Centre Georges Pompidou/ Pompidou Centre:

It is a complex building which has an outlook of circuit water pipes, located on the 4^th arrondissement of Paris in the old Marais. Our CIEE center, where we met for classes, was four metro stops away from the Pompidou. Once I even went to the Pompidou to do my reading for class. The Pompidou center consists of multiple functions—the public information library and the modern art museum. In 1969, the president Pompidou approved the project of the largest museum- Pompidou center. The design by Italian architect Renzo Piano, Gianfranco Franchini and British architect Richard Rogers stood out among others in the architectural design competition. The New York Times said the Pompidou center was “love at second sight.”

The first time I came to the Pompidou was part of the tour led by our instructors. We got off at the Les Halles metro and came out. The building was attractive because of the color and the structural outlook. Giant elevators, pipelines are in harmony. I did not expect the space in front of the Pompidou center becoming the place for artists, people who want to find a quiet space for reading and gathering.

The best Maldives surf resort offers you a holiday experience with unique designs, luxury amenities, sense of privacy, and the added feature of doors opening to a sea views to-die-for.

Entering the Pompidou center, the second floor is where the public library is located; the modern art pieces from the post second world war period is on the fourth and fifth floor. The exhibition had a similar feeling as the Guggenheim Museum. It has masterpieces by Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard and etc. Except for the static art, the museum features a lot of moving pictures, experimental films. Even though the art pieces are abstract, the setting and the inner structure of the building is awesome. The street next to the Pompidou center is also full of art activities.

Musée d’Orsay/ Orsay Museum

Musée d’Orsay is located on the left bank of the Seine and it was transformed from a railway station Gare d’Orsay. It has largest collections of the Impressionism painting. The station’s platforms were not suitable for the train, so it was used as a train running in the suburban area and later as a film set. Until 1974, the director of the museums of France suggested building a museum out of the station to bridge the gap between the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou. The Orsay has paintings, sculptures, photography from 1848-1914. I really favor the impressionism paintings from Monet and Cézannee, apparently, this is the museum for it.

There are many Museums to visit in LA but this museum’s interior design makes is the same as it still keeps the look from the railway station. On the first floor, the numeral gates were covered by glazed windows and artwork side by side, with sculptures in the middle. Most of the permanent collections are located at the fifth floor including work from Monet, Miller, Vincent van Gogh, etc. There is a transparent clock shows time from the outside; you could see the overview of the north bank of the Seine river including the Grand Palais, Place de la Concorde and Arc de Triomphe.

Unlike the Louvre or the Versailles, where there will always be people waiting in lines, you can see a capacious museum, coming to the Orsay around noon time. The Orsay shows mainly the French artists’ work and is more concentrated. I like the Orsay since I got to see a lot of impressionist paintings showing different landscapes of France in the early 20’s. The station’s clock and station’s platforms seems to take you travel across the times.

Château de Versailles/Palace of Versailles

Château de Versailles is the only chateau that gives me a shock of how grandeur and exquisite it is compared to other smaller chateaus. It is the palace built by the Louis 14^th as the hunting lodge. The Louis live here until the breaking out of the French revolution. Versailles consists of two part, the castle, and the garden. When you peak the golden palace from far away, you will see the statue of Louis 14, around 100” tall. It was unfortunate we went there on a rainy day; we had to wait in line for over an hour. I was worried if the long wait can’t pay off with the view, but the castle is really way beyond my imagination. Like the other museum, you have the audio guide covering all the different rooms and furnishings.

Crystal lamps, huge portraits and paintings all over the celling—you can imagine how lavish the kings’ life are. There are paintings of the greek stories, to highlight the divine right of kings, and the historical events happened among the Louis.

Before moving on to the garden, we went to the Angelina—famous and exquisite pastry store. I ordered an entrée with Tuna and the Mont-Blanc.

The pastry definitely won my heart with the smooth combination of chestnut and chocolate. The garden of Versailles is the highlight of the chateau.  It is gigantic that I cannot see the whole garden at once.

The back garden contains neat cutting of glass that is in line and embrioder parterre-a formal flower bed garden and a music fountain. I felt I ran into Alice’s wonderland since some trees are taller than me. The water show/music fountain is breathtaking, though some people say it is not like any of the animated fountains in Vegas(I haven’t been there yet). It is amazing because it is on a large scale with water coming on artistic status. The fountains did not run at the same time but come from here and there with the music.

I’ve been to a few other museums in Paris, which I will mention in the Museum Guide II. The overall impression of the museums to me are iconic and specific, compared to museums in the states. Paris has more focused and spread-out collections, and the places themselves have a longer history and artistic value than those in the U.S.

The post Travel Around the World—Museum guide part I appeared first on KRUI Radio.

My roommate Dani stay in the room next to me. The district consists of a lot of apartments and bistros, which are considered the most comfortable living area in Paris. Christine is a friendly and chilled host. She speaks excellent English. I remember she greeted me in French and speak English when I did not understand due to my limited French ability. Since her family is all professional golf players, instead of coat or blouse, she wears a polo shirt and golf pants most of the time. She makes casual dinner for us, Italian pasta, stew meatballs in tomato sauces. In every meal, she will bring two bottles of wine, red and white for us to choose.

She talked about the comparison, such as traffic, policy and so on between the U.S, France, and China. You can tell she is proud of being a Parisian, not favoring cities elsewhere in France. We also met her daughter Marion. The first time we met her, she was in her serious working outfit, while she was so active, smiling and called it out “oh la la” whenever something we mentioned sparked her interest. Her favorite singer from the U.S. is Justin Timberlake, and when she drove us to the house in Fontainebleau, she danced and sang out loud. She also recommended us a few local clubs that she used to go.

