Anza Borrego Superbloom
This year, there was a superbloom in California because of all the rain we got from December to February. During spring break, three friends and I went to Anza-Borrego... Read more.
LA Art Book Fair
Printed Matter recently hosted an LA Art Book Fair at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Little Tokyo. The fair focuses on the distribution... Read more.
Brunch at Zinc Cafe & Market
For R’s birthday, we went to get brunch at Zinc Cafe & Market in the LA Arts District. We had originally planned to go to BluJam Cafe in downtown LA, but... Read more.
Caltech Art Gala
Every year, Caltech’s literary and arts magazine Totem hosts the Art of Science competition. This contest celebrates the intersection of art and science and... Read more.
My First 3D Print!
The Caltech Techlab gives members of the Caltech community free access to 3D printing. It is located in the Sherman Fairchild Library, and any registered user can... Read more.
LACMA
Caltech is starting a new Visual Culture program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and headed by the Caltech Humanities and Social Sciences Department. The... Read more.
Ski Trip!
Every year, Page has their ski trip at the start of second term. We go to Mammoth Ski Resort, and spend Thursday or Friday night to Sunday morning there. Typically,... Read more.
Hiking the Hollywood Sign
Ever wanted to see the famous Hollywood sign up close? Well you can! There are several hikes that lead up to the Hollywood sign in the Santa Monica Mountains, ranging... Read more.
Hiking Mt. Zion
There are a bunch of nice hikes in the San Gabriel mountains, just 15 minutes drive from Caltech. Over winter break, I hiked the Mt. Zion trail via Lower Winter... Read more.
My Favorite Udon Place (!!)
My favorite udon place of all time is Marugame Monzo in Little Tokyo. I found out about it in my freshman year, and I’ve never been disappointed! This is what... Read more.
Page Interhouse
Each house hosts one big party during the school year, and Page is the first to host it in November. There are four interhouses during Winter Term, and then the... Read more.
Union Station Holiday Festival
Last weekend, there was a holiday festival at Union Station. On the way there, we passed by a street full of small stores that seemed to sell Mexican items. I have... Read more.
Brunch and Purple Yam Tiramisu
Last weekend, I went to get brunch with my friends. We went to Bird’s Nest Cafe near USC, which serves pancakes, tacos, sandwiches, omelettes, and more. I... Read more.
Vancouver Trip
Over the summer, all of the Caltech undergrads in Seattle got together to go on a weekend road trip to Vancouver. With 9 people, we booked an Airbnb and set off... Read more.
Part Time Dog Walking
Over the past year, I’ve been regularly dog-sitting for this cute maltese-poodle mix called Rocco. He has separation anxiety, which is why he has a diaper... Read more.
Welcoming New Frosh and Rock Climbing
It’s the end of Rotation, and all the frosh have rotated into their new houses! As part of our house initiation, we painted Fleming’s red cannon a nice... Read more.
Coffee Shops of Seattle Part 2
Part 2! Here we have 5 more coffee shops located in Seattle. Cascade Coffee WorksLocation: South Lake Union. This place is really cute and aesthetically pleasing,... Read more.
Coffee Shops of Seattle Part 1
Get ready for a whirlwind review of Seattle’s coffee shops! Seattle is full of coffee shops everywhere, so I’ve really only been to a few, but let me... Read more.
Blue Angels in the Sky
Seattle SeaFair is a summer festival that has a bunch of events, including yacht races and more, but the main event I attended was the Blue Angels performance. The... Read more.
Museum of Pop Culture
Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) features exhibits everything related to pop culture, from rock n’ roll to video games to science fiction, fantasy,... Read more.
Seattle Art Museum
A fifteen minute bus ride away from my workplace, the Seattle Art Museum is located in downtown Seattle. On the first Thursday of each month, the museum is free... Read more.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Olympic Sculpture Park is located in southwest Seattle, close to downtown but a bit more to the west. It’s a park open to anyone, and there are huge sculptures... Read more.
