playlist_2016

Here's a playlist I made of songs I discovered or rediscovered this year :) I made it for my friends that have cars (because who owns a CD player?..) but I wanted to share it here as well. I tried to put it in an order that makes sense but there's some transitions that I wish were better. Anyways, enjoy!

find it on Spotify and Youtube !

Playlist: 

01. Drive (Oh Wonder)
Everyone seems to know this song but I'm not sure how. I think I resonate with this song because of something that happened in my life. It expresses exactly how I felt in a particular friendship and so I just really appreciate it.

02. Closer (Chainsmokers) - Cover by Kina Grannis
Song is so catchy even though it's kind of dumb. When Kina Grannis covers a song, she usually remixes the song to have a more mellow vibe, which I like.

03. Absolutely Smitten (Dodie Clark)
One of few Youtube artists that I subscribe to made an EP and this song was favorite :) I do realize it's cheesy to the max, but whatever.

04. Another Day of Sun (La La Land Cast)
Ohhh this movie was just so good I had to. If you haven't watched the movie, please do and then re-listen to the song. I promise it'll be worth it.

05. I Choose You (Sara Bareilles)
One of those love songs that makes me smile. I think because I am in a relationship, I have been listening to more love songs like this. Maybe it relates to the fact that my boyfriend doesn't really have any musical talent and so I find it elsewhere? lol

06. Call Off Your Dogs (Lake Street Dive)
This is song I wouldn't really listen to for the lyrics because you can't really understand what she's singing a lot of the time, but I love her voice. It's kind of like background music ish.

07. Float (Switchfoot)
I think Switchfoot was one of the first bands I listened to because my older brother listened to them and had all of their CDs. I haven't listened to Switchfoot for ages, but this is one from their new album that I liked.

08. Fool to Love (NAO)
Low key this song is here so that there can be 20 songs on the playlist HAHA. But I do enjoy this song. My friend Arizton showed it to me on a playlist he made for me earlier this year. Arizton and I have a lot in common, but we don't really have the same taste music. This song is one of the few exceptions to that.

09. Shut Up & Groove (HEIZE feat. DEAN)
Shoutout to Diana ~ I only have 3 Korean songs on here because most of my recipients are not Korean.. But I think you can thoroughly enjoy this one even if you don't understand Korean haha.

10. This Girl (Kungs Vs. Cookin' on 3 Burners)
My older bro showed me this and it just gives off good vibes. It's a kind of song that you would listen to while driving near the beach or something.

11. The Greatest (Sia)
I think Sia is a great artist, but I don't really enjoy the taste of her music. I wish I could like it though tbh. Anyways, I listen to this when I need motivation for studying haha

12. Real Love (Clean Bandit Feat. Jess Glynne)
Clean Bandit x Jess Glynne just works so well.. I was going tot put a song but Jess Glynne but I didn't want to shove it up your face so I put more variety in the CD.

13. Cheerleader (Omi) - Cover by Pentatonix
Again, another catchy dumb song that I like. Pentatonix just makes songs sound more cooler LOL.

14. Sunday Candy (Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment)
This is borderline kind of inappropriate but I love this song so sorry I'm not that holy I guess. My favorite line: "You singing too, but your grandma ain't my grandma!"

15. That Girl (Justin Timberlake)
I heard this song before, but my friend Mark reintroduced it to me and I couldn't stop listening to it for some reason. On the CD I made, I cut of a little bit of the beginning part since it's pretty long and you can't hear it very well.

16. 자니[Johnny] (Primary feat. Dynamic Duo)
My second Korean song that probably won't be as great if you don't know the lyrics. Go look up the lyrics to this song, it's kind of funny / sad.

17. Love Yourself (Justin Bieber)
 When did Justin Bieber get so good..

18. Stiches (Shawn Mendes feat. Hailee Steinfeld) - Acoustic version
My roommate from 2015-2016 school year showed me the acoustic version and I just kept listening. I think I discovered it last year but I had to put it on this one.

