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Sunday, January 17, 2016

SYD IN EUROPE: MARIENPLATZ + DACHAU

For the first half of my winter holiday, my parents took my sister and I to Central Europe where we traveled across Germany, Prague, Austria, and Budapest. It was my sister and I's first time, this trip hands down was one of the best I've ever had. Part of it, is thanks to Cosmos Tours. I'll get that later, as this post only documents my first two days in Germany where my family and I ventured on our own.

Our first night, we walked around Marienplatz and enjoyed the Christmas Market.


 I felt like I was looking at a photo when I got close to the church. It was extremely beautiful!


Down this alleyway we found this great restaurant, like I said, any trip gets better with amazing food. 

 

Hi Mom and Dad. 

Pork Knuckle and Veal. I felt like I was hit in the face by a truckload full of grease, but I wasn't complaining. In hindsight, by the end of this trip I didn't want to see or eat another pork knuckle for the remainder of the year, lol. Too much pork! 

The next day was a free day for us, so we took an early start to do some educational learning. We visited the Dachau Concentration Camp. Throughout the small tour my family and I partook in, I felt this lingering energy of loneliness and hearing firsthand from the survivor's experiences, I cannot fathom the pain the Jewish people endured throughout World War II. 


There was a black cat hanging out in the lobby. 


The gloomy weather gave off a creepy vibe. 



The entrance where those persecuted were forced to walk through. 



This explained how roll call was implemented and the consequences one would face if they happen to be slightly out of line. 


May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men.

Throughout the tour it was eye opening to see exactly the terror of the Nazi regime. 
An art installation created by a survivor from this camp. The audio guide stated that the piece is supposed to evoke how a prisoner would feel from when they were sent to the camp and to when they were liberated. 


The audio guide had us then walk towards the barracks where we saw the inhumane living conditions the Nazi's imposed on the prisoners.




Soon after we went inside the museum. 


Books on Dachau.

Miniature scale of the entire camp.

 
Throughout the museum there were various tarps that had information on who aside from the Jewish populace that were persecuted. It was extremely interesting learning about the horrifying extent the Nazi's went with in order to assert their power, and all at the same time it was sad. Where I stood that day, years ago stood a prisoner who was not sure whether or not they would survive. 

.s


Thursday, January 14, 2016

CHRISTMAS WITH THE GEEKS, 2015.

It seems that I've put off blogging for a while haven't I? There's no use in apologizing, it's always the same excuse from me! 2016's been off to a pretty okay start, so this post is a little backtrack to how my friends and I threw a small Christmas party. If you remember, I posted a similar post last year. 

As per usual, we had it at Sara's house. I think by now it's an unspoken rule that Sara's house is our meetup spot, heh. 


Last year we wore ugly sweaters so this year we decided to wear more "formal" holiday party appropriate clothes. Zi's channeling his inner EXO member. 

Compared to last year we also had a LOT more food, but still fun either way.


Nikki brought a ton of chicken. Chicken is always a good idea, thanks Nikki!


Sabrina and her carrot. Sab brought this vegan lasagna dish that I still dream about to this day. Sab, make it again please!

 I'LL TREASURE THIS PHOTO FOREVER ESTHER  CHUNG!!

Esther Chung who we see once in a blue moon. 


The room we took photos in had A+ lighting!! 

Here's to a great 2016, and here's to more adventures with my friends.

.s

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

SYD GOES TO THE GETTY

A month ago for my sister's birthday weekend, my family and I went down to Los Angeles and adventured around. I wrote about the first part of our adventure in previous posts and this post in particular is very, very late. 

The 2nd day in LA, my family and I visited The Getty Museum, or more formally known as the J. Paul Getty Museum. I'm gonna say this right here, I do actually prefer this museum more than LACMA. The Getty sold me architecture wise. Everything was white, beige, cream, and very modern.



I have this thing with ceilings. To be honest, one of my favorite parts of the entire trip was the Tram ride up the mountain to get to the museum. The weather also was absolutely perfect. If you didn't know this about me, I'm all for cloudy muggy gray days. When it looks like it's about to rain hard, that's when I'm most happiest, lol. 


The gift shop had real nice things to sell. My dad bought my sister and I a calligraphy kit that I have yet to use. 


Easily one of the most interesting displays at The Getty. I took a semester of Art History last spring and learned all about Illuminations so seeing how the process of an Illumination being colored was pretty cool. See, school does apply in real life sometimes. 

 This is an Illumination! 


There's something that sets The Getty apart from the LACMA, and if I'm correct on this I would say it's the overall atmosphere. The Getty seems to be a lot more sophisticated and clean, haha. 


I went people watching around the gallery, lol. 

 Vincent Van Gogh's Irises. I cried. 


I kind of fell in love with this spot, so I took a shot before the flood of people came out from those doors. 


The next few photos coming up are basically going to explain why I fell in love with The Getty. 


Are you falling in love yet? 




Go go Power Rangers! We had colorful shoes on that day. :) 

I loved the stream of water going down the hill. 

Actually I loved everything about The Getty, let's leave it at that. 


If I lived in Los Angeles, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd be paying The Getty a visit every weekend. 

See you soon. 

.s