My AHA Moment

Wow! I just realized that I haven't post anything since last year. I'm such a slacker. Been busy with school.

I think I mentioned before that I am now in Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. I've been there since September 2008 majoring in Graphic Design. It had been a few years of struggle to find the right major for me; graphics or photo. I obviously love photo. It's my first passion, my true passion. It's something that I always enjoy doing. But I always came up with reasons why I should not major in photo.

Here are my reason:
1. I like graphic design too.

2. Working as a photographer, I will most likely have to listen to people telling me what to shoot, directing me and such. I thought it would just make me lose my interest in taking the photos. I thought I am much better following orders doing graphic design.
Dennis, the head of photography is Art Center responded to this by telling me that perhaps it is because I care less about my designs than my photos. He has a point.

3. Then there's financial reason. The future in graphics seemed so much brighter than in photo. Graphic design is growing; everybody needs a graphic designer to help them in their business while photographers seem to be everybody's title in these digital-camera-days. Everybody thinks they are pros as soon as they got an SLR. I know I did too. I was so happy when I got a DSLR, I told people I was a semi-pro photographer. Yeah, right! I'm not even that now. So I doubt I will be able to make enough money as photographer. With Art Center's high tuition, this is quite a major concern to me. I wanna make sure that I will be able to pay off all the tuition soon after I graduate and so I always steered myself toward graphics for financial reason.

Toward the end of my first term in Art Center, I went to talk to Dennis, the head of photography department. I told him about this and he asked me a simple question: "What do you see yourself doing in 20-30 years? What would make you happy?" I immediately know the answer without even thinking. But...but...but... All the reasons above still bugging my head.

By second day of my second term, I woke up around 2am and couldn’t sleep so I sat down just thinking about this. It was then that I came up with a decision that I should go with my gut and go toward what I truly love. Everything felt so right as soon as I made that decision. I immediately called my parents. They tried to talk me out of it a bit but then they understood it is what I love and they supported my decision. I felt so happy that day. I still feel so happy even till today. I really think I made the right decision. Don't get me wrong, I like doing graphic design. I still do, but it is nothing compare to how much I LOVE taking photographs.

Interesting Brain Activity

I have class on Mondays at 8am. It usually takes about 45 minutes to get to school with the morning traffic so I usually wake up at 6am. Art Center policy is that you fail the class if you miss 2 classes and 2 lates count as 1 miss. I had an alarm problem last week and I was about an hour late which was a really bad thing. I didn't want the same thing happen again this morning. So last night I set the alarm, then I double checked, making sure that the alarm is on.

This morning, I was sleeping and I dreamed that I woke up, I looked at the clock and saw I was already late for class. And (still in my dream) I thought, oh... I'm still so sleepy, should I miss a class today or should I wake up? Oh, screw it, I'll just continue sleeping. (Amazing how I think of all of that in my dream, huh?) As soon as I fall back to sleep in my dream, I woke up to reality. I looked at the clock and it says 7:38. Fuck! I put on my jeans and ran. I checked on my alarm and doesn't look like I set the alarm but that is impossible because I double checked it and I remember it super clearly.

I made to class on time despite the freaking slow driver in front of me on Linda Vista Drive. But what intrigued me is that my dream told me that I was late for class and it woke me up. It wasn't the alarm, it wasn't any noise. My dream was my alarm. I find this very... how do you say it?... AWESOME!

I hope my alarm won't fail on me ever again, but if it does, I hope my dream will wake me up again at the right time. Interesting what our brains can do even when they're resting.

Commercial

Ok, so this is a little off topic from photography but it is on topic from the advertising class I'm currently taking. I was watching TV just now and I heard this commercial:"Bio Oil, helps improve the appearance of your scars and stretch marks."
I googled them too and found out that they also use the same line on their website:"Bio-Oil is a specialist skincare product that helps improve the appearance of
scars, stretch marks and uneven skin tone."

Is it just me or do you also see something wrong with that line?