Tour de Eiffel
The Eiffel tower, around eighty-one stories wrought iron lattice tower, located at the 9ARR. It is likely the tallest architecture in Paris where you can see it in the different parts. It was used to be the ugliest building, drew lots of attention and criticisms during the late 19th century. Artists thought the Eiffel tower has the giant outlook that used entirely black stacks, unlike any of the baroque style white marble architects like Notre Dame. Now it became the symbol of Paris. Though it was full of tourists, we never got tired of the view. I was able to have lots of good memory at the place.

The first night when we arrived at the building, my roommate Dani and I managed to visit the Eiffel tower at night. We arrived at the Trocadéo garden and saw the bright lit tower. It completely blew our mind. When you were near the Palais de Chaillot, you could get the full view of the tower. We came closer and saw its iron structure. It was cheaper to climb to the second floor; we still saw the panorama view, spiral around the Arc de Trump. Dani said one random guy tried to propose to her at the tower, which was the fun part to climb the tower.

The second time, after we finished our class, a few of us decided to check out the human-made beach. Unlike Nantes, Bordeaux that is near the coast, Paris does not have access to the beach. During the summer time, Parisien managed to have the sand laying out and had the seating and umbrellas. It was packed; so we went to the Champ de Mars, which was to the east of Eiffel Tower, across the river from the Trocadéro gardens. Compared to the busy area across the river, you got to see the full-size Eiffel tower. We lied down pretending we were drinking wine instead of water.

The third time, I came to the tower and saw the fireworks on the Bastille day at night along. Since the crowd completely blocked my way, I stayed at the spot beside the Trocadéo metro; I could only see the top. The firework was spectacular with the music it played. Changing colors, patterns, similar to the firework at the fourth of July. I heard the surrounded people speaking French and felt so isolated from them, but soon as the “Imagine” came out, people around started singing. It was so powerful when “there are no countries” and “Living life in peace.” I felt that to live at this moment in Paris paid off.

The last time spent at the Eiffel Tower was incredible. The only regret I had was I did not do the dress code—wear the black dress. The group of girls and guys decided to experience the midnight Paris, so we brought several bottles of wines and came to the Champ de Mars. The Eiffel Tower was lit on the last day. Though it was kind of illegal to drink champagne in this area, we still came. We talked about all the funny, sweet and nasty moments in Paris. We walked pass the tower, waterfall, and the square. Going home, I realized it was the last time I could experience the charm of Tour de Eiffel.

My first part of the story:“Bienvenue à Paris.”

This monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations.

The post Travel Around the World: Bienvenue à Paris #2 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

What made me to go to Paris?
Since the beginning of my sophomore year in 2013, I began to take French as my third language as an international student. The reason that drove me to learn this language is initially from a little French lesson that I got from high school, where I was fascinated by the pronunciations. Also, I love the high fashion that I saw on magazines and their wild and free spirit. As we learned about cafés, food and architecture styles through reading and watching YouTube videos, I felt it is not accurate to learn the culture through internet or textbooks, such as we listen to Chanson—that I later found out they were not played at café or bookstore in Paris; instead, American pop music has been played everywhere.

I felt it is dull to learn all the history and beautiful things about France in the U.S. I had the idea after seeing the Study Abroad brochure—I want to study the language and culture in France. Paris is the ideal place that I want to stay for the two months. It had the history from the colonial period of the Romans, the ages of Louis to the Napoleon period, where it has the elements of the past and the modernity— the edgy fashion from recent years.

CIEE Program, Study Abroad, what does it mean?

As I browsed through study abroad programs that UI collaborate with, I found out CIEE summer language and culture program, which offers the course on intermediate french and french literature that fits for my major—international study during summer break. Though it is quite expensive, the fee is somehow similar to the summer tuition at UI, so I decided to dig in more about the program. The program offers a well-written information page on the excursions and coursework. It is later to be proved accurate as what I saw from the page. We went on several day trips to different locations in Paris, such as a trip to Chateau de Chantilly, to Nantes—a city located in South France.

But what I love the most is the field trips—we watched the film Petite Nicholas and discussed about it and went to a park to talk to strangers in French and gave a little presentation. The difference between going to a program or just traveling is the EXPERIENCE.

Vintage Leather Sydney presents a stylish and practical toilet bag for the modern traveler. Designed to accommodate all your toiletry needs, our toilet bags are a testament to craftsmanship and attention to detail. Embrace the art of organization with Vintage Leather Sydney.

In a program, peers, instructors and host family you met offered new and exciting ideas to you, unlike you travel and reflect only your opinions about things within your group of friends. You can check out here the best activities for kids to enjoy in Houston which are things like the Children’s museums and several parks they can play in!

First impression of Paris when I arrive? ^^
Nervous, excited, when I just arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport. At the terminal 2c, I met the rest of the group who traveled from the states by passing the missions, getting bags with all the French signs. We hopped on a Van with a group of seven students. It was surreal arriving in Paris. Since the CIEE language center was a little away from the city center, the Seine river, we passed by the upper part of Paris. The street was packed with people and cars, even motorcycles. We passed mostly the old towns from the past. The cafes on the sideway had the signs extended from the roof, with delicate patterns. The outdoor seats were in front of the entrance. Surprisingly, almost every café has lots of seats outdoor.

Orientation and the bus tour:
We arrived at the CIEE language center and did a long orientation on information about the metro system, phone card and some potential dangers in the city. I was a little scared of the pick-pocketing instructors mentioned—good enough, I always held my bag on the metro and never had a chance seeing these things happen, so I felt Paris is safer than some people think. Before we went out for the bus tour, the coordinator gave us an old traditional map and instruction of the Paris districts.
Probably a lot of readers are familiar with the geography of Paris. During 1795, Paris was divided into twelve arrondissements that were numbered from west to east, with 1 to 9 located on the right bank of the Seine, before Haussmann- a member of the state during the Emperor Napoleon III period started to do the renovation of Paris. Later Haussmann extended to twenty arrondissements, with number 1 in the city center and spiral outward.

