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Weekend getaway — Thousand Island Lake 千岛湖

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Channeling Pocahontas at 莫干山 (at 莫干山 Mo Gan Shan)

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I picked out everything at the tailor's for his new suit. Red, white, and blue! (at 上海 人民廣場 | People's Square, Shanghai)

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I picked out everything at the tailor's for his new suit. Red, white, and blue! (at 上海 人民廣場 | People's Square, Shanghai)

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Torino, Italy - my home for 3 weeks (at Parco del Valentino)

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I pimped out my mandarin tree with 红包s. Happy Chinese New Years!

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I made this for my boyfriend with a photo I took of Ocean Beach on one of the rare days where it wasn't freezing cold. God, I miss California. I'll be back, San Francisco! I just wish it didn't cost a couple thousand dollars plus all my annual leave days to just go home. 

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Happy 2014!

I spent my first morning in 2014 on photoshop making my new year’s resolution. I started learning photoshop this year for fun by reading tutorials and I love it so far. Happy 2014! 

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It doesn't matter if you're in a mall, on a bus, or on the streets. Chinese babies will pee and poo everywhere like dogs #shanghai #china #shame

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The neighborhood watch 警察管 (at 汉口路)

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September 19th, 2013 marks the day I started learning French. I want to look back on this date in 6 months or a year and see solid progress. This is my first time I'm learning a language out of pure interest and for a boy. My parents forced me to go to Cantonese school as a kid and I hated it. I took Mandarin in university only because it's a practical hard skill for a Global Economics major. I definitely did not enjoy copying Chinese characters over and over until I got a hand cramp. Also, I never had an interest in Chinese pop culture at all. 3.5 years after living in China, I still think their contemporary films and music are unoriginal and mediocre at best. So by learning Mandarin from a purely practical standpoint, I lacked the passion to progress and really immerse myself in the culture. It's like the way an Asian kid learns calculus. We'll invest time and study until we know it well, but only enough to pass a test and nothing more. So this time, I am excited to learn French as I already watch the movies and listen to the music. Not to mention my French beau and my two other French roommates. Although I may not always be passionate about learning Chinese, learning a language is one of the most rewarding experiences. The hard work and effort pays off!

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Who should I choose? The lovely Turkish gentlemen or that other guy? Istanbul showdown (at Istanbul, Turkey)

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Story of a California city girl meets French mountain boy. We're in the French Alps next to Mont Blanc where he grew up. (at French Alps)

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Le Mont Saint Michel. First stop on our road trip to Spain. Hello Normandy, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Barcelona, Lyon, Passy, Geneva, then a flight to Istanbul (at Le Mont-Saint-Michel)

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In Paris with my French beau ❤ I couldn't ask for a better tour (at Jardin du Luxembourg)

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Hers and his (He copied me) I'm waiting at the Kuala Lumpur airport for my flight to Paris. I'm super excited for my boyfriend to show me around his country! France, here I come

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Rioting on Holiday

All summer long, I’ve been looking forward to my Eurotrip to France, Spain, and Turkey. Since August is just around the corner, I started planning my itinerary only to discover tourist warnings about visiting Istanbul. Gulp, this will be quite the adventure.

When I first read about the Taksim square protests in May, I just shrugged it off as it started as a sit-in in a park to protest urban development. California definitely gave me a rosy perception of protests as I’m accustomed to tree sitters, human chains surrounding redwood trees, and chants about Mother Nature. But this small sit-in blew up into a violent nationwide anti-government protest involving tear gas, water cannons, and Molotov cocktails. We’re looking at deaths along with thousands of injuries and arrests. 

Let me know if you want me to send some “Wish you were here” postcards from Istanbul.