Back at home

Got back from Seattle around 10:30pm last night. I had such a great time in Oregon and Washington. Oregon was so nice and green. The coast has great parks and beaches. Too bad it was cloudy, rainy and so cold when I was there. I felt so fortunate to find a fellow traveler to share a rental car and drive to all those awesome spots. Portland was nice too. At first I thought there's nothing interesting in Portland but after I experience the rest of Oregon and also Washington, I changed my mind; Portland is actually a nice small city. The people were nice (nicer than most people in cities I've been in the U.S.), transportation was great (not as good as transportation in NYC but still great) and things are cheaper than a lot of cities I've been. Tax free too! How awesome is that? How ever, I would still prefer to live in either LA or New York or even Boston.

I also had a great time in Washington. Seattle was nice even though I was only there for a day; I spent most of the time in some other parts of Washington state. The best thing about this vacation was that I got to see my cousin and her family. I haven't met my cousin in 20 years. I couldn't even remember ever meeting her as I was so little when I saw her. Her daughters are fun to play with. They are also polite and pretty independent for their age. Smart too. 9 year old Samantha is a gadget girl. She knows how to handle high-tech equipments. She knows how to work the computer, TV and phone features more than anyone in the house. 6 year old Chelsea is a cheerful girl. She loves to laugh and her laugh is contagious. They both loves to play with Nitendo DS but they will stop they game as soon as you chat with them. I know some kids (adults too) are so focus with their game and wont even listen to what you are saying. I find Samantha and Chelsea are more into communicating with people than playing games. They are such nice and cheerful kids. I miss them both.

Oregon

Today the sun shared its warmth in Portland, Oregon. I have been in Portland for a few days now. I was welcomed by the heavy rain and the welcome continued for another couple of days. I finally saw some sun yesterday and today was even hotter. I spent the first couple of days in Portland. Stayed at the HI Hawthorne - South West part of Portland. Couldn't sleep the first night. One of the guy in the room snored like an elephant - I never heard an elephant snore but I would guessed it's that loud. Plus, my bed was in the basement, next to the stairs, so I could hear all the foot steps above and people going up and down the stairs. The next night, I bought a pair of ear plug.

During my stay in that hostel, I met a young writer - Shea O'Neil - who was going to the coast on the same day I was going. We then decided we should rent a car and split the cost. That was the best decision. I have no idea how I could have travel around and take pictures on the coast if we had not rent a car. Driving between Portland and Seaside/ Cannon Beach was great. Oregon is sooooo green. It's amazing. Driving at night around the forests was not that pleasant since I couldn't see much and so I had to drive slow (I hate driving slow) but it was an experience none the less.

On Seaside, we stayed at the Seaside International Hostel. Not the best hostel, I have to say. The hostel is definitely not a youth hostel. Most people there are actually older people to my surprise. The room I stayed in felt a bit stuffy and smell funny - I'm really sensitive to smell. Though the room was not the best, the people at the hostel were nice. One of the guys in the room biked to West Coast from East Coast. I thought that was crazy. He started the trip in June and he is almost at the end of the trip.

The spots we went to in Oregon Coast:
Seaside
Ecola State Park - awesome forest
Cannon Beach - cool beach with the haystack rocks
Oswald State Park - another awesome park
Nehalem Bay
Rockaway Beach - not as good as I thought it would be.
Cape Meares
Three Capes Scenic Route
Arch Cape
Oceanside
Tillamook - famous for the cheese
Garibaldi - very very small town - we had lunch at Pirate Cove.
We did find one little spot off of the highway, just north from Garibaldi - a small rocky beach where they have these rocks with cool shaped trees. Took some pictures of sunset there (below) but the sunset was bad. The sky had no sunset color. Disappointing.


My favorite spots are you can probably tell are the super green Ecola State Park, Cannon Beach, Oswald State Park and the little spot north or Garibaldi which I don't know the name of.


I am now back in Portland. Today was my last day. I wanted to to go Mount Hood, Colombia Gorge and Multnomah Falls. I tried to look for buses and tours but it was too late. I guess I now have a reason to come back here in the future. Since I can't go east toward Mount Hood, I decided to check out Chinese Garden, Washington Park (again) and then to Pittock Mansion. Chinese Garden was disappointing to me. It's not a bad garden, but there is an entrance fee (about $8) and for the money, I'd expect something a lot better. I didn't realized about the entrance fee until I get there. I had walked about 15 blocks to get there and it felt like a waste of time if I didn't check it out after all that walk. So I went in and then out in 5 minutes.