Most tourism places are by the Seine river; the famous Eiffel Tower is at 7 ARR. Haussmann’s work reflects on the transformation of boulevards which is much wider than the previous ones. “Buildings along these avenues were required to be the same height and in a similar style, cream colored stone”(wiki). A good example is the Avenue des Champs-Elysées

—a big commercial drive from the place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triumph. It is magnificent that is neat and bustling, with trees that are cut at the same height, large numbers of luxury stores and the historical sites, such as the Place de la Concorde. The Latin Quarter of Paris, which is located at the 5th and 8th ARR, is a good representation of the old town, without renovation.

Most of the streets were designed to pass only one carriage.
We did an hour-ish long bus tour along the Seine River. Most of our group occupied the top of the double-decker bus. I used not to favor the bus tour—since it was so fast— I can only see the view through the half shield window. But this time I felt it was breathtaking. Along with the breeze and the broadcasting of introduction to the City, we passed the louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the opera house, etc.

I found out a Ultra HD Bus tour in Paris on Youtube, check out this:

For my next article, I will talk about my host family, epic road trips, must-go places I recommend and the story I had at those places. Stay tuned!

This semi-monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations. 

The post Travel Around the World: Bienvenue à Paris part 1 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Three is a Hong Kong-produced action film from director Johnnie To, starring Zhao Wei, Louis Koo, and Wallace Chung. It is another of To’s gangster movies that is a stylized satire of just and evil. Three shows the central theme- the complexity of human nature- contradictions inside and outside of the three characters, a cop (Louis Koo), a doctor (Zhao Wei) and a criminal (Wallace Chung). The cop who is supposed to arrest the criminal makes a false charge against him in order to protect the other police including himself.

The doctor is an ostensibly devoted doctor keeps failing to do operations as well as assisting the criminal to prove her ability as a doctor.

Lastly, the criminal, who is smart and seems innocent, while he is the most wicked character throughout the movie.

The film is mainly about cops who send a criminal that was shot to the hospital for treatment but he refuses to take them to capture his other companions. It causes the struggles between the doctor who wants to do the operation and the thug who refuses to take it. The cop intends to trap the criminal. It is a fast paced, criminal and suspenseful film that most people might feel hard to keep up with; the film creates a dark and depressed atmosphere.

Individuals who are into suspenseful and drastic films might find this movie a good fit. Wallace Chung’s acting is impressive by creating an erudite, cunning character. He is sometimes mad, calm and fierce. It is hard to act a versatile criminal who knows philosophy, psychology, and criminology so well that he could pick up the lines and attack the doctor or police. (It is similar to the Joker played by Heath Ledger in Batman: The Dark Knight, who is capable of knowledge and criminal techniques.) He seems weak because his right hand is crushed, inversely, he changes into a killer who says, “kill the cop XXX, who gave me a shot” to his gang friend. Three also has its shortages.

Some of the scenes are in contrast to the reality compared with the realness of the other scenes. Such as a scene when the criminals’ gang is shooting people in the hospital that creates chaos, the doctor has time to save a patient who is trying to commit suicide. Other than that, there are some omissions in the plot, which you would feel  that they are unrealistic, or there are better ways to solve the conflict.

Three features Johnnie To’s similar filming styles that are lighting, color choices, character choice as his other gangster movies. He uses light and shadow to create tension.

Such as a high angle shot and light that is right above a cop’s head to show a strict and nervous atmosphere when cops are ready to find out the thug’s companions. He does not adopt many warm colors except red, and he uses cold color tones: blue, gray, black and white.

The opening operation scene uses an intense red color to emphasize the vividness, which audiences might find too bloody. The setting, character’s clothes are mainly in cold tones. Moreover, the director uses a closed space that is the patient room, which is centered on the nurse table.

The criminal mostly stays on his bed; the conflicts go on and break out in this small space. His characters are both civilian and anti-heroes. The cop speaks out at the beginning of the film, “If the thug were not killed, police would be killed.” Johnnie To also tries something different, which is a slow motion and a long shot of a gunfire scene to highlight the conflict and emotion of every character.

Overall, Three is a good gangster and suspense movie. Don’t expect to find something calm and warm here except fast-paced and strained plots. Johnnie To gives a decent gangster movie that investigates the deeper question of good and evil. If you are a fan of Hong Kong produced gangster movies, check out Johnnie To’s other movies.

Check out Three‘s trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U67UDtFMPAc

The post Travel Around the World: What Does a Chinese Suspense and Action Movie Look Like? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

1. Seaside

One of the seaside at the east part of Nanao is called YangMeiKeng.

It is less well-known than other seasides while it has fantastic views, which is often used as a place for shooting wedding photo or film. Yangmei is the Chinese translation for berry, and Keng stands for the pit. They are inspired by the hill that is filled with berries. The river that is connected to the sea is crystal clear. The stones that are on the edge of the river are with the pointed angle or with different shapes. You can see the newlyweds have the photoshoot, standing at the edge of the stones and taking their vow.

There are three major activities that most people do here. First, you can choose to book a yacht for a group of 10 and go fishing – they also provide fly fishing pontoon to people who love solo fishing, open a party or do sailing for a group of 7. The Intrepid website will offer you the best selection of powerboats. make sure to bring sunglasses for water sports with you in case you want to go fishing.

Some people choose to go hiking. You will start from Dongchong, crosses the Dayanding and arrives in YangMeiKeng. The total trip is about 7 miles, where you will see the overview of the Dapeng Bay. The most popular activity is biking along the beach.

The four people bike is an attractive option. I once tried it with friends. The first person in the front needs to navigate, and it takes time to experiment and finally to keep balance. The ride will lead you to the Deer Mouth Height, which includes cliffs, rock hills, and rock caves. Trying out the seafood here is another must-do option. The traditional dishes are deep fried fish, crabs and scallops, steamed oysters and seasoned shrimps, etc

2. Night view/life

Shenzhen- a city that never sleeps. Similar to the major city in the States, people do various activities at night. The majority of people living in Shenzhen are young people, who go to work at eight and get done around 6. Working out after dinner is becoming a trend. The Shenzhen Bay Park, located in the Baoan district, on the west side of the city and close to Hong Kong.