Hiking Snow Lake
The Snow Lake trail is a 6.4 mile with an elevation gain of 1700 ft. It’s about a hour drive east from Seattle, near the Snoqualmie Pass. Out of the 5 hikes... Read more.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery
In Seattle, you can visit the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, where you can see coffee beans go from the unrefined bean to the roasted product to your cup! They also... Read more.
Fun at the Allen Institute
At the Allen Institute this summer, there are 16 science interns and 2 admin (HR and finance) interns! There are several who either go to UW or are local, but there’s... Read more.
Uber Eats Food Festival
Uber Eats sponsored a food festival in the South Lake Union district of Seattle last week. There were tons and tons of food trucks lining both sides of the street,... Read more.
Gas Works Park
Gas Works park is located on the north shore of Lake Union in Seattle. In the park, you can see the remains of the only remaining coal gasification plant in the... Read more.
Boeing Museum and Factory
When my parents visited Seattle, we also went to the Future of Flight Aviation Museum and Boeing Tour! Included in the $25 ticket is a 1.5 hr guided tour of the... Read more.
Toulouse Petit Kitchen
Before my boyfriend left Seattle, we decided to go to a nice restaurant to get seafood, which Seattle is known for. We went to Toulouse Petit Kitchen and Lounge,... Read more.
Hiking Poo Poo Point
Poo Poo Point is located to the east of Seattle. It’s a relatively steep but short hike — it’s 3.8 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of 1760... Read more.
Pike Place
Pike Place Market is in the heart of downtown Seattle. It’s known for its fish market, but there are also other vendors also selling flowers, fruits, jams,... Read more.
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Two weeks ago, I went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. It’s located right next to the Space Needle! I didn’t go up to the top of the Space Needle... Read more.
Hiking Rattlesnake Lake
One of my friends from Seattle recommended that I hike Rattlesnake Lake and Snow Lake while I was in Seattle, so here I am, Rattlesnake Lake! The lake is located... Read more.
Renegrade Craft Fair Seattle
Time for Renegade Craft Fair #3! I’ve been to the one in SF and the one in LA, so I was excited to hear that the fair was coming to Seattle for a weekend.... Read more.
Mt. Rainier National Park
For my dad’s birthday, my parents visited me in Seattle. We went to Mt. Rainier National Park, which is a 2 hour drive away from Seattle. I’ve always... Read more.
U District Farmers Market
It seems like I’m going on a Seattle Farmers Market tour. I guess they’re easy to find with a simple Google Maps search, so my first excursions are to... Read more.
Queen Anne Farmers Market
This past Thursday, I went to the Farmers Market in Queen Anne on the west side of Seattle. I had looked online and seen that some food trucks were going to be there... Read more.
Cafe An’Clair
In South Lake Union, there are tons of cafes, restaurants, and food trucks. One of the first places I visited was Cafe An’Clair. I found it on yelp and was... Read more.
Starting to Explore Seattle
My workplace, the Allen Institute, is located in the South Lake Union district of Seattle. Most of the buildings around there are Amazon buildings, and this building... Read more.
Newport Beach Whale Watching
Just a 2 hour drive away from Caltech is the sleepy town of Newport Beach, where you can go whale watching for $15-20! It’s a really cute and quiet town, with... Read more.
Sequoia National Park
During a random weekend in 3rd term, my boyfriend and I visited Sequoia National Park. It’s a 4 hour drive north, but it’s totally worth it. It was beautiful!... Read more.
Fourth of July in Seattle
For this Fourth of July, I met up with another Caltech senior in Bellevue, which is located on the opposite side of Lake Washington from Seattle. Thankfully, there’s... Read more.
Huntington Gardens
During the last week of school, I visited the Huntington Gardens. It’s less than a 5 minute drive away from Caltech, and the admission is $21 for a student... Read more.
Disneyland Pixar Fest
During the last weeks of school, I went to Disneyland! Right now, Disneyland is holding Pixar Fest, where they have a Pixar themed parade and special Pixar merchandise.... Read more.