I then take the Max to Washington Park and checked out the Japanese garden after I was informed that there is a spot to take pictures of the city with Mount Hood in the background. The Japanese Garden also have the same fee with the Chinese Garden (+ $2 tripod fee) but the Japanese Garden is bigger and 10 times more beautiful than the Chinese Garden. It is also located in the park with plenty of huge tall trees which is really nice.

After Japanese Garden, I head on to Pittock Mansion. I was told to go on a trail from Washington park that took me to the road that will lead to Pittock Mansion. About 5 minutes into the trail, I was a bit unsure whether I should continue cos the trail was basically led me to the middle of a forest and I was alone... It was about sunset time and I was afraid it would get dark while I'm still in the forest. That would have not been pretty. But I didn't get lost. Thank God! I succeed in my journey to Pittock Mansion. Phew! I was a little out of breath when I get there. Going up the steep hill after walking for a few hours with an empty stomach; the only thing I ate that day was a bowl of instant noodle - wasn't piece of cake. The thought of cake just made me hungry. I was out of energy when I got up there but the view was definitely worth it. I am so proud of myself for making it there.

After the sunset, I was afraid to go back alone. One family was kind enough to offer me a ride home but I told them I wanted to wait until it gets really dark so I can take pictures of the city lights. I'm glad I stayed after dark cos I think I got a couple of nice pictures of the city at night. About 9:30, I was alone but then a man approached me and asked me if I got there by car because he was about to close the gate. He is the caretaker of the mansion for 20 years. I told him that I hiked up there and was wondering if he knows how to get to the bus station near by. He then told me how to get there but soon decided he would just give me a ride. I told me he admire my guts for traveling alone and he told me all these trips he had taken and suggested me to look into green tortoise tour. He talked all the way to the hostel about his travel with the green tortoise tour and how his son's girlfriend went on the tour a month after he suggested it to her and how she loved it. I don't think he works for the tour company but he did sound like he was promoting it.



So I am now at another hostel in Portland, typing away while my eyes are half shut. This hostel - HI Northwest - is definitely better than the HI Hawthorne. They had some upgrades recently I heard. The bathroom is the best hostel bathroom I've seen in a hostel. The room is nice and airy. Tomorrow I will be going to Seattle. Staying in Seattle for a few days to visit my cousin and hopefully also to take plenty of awesome pictures.

Portland

Flying to Portland for a 10 days Oregon - Washington trip in a few hours. Wish me many awesome shots. I also hope I wont get too soaked. It's looks like it's gonna rain everyday - some storms too...

Orchestra in My Backyard

It was just past midnight, August 15th. I just got out of shower and I saw slight lighting from a peek on the window. I knew it was lighting, but I didn't think anything. I went back on working on some website project. A minute later my friend called: "Is it raining there? Do you see the lighting?" I said: "no rain, but yeah, lighting every minute." as if it's an everyday occurrence. I went outside on my door and looking at the lightning. The thought of taking some shots slowly creep to my head, but the view from this side is horrible. I can't see much. So I grabbed my camera and tripod and went to the alley on the back of my house. Better view. Not that great. Cables everywhere.

The thunder storm seems to be coming from the beach, but I don't wanna drive to the beach right now. So I tried my luck and tried shooting. As soon as I turned on the camera, I see "low battery." Shit! Oh, well. I'll just keep on shooting until it is dead.

The lighting is at least every 30seconds but damn! its so damn hard to catch. I tried pressing the shutter button every time I see one coming but often times its too late. Then I tried pressing the shutter button repeatedly even though I see none coming; hoping one would show up when the shutter is open. Doesn't work either. especially when the battery is low. So after half an hour or so, the battery is dead and I managed to catch a few. Nothing fabulous, but...

Maybe I'll try my luck again when the battery is charged - if the lighting continues.
Update: It is now 3am and the lightning has ended. :(