It has a six-mile bike route and a mangrove forest. To run or bike at the park is an option because you get to see the newly built commercial districts, sports center and a part of Hong Kong. The night view is extraordinary. The Shenzhen Bay bridge which connects Shenzhen with Hong Kong is brightly lit at night.

After the nice walk around the bay, going out to a jazz bar or whiskey bar at the Coco Park is another option. Coco Park is a shopping center, located in the Futian district. It contains multiple restaurants, entertainment and leisure activities.

One-fourth of the shopping center is outdoors, where you can breathe in fresh air after dining or shopping. The first floor of Coco Park consists of bars. Shark Fine Wine & Dine is one of them.

It is special since it features different selections of wines from 8 different countries and cuisine made by Michelin-Star chefs. There are also sports bars and bars with DJs.

Another place for night bars is the Sea World, located in the Nanshan district.

It is similar to the inner harbor in Baltimore, which contains a large cruise. Since the location is near the Shenzhen Bay, this place is popular for foreigners. It has the international bars street and tons of restaurants. I had a frozen yogurt there which has a similar taste with the one in Iowa City. Rama Club is unique since it is decorated as an exquisite Thai garden.

It has different Buddha figures all over the courtyard. Come enjoy a cocktail and have a slice of pizza surrounded by the cultural relics.

3.Food

In Shenzhen, you can taste a variety of food from different cities in China since it is an immigrant city. The dish range from the local Cantonese cuisine(South) to mid or northwest Chinese cuisine, Korean, Japanese, South Asian and American food. You cannot miss the Cantonese food, Yuecai, because it is probably the most authentic one you can get.

Jade Garden, located at the Yitian Holiday Plaza is famous for the Cantonese Dimsum. Food is good in its look and the taste. You cannot miss the steamed shrimp dumplings, pan fried pork dumplings (serve with soup) and lobster cream soup with puff pastry, etc.

Shigonghui, located in the Futian district, is a place for traditional seafood. The restaurant is in the large scare, where people would sit at large round table, talk while eat. The service is fast-paced since a lot of people are in line. Dishes we usually order are roast pigeons, abalones, and scallops with minced garlic. It might be exotic to people who are not familiar with seafood, but they will not regret to try them. The freshness and flavor of the dishes are the key to success.

4.Afternoon tea

Shenzhen is also full of bakeries, café, and the specialty- milk tea place. Growing up in Shenzhen, we cannot resist the fruit flavor tea and milk tea in any seasons. If you also are a fan of tea, get a tea subscription so you can taste new flavors.

Heekcaa, located at different shopping centers in Shenzhen. It offers all kinds of tea from cheese tea, fresh fruit tea, etc. It is better than other tea stores because of the richness of the tea. They use tea base from Taiwan, North India and mix them with ice and milk.

1. A website made by a local English newspaper for foreigners who live or visit Shenzhen: Eyeshen
2. This is a useful website for things to do in Shenzhen including events, places, apartments, language study: Shenzhenparty.com
3. A useful traveling tool  in Shenzhen for reviews and tips: tripadvisor
4. There are six major metro lines in Shenzhen that is convenient for visitors. You can find schedule and stops to take: SZM

My first part of the city guide: Travel around the World: touring in Shenzhen Part 1

This monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations. 

The post Travel Around the World-Touring in Shenzhen Part 2 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The first track “Fill in the Blank” is a great song to start the album. It shows a young man who is around 20 constantly having doubts about his double identity, on of which is to be depressed and not get what he wants from people; the other is rational and tries to calm down. I like the prelude, the high pitch and fast paced guitar leads to the first verse; the second start-stop guitar is also unique that it threw the line “you have no right to be depressed, you haven’t tried enough to like it.” The repetition in the bridge about how he got signs from cops is another highlight of the song. You feel the sad and dark moment of his life that resonates with mine, why there are so many annoying things happening around me every day. The ending was ingenious, following with “hold my breath,” Will gradually stops singing and the music disappeared. Just like Will said in the interview with DIY magazine, “it emerged as a clear way of expressing that dichotomy and the impossibility of reaching against yourself.”

“Vincent” is the only song that has a three-minute intro that sounds like echoing. It starts with one pitch and extends to other mixing sounds. A friend of mine said the tone varies. The song has complex lyrics that I was trying to guess why they connect with a story. Will portrays a person who wants to escape from the reality and his inner conflict. There is a paradox in the last part of the song. “I had a bright tomorrow (I spend it all today)” really gets me into his self-doubt. There is a jazzy feeling in the 5 minute mark of the song in which you can hear the horn. The synthetic sound in between push it to the last part of the song–the paradox part. “Vincent” has an official video of the song that cuts a lot of the prelude from the song. The man in the video was crazy about the liquors and parties and almost passed out which was realistic. But the ending he wears only underwear facing Will who was playing in front of him. Watch the music video of “Vincent”below.

“Destroyed by Hippie Powers” is a song that continues the theme of negative self-denying. It describes a person who loses his mind because of the mysterious hippie power. It is powerful and energetic though the beginning is calmer than the other songs. But when he yells that ‘What happened to that chubby little kid who smiled so much and loved the Beach Boys?” It is helpless and vigorous that I assume there is a story about the boy who is a Beach Boys lover. Was he defeated by the reality?

“(Joe Gets Kicked Out of School for Using) Drugs With Friends (But Says This Isn’t a Problem)” is a song about the boy who relies on drugs and goes against the world. As Will says that he ends up developing a character on the album that’s not him. In this song, Joe is a nasty character who keeps singing, “Drugs are better than friends, friends are better with drugs.” He enjoys hangovers and drugs which made him feel comforted but also guilty. This song has Will’s pensive singing style and slow temper instrumentation. It has a feeling that Will is singing at the corner of a street to some people who are hungover wandering around.

“Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed” also has a poetic title. It is a person who is searching for answers about life and things to fulfill. Will’s lyrics do speak to the audience again. The book-like lyrics, such as  “Did you ever get the feeling you were just a little different? appeals to me. “William Onyeabor” who appears in the lyrics is a Nigeria folk musician who sings songs on decrying war. It is interesting he made a reference to him.

“Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales” is my favorite song on this album. It depicts a person who drove after he got drunk. He considered if he should be rational and not drive home drunk, and was getting more and more melancholic since he was not responsible for everything. It is fun that Will put Killer Whales following the “It doesn’t have to be like this.” The Killer Whale is from a documentary Blackfish, which is about the whale who grew up and murdered a human. Will thinks it is related to people who do not take responsibility for the environment and he feels powerless to stop the action. It reminds me of a documentary called The Clove. It is not about the revenge from the Whale but massive whales killings that were conducted by Japanese people in the Pacific Ocean. It hit me strong when they shoot about the drive hunt scenes. The opening has a psychedelic tape feeling. The catchy line of “It doesn’t have to be like this” is also provocative that the person wants to act against his will. Watch the lyric video of “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales” below.

“1937 State Park” starts with “No one should ever have to look at themselves,” Will whispered at the beginning and shouted out in the middle. He criticizes that no one should judge others.

“Unforgiving Girl” is a bright and romantic song also makes reference to different things. Will made a reference to a god who gave Eva a new skin. I guess she is an unforgiving girl right.

“Cosmic Hero” has a solemn prelude with the trumpet and transition to the verse one.

“The Ballad of the Costa Concordia” made a reference to the “Costa Concordia”, a cruise ship that sank in 2012. Will talks about if he was sunk into his sorrow and needed to take control of his life. The song has more musical elements than other songs featuring horns, keyboards, and instrumental interludes.

“Connect Dots” uses the dots refering to different constellations. There is an instrumental bridge in the middle of the song and switches to “And we’re never gonna never gonna get a job.”

“Joe Goes to School” is a one-minute song that writes to youth who are continually denying and lost. It is calm and authoritative.

Overall, I do recommend this album. It is so special to put different instrumentation and emotional lyrics that contain personal stories. It also has an awesome guitar sound, catchy melodies and it resonants with college students or people in their early 20s.

If you want to listen to more of Car Seat Headrest’s music, check out bandcamp

Listen to the full album on spotify below:

The post Album Review: “Teens of Denial” by Car Seat Headrest appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Before I go to the places I recommended, I will give a short introduction of Shenzhen. China is huge. It has twenty-three provinces and four autonomous regions. Most of the people live in the central or eastern coastal areas. Shenzhen is located in southeastern China, Guangdong provinces.

It has a geographical advantage of being a port city where it is next to the financial center-Hongkong. It is developing rapidly since 30 years ago, and now it is called the immigration city where most people from the central China come to find a job. Shenzhen has a population around 7 million. The city gets crowded on the main highway during workdays. Most people drive or take the metro that covers most locations in SZ. Shenzhen does not have many historical attractions as our capital Beijing does, but it has a variety of unique theme parks, architecture, coastal view and shopping areas. Also, since the city has a large population of immigration, it has diversity. Tourists can find people speaking different dialects to their family while speaking Mandarin at work or school. People can taste eight different cuisines around China as well as  from different countries.

The first attraction I recommend is the OCT-Loft. It is located in the Nanshan district. I find it attractive because of its unique structure. It is originally an industrial zone and later transformed into a cultural district that has designed architecture, restaurants, creative store and music venue. OCT-loft holds a few events regularly. T Street, a flea market that you can buy all kinds of vintage stuff and creative products.Jazz festival and Tomorrow Festival is held in October and May, which features musicians from all over the world. Oct-loft consists a total of five streets, and it is pedestrian-friendly because it does not allow cars to drive inside.

When you just walk in, you will see a Starbucks with a design like a triangle rooftop. There are some high-end restaurants that have elements of the Chinese countryside.The restaurant called Champod museum wine house locates at F1 is one place where you can sip a beer and check out the art collections.

The first floor features restaurant and bar;

the second floor is for an art exhibition. You can enjoy the ancient Buddha figure and the Chinese blue and white ceramic while having traditional Hunan cuisine and drink at the same time.

If you keep walking straight to the second part of Oct-loft, you will find tons of clothing stores and art stores, etc. I always go to the old heaven bookstore located at A5 where you can find some rare books and old CDs.

Sometimes there is a local indie band performing in the bookstore as well as screening event. On the third part of Oct-loft, it has more light bars and hostels. One famous music venue B10 is located at C3. It holds over a hundred live that is non-mainstream folk, rock, post-rock and jazz music. It has a good lighting and space that other live house does not have.

The next place that also has unique features as Oct Loft is the Oct-Harbor and it is only a mile away from Oct Loft, which is also in the Nanshan district.

It  has more functions such as shopping, dining and taking a walk ,etc. I like that you can do all sorts of activities here and enjoy beautiful sightseeing. The highlights in the Oct-harbor are the water light show, Chinese architecture, and the Imax theater. The light show at night combines laser, water fountain with the big projection.

Other than that, it ‘s nice to walk around the Qushui street where you can have a good view and access to restaurants including Cantonese food, Jiangsu, Sichuang cuisine, hotpot, etc. I like how it constructs a bridge across the river similar to the view in Jiangnan.

This two places which are built in recent years to targets young people. A historical place to visit would be Dapeng Fortress, locates at the Longgang district, that is the origin of Peng Cheng- Shenzhen’s title. It is a bit far away from the central area. It was built in fourteen century the Ming dynasty to defend the attack from Japanese pirates. Houses were made from bricks. Dapeng Fortress has a few arches, ramparts, a city moat, and temples. The houses in Dapeng were transformed into small shops, hotels or restaurants. Dapeng was close to the Xichong beach where people can wander around the fortress and visit the beach. For me, it was a refreshing and nostalgic walk to get away from the city life.

