hiking%20and%20Temple%20Exploring%20%20Taiwan/?start=all

check out my photobucket update. We went to this amazingly beautiful and huge temple nestled on the bottom of the hill. there was a stone staircase leading to a wonderful hiking trail on the hills. we followed the trail which lead us to a great view of the city, and taipei 101.
i got a bug bite from that hike.

I'm doing so many things that the idea of documenting everything feels so overwhelming!!!! I have a journal. I've been here for almost a month and i have only written 2 entries. I feel bad about that....i need to get on it! i love to read back on journals that i have kept and have devoted time into recording entries.

anywho- i'm meeting amazing people here from all over the world. i have forming friendships that will hopefully last a life time. at least i know i have friends that will happily welcome me if i visit taiwan again, china, vietnam or bolivia! haha.

So....today we discovered this awesome outdoor shopping area ( there are a million in taipei, but this one was particularly special). it kind of reminded me of universal city walk b/c it had streets that is only open for pedestrians..no cars.

We ate at this fantastic restaurant called the Modern Toilet. Yes, we ate at a toilet themed restaurant!!!!! awesome-ness! i actually saw this on TV a couple of years ago. i think they said one is located in tokyo. But the one we went to is the original Modern Toilet.
EVERYTHING in the restaurant is bathroom related. Food is served in a toilet, drinks in urinals. It's great! My friends and i (14 of us...cal poly people and NTUST people) had a great time eating there....and taking photos ...haha.

Here's the Link to Modern Toilet...i'm definitely going to take my mom there when she comes to visit me in Taipei:

http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc153/nkaloshian/Modern%20Toilet/


On saturday i went biking on this wonderful bike trail adjacent to the river in taipei. the trail is about a 15 min bike ride from my school. i went with my new NTUST friends. we borrowed bikes from their friends. it was so much fun! the trail was beautiful. it's like this huge park that has a bunch of grassy areas, tennis/badminton/ basketball courts.....parks.....it's a very long trail that goes for miles. it was a perfect day. it was slightly over-cast and breezy. so nice. we had to bike through some of the major streets in Taipei and through a night market..so busy!!!! i almost crashed into people about a million times. but it was fun :-)
i never bike at home, so my skills of maneuvering around people, scooters, cars and other bicyclist needs a lot of work!
I'm looking forward to the next time we all go biking.
however, b/c I'm not use to sitting on a small and hard seat for long periods of time, my butt has been hurting for a couple of days! haha.....


till next time...............

oooops.......forgot to add the link. read the previous blog entree!

http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc153/nkaloshian/Danshui%20Taiwan/