Travel

Katie Chung — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:16:13 +0000

Lately, I’ve been going through my computer and I came across my pictures from my trip to Hong Kong this past summer. I’d been to Hong Kong many times before, but for the first time I asked my mom to take me. Normally, it’s an uphill battle for my mom to convince us to go to Hong Kong with her. This time I wanted to see it. I didn’t love it the first few times, but I knew this time would be different.

I was finally able to take in hong kong for what it is. Enjoy the culture, instead of wondering why it wasn’t as clean, open or great as home. Take in my surroundings with an open mind without bitching about the humidity.

I had my misconceptions of hong kong and reasons why I didn’t enjoy it (all of which were baseless). But, after a year of eye-opening experiences in college a lot changed; life in my eyes changed. Now all I want to do is see the world. As for my new found interest in hong kong, credit goes to my category II GE professor, and my willingness to finally learn Chinese. I was ready to embrace the world and culture of my ethnic background. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing better than being American, but I guess my stubbornness and anti-’fob’ mentality has faded…slightly.

Anyways, 15 pictures to sum up my trip. (click for a larger image)

1. streets of Hong Kong
2. one old side streets in Hong Kong
3. the streets of a small island we sailed to for the best seafood in town..
4. an old-fashioned boat i saw while we were sailing
5. amazing apartments on the south-side of hong kong island (aka old money)
6. a place my mom calls China’s Venice
7. streets of shanghai
8. old streets of shanghai–I love the architecture on that street
9. arts museum in shanghai we stumbled upon..
10. most delicious cold noodles i’ve ever had..
11. i promise it tastes as great as it looks..
12. grapes from a 16th century admiral’s house in shanghai
13. camera from an history exhibit
14. my uncle took us to a street where they only sell fish. The cutest goldfish ever.
15. looks like the humphreys have a their very own street!

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..i can’t wait to travel the open road this summer.
cross-country road trip anyone?

-Katie

News.

Katie Chung — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:16:31 +0000

They say as journalists, ‘you are the news, and so you must know the news.’ Annenberg has it’s own take on how to enforce this upon us; one way–biweekly current event quizzes. It sounds simple enough, but it never fails to amaze me how broad the term ‘news’ really is. Politics, international, crime, local, entertainment, sports, arts… the list is endless. Almost everything and anything can be turned into a news story. What’s actually newsworthy is simply relative–but that’s irrelevant.

So in a hope at least pass my quizzes, I spend Monday and Wednesday mornings reading CNN headlines. And as difficult as it is to keep up with all the news, at least now I know the most heated aspect of the health care debate, the name of the newest LA philharmonic, and the where the G-20 summit was held. Plus almost always I come across a ridiculous/amazing/sad and purely interesting story–and today was no different.

Every now and then when there are no envelopes to stuff or fliers to design at work I get to catch up on my news. What witty things the sports writers at the LA times have to say about USC football this week, or the latest about TLC suing Jon Gosselin. Today this story caught my attention..

The only downside to these quizzes? Besides how it’s almost impossible for me to get an 8 out of 10, it makes no time for me to read the New York Magazine.

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now that its back to 85+ degrees in LA, i’m going to miss the cold weather..

-Katie

waiting..

Katie Chung — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:59:28 +0000

The new school year has started, and as always school has me thinking of the future, possibilities, and etc. The only difference, is this time I’m not excited of the possibility of living in LA and working my dream job. Instead, I’m waiting.. waiting to be inspired.

Inspired to decide if i want A or B, because I’ve come to realize A and B are two exclusive ideas. There’s no overlapping inclusive AB. And I just need time to decide, but there’s no pause button. The semester keeps rolling, and the deadline keeps approaching.

So all I can wait for is a break, and end to the school year—summer. A few months to leave the craziness. And that’s all i want to do–leave California and explore. Maybe then I’ll find some inspiration…

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..for now, the most pressing question is should how to spend november 14…at a meg&dia concert in Irvine, or watch SC play Stanford at the coliseum.

-Katie

(500) Days of Summer

Katie Chung — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:54:19 +0000

Back in April I listed my five most anticipated summer movies. I completely posted too soon, but I’ll write about that later. Anyways, 4 weeks after it’s release, I finally had the opportunity to watch my #2 pick, 500 Days of Summer.

It hands down tops my all-time favorite movie list. The writing is witty and natural. The cinematography is engaging. Both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are extremely charming, and their chemistry is as great as it gets. Needless to say, the movie is simply amazing. It’s one of those movies that just had me smiling from beginning to end (maybe its the romantic-comedy-ness of it all). The movie had me wishing it would just go on and on, if only it was 2 and a half hours instead of Transformers 2. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that could be so far from my expectations yet be entirely satisfying regardless. Let’s just say I left the movie feeling in awe of it all, like I had just had an epiphany. As if the movie, is the catalyst of my most recent epiphany, even though I can’t describe what that epiphany is exactly.

Anyways, I wanted not to blog a rave of only the best movie ever, but to post the music video for Zooey Deschanel’s band She&Him. The song is titled Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, and it oozes indie folk. (I can’t wait to get my hands on the entire album) More importantly, the video is as Deschanel puts it “a nice compliment to the movie,” and if you may, a cute mini-extension of all things 500 Days of Summer, the dance scene in particular. Did I mention Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in it with Zooey Deschanel, they do a dance number, and director of the movie, Marc Webb, filmed it? Plus, the lyrics to the song are adorable.

“Why don’t you sit right down and stay awhile?
We like the same things, and I like your style…
I think you’re just so pleasant,
I would like you for my own
Why don’t you sit right down and make me smile?
You make me feel like I am just a child”

I hope it brings a smile to your face, as it does to mine.

