Musank in California

Does any of you remember my coverage of Academy of Art University (AAU) Fashion Show on April 2007? Well, I'm so proud to say that the post is not going to be my last coverage of an AAU-related event. I was very thrilled to see the oustanding talent of AAU fashion students and I am very curious to see more of their outstanding work this year. This April, I'm genuinely excited to cover the third annual Discarded to Divine 2008, a "charity auction and fashion show of recycled fashions to benefit St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco" (AAU, 2008).

So, why am I so excited about Discarded to Divine 2008?
First of all, we now know that "being green" is not just a passing fad, IT IS a long term trend (at least a GOOD one, if I may add). Secondly, this is the event where Bay area fashion designers and students create one-of-a-kind gowns, evening wear, accessories, and other garments using donated materials from St. Vincent de Paul Society. Left alone, these otherwise unusable materials are discarded. The hardwork of these passionate designers and students transform them to reach divinity (if that's cheesy enough). There is also a restriction that the finished items "must be created from at least 50% recycled materials" (AAU, 2008). Therefore, what's not to love about great fashion for greater cause?

Moreover, according to AAU's Public Relations - School of Fashion:

"Many of the Bay Area’s prominent players are involved such as Diane Wilsey, Wilkes Bashford, Bill Bigler, and Willie Brown as well as local fashion designers creating looks for the fashion show and auction, such as Jessica McClintock, Colleen Quen, Cari Borja, Verrieres & Sako, Sara Shepherd, Nice Collective, Michael Boris and students from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), City College of San Francisco and Academy of Art University."

That being said, if you are passionate about fashion and being green, and you're in San Francisco Bay Area, there is no reason not to check out Discarded to Divine Preview Event on April 4:

So here it is, my photo collection from my recent trip to Europe. It was my first time in Europe, and it was a really pleasant 4 months. I definitely want to come back to explore more; it's just too beautiful and too intriguing to simply miss in this lifetime. Have a great day, everyone.

Le Chateau de Fontainebleau

Wandering in Paris (part 1)

Les Impressionnistes: Auvers sur Oise et Giverny

Wandering in Paris (part 2)

A Glimpse of Le Louvre / A Night at "Two Steps" Bar

Journees Europeennes du Patrimoine

Cathedrale de Reims & La Champagne

Wandering in Paris (part 3)

Cheese and Wine Tasting

Italy Trip

Cemeitiere du Pere Lachaise

EuroDisney – Halloween

Germany Trip

A Glimpse of Musee d'Orsay

Last Pictures of Paris

Two weeks ago, I visited a long-lost friend in Germany (I hadn't seen her for the past 7 years!) whose companionship I absolutely enjoyed. During her busy schedule of taking care a family, finding an internship, and planning to move, she still managed to give me wonderful precious memories about Germany (well, the cities of Dortmund, Cologne, Bonn, and Dusseldof). Lovely, lovely times with a lot of interesting events, including 1025th anniversary of Dortmund. I definitely want to go back to Germany and spend time with her soon!

 

Once more, the full album is here:

 

On October 24, I went to EuroDisney just outside of Paris with two friends. There were two big occasions at that time; first was the Halloween week (so there was a halloween parade and the park's decorations certainly reflected that Halloween spirit); second was the EuroDisney's 15th birthday celebration (there was a "Candle-o-bration" of lighting the "candles" of the Cinderella castle). The sky was rather cloudy and the overall weather was a bit too cool, but we still had fun. Here are the pictures:

 

As usual, the whole album is accessible below:

OK, so my luggage was stolen on the train during my travel from Rome to Florence on October 2, 2007. My laptop and all my pictures were in it, so that was a great blow for me. Not to mention that it was such a hassle to get a new laptop with ENGLISH keyboard....well, finally I got one recently after 1-month suffering of no laptop. I just want to share with you some of the pictures I took after the robbery ocurred.

Of course, the full album is accessible from the link below:

 

...and I´m feeling down with all the California wild fires (my deepest prayers for the San Diego residents), the prolonged unnecessary war in Iraq, the job fairs that I missed, and the ever-climbing Euro currency over US$. When I first learned about Canadian Dollar beating US$ for the first time in history, that really...hurt. I`m still not giving up my trips around Europe, but I do need to cancel 3-4 trips that I planned earlier on September.