Ditch Day
Go to bed frosh, Ditch Day is tomorrow! Well, the real Ditch Day finally came around! Before Ditch Day, the senior class hosts a series of ‘fakes’. The... Read more.
Pike Place Chowder
Pike Place Chowder is a chowder shop near Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle that was featured on Buzzfeed. Naturally, there was quite a long line, but it moved... Read more.
Exploring UW
I started exploring UW when I was going out for a run. I initially wasn’t intending to run to any specific place, just around the neighborhood, but I happened... Read more.
Starting Work at the Allen Institute
This summer, I’m interning at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. They aim to create an open database of information about the brain, one of their most... Read more.
Trip to San Diego
During 3rd term, Page hosts a beach trip to Carlsbad, which is about 2 hours south of Caltech and 30 minutes north of San Diego. Everyone stays in a huge beach house,... Read more.
Graduation
The graduation of the class of 2018 was on June 15th. A lot of my friends are seniors, so it was a bit bittersweet for me, but I’m very happy for all of them... Read more.
Techstock Music and Art Festival
At the end of third term, Caltech hosts the Techstock music festival, where multiple bands perform to compete for a prize. There’s usually also an artist invited... Read more.
Hiking Temescal Canyon Trail
Temescal Canyon lies in the Santa Monica Mountains, right next to the beach and about an hour away from Caltech. The trail itself is a 3 mile loop, with 860 ft elevation... Read more.
Ge 136c Field Trip
Every term, the geology department offers a class called Ge 136: Regional Field Geology of the Southwestern United States. A 3 unit class, the entire class consists... Read more.
Caltech Ceramics
Spring term, I took Ceramics for the first time. It’s held every Wednesday night from 7-10pm at the neighboring Polytechnic School. The first few weeks, we... Read more.
Finishing Up Intro to Graphic Design
After weeks of hard work, we’ve finally finished up our graphic design projects! Our assignment was to create a specialty store identity system — a store... Read more.
Acapalooza
Acapalooza, the final a cappella concert of the year, happened recently. The event is free for everyone, and four groups performed: Out of Context, the Keytones,... Read more.
Learning Poster Design
Our first big project in Introduction to Graphic Design at the Art Center was designing a poster for a cause. We were to pick an organization or a cause, such as... Read more.
Events on Campus
Every Spring, there’s international week where every day, there’s a different internationally-themed event. On one of the days, there’s a food... Read more.
Going to the Galapagos for Class Part 3
After spending 3 days onGalavan, we were sad to leave the boat. We were headed to Santa Cruz island next, one of the few inhabited islands of the Galapagos. There,... Read more.
Going to the Galapagos for Class Part 2
If you were following my previous post, you know that I went to the Galapagos as part of the Evolution class I took last term. In the afternoon of the second day,... Read more.
Going to the Galapagos for Class
As part of Bi/Ge/ESE 105 Evolution, everyone in the class (16 students and 2 professors) got to go on a trip to the Galapagos during Spring Break. We spent 8 days... Read more.
Taiwan
Taiwan has gorgeous mountains and forests. There are also fields for agriculture in other regions, rocky mountain gorges, the ocean, hot springs, and other attractions... Read more.
Taiwan
Blogging on my travel before and after study abroad is long overdue — at the start of my journey, I flew from the US to Singapore, then Taiwan, then Bruges,... Read more.
Taco Tuesday and Pi Day
In the last week of term, my friends hosted a Taco Tuesday at their apartment. The food was amazing. The chicken, chorizo, steak, refried beans, guac, and salsa... Read more.
Visiting a Bird Collection
Warning: don’t read on if you don’t want to see pictures of stuffed/preserved birds! As part of the Evolution class I’m taking, we have weekly... Read more.
Hiking in Almaden Quicksilver County Park
I love going hiking, and I recently discovered Almaden Quicksilver County Park when I went home this past break. I came here with a high school friend, and we hiked... Read more.