Aren’t they just so lovable?

———-
-Katie

Countdown

Katie Chung — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:58:32 +0000

In less than 4 weeks, I’ll be packing up my room (again) and driving 30 miles west back to school. Picking up right where I left off, it’ll be fall semester. At SC that means only one thing… football season! Ready for my 2nd football season, I’ve got my season pass loaded onto my ID, my authentic number 4 cardinal jersey, and, like most trojans, a vengeance to beat Oregon state (we were #1 until we lost to Oregon State—it was our only defeat last season.) Someone once said to me at orientation–”at SC, football is like a religion”.

Straight from Pete Carroll’s twitter–the countdown, which currently reads 43 days, 2 hours, 39 minutes and.. well you get it.

———-
-Katie

GOOD Videos

Katie Chung — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:16:49 +0000

A couple of my favorite GOOD videos. (Both from the GOOD Transparency series)

The first, an informative all-you-need to know about drinking water:

“It’s the source of life but it’s also the cause of a lot of unnecessary death. In places where clean water isn’t available, water-related diseases like cholera cause massive diarrhea, dehydration, and thousands of deaths each day. Affordable water-treatment solutions exist. We’d like to see them flourish.”

The second, a sort of ‘who are the real alcoholics?’ truth clip

“Drinking has always been a mainstay of human civilization. In moments of joy, sadness, boredom, and even holiness, we drink. But what? And how much? And who drinks the most?”

Enjoy!

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-Katie

Green Tea

Katie Chung — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:08:23 +0000

As most people know, I love all things green tea. No really, I do. From tea to yogurt to ice cream, its my absolute flavor of anything. But my favorite of favorites? Green tea ice cream. Now, most people, (those who know someone whose asian, or live in Los Angeles) have heard of green tea ice cream. And most people go looking for it at some asian market, or Trader Joes. But, not me. I go looking down the frozen section at Albertsons. Why? Because the best green tea ice cream maker is not some foreign brand, but our very own Haagen Dazs.

I was introduced to this creamy, green-tea-flavor-bursting ice cream by the freezer in trogro (trojan grounds–tro gro for short) at USC. From then on, it was all about green tea ice cream, all the time. Available at all of the mini-marts on campus, a lovely pint could be purchased with my meal plan dinning dollars (for an overpriced $6 a pint—it’s $3 something at Albertsons). But, it was well worth it. That little tub of ice cream was a loyal companion to me and my besties. It was there for all those online TV show/movie watching moments, late night study sessions, post-partying recaps, and hangouts in 2111A . So, to me, the pint of green tea Haagen Dazs, was another intricate piece to my first-year of college experience. Sadly, my last bite of this mini-heaven was in May. (…this delicious delight is hard to find) Luckily for me, move-in is exactly 4 weeks away. /(I’m going to be miss DB.. but I can’t wait for sophomore year and all those priceless Troy memories we’re about to have ) But, the next time I’m reunited with this little fellow, I’ll be paying $6 for it, and not with my meal plan, but rather, cash. I guess I’ll only be eating it on special occasions…

Warning: There are side effects to this little addiction of mine, the freshmen 8.

———-
-Katie

Daily Intel

Katie Chung — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:32:18 +0000

New York magazine’s blog ‘Daily Intel’ is my new one stop shop for all news. (I guess bloggers are truly beginning to integrate themselves into the world of journalism). Covering everything from all things Gossip Girl to politics, sports, entertainment, NY happenings and more, its simply fan-flipping-tastic, not to mention hilarious, entertaining, and informative. Let’s just say it’s worthy of it’s own blog post.

Their cutest blog post from this week?

“Sad Panda Is Missing!

Photo: Justin Schultz/Gothamist

The Sad Panda who usually hangs around the bull by Bowling Green is apparently missing. Considering his mental state, this is not good. A concerned citizen has posted this flyer asking for information on his whereabouts, and we would also ask the Samaritans to be on alert this weekend for calls from people with growling, bearlike voices. Our fellow Panda Enthusiasts at Gothamist postulate that he may have gone on vacation, and a commenter over there asserts that someone from the Downtown Alliance said he was in Shanghai. But, readers, we called the Downtown Alliance, and they say they have no idea where the Sad Panda is. And so we fear the worst. That is: We fear he’s walking around among us. Naked.“

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-Katie

Electric Mini-Coopers—the New Cop Cars

Katie Chung — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:17:54 +0000

A mini-blog I wrote for the GOOD community blog..

Recently approved, the LA county Sheriff’s Department will lease Mini E’s for a mere $10 a month. On top of this 99.8% discount from the original lease price of $850, BMW agreed to also install charging stations and provide full maintenance for the Mini E’s. And how will the LA County Sheriff department return the favor? BMW simply wants feedback on how well their Mini E’s handle the road conditions of Los Angeles County. Kudos to the BMW for not only being environmentally friendly, but also providing the California budget with some much needed relief.

Unforunate Hiatus

Katie Chung — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:00:35 +0000

Its been 41 days since my last ‘real’ post, 41 days since I started the lovely end-of-the-semester papers and studying for finals, and 29 days since I completed my first year of college. 41 days of non-blogs for me to make up. Sadly, this hiatus will last yet another 10 days. Since, I can only blog (or write a ‘real’ post) in a particular atmosphere, one without Hong Kong’s humidity, a slow laptop, and no itunes. Needless to say, in 10 days, I will hopefully blog enough to make up for this unforunate hiatus.

Luckily for me, Hong Kong, gossip girl, this year’s diasppointing TV show finales, and the last month of dorm life have supplied me with plenty of blogging material (with photographs, of course).

———-
-Katie