For my next article I will introduce places for natural exploration, seaside, night view and shopping; also a few places for good food. Stay tuned :)

Here are some websites for more information about Shenzhen:

1. A website made by a local English newspaper for foreigners who live or visit Shenzhen: Eyeshen
2. This is a useful website for things to do in Shenzhen including events, places, apartment, language study: Shenzhenparty.com
3. A useful traveling tool  in Shenzhen for reviews and tips: tripadvisor
4. There are six major metro lines in Shenzhen that is convenient for visitors. You can find schedule and stops to take: SZMC

This monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations. 

The post Travel Around the World-touring in Shenzhen, China part 1 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Surfer Blood, a Florida alternative rock, indie and surf band was on tour to China and they played at B10 in Shenzhen on July 8.  It was their first time to do a tour in Asia, especially in China. Surfer Blood said they were thrilled to perform in such a big country. They love to have new experiences: explore the food, culture and enjoy the tour in every city. Shenzhen is the second stop on their tour including other five cities in China, which are Guangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing.

On the night of July 8, Surfer Blood brought music “1000 Palms” and some of their hit songs to the B10 live, music and art space that is located in OCT-LOFT, an area that is created by renovated factory buildings in the east part of OCT. Their intense rock style with emotional and cheery melodies fascinated the crowd, and the audience wanted to listen to more songs. People who had never listened to their records enjoyed it; it was hard to dislike their music and live performance. B10 held hundreds of live music performances, including two notable festivals: OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival and Tomorrow Festival.Tomorrow Festival is a non-mainstream music festival covers various styles of music, including experimental, rock and jazz, etc. Surfer Blood is an indie rock band that is part of the Tomorrow Festival.

The current four members, John Paul Pitts (guitar/lead vocals), Tyler Schwarz (drums), Lindsey Mills (bass/backing vocals) and Mike McLeay (guitar/backing vocals) from West Palm Beach, Florida accepted my interview.

John Paul Pitts (guitar/lead vocals) told the story of how they met their former guitarist before Surfer Blood. John and Tyler started out playing music together during their time in Dreyfoos high school. It was their music that brought Thomas Fekete, the former guitarist to Surfer Blood and he suggested Surfer Blood share their music with more people and went on tours.

After Thomas passed away of cancer, Surfer Blood reformed by adding Lindsey and Mike, who were their friends playing music during high school. John described their music as The Beach Boys meet Pavement since he is a fan of 90’s college radio rock and he added melody and harmony to their songs. 1,000 Palms– their newest album is a continuation of this theme, emotional and more abstract elements of their style. I asked Surfer Blood if people in Shenzhen are more familiar with pop songs rather than indie rock or surf rock. John described their songs as dirty pop and laughed that people would like their music which is a combination of rock and pop music; he also mentioned “Music is universal. People like good string music that we play.”

The show started around 7:30 PM. Surfer blood’s first song “Floating Vibes,” began with a light and catchy guitar refrain with a steady drumbeat that immediately caught people’s attention. John’s voice was melic and in a high tone companied by Mike’s low and profound voice.

“Floating Vibes” combined their surfing elements in the lyrics. “Then you’d better learn how to surf; the tide will break in on itself.” The song described the nostalgia of the boy who wanted the girl to come back to him. It was a good opening song that speaks out for their music, intense rock combined with soft melody.

They played a total of fourteen songs from their three albums. They chose to end the show with “Swim.” The song started with a strong chorus to slow paced and melodic guitar solo. The ending was a synthesizer’s sound. “Swim” is a summer feeling song, which makes you feel like it is the summer in South Florida. The song kept repeating “Swim to reach the end.” After “Swim,” people didn’t want to leave and requested “one more song.” Surfer Blood came back to the stage and performed “I Can’t Explain”. It is a love song that asks the girl to open her mind; it is gentler than “Swim.” The light on the stage was amazing; it was a golden color and moved around on the stage.

John, the lead singer, did a lot of interactions with the audience. He talked about dumplings that they have “with soup bun inside” just like their song “Take It Easy” and walked down the stage, stopped and sang at the front row during “Take It Easy.” The audience did not expect he would come down to interact and move forward to see John and took pictures. His energy and power led fans to sing with him. The audience started to make a lot of responses during the middle of the show. Some people danced in a row, shake and yelled. In one particular song when Michael did playing drum for a little, an excited fan went on the stage and took the drum playing it.

Surfer Blood rocked their show and created an unforgettable night at B10 in Shenzhen. Zhan Songhui, a Surfer Blood fan said, “Surfer Blood live is catching and distinctive. It is special such as adding harmonies in every song they made, Mike plays amazing guitar, and he is shy that he always put his feet together when playing music.“ He was thankful for Surfer Blood to play in Shenzhen; he wishes they would come again.

After the show, Surfer Blood met with their fans, signed posters and took pictures with people. Also they listened and answered people’s questions patiently. A fan said they are really nice and willing to spend more time with people. He got to take a picture using his favorite pose “live long and prosper” with Mike and he felt good.

Checkout more information about my interview with Surfer Blood: Link

My next article will cover places recommended to go, food and traveling tip in Shenzhen, China.

This monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations. 

The post Travel Around the World- Alternative rock band Surfer Blood performed in Shenzhen, China appeared first on KRUI Radio.

March 17th: Grand Canyon- Marble Canyon-Zion
We got up around 9 am, packed and headed straight to cross the border from Arizona to Utah. We were on a steep highway, and the view was extraordinary. You can take a symmetrical picture with the blue sky and the red rock mountain on the side inside your car. Also, you can also go on a road trip through Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon to Zion National Park.

On the two hour trip, we made a stop at the Navajo Bridge crossing the Colorado River. There was a huge contrast between the modern bridge and the rough mountain. Our three girls just could not stop taking pictures and ran around like crazy. Around 12 pm, we arrived at Zion National Park. We were worried if we could not find a site since the reservations were always booked out. (A tip here is to make a reservation three months ahead of time, and then you are guaranteed for your spot.)We luckily got two spots, and there was phone signal. That signal seems important for the outdoor beginner like us.