Art Center Scholarship Portfolio Exhibition
Last week, I went to a scholarship portfolio exhibition hosted at the Art Center. My Graphic Design teacher recommended us to go to see what strong, developed portfolios... Read more.
Birthday Celebrations
Most of us got various schnitzels for the main, and my boyfriend and I also got a pretzel and the weisswurst to share. It was my first time having the white sausage,... Read more.
Valentine’s Day Celebrations
On Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend and I started off the day by making scrambled eggs on toast. I love toast and almost every variation on toast! I feel pretty... Read more.
Ice Cream Around LA Part 2
An overview of the ice cream places around LA, continued 🙂 Salt & Straw Salt & Straw is in the Arts District in LA, and I believe their salty flavors... Read more.
Bubbly, Midnight Wieners, and Formal Dinner
In Page, we have an event called Bubbly to celebrate the last day of classes. This year, our grill team made banh mi for everyone! Everyone was talking in the courtyard,... Read more.
Ice House Comedy Club
In each house, the upperclass counselors (UCCs) host an alley event each term. These are subsidized events that the UCC chooses, such as laser tag, going to a restaurant,... Read more.
Caltech Y Decompression
The Caltech Y is an organization on campus that hosts various extracurricular activities including tutoring, hiking and camping trips, volunteering, and more. Decompression... Read more.
Potluck!
At the end of the term, just before Ruddock interhouse, my friend Janice organized a potluck at the Chester apartments, which is Caltech-owned off-campus housing.... Read more.
Love Sucks
Every term, the a cappella groups at Caltech have a concert. Their second term concert usually comes around Valentine’s Day, and is called ‘Love Sucks’.... Read more.
Artisanal Donuts
In DTLA, there’s a cute shop called Birdies LA that sells donuts! Instead of the typical flavors, they have dark chocolate, cinnamon toast crunch, strawberry... Read more.
Santa Anita Horse Races
Apparently Page house used to go to the horse races at the Santa Anita Race Track every year, and this year we decided to bring it back as a house event. On President’s... Read more.
Poppy + Rose
Last weekend, I went to get brunch in downtown LA at Poppy + Rose, which is right next to the flower market district. There were stalls selling various foods, orange... Read more.
Ice Cream Around LA Part 1
Since I’ve come to college, I’ve probably consumed more ice cream than I have in the rest of my life. I feel like I have ice cream nearly every weekend... Read more.
Cirque du Soleil
This term, ASCIT organized a trip to Cirque du Soleil at Dodger Stadium. Tickets were $10 each, and transportation was provided. It was my first time seeing Cirque... Read more.
McConnell’s at Grand Central Market
Grand Central Market in Downtown LA is great. It’s home to many stalls selling food ranging from breakfast sandwiches like PB&J to Thai food to lobster... Read more.
Hiking in Ernest E Debs Regional Park
I didn’t know about this park before, but apparently there’s a large open space park just 15 minutes away from Caltech, in Montecito Heights! It’s... Read more.
Taking Graphic Design at Art Center
This term, I’m taking Introduction to Graphic Design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Caltech has a partnership with them where Caltech will... Read more.
Cambridge Local Artist and Etsy Fairs
Etsy also hosted a crafts fair in Cambridge; I bought these cute bird coasters and was tempted to buy a necklace, but I didn’t do it. They also gave out chocolate... Read more.
Page Ski Trip
At the start of Winter Term, Page hosts a ski trip to Mammoth Mountains. The house books several cabins, and somewhere from 10-15 people stay in one room. Both full... Read more.
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge’s University Library (the UL) is one of six legal deposit libraries in the UK, which means that a copy of every single book that is published must... Read more.
Queens’ Ergs
Queens College hosts an annual erg competition for both novice and senior rowers, where a crew of 8 people ergs for 500 meters each. The competition is held in a... Read more.
Market Square
Central Cambridge is home to a market that’s open all days of the week. The stalls rotate daily – some are there all week, possibly in different locations... Read more.
Walking the Master’s Dog
The Master of the Corpus College and his wife own the cutest dog, Flapjack, or Jack for short. They let students walk him to de-stress or to just play with him,... Read more.
