LEAP Retreat

We are... the Uber Mighty Clementines! :D

Victory Walk Around Campus

After taking the Statistics exam, C and A accompanied me to pick some Yaupon Holly leaves for my endophytic fungi lab. We ended up expelling all our relief and positive energy into pictures.

Anyway... I guess it was a pretty good day! C promised to treat me and Amy out to Plucker's next time, yay that sounds fun!

The lab stuff is getting a little exhausting... I'm sure I've been in lab for more than 8 hours this week...

Valentine's Day

:)

Thank you for these valentines~

Outfit for J2 Valentine's Dinner! Went with a bunch of other girls.

^Me with Stats homework partner!

And now... for Stats test tomorrow. Yay.

On another topic... I got my Sociology test back, a 60.5 out of 60 pts!! So... a 100.83%, not bad^^

"Le Grand Meaulnes" by Alain-Fournier (1913)

John Fowles described Le Grand Meaulnes as a novel that ‘has haunted the European mind since it first appeared in 1913. It is a novel one never quite forgets, a book like a secret garden...’

Le Grand Meaulnes is a story of the end of youth, with its sense of wonder and idealism, and the transition to adulthood and experience. In a story which exquisitely blends realism with a hint of fantasy, Augustin Meaulnes is haunted by the memory of a beautiful girl briefly encountered in a fantastic ‘domain’. However, Meaulnes finds himself unable to return there both physically and emotionally.

An acknowledged modern classic, Le Grand Meaulnes is offered here in a new translation which is more sympathetic to the poetic original than previous editions.

Ho-hum, it's been a while since my last (and first?) book review.

I bought the translated version a while ago on my Kindle but never really got around to reading it... until now.

Anyway, this is supposed to be one of the most popular classics in France, which was why I was surprised that I hadn't heard of it before... but I finally finished reading, and here's what I thought about it:

• The beginning moved quite slowly, but I understood that it was essential for the background of the characters to develop.
• The style is very whimsical and reminiscent of childhood wonders, which means - kudos to the author for evoking such a fitting style, but it doesn't guarantee an enthralled audience.
• I never understood why it was the grand Meaulnes... especially by the time I got to the end. Felt more like the narrator was the "grand" one for being so caring of his friends, not the titular character, who I thought was kind of a dick.
• Wonderful twist in the story; everything before that was just too fluffy and overloaded with the typical French romanticism, but when we discover the secret, the book redeems itself.
• Very sad, and the ending is good... I still think Meaulnes is a dick though.
• Despite how slow the beginning was and my intense dislike for Meaulnes, I really did like this book and felt very emotional when I reached the end.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars!

I'm sure that the language is much prettier in its native French, but even in English the universal message of love and friendship comes out well. Kudos!

Lunar New Year Festival

Whoa :O Sorry, it's been a while. The second semester started off with a slow start, but I really enjoy being busy, it's great^^

This week was testing week, but despite that, I decided to reward myself for recent successes by going to the Lunar New Year Festival with my friends, Nat and B.

One of Nat's many creeper pictures of me tonight... Well, we got free food!

My wish^^

I got a snake with the prize tickets!! Yayyy

Our snake collection of the night :D

Got a 100 on both my Statistics and Chemistry quiz, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.

San Francisco: Day 5

So first, Kev and I squeezed in an appointment with Dr. Jenny's Dermatology and Skincare office. She's a brilliant woman, knows her stuff, and after that day, I've aspired to be like her... It seems like the type of job I'd love to do. She uses traditional Chinese medicine to diagnose any health issues, and then helps to resolve it since it usually translates into skin problems as well. I love it!!

Here's a glimpse of New Chinatown... I really wished we had the opportunity to explore it :(

After that visit, our family went to Japantown. In my opinion, it's a lot more fun than Chinatown in that it's much cleaner and you have a variety of options organized in just two sections: East Mall and West Mall, one side containing more restaurants, the other side has more decor and stores. Both sides are great though, and they have two cinemas!!

Their prices are also quite cheap for such cute objects, not to mention it seems like it's great quality stuff!!

We ate at Osakaya~

^My dad's Sushi Delight!!

^Kev's Miso Udon!! Bean paste flavored with bamboo and beansprout.

^My mom's Yummy Roll.

^My Yasai Donburi^^ Assorted vegetables cooked with egg and onion!

After eating our fill, we ended up watching The Hobbit in a Kabuki theater, haha. Great day, very fulfilling!!

San Francisco: Day 4

So it took us a while, but we eventually found Redwood. Merry Christmas~!!

 

And then it started to rain... and our plan for the day was kind of ruined. Haha. We ended up hiding in some small dim sum place, called J&M A-1 Chinese Restaurant. I love how we've been all around the alphabet in Chinese restaurants, haha.

^Warm yummy noodle soup~ perfect for rainy days!!

San Francisco: Day 3

Wow today was a busy day... Walked from 7 in the morning all the way until 7 at night... So tired, my feet hurt...

^That's great art, haha.

First, we rode cable cars, which were pretty cool.

We reached Fisherman's Wharf and looked at the sourdough bread factory and ate the famous clam chowder bread bowl.

^Me and my brother!!

 

^From Sabella and LaTorre's

After walking around Pier 45 and 39, we then explored around the streets of San Francisco... and ended up at the Flower Street, with all its zigzags and climbing steps.

^At the very top with my mom, after all that climbing!! City is beautiful...

We got lost about a billion times and rode the bus back to the mall. Then we browsed around for a long time and ate at Sarku Japan in the mall.

^Vegetarian Zen!!