19. Go the Distance (Michael Bolton) - Cover by Kurt Hugo Schneider
I love this song because if you look closely at the lyrics, it's a love song. My favorite line: "I will search the world, I will face its harms' Till I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms"

20. I'm in Love (Ra.D) - Piano Remix
Thanks Jennerd for the song. I listened to a cover of this song for a while, but the original is so great I don't know what I was doing haha.


bye bye for now ^

classmates

One thing that is drastically different in college, especially at UCLA, is that the classes are much larger and it seems that I go to classes with a lot of strangers. Its much different from high school where you see the same people every day and you can grow friendships with those people. This past quarter, I was able to take three of my civil engineering introduction classes, along with another upper division class. And so I was able to take 2 or 3 classes with the same people, which means I see the same people almost every day. I have formed new friendships this quarter and deepened existing friendships, which has been so exciting. I love meeting my civil engineering classmates and experience school life together. Something pretty small but something I am very grateful for.

bye bye for now ^

rendezvous in the sgv

Today I met with three of my good friends that I met in the last couple of years at UCLA. I don't know why, but it just made me really happy to meet up with them, especially in a group setting. Most of the friendships that I have with people is a one-to-one friendship; meaning that I spend most time with that person individually. And so today was unique time hanging out with friends. :) I think there is something so unique and beautiful with a group of people spending time together because it allows for you so see different aspects of their character. As C.S. Lewis wrote eloquently in his book The Four Loves,

"In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets."

I think that I've always been jealous of people who have a group of friends that hang out together and always wished that I could be part of something like that. But I guess those groups start from somewhere, right? Here's to new friend [groups]! (let's not be exclusive tho)

bye bye for now ^

new years resolutions, again

Looking back on last year's resolutions, I would say that I kind of failed them .. I think I fail my new year resolutions most years. And so, for 2017, I want to try something different. I'm going to make my new years resolutions at the beginning of my winter break (which is now) and then take my 4 week break to formulate habits that reflect these resolutions. I think this is more practical than setting resolutions right before the beginning of a new quarter when habits are difficult to form. Also, I'm going to make less resolutions so that I am able to focus on a few. With that, here are my 2017 resolutions!

1. Spend 30 minutes in prayer and in the Word every day.
I want this to be a habit by the end of the year, which means that I'll start with a small amount of time and build up to 30 minutes. I think I haven't been spending a lot of time with God deeply these past few months and I can definitely see that I am not as in tune with Jesus as I would like to be.

2. Do something new and uncomfortably challenging each month.
I have realized this past year that I deeply care about what other people think about me. It comes to a point where I am hindered to do things because of this fear. I think that's something I really need to change. And so I want to challenge myself to do things out of my comfort zone and just be un-ashamed of myself and what I do. This month, I'm going to do a sort of daily vlogs. This is kind of hard for me because I feel like people are watching me and judging me as I film. And I really hope that I can become less wary about what other people think

3. Write in a journal every day.
 I'm going to use the format of a three sentence journal that I used a couple years ago and hopefully am able to continue it for the following years to come.
     First - something special that happened that day
     Second - something that made my smile that day
     Third - something that I am grateful for that day
I think writing in a journal helps me to reflect on my day and my life, as well as keeping record of what's happening. Another reason I want to keep this journal is because I think recently, I have been complaining a lot about my situation, rather than being thankful for the blessings in my life. I think this journal might be a way for me to sit still, humble myself and be grateful.

bye bye for now ^

introduction: michelle

Idk why I haven't done an intro for Michelle yet tbh. We have been blogging buddies since the beginning. Sorry about that :( Anyways, Michelle is my childhood friend (our dads went to college together)! I would say that she's the closest thing to a sister that I have. I feel super comfortable with her and I don't feel hesitant to call her out on things. When we were younger, we spent a lot of time with each other since we lived nearby each other, went to the same church, and went to the same school. We would bike around together and play with stuffed animals together, among other things. Our families would go camping together. When we were in high school, we would take large measures to go to arts and craft fairs togethers and have adventures in LA and other places. We had a lot of fun. Now, she lives on the other side of the country and we've gotten busy; but I know if I ever needed her help, I could easily reach her and she knows that I'm here for her as well. During my stay in Korea, we met up a couple times and I had a lot of fun catching up! I really appreciate our friendship that can be picked up so easily.  Excited to see her over the winter break. :)

^ hi Michelle

it's been a while

yes, it has been a while.