Bonding as Novice Rowers
After our first outing together with the seniors, we started training on the ergs (rowing machines) and with weights. We started going on weekly novice outings,... Read more.
Special College Formals
In addition to regular college formals hosted by the college, Cambridge societies can also host a formal at a specific college. I decided to go to a formal at Clare... Read more.
College Formals
College formals are an essential aspect of Cambridge life. These take place in the candlelit halls of each college, and are great for good food and good company.... Read more.
Apple Day
The Cambridge University Botanical Garden hosted an Apple Day a few weekends ago. It was a huge festival featuring apple tasting, apple juices and ciders, food trucks,... Read more.
Proper Afternoon Tea
The sponge cake is super sweet, but good. I think the filling is unique to the UK, but the texture of the cake is similar to some in America. I didn’t personally... Read more.
Cambridge Footlights
The Cambridge Footlights, officially theCambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, hosts student-run comedy sketch shows throughout the term. Actually, the Footlights... Read more.
Another Day Trip to London
This time we headed to Camden Market, where there are a ton of shops and food stalls. It’s a basically a huge maze — we definitely got a little bit lost... Read more.
Day Trip to London Part 2
After seeing a the skyline of London from afar, we headed into Westminster, home to the classic tourist attractions. To get there, we took the tube towards Buckingham... Read more.
Day Trip to London Part 1
This weekend, I went with another Caltech-Cambridge exchange student to London, and we met up with two more Techers studying at University College London (UCL).... Read more.
Wandering into West Cambridge
Across the river Cam about a thirty minute walk away is West Cambridge. This area is home to the Computer Science Department, the University Sports Centre, the Institute... Read more.
King’s College
On a beautiful sunny day, I walked through King’s College! Luckily for me, I can enter just by showing my University card without having to pay an entrance... Read more.
Fitzwilliam Museum
Just a 10 minute walk from my college, the Fitzwilliam Museum is home to artifacts from the Egyptian era to modern times. On the ground floor, there’s one... Read more.
Cambridge Arts & Crafts Market
When wandering around town, I stumbled upon an Art & Craft Market! Inside, there are various stalls selling everything from hand-carved stamps to leather belts... Read more.
Punting on the River Cam
Today,I went punting with other first years from my college! Punting on the Cam is something every student should experience. It’s also heavily marketed to... Read more.
Rowing for the First Time
Each College in Cambridge has its own Boat Club, with rowing teams for men and women. At Corpus’ club fair, I signed up to be a novice rower! I’ve never... Read more.
Matriculating at Cambridge
Abroad at Cambridge!... Read more.
Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay is one of Singapore’s main tourist attractions. It’s a huge nature park, with three main attractions: the Flower Dome, the Cloud Forest,... Read more.
Michelin Star Soya Sauce Chicken Rice
Singapore is home to a street stall that has been granted a Michelin Star: Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken. It was originally located in a hawker center in... Read more.
Singapore Zoo
Apparently Singapore’s Zoo is pretty famous, and turns out it was actually humongous, with many, many different kinds of animals. The enclosures are all pretty... Read more.
Singapore National Museum
I went to the National Museum of Singapore next! It’s a pretty building, with exhibits from the beginning of Singapore’s history to the present. In addition... Read more.
Arriving in Singapore
Before heading to study abroad in Cambridge, I travelled to Singapore, Taiwan, and Bruges. On the flight to Singapore, I got to ride the Eva Air Sanrio plane! All... Read more.
Watching Hamilton!!!
At the end of August, I flew down to LA to watch Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages! We bought the tickets back in May as soon as they became available, so I was... Read more.
Calabasas Peak Hike
The Calabasas Peak Trail is in the Santa Monica Mountains, where there a lot of great hiking trails. It’s a 4.5 mile round trip trek, with about half of it... Read more.
Being a Tourist at Facebook
At the end of the 8th week of my internship, I went with my FBU buddy to visit Instagram HQ. Last year when I was in FBU, this building hadn’t existed yet,... Read more.
