h e r n a m e i s s h i n

第五天的主要行程是和國中同學一起相約景福宮,
來個古色古香好久不見尋找李瑄王之旅!
我們原本的計劃是先去吃個厲害的土俗村參雞湯, 然後再走去景福宮,
但是後來比預計的晚出門, 怕會遲到所以臨時改成吃hotel旁邊的中華料理~
(眼尖如我  在前幾天走那條路的時候就發現它了啊!
也很難不發現啦.. 一堆韓文裡的中文lol)  
韓式炸醬麵也是我很想吃的一道菜
(總之我的to eat list上大概列了八百樣想吃的東西, 遇到狀況時可以立馬換成另外一樣  嗯哼)  
而廖先生也是一個來者不拒, 所以我們就很開心的走進這間小小舊舊的中華料理店~

the 5th day of our korea trip. we planned to visit the gyeongbokgung (royal palace) with my middle school classmate (she currently lives in seoul). and originally we were gonna go to tosokchon for their ginseng chicken soup before meeting up with my friend, but we headed out kinda late so i decided to eat at a korean chinese restaurant near by our hotel. (we passed by it a few times when we go out, and it's just too hard to missed coz you rarely see chinese language in korea lol).

korean style jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) was one of the many dishes i wanted to try as well, (there're like 800 stuff i wanna try from my "to-eat-list" so it's really easy to pick one substitute when situation like this happened lol)
mr. liao was ok with jajangmyeon, so we happily went upstairs to this tiny little chinese cuisine place. 

不知道大家有沒有聽過sbenu這個品牌?
其實我也是前陣子才follow到..
(大部分哈韓的心思都花在學韓文+吃韓食上這樣) 
以前我根本不穿運動鞋, 因為完全沒在運動卻還穿運動鞋感覺很假掰!
一直到去年去韓國 (對, 已經快過一年了 我的遊記才寫一半....*不要攔我 我要去撞牆!!)
那時候把靴子走爛了而買的一雙puma 讓我對運動鞋整個改觀!
原來sneakers這麼好搭配衣服,
重點是穿它真的可以走很多路!! (還很舒服)  
從此我不再排斥穿sneakers, 還覺得它們挺好看的~

而sbenu這個韓國品牌就是專賣運動鞋!  
他們找了許多韓國知名藝人代言 (雖然我只認識IU…)
然後你就會發現 韓國真的很會做行銷&打造品牌,
他們就是可以把運動鞋賣到另一個境界…直接變成日常穿搭不可或缺的必備時尚單品!  
在韓國不論男女  毎個年輕人幾乎都有至少一雙sbenu吧
我逛完sbenu網站後也立馬淪陷……..Orz
因為他們真的把sneakers做的很好看啊!!!  
即使我不運動也好想穿他們啊!!!! 

have you heard about this brand - sbenu? it's a really hot sneakers brand in korea. i actually just started to notice it not long ago... (even though i love korea but i spend most of my "korea-crushing" time on learning korean & eating korean food :D) 

i used to not wear any sneakers at all. coz i don't exercise! i always thought it's really fake to wear sport shoes when i have nothing to do with exercising... until last year when we traveled to korea and my boots decided to die on me due to excessive walking, and i had to get a pair of sneakers so i could keep walking in that trip. that's when i realized "oh! i can actually walk comfortably for a long time in sneakers! and they surprisingly don't look that bad on me!". from that moment on, i started to develop this alluring for sneakers...

and the brand, sbenu, is all about fashionable sneakers! they advertised with many korean celebrities as their model & spokesman. and the hype just gone viral. almost every teen/young adult in korea owns at least one pair of sbenu shoes. successful marketing i say. 

and i also got drag into the wave after i surfed through sbenu's website..... coz they really made sneakers look so darn good!! on it's own & on your feet! even though i don't exercise, i still want a pair!! lol