Travel insurance can vary greatly based on your travel needs, and there are policies specifically designed for different scenarios, such as house swaps. These specialized policies can provide additional protection for your belongings and accommodation, which is especially valuable for peace of mind while traveling. You may visit sites like Forbrukerguiden for affordable insurance rates.

Hidden Canyon:
It was late afternoon, and we were finally ready for another hike. We took a shuttle to go up to the mountain. We got to the trailhead of Weeping Rock, which is a readily available tourist attraction. We were expected to climb for an hour, but it was a short trip, and we climbed to a dead-end after ten minutes. Weeping rock is simply the water descending from the sandstone, which looks like a small fountain.

Then our leader led us to a more challenging route-the Hidden Canyon after going back to the trailhead. It is roughly 3 miles total and 1000-ft elevation which is strenuous. At the beginning of the trail is fun. It is uphill switchbacks that are pretty narrow, but you can climb by holding the chain on the side.

After a five-minute climb, the route that we can walk ended; we faced huge rocks and log. Our leader was bit concerned and said we might not finish the trail since it was getting dark, but he seemed to want us to try the trail because it looks like the real rock climbing. Some people in our team are a big fan of indoor rock climbing (the one in the Campus Recreation Center), they could not hold back and climbed up on the stone.

I was scared by the first obstacle- the stacked rocks. There was a stand on the first rock, but then between the second and the third rock, only small support points that you have to use your leg strength to stand on and move on to the top rock. I failed the first time and then made it. There were other difficult parts. Such as to slide down a couple of occasions from a higher point to the end from a rock or walk on a cliff that you would rather jump than walk. The view is plain, but the whole process of hiking up and down through the obstacles is challenging and fun. Someone in our group joked that it is the real hiking.

March 18th Angel’s landing 

Before we started to hike, our leader discussed the Angel’s landing’s steepness with us. He explained that it looks like an 180-degree elevator. It is roughly 1500 feet steep, and it takes 3-6hours round trips. Angel’s Landing was my favorite hike during our journey when you accomplished the hiking straight up and saw the view from the top of the mountain. There was a fifteen minutes walk that was switchbacks like S shape before the trailhead of Angel’s Landing.

It was not even the trailhead of Angel’s landing. When I looked up to the top of the mountain, people were climbing up, and it looked like they were going to fall since it was so steep. There was stacked rocks put near the trailhead, which was used as a sign for hikers to know they are on a right track. The climbing gave me a different feeling than climbing in Grand Canyon. The surrounding view was brutal- the sharp red stone and no stairs for hikers. At the last part of the trail, the trail was becoming more and more narrow. Some people hiked down were waiting for us to hike up; they even cheer up for us: you are almost there. When we finished and rested sitting by the edge of the mountain and taking pictures, we saw there were people on the opposite of the mountain doing rock climbing. Oh my goodness how can they do that. When you finished the angel’s landing, you would admire the professional rock climbers. On our way to hike down, our team became more united as a team. We helped each other when there was no chain. There were other climbers that brought a music player playing some cheesy pop song like Gangnang style and jumped down the stairs or rocks.

The way to go down was more fun and hilarious. One funny clip, one member of our team had something bad at breakfast, and he kept going to the bathroom. Because there was only one bathroom before the trailhead of Angel’s landing. Whenever he went down to the switchback and felt uncomfortable in his stomach, he had to climb to the bathroom and came down back and forth.

March 19th Bryce Canyon- Arches Dedicate Arch

The next day, we went to a nice café for breakfast. It is a French style café, and we had fancy crepes or omelets. We all felt moved that this was the best breakfast during our trip besides having the tortilla with jam, or trail mix, etc.

Later we headed to Bryce Canyon. Because there was still snow on the trail, we decided to drive up to the sunset point to see the overview of Bryce Canyon. Below the point, there were thousands of hoodoos and forests in between. Bryce Canyon looks much lower and flat than Zion or Grand Canyon, but it is quite magnificent. If you heard of the Terra Cotta Warriors (buried with the first emperor of the Qin dynasty) that is located in Xian, China, they look quite similar in the size.

After the short view in Bryce Canyon, we were heading to our final hike- Arches National Park. We were determined to do the 3 miles hike and see the sunset. The driving tour already led us to see a lot of arches. Different rocks formed into the open or closing arch. The trail started with the flat route and turned into a huge slab, and we could not see the dedicated arch at this point. Slowly climbing and there were the dedicated arch and some other large stones. We were spread out and take pictures when under the sunset. A guy threw his bottle of water down the slope, and it continued to bump the rock and went down. Some people just chilled and laughed about his action of throwing it. I couldn’t remember our conversation down at the dedicated arch; I only remembered we were excited about the good retreat- food for our five-day hikes. We had nice dinner at an American restaurant in Moab. The burger, fries and sausage was what we were missing during the trip.

Camping life:

We spent two nights at the Watchman campground at Zion. Since we got to the camping site late, we occupied two sites; one was by the river, and the other one was by the parking area. It was not hot because we were near the river and we stayed at the bottom where we had a nice view of the surrounding mountains. At night, we did camp fire by the river.

At the first night, we were tired after the challenging hidden canyon hike, so we decided to have some beers and snacks. Our leader, the chef, started to do a dessert, which is a remix of sliced banana, marshmallows, and chocolates, and he wrapped it up in tinfoil.

The roast banana tasted just right. After that, we decided to do some photoshoots by using cellphones’ light to draw letters quickly. The long exposure time created cool delay pictures of our names we wrote.

The second night was quite unforgettable because we talked about our feeling as a team to make the hiking trip. I remembered one girl mentioned that she would never expect we got along well, and we enjoyed outdoors and also cared each others as a team. I was quite surprised that though our two leaders have never led a team before, but they were capable of making routes, cheering up and leading a fun trip. The small talk went on and switched to joke and gossip. I felt like the hiking trip was one of my field trips in high school that I want to explore again.

