a new year 2010

I've been deliberately neglecting this blog (i'm sorry blog!) last year. I like to plan things, make lists of things to do, find new things to do, and learn new things. Things! But sometimes your plans don't roll out the way you want it to be. The ball gets dropped somewhere and I have been trying to pick up that ball (I'm not so sure if I picked it up yet).

Well, here it is year 2010. A new decade. I remember the year 2000, all the fire works and countdowns on tv, and the list I made - '10 years from now'.

I certainly look forward to this new year, I hope my thoughts and plans will see bright sunshine, and hope the best of luck to everyone.

List one - I'm going to start cooking. I love the idea of cooking a nice meal for everyone and having an enjoyable dinner. I'll master few recipes so I won't have to dig through piles of recipes when I have to cook in the future!

Delica Etsy, California, and Barcelona

Ok, it's been a long time since I wrote anything on my scootata.

While living in the O.C, I've been pursuing my interest in hand crafted felted pieces. Crafting, photographing felted pieces, and maintaining the site is quite fun and exciting. I loooove all my felted bowls, and I just hope other people find them beautiful as well!

And guess what! You might be able to find my felted work at a museum store!!!! omg! I love museum shops, and now MY WORK will be there! Nothing is definite, but I'm talking with the museum about the details. Can't wait to see them there :D

Barcelona, yes, I'm still in the architecture field, and in fact I'll be going to Barcelona to study at the Institute of Advanced Architecture in Catalunya (IAAC). From my hand-drawing, model-making education at Berkeley, I didn't think I'd be interested in digital stuff.... but after taking a course with the AA last year, I would like to expand my knowledge in that direction. I'm looking forward to learning a ton of new stuff!

I should start packing.

at disney.. yihyun is everywhere

Visited the REDCAT gallery at the Disney Concert Hall in LA to see Atelier Bow-Wow's exhibition. And here I am, upstairs at the sculpture garden of the Disney Hall. Couldn't resist looking at the center of this spiral ring.

delica.etsy.com now open!

it's open:
http://delica.etsy.com
you know, i love to make things. and with the free time i have these days, i've been exploring more of my craftsy side.
i'm into felting, both needle and wet felting.
here are just a few items i listed on delica.

inspiration #1

i photo i want to try out taking.

i've seen these styles quite often, but i still like them a lot!

living in orange county

I've been going running every morning along the hiking trail near where i live now. Spring is here, yellow flowers burgeoning everywhere, the buzzing sound of bees filling up the quiet neighborhood. I took a snapshot of this fleeting moment with my SX-70 camera.

It's been almost a month and a half since I got back from Seoul. Living at home, at first, has been great. I had all the time I wanted to work on my projects, catch up on reading, and I was I was somewhat enjoying the break.

Ah, but I'm not the type of person who can sit at home for an extended period of time. Although I have list of things I want to work on, I'm missing the crowd, the bustling city, the galleries, cafes, and being with people.

Finding my next destination is more difficult than I had thought.

I almost feel like I haven't planned things correctly. I should have planned my grad school, so that I'd be done with applications now, and would be attending school this fall. But school is another year and a half away.

I want to make the best out of the free time I have - maybe travel, learn languages, competitions, experiment with ideas.. I just need to keep my positive energy with me, because I can see that I could loose it easily in this suburban environment.

And I have learned a lot about myself, about relationships, love, friendship, and life. Still learning.. And I also learned that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can't make things happen the way you want it to be.

turning!

summer 2008 in seoul

in sunny California

I'm back!
I've been home for almost 4 weeks now, since mid January. It's been relaxing, and I get to read all I want. Enough time to organize, think, plan, and enjoy the unpressured time with family.
It's great to be living with my parents, I haven't lived with them since high school, and well... so far so good :)

I wanted to go through my pictures from seoul and other places but I haven't had a chance to do so yet. I will get to it soon.
Here are my plans for now - I want to take the GRE soon, by mid march, and also start studying for the ARE (architecture licensing exam.. ugh). I'd like to go work somewhere else too, I'll look into it.