當初發現這間明洞餃子的時候, 我開心到只差沒跳起來!  
因為去年在排韓國遊行程的時候, 我非常想排這間
但是後來因為想吃的東西實在太多..不得不刪掉它 ><
想不到在美國居然有分店!! 也太high了吧~~!  韓國人果然超級強大 lol
明洞餃子開創在1966年, 將近50年的時間,
而且他們自稱是韓國刀切麵的始祖~
我沒有吃過首爾明洞本地的, 但ktown這間我和廖先生都非常喜愛!  
加上它的位置離我上韓文課的地方不遠,
所以下課常常會順路去買外帶回家配韓劇吃~ XD

when i first found out there's a myung dong kyoja in ktown, i was so happy!! coz last year when i was making the itinerary for our korea trip, i really wanted to go to myung dong kyoja in seoul! but there're just too many food i wanted to try, so we had to take it out from our list... but they actually have two branches in the state! that just makes me wanna shout~~ (big thanks to all the korean immigrants here lol) 

myung dong kyoja was founded in 1966. almost 50 years ago from now. and they stated they are the founder of kalguksu in korea! 
i never tried the one in seoul, but this branch in ktown is one of our favorite place to go for korean food! plus it's located near my korean language school so i often order dumplings for takeout when i get off class! perfect late night snack... hehe

上個周末去san jose參加了生命河靈糧堂的20週年特會
這次我們這一車是禮拜五下班後才出發,
所以開到那已經差不多半夜兩點   囧
隔天一整天幾乎是呈現喪屍狀態….
眼睛有完全睜開的時間大概不超過1小時 lllOrz
雖然很累很趕, 但我還是很高興 i made that trip! 

很少有機會可以和一大群華人一起中文敬拜
老實說我一直都沒有太喜歡中文敬拜, 因為從一開始就是聽英文的,
聽習慣之後再聽中文詩歌就覺得很….華人lol  
像是詞曲和編曲, 都讓我覺得有點老氣與制式化..
但這次在特會中敬拜, 上帝依然使用其中一首歌來對我說話, 來感動我!
頓時間我覺得, 敬拜真的不在於詞寫的多好, 曲多好聽, 編曲多厲害...
而是在於心
神可以利用任何一首歌來感動那個願意敞開心來到祂面前的人!
另外一件開心的事是可以和幾個女生一起過夜spend times :D
每天面對電腦和廖先生還有屋子裡的其他臭男生實在是有點膩啊…哈哈哈 (誤)
禮拜六晚上聚會結束我們回到房間後就開始喇賽,
聊一堆少女的煩惱 LOL
我真的很不常跟女生hang out (太宅+太man), 所以這種與女孩兒們外宿的機會讓我覺得自己娘多了…  (是好事XD)

然後下面是本來在自拍  因為覺得浴室外面的燈光把我髮色照得很好看lol  結果sarah突然走過來害我覺得很白癡+尷尬, 只好來個大合照打混過去哈哈哈

we went to san jose this passed weekend to attend our mother church's 20 years anniversary conference & celebration. we left on friday night after work, so when we got there it's already 2am of saturday.... and the following day i was like a zombie the whole day! the amount of time that my eyes are widely opened was probably less than one hour.... lol! but even though the trip was kind of a rush and tiring, i'm still glad i made it.

i don't have too many experiences to do corporate worship with hundreds & thousands of chinese people. in chinese worship songs. 
to be honest, i really don't like chinese worship songs that much. because when i first became a christian i was listening to english only, and once i'm used to it, i started to feel awkward & weird when i listened to chinese songs. it's like.... the lyrics, melodies, and compositions are so old school and systematic. 
but somehow god still spoke to me & touched my heart through one of the chinese worship songs during this event. and i just realized that worship is really not about the song itself. it's not about how good the lyrics & melodies are, or how creative the compositions are, but about the heart. god can use any songs to touch the heart of that individual who's willing to open up before him. 

another thing that made me happy is i got to stay in the same room with other girls and just spend time with them :D  you know.. it's kinda boring to see mr. liao's face every single day... hahahaha (jk)
anyways, after saturday's service & meeting, we went back to our hotel room and lay on the bed and just chat. all sorts of girly topics lol. i rarely hang out with girls (coz i'm such a homebody + too manly). so this kind of sleepover really makes me feel more girly, which is a good thing XD

photos below: i was taking selfie outside the bathroom coz i thought the light makes my hair color looks really nice lol. but sarah came all of a sudden and i felt so embarrassing so i decided to take a group photo to ease my embarrassment..... hahaha 

一篇寫兩場會不會有點打混?? 哈哈哈哈  
可是最近實在是太多婚禮了啦.... 今年是什麼命定年還怎樣? 