I am sorry my unseen audience. I will update more during the winter break when there is time in my life to do the things I enjoy.

As of now, this is my general sentiment towards life (pc to Pawncheaux):

Also, here are a couple of things of concern in my life:

 - I am leaving for San Jose at 6 AM and it is currently 1 AM 

 - I am quite behind on work due to the fact that I had a cold this past weekend, which means I must work on it during my Thanksgiving break, which means less time to spend time with family and rest

 - I should be applying for internships but I have to do the work that I am behind in 

 - My parents are meeting Linus' parents in a couple days and I'm not sure how that's going to go

 - Not sure how I'm going to spend my winter break and am worried that it'll either be an unproductive break or one where I am too busy and do not rest. 

okay. I go to sleep now. 

^ bye bye for now

Hawaii 2016

Hi friends. Much belated. But want to share with you this video that I made for my Hawaii family trip. This trip means a lot to me because we were able to spend extended time with the closest relatives that I have (which is pretty rare). So please enjoy ~
 

the beautiful people of Taiwan

Hello unseen audience!

I'm sorry but I'm going to reuse my instagram post caption //
Conversation with a stranger on the airplane on the way to Taiwan:
"Do you know what the most beautiful part of Taiwan is?"
"What is it?"
"The people!"
And I have to say that what he said proved to be very true. The people that I have met were nothing but kind and generous to me.Thank you for sharing your beautiful country with me ❤️🇹🇼 //

I spent 5 days in Taiwan with my friend Isabelle, who was there through a study abroad program. In only a few days, I was able to explore the city of Taipei and also the Mountainside of Ali-shan. I really appreciated all the hospitality that Isabelle's family showed to me. Their family gave me rides everywhere, paid for my meals, and even gave me gifts to give to my family. And at the end of it, her Uncle thanked me for allowing him to show off his beautiful country. I could not have been more honored to spend time with them.

Now, here are some pictures :)

Korean princess for an hour

Michelle and I went on an adventure! We wanted to go to this traditional Korean village in Jeon-ju (전주한옥마을),  which is a couple hours away from Seoul. It was sort of a mess to try and get tickets and get on a train, but it happened somehow. We didn't have assigned seats so we kind of just sat in the in-between spots. Michelle even slept on the ground LOL. When we got there, we rented out these traditional Korean dresses for an hour to take pictures in. The dresses we rented were those worn by royalty and would never have been worn by commoners (like us). So it was nice to be a Korean princess for at least one hour. Afterwards, we walked around, had street food, and relaxed under a shelter while it rained. We made our way back slowly to the train station and even had a seat on the way back. Ah those were really good times (I am writing this in the midst of midterm season in May LOL).

Here are some pictures:

weekend trip to Busan

Hello! This past weekend I went to Geong-ju & Busan for a weekend trip with fellow students from California! Although there was a lot to see in the city of Busan, I loved the drive because I was able to enjoy the beautiful views of the mountains and country-sides. I know that Korea is well known for the bustling city of Seoul and the numerous fun activities that can be done there. But I think that the calm and peaceful spots of nature can easily be lost in the minds of visitors. I tried to take a lot of pictures from the bus, but only this one was decent enough to keep :)

In the city of Busan, I had the opportunity to visit the Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, which is an area of residence. During the Korean War, thousands of people fled down south in hopes of safety and many people resided in Busan. Many people crammed into this hill called Gamcheon and it became a hill with many small houses. After the war, there were efforts from different groups to make the houses more stable and also to create the village into a creative community. We were able to see the village as a whole and also able to walk through the alley-ways, which I thought was pretty cool :) Anyways, here are some pictures!

