The End of a Great Year!

2010.

This year was full of experiences and memories I will never forget. For instance, living in Hong Kong and Taiwan, getting to sing on one of the most competitive singing competitions in Taiwan, and performing on Hong Kong's biggest stage (Hung Hom Coliseum). Most of all, I really need to thank my families and friends. Without you guys, I definitely would not have been able to do all these things! Hard work, dedication, and courage to chase a dream really DOES pay off!!

So, December, let's see what I did:

Wayne's Birthday! He is my "Taiwan brother" because he really takes care of me like an older brother, it was his birthday which we celebrated over Tonkatsu (Japanese Pork deep-fried cutlet)

and the MOST amazing Chocolate cheesecake. I had multiple foodgasms.

This is Xiao Ha (Little Laugh), one of the "babysitters" that takes care of us contestants of the show. She is uber cool and super fun. Plus she has an amazing sense of style. Look at her hair! Not many people can pull the look off, but she does it amazingly well. Also, a funny thing about her is EACH round, before I go on stage, I HAVE to get a hug from her or else I get nervous. She is like my safety blanket! haha or safety hug, in this case.

Made lunch for myself one day with leftover ingredients I had lying around. This was one of my more creative creations: Large Green Chili Pepper stuffed with chili-fried eggs. I basked the outside with oyster sauce and fried the peppers until they were well done and stuffed them with eggs stir-fried with red chili peppers. Was rather spicy, but good taste!

So the day before competing for Top 14 and 13, my friend Fanny thought it would be good for me to let off some steam, so she took me to her home about an hour away towards Taoyuan to attend her friend's baby shower. Cute baby!

Year of the Tiger! He is exactly 24 years younger than me. I am an old tiger -__-

His parents, who were very kind and treated us to a great dinner of stinky tofu, oyster pancakes, and other Taiwanese dishes. They are also from the Atayalic tribe, the same as my other, but just a different village. It's weird, whenever I meet other people from the Atayalic tribe, before knowing they are from the same tribe, I always have a very family-like feeling towards them.

Fanny! Took me to see her parent's and relatives for a quick visit. Literally. "hi dad, hi mom! bye!" hahaha

Also in this part of town, there is this UBER creepy castle-like building that was created by a rich man who lived in this area. He wanted to create his "dream building". Only, he has REALLY bad taste in color and structural design. It looked like a circus mixed with Count Dracula's house. Wish you could see it clearer, but the top is REALLY creepy looking. And there's even a full-grown tree inside. I only know this cuz it was once on the news.

So, competition time for top 14 and 13. Here is the judge's panel, only this was taken the day before competition, during rehearsal time. The guy is the producer of the show who watches all of us perform and tells us our flaws after rehearsal. The two ladies are in charge of knowing what lighting and camera angles to use for our performances. They hold a timer and time the performance and jot down notes.

My outfit for Top 13. I really liked it, although the pants were REALLY hard to walk in.

Right after competition and successfully making it to top 13, my friends took me on a 2 day trip to Tai zhong (mid-Taiwan) for a stress-reliever. Only I didn't really get a chance to relax cuz I had to start choosing a song for the next two rounds, which were due 2 days after our last round. Stressssffulll.

But we did get to check out some cool spots. Look at this piece of work...

After eating hotpot at a famous restaurant, we headed to the Art Museum of Taiwan. A lot of nice pieces and also a great lawn to relax on. Makes me with miss my lawn back home in Midlothian, Virginia. 804! Represent!

One of the cool art pieces, consisting of flip flops and sandals. This was taken 0.2 seconds before I was stopped by an employee saying pictures weren't allowed. I STILL WON! MWAHAHAH

Street performer outside. These are like...Chinese dradles. You have to tie a string around a "dradle" and release it in an angle and speed to make it spin. It's an art, but not one I'd particularly get into... But he was very impressive indeed

Liz (second from the right) was another contestant of the show. She can speak French, English, AND mandarin Chinese. It's really amazing. But this was her last night in Taiwan, for she is leaving me AS well :( Everyone's LEAVING! but I am thankful for the chance to meet her.

Eve, another contestant from the show, singing at a pub (Zee) in downtown Taipei. She really is amazing.