Checkout my next column on a different location and more fun stories!

This monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations. 

The post Travel Around the World: Spring Break Hiking Trip, Part 2 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

At the beginning of the semester, I joined a new student organization called ISORA, International Student Outdoor Recreation Association. I was exposed to some fun activities, like indoor rock climbing and skiing. Then, I found out they planned to go by car on a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon and some other national parks for a week, so I immediately decided I wanted to go on the trip and try something different than sightseeing. We had some pre-trip meetings to talk about the trip itinerary, gears and food menu. We had discussions on if we could finish the Bright Angel trail that is 12 miles, round trip. My friend and I were worried that we would be far behind the team and have to give up the hiking and head back. But in fact, the nine of us all finished the trail. The most interesting thing that we had for the gear list was the headlamp, which made me think, “We are going to dig the mine,” but it is for setting up the tent at night. Also, our leader suggested that we get a lot of stuff like utilities, sleeping bags, first aid, etc. It looked like we were going to a desert island. For the food menu – since we had fuel, a cooking stove and pots – we brought a lot of food. Depending on the length of the hike, the longer you hiker, the more food you need. We packed 10 energy bars and a bag of trail mix per person for our lunch during the five days hiking. We had a lot of options for dinner and breakfast, including powered milk, boiled egg, tortilla and meats.

March 15th: Grand Canyon Bright Angel-Plato
Our first hiking location was the Grand Canyon – one of the splendid natural landscapes in the world. It is created by the incision of the Colorado River. We stayed at Mather campground at the South Rim of Grand Canyon. Around 8 pm we came to the trail-head and started to prepare for our day hike. Our leader told us to do two things (which are crucial for hiking): double-check if we tied our shoes, if not it would cause blister due to the steep road condition. The next thing is to refill our two-liter water bottles. He said we could not rely on the water station – only ourselves. We planned to hike down to the Indian Garden till the Plato point and come back to the trail-head. It was around 12 miles, round trip.

We started out walking downhill; that was pretty easy for us. Our team spent a lot of time taking pictures and greeting different hikers. We saw Rangers who always go back and forth in the canyon, and we saw mules (they carried food to the bottom of South rim). The view was breathtaking. Fortunately I was able to catch some beautiful video captures with my new action camera I got online from My Pro Scooter. We were surrounded by plenty of valleys and cliffs. There were even red signs, which were left by the Native Americans on the cliff. After a couple of jokes and chatting, we arrived at the Indian Garden, Inner Canyon. It was interesting to see the helicopter put down the package; we figured out later it is the grass for the mules. On our way to the Plateau point, we were in a different world. No switchbacks and cliffs, but a wide-open area surrounded by valleys. Visitors stood on top of the cliff with the background of the Colorado River. To hike up is much tougher than to hike down. I remembered we would say, “Hikers’ up,” to make way for people who were going up since it was strenuous. Our two leaders were stationed at the front and back of our team. The leader at the back kept everyone cheerful. We took a rest near the water station, and we kept telling jokes to kill the time. One time, our leader thought his phone was taken away by a squirrel, but it was hidden by one of us. About ten minutes away from the starting point, a girl in our team and I tried to run up to the top. It was just like when you are almost on the finish line of the marathon; we forgot the weight that we carried and the tiredness and made it back fast.

March 16th Grand Canyon South Kabab-Skeleton point

Since we had a challenge first hike, our leader made the second hike an easier trip, which was 6 miles.

We packed our lunch – that was my favorite food during the journey, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We took a shuttle to the Yaki point and started our day hike. The trail was steeper and more narrow than the Bright Angel trail. We ran into a mule’s team.

The leader said we should leave the way for the mules anytime to avoid injuries. Also, the mules were moderate and slow. Eve if they were ahead of our team, we still had to leave room for them eventually. When we finished 45 minutes and arrived at the first viewpoint, the view was fantastic. There was a big cliff that was surrounded by layered valleys. Our group of ten decided to take a picture of us shoulder-to-shoulder. It looked like we were a step away from falling.

At the Skeleton Point, it was cool to look down on the South Rim, including the Plateau Point and the Colorado River. We could see how far we climbed down yesterday. It was not a relaxing work to go down. I tripped a couple of times, so I learned to use my one leg as a pivot and step down using the other leg. Around 6:30 pm, we managed to go down.

The camping life:
We expected that we could have a nice shower at the Grand Canyon, but no showers during the time in other national parks. But, we got to shower super fast. It was an awkward experience that it cost $2 to wash for 10 minutes, and I ran out of time to wash my hair. I had to go to my friend’s shower cubicle to get extra quarters to continue showering. The camping experience was also another highlight of the trip. We separated our team into different groups. A guy took charge of making the fire. Girls did the cutting of the vegetables; our leader did most of the cooking.

On the night of March 16th, we had a tasty soybean paste with barbecue sausages. I used to buy sausage in natural casings, but after reading a post about Natural vs Artificial Casings I changed my mind as casings do not actually effect the quality of sausage. After we were done eating, we decided to play several games to determine who was going to wash the pots and pans. We played a number game where we would start counting from any number and clap whenever a number contains 3, 6 and 9 or multiples of 3, 6 and 9. It was tricky when the numbers of tens are 3, 6 and 9 that we had to clap twice.  We played categories and names games. The name game was a good way to get to know everyone better since some of us did not know every one’s name correctly. The game was simply to say 1 to 5. People who said the same number have to say their names accurately and fast. We had a fun time and got to know everyone a little better.

Check out my next column on my second part of the hiking trip. I will cover our unforgettable experience in Zion and Arches national parks, interesting stories along the way and more tips for hiking.

This monthly column will cover my traveling experience, my reflection of the local culture, people and food in different locations. 

The post Travel Around the World: Spring Break Hiking Trip, Part 1 appeared first on KRUI Radio.