I just wanted to share these two facets of my trip that I really enjoyed. :) I also have a video log for this trip, so if you want to check that out: 

bye bye until next time ^  

picture or video?

I have been taking videos of my trip in Korean these past few weeks or so and I have been really enjoying it. It challenges me to be bold and to experiment with a different function on my camera. However, I have not been able to take as may pictures and I would like. The lens I use with my camera for pictures and video are different, so this further worsens my dilemma. Also, the time that I have spent editing videos has taken out of my normal blogging routine. It seems that I can't do everything at once and I can't seem to decide. I sort of obligated myself to vlogging by promising that I would attempt to post once a week. I also am behind on my journal... ㅠ__ㅠ *sigh*. Thanks for listening to me ramble for a bit.

Anyways, I will try my best to continue my blog while in Korea so I can look back and remember my experiences! It is also more likely that I will continue this blog but not my youtube vlogs. anywho..

here's some pictures of me at a trick eye museum in Hongdae! [taken by Jenny]

bye bye until next time ^

episode 1 - pilot

Hello unseen audience. I don't know what I'm doing but here's my first vlog for Korea! I'll be having these vlogs posted once a week! I most likely won't post it here so you can subscribe to the youtube channel if you're interested in keeping up with that! I'll try to post on this blog more often during my time in Korea keeping record of the things that I'm doing. I leave in a couple days! I'm so excited ^_^

bye bye until next time ^

accidental photo gig

Hello unseen audience, I got paid to take pictures, accidentally. I was at a photoshoot because Nathan invited me to be in a picture with him.. I brought my camera and basically ended up taking pictures since there was a high demand for photographers. One of the photographers laters texted me saying that I'll be taking home some of the money that was collected for the photoshoot. I took pictures merely because I enjoyed it and so this came as a surprise to me. It was quite a pleasant surprise, I've got to admit. Anyway, some nice pictures came from it and I wanted to share it with you guys.

3 weeks until departure

Hello unseen audience! It's three weeks until I hop on a plane and head over to Korea. It has been my dream to study abroad and it's finally happening this summer. I will be out of the country for 2 months, with a small trip to Taiwan for 5 days in the beginning of August. I am so excited, especially because I'll be going with two of my friends from school and we will be able to travel & eat & study & struggle & play together. I am considering starting some kind of video blog while I'm over there so I can share with all of you (whoever is out there..) my experiences while I'm abroad. I'll keep you updated! :)

bye bye until next time ^

introduction: nathan

Hello unseen audience,  I want to introduce you to my good friend Nathan! It is his birthday today so I thought that it would be a good day to post this :)

I think out of my close friends here at UCLA, I have known him the longest (which is about 5 years now). In high school, we did marching band for two seasons together and drumline for one season and also ate with the same people for lunch (when he didn't have some kind of meeting lol...) Honestly, when I first met him, I thought that he was strange and so I didn't really associate myself with him (I was also a brat at that time..). Anyways, over time, I got to know him more and I found that he is actually someone who is very kind, thoughtful, wise, funny, and a very good friend. When I started attending UCLA, Nathan really helped me a lot.. He always offered his room to study and time to talk about my problems and prayed for me when I needed it.. The beginning of college was pretty rough and I'm glad that he was there to help me through it. He's a solid brother in Christ and I am so grateful for his presence in my life. I am so glad that he's going to be around for the next few years so I can still bother him. hahaha.

bye bye for now ^ HIIIIII NATHAN

lazy T-T

I have come to a realization that I am a naturally very lazy and un-motivated person.

If there's nothing immediate to do, I have little to no motivation to do any productive and important-to-my-future-career-and-life work. I don't know why, but I always thought I was a motivated person who was generally on top on my work.. But college has shown me otherwise. I have two major papers (for a graduate school course) due in the next two weeks, a major homework assignment due, and a midterm in two days for a class I am a good two weeks behind in... Not to mention that I'm at least a month behind in my grad class readings.. (and for a quarter system where you only have 10 weeks of class, I'm pretty behind)......  I know I had plenty of time to work on all these things and yet I'm so behind... Well here's to little to no sleep this week! ~

bye bye until next time ^

Balboa Park

I like plants and flowers and I like taking pictures of them. I went to the Botanical Gardens at Balboa Park and so I wanted to share them with you :) Enjoy!