The next day, I told my friends Chester and Nicole that I've always wanted to ride the Taipei Ferris Wheel, so despite our fear of heights, we still ventured out and took the ferris wheel in Neihu. Nice view from the top.

Nicole, trying not to look down!

The next few days, I started getting busy from rounds Top 12 and 11 which would leave us with Top 10. I was going to make my own costume for top 12 and so it was time to get busy. Aside from the hours of dance practice, I also had to run around for my needed materials. As I was running to a store before closing time, I ran across this creepy little underground crossing area.

I think it was a combination of the darkness and creepy Pans of Labyrinth-inspired artwork that made it creepy, but of course I had to take pictures. This is located near Fuzhong Mrt Station

This way ..... to more creepiness

This is just a sneak peek of what my costume for Top 12 will look like. The song is very futuristic-electronic, so I came up with the idea to include blue eyes, hair, and of course LED lights! I had to run around Taipei again, looking for the materials, and of course, I know NOTHING about LEDs, it took a stroke of luck and asking around to find what I was looking for

Nothing a bit of handiwork can't do! Here I was taping the LED strips together and to my outfit, which I was first designed by sketches. I managed to make almost exactly what I wanted!

Wiring? Please don't let me eff this up! cutting through the clothes to make a passageway for the wires

Cool, future-looking glove my dance teacher lent to me.

Day before competition, one of the judges treated all the contestants for a Christmas Eve Dinner. The rounds for top 12 and 11 were ON Christmas Day (so getting into top 10 would be THE most amazing Xmas gift ever). The food was delicious. Every round, the person with the highest score gets an MVP prize. One of the contestants, Eric, won on the round themed "Judge Song Choice" Since he got the MVP, the judge had to decide what to give him as an reward so he decided to use his restaurant to feed us all. YES PLEASE! The food was great!

One of the desserts, called "Tender Heart" because the outside is ... I forgot what it's called, but it's sweet and tough hahah and the inside is warm and tender, hence "tender heart"

Picture with judge Wang Zhi-Ping. He is really tall!

His restaurant is called Ji Yuan Xiao Fan located on Fu Jin Jie 富錦街 Number 489. Give it a try if you're in Taipei! （02）2747－5886

Competition time! we had to get there 9:30Am because we were going to take some studio shots! I am getting more comfortable modeling and being in front of cameras. Not as awkward, which is great! hahah

My high school friend, Jacinta, came to Taipei! It was nice seeing her after 3.5 years. Last time I talked to her on the phone, it was right before I left and I told her "I'm leaving for Asia to follow my dream" and she thought it was really random, but she saw me this time and she said "at that time I thought it was so random, but look at you now, you're doing it what you wanted to do"

It was very encouraging hearing those words. I guess I didn't realize how quick time flies, but luckily I actually am getting to do what I REALLY wanted to do. What more could I ask for? This is a great year

So, I end the year with family and friends as I will be heading up to the mountains to see my relatives in my mom's village. I thank again, ALL of you for your support and love and care. I will forever continue to follow my dream, and 2011 will be another great year for me, I can FEEL it!

Plus, my mom promised me she would come watch me compete if I got into top 10. She said this when I started competing, I don't know if she really thought I could make it, but I did, and so her promise was kept!!! I get to see her after 1.5 years and it will be amazing to be reunited.

I leave you with a picture of an amazing Oreo Float I had> Also reminder of the night I laughed so loud, that the employee had to tell me to keep it down... awwwwkkkwwarrddd
Happy New Year Everyone! Be Safe!!!! Love you aLL!!!!! Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

Taipei Floral International Expo

My schedule everyday now pretty much consists of practicing vocals, dance, and working out. May not seem exciting, but this is my interest so the days go by really fast!

Well, the competition is getting tougher and tougher, currently in top 14. I really wonder who's gonna make it to top 10 (obviously I hope I make it!!!)

It's nice to spend time with the other contestants though! We go out to eat occasionally.

ome of us at a restaurant in Shida Night Market after attending the HRC Annual Dance show

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Jen (Rou Rou) left me to return to LA in the States. I'll miss your face!!!! :( This was our last taxi ride together

Khee Zhang! The Korean representative in our competition. She is the sweetest and most innocent girl I've ever met :)

My outfit for top 14. I really liked what they chose for me! It was a sleeve-less vest with a huge scarf tied by a belt. Also my hair was a mohawk and looked really cool from the side. I sang "Speechless" by Lady Gaga for this round as a dedication to my father.