Final Model - out to exhibition

Here it is! After many days of work.. it is finally done. We're now heading off to the client's corporate office to exhibit 9 models, including the one above. I'll be taking tons of pictures.

model making - preparation

at the office, deciding what to do, where to start...

last month in seoul - let's wrap up

so i did it. i always wanted to live and work in seoul, and i've done it.
july - i left san francisco in early july, moved all my stuff to my parents' house in o.c., then flew to seoul.
august - i had an amazing time in both seoul and shanghai AA workshop. great projects, learned new programs, was able to un-freeze the creative side of my brain, met interesting people, and had so much fun.
september - back in seoul, went to two of my friends' weddings, applied to architecture offices here, and finally landed at unsangdong
october, november - work work work. i really enjoyed the work culture, even though we worked long hours. i liked the atmosphere of the office, the dynamics of my coworkers, and enjoyed the frequent happy-hours we had (which went on till the next morning...). we worked endlessly on the prototype high-rise residential project, had million presentations, made kazillion models, drew billion diagrams and plans. and finally... (ah, ben came to visit me here in seoul, and we went around the city everyday. i also went to three concerts, and also visited busan - an awesome city!)
december - final presentation is in a week, and now we are wrapping up the project. i still need to make the final block model, enlarged unit model, and the visual images, but yes, it's coming to a stopping point after three months of work. After the final presentation we will be exhibiting all our stuff at a gallery, and also be publishing a book.

wow, i've done so much this year, and i hope to continue this journey of new experiences.
ok, back to work :)

between zaha and herzog... unsangdong!

my office here in seoul, got featured in a spanish architecture magazine... unsangdong - listed right between zaha hadid and herzog de meuron. cool. super cool. i'm proud :)
check out the article on their website. http://www.revarqa.com/

my weekend - friday night

i had so so so much fun at this early christmas party i went to - a concert party of 'epik high'.
the club was packed, we were standing like sardines in a jar, and all we could do was dance vertically - jump up and down to our favorite songs of theirs.
all night long! i had an office dinner/drink/drink/drink event (where i received a huge compliment from my project manager, how i am the perfect staff - yoohoo a confidence booster) before i went to the club. we danced crazily to epik's music and people went wild when 'wondergirls' 'nobody' song came on. (it's the most popular k-pop these days).
back home at 3 ish, slept a bit and the next morning i went to the train station to go to busan (coastal city in the south, takes about 3 hours by the bullet train) for the weekend to meet my friend from shanghai workshop. more about that later when i get my photos downloaded :)

aa seoul workshop reunion 2

"come join me for a drink next time! oh by the way..here's your chopstick"

2008.11.15. sat.

reunion with the aa seoul unit-mates. it's only been three months, but feels like so many things have happened since then. we bar-hopped the entire night, went to 4 different places, and also walked along the han-river for an HOUR to wake up (haha) before we headed over to our last bar.

the pink umbrella really suits the two guys from my studio. :)

aa seoul workshop reunion 1

at a japanese bar in hongdae area. so good to see you all again!
can't even remember what we were talking about.. good times :)

good bye autumn, hello winter.

good bye autumn! thank you so much for all the pleasure you have given me. i loved your colors, weather, leaves...

hello winter, you sneaked up on me! the sudden drop of temperature overnight!

i can't wait for the white fluffy snow landing on my nose

all those yellow ginko leaves were gone this morning when i came to work, leaving a yellow carpet for us to enjoy.

what i wanted to tell my fellow korean co-workers...

my friend carol have put it into words (i found it on her blog), just what i wanted to tell my fellow korean co-workers...

staying late consistently is nothing to be proud of. it means
(a) you are being overworked,
(b) your project is mismanaged, or
(c) you don't make life outside of work a priority.

the work culture here in seoul is that work hours are stretched and stretched, and lasts over 10-12 hours, well that includes relaxed dinners and some drinks (occasionally).
but!! i want my free hours after work!!

from Bukhansan mountain climbing

more photos from the office retreat/workshop mountain hike...

today the temperature dropped dramatically, first snow in the mountains. i miss the warm weather of that day we went hiking :)

yh is everywhere - video

continuing the series of 'yh is everywhere - reflections', i remembered that the video project i did during the summer AA-SA Seoul Workshop is on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF7yVursqyU
mine starts at 1:42.
sound is a must, it heightens the effect :)

maronier park - office

yihyun is everywhere again