分享照片前要再次強調, 我都不是這些婚禮的攝影師喔~
我只是去參加的人, 所以都是坐在座位上照
畢竟他們都有請專業的婚攝, 我一定尊重那些攝影師和新人們, 並不想本人一直出現在別人的照片裡呀! LOL  
(除非是真的很好的朋友我才會事先詢問可不可以走到前面拍)
也因為不是主要的攝影師, 我的照片常常很不完整,
因為很多時候拍完ceremony就累掛了哈哈哈
(尤其是室外的….太陽公公我的天)  
前幾個禮拜第一次認真的幫忙拍了一場婚禮
拍完只能說手腳都快斷啊…..  肌肉狂噴到一個境界   囧  
但真的很好玩! 那種可以理所當然跑來跑去狂照的感覺~  很喜歡 : )

2 weddings in 1 post is not too much right?? there're just sooo many weddings happening this year... i guess 2015 is a good year to get married?! anyways, before i get into all the pretty shots, i want to mention again that i'm not the photographer they hired. i'm just an attendee. so i took most of the photos from my seat. and that's because i really respect those couples & their photographers. i absolutely don't want myself to block them and/or show up in their images and destroyed the overall layout lol. (unless the couples are my good friends, in that case, i'll ask them in advance if it's ok that i walk to the front and take photos). 
and that's why a lot of times, my wedding photos are not so complete. coz many times i'll be running out of energy already after shooting the ceremony hahaha (especially those outdoor weddings...omg). 
but i did my first ever wedding shoot (along with other 2 photographers) couple weeks ago, and what i can say is: it was soooo tiring but fun!! my arms & legs were drop-dead sore. but it felt so great to be able to run around and shoot like crazy lol! 

begin again可以算是我近幾年來最喜歡的一部電影了! 
第一次看是去年從台灣飛回美國的飛機上,
當時看完整個睡意都沒了, 內心超級澎湃....
只想拿支麥克風來  開始唱歌!!   (搶機長的??) 
喜歡音樂的人應該都很難抗拒這部片吧..  
同個導演拍的”once” 當初也是讓我印象深刻, 還買了dvd   
這兩部片的音樂和劇情都太吸引人,  是會讓人陷進去的那種吸引

我常說music speaks to the heart
一般的話語可能只會傳達到人的大腦, 但音樂卻能觸動人心
begin again裡也利用音樂表達了許多人的內心,
無論是gretta唱給dave的, 或是dave唱給小三的lol,
甚至是gretta和dan一起聽對方手機裡的音樂..  
毎一首歌, 都有它的生命
毎一首歌都在尋找  那個聽得懂它的人

比起once 我更喜歡begin again,
因為音樂更主流一點, 加上劇情的節奏比較快,
而且最打動我的一點是  毎個人都有”begin again 再開始一次”的機會
 
dan和他老婆有了再開始的機會
violet和父母們有了再開始的機會
gretta也給予失戀後的自己再開始的機會

“you’re only as strong as your next move”
有人解釋成: if you have nothing planned, you are weak because you will always be hurriedly covering holes and making up for loss time. but when you know your next move you are strong and know what to expect.
當你預想好下一步該怎麼走, 那麼無論出現甚麼狀況  都不會打亂你的腳步, 因為你都已經計劃/預測好了, 就像下棋一樣, 通常贏的都是預測了好幾步之後的人
但我看完這部片卻這樣覺得:
you’re only as strong as your next move. so, step out!
必須跨出那一步吧!  也許那步還是走得很弱很無力, 但總比留在原地好
有了新的目標, 力量也會隨之而來, 帶領我們走入下一段旅程~

而整部電影裡, 我最喜歡的原創就是lost stars! 
前面已經講電影講那麼多, 對於歌我就不再贅述
只想說一句…. 它難唱到爆啊  hahaha
其他的就讓聽者自己去感受吧, 沒聽過原版的可以youtube一下,
adam跟keira的版本都好好聽!