Paper Textile Weaving and More!
Facebook’s Analog Research lab (ARL) has full-time artists in residence as well as visiting artists who come to teach free classes. These artists create various... Read more.
Cycling + Endless Good Food in Singapore
I went cycling in Singapore along the coast, and it was so nice! I love exercising, and especially after eating so much good food everywhere I felt like I needed... Read more.
Wood Working Part 1
Facebook has a partnership with a woodcraft store in Half Moon Bay, so there’s actually a physical Wood Shop on campus! It’s very convenient to have... Read more.
Corgi Con & SF Ice Cream Festival
What better to do on the weekend than go to a corgi con in SF and then eat ice cream? I’ve never been to a corgi con previously, so I was really excited to... Read more.
Adventures at Golfland
A friend from came up from Caltech for the weekend, so we decided to go to Golfland for a $9 unlimited arcade games + mini-golf package. Turns out, the unlimited... Read more.
Berkeley Lantern Festival
On 5 August, Berkeley held a lantern peace ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings during World War II. It was my first time going... Read more.
Facebook Summer Party
Facebook holds two big parties for its employees and their families, one during the summer and one during the holiday season. This summer, the party was held at... Read more.
Facebook Offsite
Many companies hold offsites for their employees, and Facebook is no exception. An offsite is where a team or a group of employees goes out and does an activity... Read more.
Seeing Saturn’s Rings
When I came down to LA, I got to use a telescope to look at the moon and Saturn! The moon was setting as we were setting it up, but we still got to see its surface... Read more.
The Best Ice Cream Ever
McConnell’s Ice Cream is my favorite ice cream in the world (so far). Or more specifically, their strawberries and cream flavor is the best. The first time... Read more.
Quality Seafood at Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach is about an hour’s drive from Pasadena. My aunt, who used to live in Arcadia, recommended a place there called Quality Seafood. They serve all... Read more.
$2 Ice Cream Sandwiches
Last weekend, I traveled down to Caltech from the Bay Area for my boyfriend’s birthday. Friday night, we drove about 40 minutes to Westwood for Diddy Riese’s... Read more.
Renegade Craft Fair
The festival pavilion at Fort Mason in SF holds different exhibitions every week, depending on who reserves the venue. This week, it was the Renegade Craft Fair,... Read more.
Ghiradelli Chocolate in Ghiradelli Square
If you read my last post, you know I came to Ghiradelli Square for the Etsy Pop-Up Shop. Afterwards, we went into the square itself and to the Ghiradelli chocolate... Read more.
Etsy Pop-Up Shop
Last weekend, I went to Ghiradelli Square for the Etsy Pop-Up Shop. Etsy is a great online platform for artists to sell unique handcrafted items, so I was really... Read more.
Learning to Paint
This summer, my grandpa is teaching me how to paint. He does traditional Chinese painting and likes to paint birds, fish, other animals, and landscapes (especially... Read more.
A Day at the Boardwalk
Where else to go on a hot day other than the beach? At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, there are amusement park rides, carnival games, an arcade, andthe beach! Santa... Read more.
Grilling With Friends
A few weekends ago, my friends staying in San Jose invited us to grill at their apartment. With several great cooks there, the food was amazing. The meal included... Read more.
SF Pride Parade
A few weeks ago I went to San Francisco’s 46th annual Pride Parade! Starting at 10:30am, the parade lasted for about 4 hours. There was tons of support and... Read more.
Hiking the Stanford Dish
This Saturday, I hiked the Stanford Dish Loop Trail. The trail is 3.65 miles long, making it perfect for a leisurely hike. It also has great views of the valley!... Read more.
Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th of July everyone! This morning, I went to the San Jose Rose Garden to watch the Independence Day parade (my first 4th of July parade ever!). There were... Read more.
Wrapping up in Lab
This past term, I’ve been working in the Mazmanian Lab, which studies the relationship between the brain and the bacteria in the gut. Previously, members of... Read more.
