UW Night Market 2014

Last night was the Taiwan Night Festival at the UW. I went with a close friend and we had a wonderful time. In between eating delicious food, we also watched music performances, one of which was her cousin, Fiona Dawn. It was nice night with blue skies, good food, and catching up with old friends.

Fiona played the Guzheng, a traditional Chinese instrument. She writes and composes her own songs, which are in English, Chinese, or both! I really liked how she managed to weave the two cultures together in the language of the lyrics, and sounds of the music.

I still need to figure out how to photograph at night :/ This picture below does not have very good clarity, and the bright lights overtake the lack of details. 

I like the composition of this picture a bit better, but it still doesn't have very good clarity.

And there a rose garden lay

As proof of exactly how taken up I have been with my (for once) fun and truly interesting classes (as in architecture and chemistry. The math isn't going so hot today. Maybe that is because I have my final....) I have to admit: I have been totally oblivious to my surroundings. You know, the environment that I pass everyday? Twice? Yup. Stuff happened and changed and prettied up, and I was too distracted to even notice them. 

So you say, maybe it was small, easy to pass up. But no. No it really wasn't. For who could miss the bursts of color amidst the surrounding gray concrete and green hedge-fences? Who could miss all FOUR of these large gardens surrounding Drumheller fountain? Who could possibly not notice all the fragrant smells of the hundreds of different buds opening before our eyes? Who would just walk right past them, a mere foot away from their grabby thorns and NOT NOTICE?

Um, yeah. That would be me.

For two weeks.

Oops.

But I finally came to my senses before my obliviousness got too out of hand ;) And at last on a beautiful sunny day while I wore a pretty sundress and traipsed about my classes, I saw beauty. She was a blanket laid on the ground, sparkling in the sun. Sometimes she waved in the wind, and became dancing colors.

And here are some pictures:

This is the President's Rose garden. All special, hand picked, and sometimes rare roses right in one place at once. The ones that drew me in the most were the variegated roses and the ones with bright colored petals. My favorites for sure were the orange ones. I just love the luminescence they pick up from the light, and how even their shadows look soft and urge you to stroke one.

And when I finally managed to peel myself away from such beauty, I found this nest in a lantern!

In other words, I'm having a wonderful week :)
Despite finals.

Photos from the week

Sorry I have disappeared all of a sudden!

It is spring break now, so I've been busy just trying to relax. But here are some photos from finals week and this past week!

 First: The cherry trees are beginning to blossom int eh Quad! I'm so excited!

I was walking my friend back to her dorm after having breakfast, when we came to the quad. I hadn't been through because my finals took me elsewhere, but all of a sudden, I was met with this sight of pink!

I like the effect of the trees creating this curve that dips down in the middle, sandwiched between the blue/white sky and the green grass.

I finally had a chance to hang out with my boyfriend (for only two hours, unfortunately), and noticed these chairs back to back, creating this symmetrical yet non-identical curve. I loved it! I like how there are such simple details that can make one appreciative.

In the middle of the backyard back home, there is one lone daffodil. This is it. But it's beautiful out there, all alone. The petals are so delicate, folding and bending as they wish.

I really need to learn how to photograph flowers from more original and inventive angles.

Downtown, this was the view in the sun was setting. The cherry blossoms matched the pink of the clouds!

I saw this little rainbow above the rooftops of a building. A tree nearby, was such an interesting sight complementing the oddity of the rainbow.

My old camera has two weird lines on the lens, but I can't find it when I look for them. I'm getting it cleaned soon, hopefully. In the meantime, I try to camouflage them in the dark areas of the picture, haha. One is in the shadow of the building.

The bright blue sky brings so many possibilities.

The wide angle created such an interesting point of view, making the sky stretch so much further than usual.

Do you see the mysterious shape in the left top corner? It looks like a birdcage. But in reality, it is the lantern inside my house, backlit by the sunset.

Chinese New Years!

It is year of the Snake! I went to a festival downtown in the International District to celebrate with a few people from my floor. I like the lion dances the most. When they are energetic and moving around fluidly to the music, it is really enchanting. And I like it when they blink a lot. It makes them look animated.

Year of the snake :)

This kid picked up whatever reptile this was, and was looking closely at it. His father came up and told him, "Be careful. It might be dangerous," and this is his resulting reaction.

Brush art :)

Traditional clothing. Red for good luck!

 

This kid in the lion costume was so cute!

The lions were bowing in front of the shops as firecrackers went off.