lost stars - adam levine

please don't see just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies
please see me reaching out for someone i can't see
take my hand let's see where we wake up tomorrow
best laid plans sometimes are just a one night stand
i'd be damned cupid's demanding back his arrow
so let's get drunk on our tears and

god, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
it's hunting season and the lambs are on the run
searching for meaning
but are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

who are we? just a speck of dust within the galaxy?
woe is me, if we're not careful turns into reality
don't you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
yesterday i saw a lion kiss a deer
turn the page maybe we'll find a brand new ending
where we're dancing in our tears and

god, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
it's hunting season and the lambs are on the run
searching for meaning
but are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

i thought i saw you out there crying
i thought i heard you call my name
i thought i heard you out there crying
just the same

god, give us the reason youth is wasted on the young
it's hunting season and this lamb is on the run
searching for meaning
but are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

i thought i saw you out there crying
i thought i heard you call my name
i thought i heard you out there crying

but are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?
but are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

更多我唱的歌/ other songs that i'v sang:

唱歌SHE SINGS◥ SOMEWHERE // 每個人都在尋找愛 A SONG ABOUT LOVE SEEKING

Mar 20, 2015

唱歌SHE SINGS◥ MY CHRISTMAS MEDLEY // 情緒轉變超大之耶誕組曲 ♫ ♪♫

Dec 25, 2014

唱歌SHE SINGS◥ 想自由 COVER // 怎麼這麼空靈......LOL

Oct 3, 2014

唱歌SHE SINGS◥ MY DESTINY 輕快版COVER // 來自星星的你 餘震

Aug 29, 2014

begin again is the movie that i love the most in these couple years! the first time i watched it was when i traveled back to u.s from taiwan last year. i was about to grab the mic on the plane and start singing after i watched it!! that's how much it stirred up my heart!! 
if you love music, then you probably can't resist this movie. it's from the same director who made "once". that one was very impressing as well! the musics / soundtracks from these two movies are crazily attractive...

i always say music speaks to the heart. other words or languages might speak to our brains, but music speaks right to our hearts, sometimes our hearts even resonate with it. in the movie begin again, they used a lot of tracks to reflect the inner parts of each characters. the songs gretta sang to dave, the song dave sang to his affair, even the songs gretta & dan listened together from each other's phone... every song has their own life. and they are all looking for that one audience who can relate and understand. 

compares to once, i love begin again more, because the tracks are more pop plus the story-line flows faster. and the part that touches me the most is that it's stating: everyone has a chance to begin again. 
dan has a chance to begin again with his wife.
violet has a chance to begin again with her parents.
gretta also has a chance for herself to begin again after the painful break up. 
 

“you’re only as strong as your next move”
somebody explained this line as: the winner of chess games are almost always the one that can plan his next move. therefore,  the loser of the match is usually the one that is busy making moves for his current turn and can not foresee anything else. if you have nothing planned, you are weak because you will always be hurriedly covering holes and making up for loss time. but when you know your next move you are strong and know what to expect. 

but for me personally, after watching the movie, i feel like this: you’re only as strong as your next move. so, step out! we just have to make that move! even if that step is weak, it's still better than staying at the old spot. once we set our attitude right and focus on the new goal, strength will come. and we can step into our next journey. 

through out the movie, my favorite soundtrack is lost stars. i already talked too much on the movie itself, so i'll save my words about the song. just let me say one thing: this song is so freaking hard to sing!! LOL. okay, and i'll let the audience to experience the rest. if you never listen to the original tracks, please do so!! adam & keira's versions are both amazing!! 

*cover photo: death to the stock photo

不好意思消失了兩個禮拜… 最近實在是忙得亂七八糟 orz 
大家有個愉快的長周末嗎?  mine was not bad~   雖然很忙但非常的充實!
最近忙著練歌, 接projects, 拍照... etc.
上禮拜結束了韓文spring semester的最後一堂課,
同時也是一年一度的kpop contest day (學校辦的韓文流行歌比賽) 參賽者可以選擇唱或是跳~ 
我沒有考慮太久就報名了, 因為只要有參加, fall semester就可以免費上!!! 而且有得名的話還有餐廳gift card可以拿!
(我真的覺得學校太慷慨了… 本身學費就不貴 又包晚餐, 動不動還一堆活動/送禮什麼的)  (想學韓文的人真的極度推薦去korean cultural center -king sejong institute)
 