    

pictures of myself

Hello unseen audience,
A couple weeks ago I decided to temporarily deactivate my Facebook and Instagram accounts.  Recently, I think I have been overly distracted by social media and also prone to compare my life with others. It has been a really good break and most of my life is exactly the same as before.

For some reason, I'm having a dilemma of what to do with pictures of myself. A couple of months ago, I would have jumped to the opportunity to post it on Instagram or put it in my album on Facebook. I can't post it on Flickr because the the pictures posted there are reserved only for pictures that I have taken. So I resort to my blog. I know it's pretty conceited of me to want to share pictures of myself.. But here you go I guess!

bye bye until next time ^ 

a letter from (part of) my brain

Dear Sheena,

Please use us sometimes. We know you're an engineering major and you mostly do science / math intensive activities, but don't forget about us.. We really enjoyed when you took an art class a couple years ago because we were able to get a chance to exercise and grow. It's not fair that the logical / analytical side of your brain gets so much attention and we don't. Today when you went to Color-Me-Mine with Allison, it felt like we were finally being attended to. So thank you for that, but we want something on a regular basis. The other side of the brain keeps intimidating us and we won't keep quiet any longer.
Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
The Right Side of your Brain.


p.s. good job with that plate; we're excited to see the finished product :)

^ bye bye until next time

good company

yesterday, a couple of my friends from my hometown visited me at UCLA. I really appreciate how they came through the 405 traffic at 4PM on a Friday evening to get to me to spend just a little time with me. I think their company was just what I needed after a long week of school and busy-ness of life. They also brought me pastries because I was craving them <3

Also, here's a little snail that I passed by today :3 

                           

bye bye until next time ^

(and hopefully it's not too far away from now)

introduction: isabelle

Hello unseen audience, it's only March 5 but I already have two blog posts. This may be a new record for me.

This is Isabelle! She's one of my good friends here at UCLA. When we first met, I never would have guessed that we would become close friends. She has a very different personality than myself.. She's energetic, loud, excited, spontaneous, a bit crazy, and many other wonderful things. Around this time last year, we started regularly meeting once a week to catch up and keep each other accountable in our walk with Jesus. It has been a year of different challenges and struggles in our lives and I'm glad to have grown with her and shared my life with her with her <3 I really appreciate her simple joy in life and honest heart. I was surprised how vulnerably and openly she shared with me in her struggles, especially early on in our friendship. It has encouraged myself to be more open and share what's going on in my life, even when I think that it might be discouraging for the other person. And out of all the people I know, Isabelle may be one of the most excited to see me. I really appreciate that, especially when I'm feeling down. yay.  Accountability partners.

bye bye until next time ^ Hiiiii Isabelle. <3

notebooks

I have this problem with notebooks
well, not really a problem with them
I just have too many.. It's a little bit ridiculous
I have a notebook
for writing down my thoughts
      for school planning
      for my random notes
      for my daily schedule
      for each of my individual classes
      for figuring out my homework problems
      for writing down prayers
      for ticket stubs and memorable tokens
      for practicing my calligraphy ..
the list goes on and on
how did it get so long
I'm not sure
but
I guess that's okay
being organized isn't a bad thing
I think in my case it might be a bit excessive
but
that's just me I guess

bye bye until next time ^


today was the first time in a long time when a blog post idea came into my head instead of me trying to force an idea out

my blog probably feels very unloved

Hello unseen audience.

Hello blog. I'm sorry. It's been a while.

Lately I've been feeling a little slow. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it feels like I've been a little bit behind lately. I feel like there's a million things that I want to do and I need to do but somehow I manage only to do what I need to and not doing such a great job at it, especially in school. Somehow I manage to finish an assignment or finish up studying for the midterm 30 minutes before the deadline and feeling disappointed how poorly I managed my time.