So, now occasionally the company invites the contestants to attend special events. This time we were invited to the private screening of "Burlesque" with Christina Aguilera and Cher which releases in January in Taiwan. The movie was quite good! A lot better than I expected and makes me like Ms. Aguilera even MORE! but Cher...You got skill, but your voice is too deep for my personal liking.

The private screening room

Me and fellow contestant Eve Liang

The contestants that attended the event. They also gave us free dominoes pizza. I DESTROYED that shit!

So Taipei got to host the International Floral Expo, which is close to Yuan Shan MRT station. The entire expo is quite large and takes the whole day to walk through. During the daytime, make sure to check out the outdoor flowers (obviously), but nighttime, there are a lot of cool lighting areas around the expo so stay for the whole day!

The map

My favorite! A hedge maze!!! Like Alice in Wonderland!

Kind of a let-down.... but still fun. Too bad it felt like a summer day, otherwise I would have enjoyed getting lost more

Dramatic B&W Picture

So there are several themed pavilions around the expo, such as the one listed above called "the Pavilion of the Future" Why is it a pavilion of the future? Well, supposedly the plants inside are plants that will still exist in the future when the planet has gone to shit cuz we are wasteful human beings (bitttter).

Each pavilion had a line that took about 1.5 hours to get in. We missed one pavilion (the pavilion of dreams) because you have to get there before opening (9:00AM) to get tickets to see it, which I ruined cuz I woke up an hour late for our meeting time...woooops.

A sample of the lines...like for a ride at the amusement park.

Ooooo, the FUuuttuuuuureeeee

This Banyan tree is massive and is the first plant life displayed at the pavilion.

Cool looking plant

This was amazing! It's the only plant to respond to the stimulus of sound. When you put music next to it or even clap, the leaves will respond by vibrating. Isn't that cool? They call it the Dancing Queen plant (telegraph plant) hahaha So all these old woman surround it in curiosity and clap non-stop. ahhaha Poor plant "pppleaseee let me stopp dancing" as it cries in pain. hahaha (what?)

A chrysanthemum plant that can grow hundreds of flowers. Pretty impressive!

At the top of the Pavilion of the Future is this impressive view of the expo. The solar panels power the pavilion below.

Each Asian country has a little floral display. Hong Kong's was very pretty, but only during the day. At night, you can't see much.

I like this top of this little contraption. I want to use this as my desktop

Cool weaved-basket building

Prettyyyyy

The bottom view of a cool art piece. Another cool desktop pic.

There was a cool Avatar-like show displayed at the Expo. The stage was quite cool, it would be dry one second, and become a pool the NEXT! Everyone would ooh and ahh everyday the stage transformed and the waterfall started. Impressive!

I really liked this section of the Expo. Filled with beautiful fields of flowers!

Rainbow display of flowers on top of a building! Breath-taking in real life.

The EcoArk building was composed of recycled PETA bottles. Really really cool design, one of the most impressive sites of the entire expo.

Close-up of the bottles and arrangement

The bottles light up by LED lights at night!

The inside of the EcoArk building. Didn't really pay much attention to what was inside, so I can't really tell you what it was about. :P

Example of cool lighting around the expo at night. We thought this looked straight out of the movie TRON. ahhaa

The Floral Tunnel connecting two separate parts of the expo.

Cool sign for the expo!

So we ended the night listening to an orchestra play inside this huge....retarded looking bug (doesn't it look like it'd make a noise like derrr derr?) and left the Expo feeling quite satisfied with the 150 NTD (5USD) tickets. I recommend a visit to the expo, but not on a weekend because there are WAY too many children and old people around. I give the entire expo a B. I think they spent a lot of time and effort, obviously, but some places just seemed poorly attended, boring, and empty. Overall, a great way to spend a day! The expo goes until next year, but don't miss the chance to give a visit!

Getting ready for TOP 12 Next Saturday! If you're in Taiwan, it's the 11th of December! Let me know if you're interested! The themes are Top 13 (Judge's Choice of Song) and Top 12 (Radio DJ's Choice of Song)

Wish me LUCK!