Hello everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful week! I wanted to share some snippets of my time in Istanbul. It was a business trip so unfortunately, I was unable to explore the beauty of this country. I spent most of my time at the Fairmont Quasar Istanbul Hotel however, I was able to sneak out to the mall before my meeting. When we did go out as a group, it was in the evening for dinner though each restaurant provided us with wonderful views of the city! For more pictures and to watch my vlog, click, "Continue Reading."
This post has definitely been a long time coming! I visited Wonderspaces in San Diego over the summer and haven't had the chance to upload my pictures until now though I did post some on my Instagram and VSCO! If you know me, then you must know I love pop-up art installations and museums/art in general! I'm all for traveling a bit of a distance to see something unique and of course, instagrammable. From neon lights to playing with a floating ball complete with charcoal tips, my favorite exhibit had to be the virtual reality experience - it was my first time and it certainly did not disappoint. Jonathan and I both chose Transition and it was a 4D experience. When I first sat down, there was a fan pointed directly in my face, I did not understand it prior to putting on the VR gear but once the film started, it all made sense. There was a point where my boat flipped and I felt as if I was falling over - it amazes me how the brain can be easily tricked into feeling all kinds of emotions. I hope you guys like the pictures! Until next time!
To all my lovely readers, you may have noticed that I've been MIA and for all of those who follow me on Instagram, I made Insta-Videos and posted pictures explaining why my online presence was scarce. Truth be told, it's been a brutal month for me. My grandma was hours away from boarding her flight to America with my relatives before suddenly passing away. It was very unexpected since she was otherwise healthy and active. I'll never forget the moment my mom called me to inform me that my grandma passed away. I was volunteering for Pharmacy Day at Rady's Children Hospital when I heard the news. It was towards the end of the event but I was left in shock. I just stood there amongst my colleagues without engaging with anyone. I didn't know how to react. How to respond. How to function. All I could muster in my mind was, this isn't real. The world seemed to tense and shrivel up into a ball. I drove home as fast as I could to schedule an appointment to make emergency passports for my California family members. Unfortunately, I got back at 5PM and of course, the passport agency called it a day. I was able to talk my way to get in touch with the national officer in Washington D.C. and I truly appreciate everything she did for me. She worked with me from 5PM -10PM PCT which means she was still responding to my emails and calls at 1AM. After sending paperwork her way, she opened up an office right here in San Diego on Saturday. Although it took around 3.5 hours to complete, we were all able to hop on the plane that night/next day and fly out to Vietnam.
As the saying goes, live life without regrets. Well, no offense to whoever spoke those immortal words, but I wish I got to know my grandma better. It was hard to see her lifeless body in the casket but she seemed happy, at peace... as if she were sleeping. In traditional Vietnamese Buddhist funerals, immediate family members wear white as opposed to wearing all black as we do here in America. I can go into detail about the funeral arrangements and actual procession but I will omit that part from my post.
After attending my grandma's funeral in Vietnam, I was able to better appreciate my mother's heritage and the Vietnamese culture itself. I was surprised to see how developed Da Nang, Vietnam was from the last time I was there (around 8-9 years old). I explored many parts of the city and took numerous pictures which I'll share in this post, my Instagram, and VSCO (contains higher quality and edited pictures). I really do wish I brought a DSLR with me but all my pictures were taken on my iPhone 6... typically in the back of a moving car. I pretty much stayed in Da Nang during my entire trip though I did venture to Hoi An - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I endured a long flight back to LAX and returned to research the following day. I didn't experience any jet lag and thought I was healthy... but then I landed in the hospital. Nevertheless, I'm up late writing this post because I'm a bit restless from everything that has happened these past two weeks. This happens to be one of my most personal posts in quite a long while. I just wanted to share with all of you what's been going on in my life. Until next time.
The first thing I did after finals was take a long nap but the day after? I went to the Museum of Ice Cream with Jonathan!!! Insert all the smiley face emojis! Jonathan was able to get tickets the day right after my finals - which happened to be the day after his birthday and a few days after our 10 year anniversary! We ventured from San Diego to Los Angeles to make our 6:30PM slot and we were surprised at how many people were also there. We entered as a group of 10 but we lost our group within the first five minutes since we stayed back to take pictures! I'm so glad I was able to visit this museum and it really did live up to the hype! Unfortunately, we were unable to take close up pictures with the ice cream figurines or even touch them since they were damaged by earlier museum patrons. I hope you guys enjoy this post! All pictures were from my iPhone 6! To see more images, follow me on Instagram, Twitter and VSCO.
Hey guys! I have a ton of outfit pictures I've taken in 2016 but have yet to post such as this one when I went on a semi-road trip to Pioneertown, Palm Springs and Big Bear. I hope to finish posting all my old outfits before the start of next quarter so I can show you guys my present style or rather my style at school.
I wore this DIY Breton Stripe dress for ease of movement and comfort however, I did not realize that it was this short when I wore it! I did wear shorts underneath so it was all good! On the day Jonathan and I took this trip, it was relatively cool so I layered this dress with a thin olive utility coat along with a black paisley print scarf wrapped around my neck a million times. One trend I love is tying small silk neck scarves around bag handles. I believe it evokes a sense of eloquence and power. This scarf was a bit too long and thick to function as a "bag scarf" but it was great for pictures whenever there was wind.
This outfit was taken at Pioneertown, California. I never knew this place existed until Jonathan told me about it. It's the cutest western area where the wi-fi connection sucks and the population in this particular area is at a mere 350 residents. I'd love to have a summer outfit shot here though I think my skin would melt off. If you guys follow me on Instagram, you know that I took my last final yesterday and I'm officially on SPRING BREAK! Grades are slowly coming out and so far, the results have been pleasing! This quarter was much more intense than the previous with an OSCE, 4 finals and two presentations. I thought I left procrastination behind me but everything piled on fast - I definitely need to manage my time better. For my pharmacy readers, I'll further expand on what OSCE's are since I believe it will help those interviewing at schools with an MMI format.