I'm trying to spend time to be alone and relax more in order than I don't feel so overwhelmed and burdened but it sometimes it feels like that too is a waste of time.

I'm not quite sure what to do but I feel very unmotivated. It just feels like what I'm learning is not relevant and not interesting and I just feel slothful and lazy. What is the cure for that? How can I be self disciplined in my academics? How can I be self disciplined in my walk with God? How can I be self disciplined in my personal growth and making time for the things I enjoy? I'm not sure. I guess for now it's taking things week by week and trying my best to get by.

bye bye until next time ^

my camera probably feels unloved

Haven't been taking my camera out lately so the only pictures I have been getting are of flowers since they make for nice subjects. Enjoy ~

bye bye until next time ^

a raw update on life

Hello unseen audience! The end of January is fast approaching and I cannot find the time to sit down and blog. So I decided to take a break from my studies (which I am far behind in..) and give you guys a quick update! Cation: There is no rhyme or reason to this following part so just be aware :).


It has already been 3 weeks since the beginning of the quarter and I'm already so behind in pretty much all my classes. I'm determined to get on top of it in the next few weeks. But I say that every quarter so who knows ^^;;

This past Monday I went to VCN (Vietnamese culture Night) since my roommate was performing! I had the expectation that I was going to learn more about Vietnamese American culture and watch a variety of performing arts, which was partially true. The main chunk of the night, however, was a small sort of play / theatrical act about a Vietnamese-American girl who starts to be overwhelmed with depression and the struggles and trials in that in the lens of a Vietnamese-American. In the Vietnamese culture, there is a huge stigmatism towards mental health issues such as depression. The purpose of the play was to spread awareness about mental health issues and to encourage people to find professional help if they need it, despite how it is discouraged when they were growing up. It was definitely a powerful performance and I enjoyed it a lot! It was also my first time in Royce Hall, which is the main performance hall at UCLA.

Also, a couple days ago I finally forced myself to go to swing club! I learned a basic 8 count step and the basics of swing dancing. I really really loved it and I'm looking forward to going again in the future. It's kind of cool because the followers/leaders switch partners and so you kind of have the chance to dance with everybody. I admit, it's a little bit awkward with some people but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I guess I have been trying new things lately, which has been great because I don't know when else in my life I will be able to go to learn swing for free 10 minutes from my dorm or be immersed into Vietnamese-American culture. I also shared my testimony of praying to God when it feels distant and in my times of loneliness, which I will post at another time. Speaking in front of 100 people was definitely a crazy and new experience as well. :]


Anyways, I have crazy amount of work to do but it was great talking to you!

bye bye until next time ^

new year

Hello my unseen audience. It has been a while ^^;;. The new year has started and it came up so fast I have to say I didn't see it coming. As it is a tradition in our family to write new years resolutions, I am going to share mine with you! Many people I know don't see value in making new years resolutions, but I really enjoy making (and attempting) to reach whatever goal I set. For me, it's a motivator to finally get started on doing something that I always wanted to do or to re-establish habits that I have been lacking on. In the past, I tried to always be consistent in whatever I was trying to accomplish, but I think I'm going to try this year to be more persistent in what I want to accomplish. Meaning that even if I miss a week of doing something or eat too many sweets, to not be discouraged and to try again. haha I've been rambling for a bit ^^;;.


Here are my "normal ones" (the ones that I make every year):

1. Be in the habit of exercise (lol): I want to try to exercise at least an hour outside of class each week!

2. Learn Korean: 5 vocabulary words a week and reading 5 chapters of the bible aloud every week. Not too hard I hope ^^

3. Read the Bible: Once with the lens of God's promises and once with the lens of God's heart for the marginalized (God's justice)

4. GPA goal by end of fall quarter junior year: hahahahaha 3.3! ah didn't make last year's goal but ah well.. (as they say, Cs get degrees...)

5. This blog..  I'm hoping 3 a month? So each month will be: 1 blog post, 1 person post, and 1 adventure post? haha we'll see :)