總之, 我滿心忐忑的上了台, 唱了我目前唯一會的一首韓文歌”my destiny” (我的輕快版cover在這)
結果居然還得了最受歡迎獎! (大概就是  唱的沒有太棒但評審們覺得我長得很可愛所以還是頒一個獎給我之類的) (哈哈哈 什麼鬼)  

it was fun! 而且還真讓我拿到了一張gift card  XD

omg i haven't posted anything here for 2 weeks! *please forgive me* 
did everyone have a great long weekend? mine was not bad! although it was packed with tons of events, but i enjoyed it a lot~

been practicing some songs, working on projects (both design & photoshoot). and i finished my spring semester korean class last week, it was also the day for our annual kpop contest! (a singing/cover dancing contest held by our language program). i didn't think too much before i signed up because all the attendees get to take fall semester for free!! plus they are giving out restaurant gift cards as prizes! (seriously i think my korean language school is way too generous.... the tuition is not expensive with dinners included, and they often host different kinds of event & give out free stuff like textbooks, movie tickets...etc. i strongly recommend anyone who's interested in learning korean to check out korean cultural center's king sejong institute!) 

anyways, i nervously went up stage and sang the only korean song that i know how to sing - my destiny. (listen to my previous cover here) and out of expectation i actually won the popularity award!! (i guess the judges really liked me even though i didn't sing too well... that's what popularity award's about right?? LOL) it was fun~  yay! gift card!  :D

夏 ‧ 天 ‧ 正 ‧ 式 ‧ 來 ‧ 了

最近的高溫實在讓人有點頭昏… 光是在屋子裡穿上長褲站著什麼都不做我就可以滿身大汗, 更別說穿出門了... (立馬脫掉扔出窗外!)
加上好朋友又來…  悶熱到一個極致!  沒抓狂已經非常神奇…
所以這幾天瘋狂的穿背心+短褲~  管它會不會曬黑, 老娘就是要透氣!!!

好啦  其實還是會有點擔心曬黑..  所以帶了襯衫出門~  哈哈哈
(我對防曬乳過敏......) (什麼爛體質Orz)

禮拜六的outfit是休閒丹寧風~   長期看hernameisshin的應該知道我很愛denim, 尤其是牛仔襯衫~  
覺得它不管怎麼搭都好看!  而且丹寧色就是小帥氣呀 -w- 

summer is officially here!! it's been crazily hot in la.... i was sweating from head to toe when i put on my jeans without doing anything! just standing in my room and sweating! without a second thought, i took it off right away and threw it out of my window ; )  plus i'm suffering from that once-a-month-woman-thing... all that stickiness & dampness....it's a miracle that i didn't turn into a furious monster lol! so, i've been wearing tank tops & shorts all the time for this passed week. who cares if i get sun burn? ventilation was needed.
.....alright, i lied, i do care about getting tanned, that's why i brought my denim shirt with me~ haha (sadly, i'm allergic to sun block...)
casual denim was my theme that day, if you've been checking my lookbook posts then you'll know i really love denim, especially denim shirts! they just go so well with everything! 

好久之前和姐姐去的貴婦下午茶!  但其實一點也不貴  哈哈
LA和OC有不少間tea room和hotel都有下午茶, 大部份價錢都嚇死人..  
但我和姐姐只是想坐下喝茶聊天來個姊妹bonding time, 氣氛到就好, 所以選了chado
我們去pasadena的分店, 週六下午生意還不錯, 稍微等了一下才有位子
店裡空間不大, 桌距蠻近的, 但整體也還頗復古溫馨~
茶店當然擺有許多茶具和茶, 有一組美麗的茶具應該是每位女孩的夢想之一吧!  
只是每次看到價錢都會滅火.....哈哈哈  (也算是好事?)
 

sis and i had our afternoon high tea a while back, but it wasn't "high" at all! there're plenty of tea rooms & hotels in los angeles/orange county that offers afternoon tea, but most of them at a crazily expensive price... we just wanted to sit down and chat while enjoying some tea and snacks, just a time for sister bonding, so we chose chado since their price is fairly reasonable! 

we went to the pasadena location on a saturday afternoon. it was almost packed. the space is not big, tables are pretty close to one another, but the overall feel is very cute & cozy! and of course there're tons of tea accessories available for sale. i think a beautiful tea set is every girl's dream! it's just every time i saw the price, the desire to own them will get quenched....hahaha (i guess it's a good thing? lol)