Now, I know I haven`t updated recently (thanks mostly to the thief that stole my laptop in Italy on early October), but hopefully I`ll recover to my usual pace next week now that I have a new laptop. I still keep in touch with my favorite US reality TV shows; Dancing with the Stars and America`s Next Top Model. Of course I was shocked to see Sabrina exited the stage this week, but I was very delighted to see once again how passionate, precise, and powerful Cheryl Burke and Louis van Amstel when they danced together.....especially to Barry Manilow`s songs (laugh).

On this week`s elimination, they danced beautifully to Manilow`s "They Dance". Automatically, I was reminded on their performance to Manilow`s "Copacabana" back in DwtS season 2. Both are pure magic, if you asked me. So, that`s why you find both videos here.

First of all, I realized that I need to edit my photos and update my blogs faster. Seriously. I am falling behind by a week and it's getting worse each day. I need to speed it up.
Okay, in that light, I would like to share :last week's: event in Paris, Journées Européennes du Patrimoine. It's an annual event in which the public can freely discover official monuments and museums such as Palais de l'Elysée, Hotel Matignon, Palais du Luxembourg, Assemblee Nationale, Musee d'Orsay, and Le Louvre. This exciting event was celebrated on September 15 and 16.

I did not have a chance to visit all of them, but I did visit the prison site in which Marie Antoinette was once held, the Techno Parade at Bastille, Hotel de Ville, Place des Vosges, Museé Carnavalet, Notre Dame, the front of La Sorbonne, and Palais du Luxembourg. Below are some of the highlighted pictures:

 

I also have a footage of the Techno Parade. This was shot when they first got the music started near Bastille.

 

 

And of course, as usual, you can access the full album from the link below:

Journees Europeennes du Patrimoine

 

Hi again, and this time I would like to share some pictures of my last field trip to Auvers sur Oise and Giverny.
In the Chateau of Auvers, we visited the museum that is surprisingly high-tech and very informative about France's history and its connection to the impressionist movement in the 19th century. I also wandered around the village of Auvers-sur-Oise and discovered some interesting buildings, one of them was the church (you can see some of the pictures here) and Vincent Van Gogh's tomb.

At Giverny, I visited the famous Water Lily Garden and its Japanese bridge, as well as went inside Claude Monet's house and walked around the garden that surrounded the house. Since photography is strictly prohibited inside the house, I could only share the exteriors of the house. I hope you enjoy it. Until next time!

 

Of course, you can look at the full album from this link below:

Les Impressionnistes: Auvers sur Oise et Giverny

A day after the Fontainebleau Chateau trip, I decided to go to Paris. At first, I only wanted to visit two places: Eiffel Tower and the American Church in Paris (since I think it makes sense to go to an English-speaking priests). However, I found myself wandering around Paris and visited places way more than I originally planned. After Tour Eiffel, I went to Parc Du Champ De Mars (Place Joffre and Ecole Militaire), Musee de L'armee, Palais de La Decouverte (Grand Palais and Petit Palais), Place de La Concorde, and of course, Le Louvre. Oh my God, it felt surreal standing in front of Le Louvre. I could still feel the shivers (by the way, it IS getting colder here). Enjoy the pictures!

 

Of course, if you want to see the full set, you can access my web album below:

Wandering in Paris (September 8)

Fuuh....it's been a while since I last updated my Vox blog. But now that I am in Paris (yes, I will live in Paris until December), I found a fresh new surge of energy to update my blog with things I found in France (and eventually, Europe). Why am I in Paris? Well, I participate in a study abroad program from my school, and I chose ESSEC as the host university. So now, I am attending classes as well as traveling around. This is my first time ever in Europe, so I am very, very excited. This blog will focus mostly on the exciting things I encounter, but if you want to read my daily journal from the trip, feel free to visit my blogger site.

Anyway, I visited Le château de Fontainebleau last Friday, September 7. Great castle with very classic interior design and furniture details. The gardens were georgeous, too. It was too bad that the Chinese Pavilion was closed on that particular day, but here are some teaser pictures of the château:

 

 

If you find yourself wanting for more pictures, you can visit my GoogleWeb album:

Fontainebleau Chateau