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!

Thanks 4 Giving a S%*@

Happy November!!! I miss American Thanksgiving Dinner, and getting fat every last Thursday of the month and getting tired over Mom's amazing turkey, roast beef, marinated mushrooms, peas and corn, creamy baked green beans, and mashed potatoes. Holy crap, I am starving just thinking about it.... But of course, my life would not be complete without the good food I manage to consume on a regular basis (although I've been forgetting to eat certain meals during the day, which probably is the reason why I've been losing weight :-\)- that AND the pressure of staying in the competition. But hey, I'm not complaining. WHEN I do eat, I go allll out. NO holds barred. Here's some of the more notable meals I had in the first half of November:

-Apple Tart and Amazinggg Steak

-My Grandma's Homemade Chaphagetti (Northern Chinese Style)

- Beef Noodle Soup (Amaaazing in Taipei)

- Dessert buffet (f*cking amazing....ly fat) Worth it.

Aside from the amazing food, I recently came across some disturbing pictures of my youth in my Grandmother's house.... LOOK at me. Boy, have I changed! Some of my friends are convinced I got work done on my face. But baby, I am allll naturalllllll.

As many of you know by know, this is my best friend in Taiwan, Simone Shaker. We did Million Star Avenue Singing Competition (Season 5) together, and have been fighting for our dreams ever since. She's a hard working girl and has done modeling competitions, acting in drama series, and hosting shows since we've met. However, sadly, she's recently moved back to China so I won't be seeing her anymore which is terribly depressing. I'm glad we hung out a lot before she left and we pigged out at Shida Night Market before she left for her last fix of amazing Taiwan food. This is her eating Oyster Pancakes and Deep friend Chicken

This is us....removing our black heads. The stuff I use REALLY gets the lil fuckers out. Effective magic

So I was going to go meet one of my friends for dinner and came across this handicapped man selling self-made windmills. It was a windy day, appropriately, and seeing him sitting there with all these spinning objects was a really cool site so I took a picture to capture the moment. I probably should have bought one... Next time...

Met up with Nicole, a friend I recently met, but she and I clicked really fast. Knowing my love for dumplings, we went to eat at a dumpling restaurant near exit 2 Sun-Yat Sen Memorial MRT station. IT was amazingly good, will be getting my dumpling fix there again!

Afterwards, we hit up Mango Cha Cha for some Mango Ice. Perfect dessert after a perfect dinner. Nicole and I can talk for hours. I'm glad to have friends I can connect with here in Taiwan.

The next day, my cousin Larry asked me to go out with him and his family and friends to lunch at a steak house. Larry's from California and I haven't seen him in a year. The moment he saw me, he said "Holy CRAP, you are TOO skinny. Eat something" and said I looked completely different in just one year. Haha. Well, the lunch was amazing @ A Cut Steakhouse in the Ambassador Hotel. The main chef is Larry's friend, and the steaks were foodgasmic. The prices aren't too bad, so I recommend it to steak lovers in Taipei.

Well, Larry brought his two adorable kids, Taylor and Tiffany and his friends brought their children. Aside from the normal running around and laughter of children, I came across a sight that reminds me how different children are nowadays from when I was a kid:

Behold. The new 2 year-old toy norm: the iPad

Seriously, if you gave me an iPad at their age, I would have smashed it. These kids are brilliant! they know how to choose apps and actually PLAY them the right way. -____- Kids are just getting smarter hahah

Picture with Larry and wife Eva. Great to see you guys! I'm wearing glasses because I've been wearing contacts to the point that my eyes are getting red and tired. I hate the way I look though, cuz my lens are thick and make my eyes looks small. But funny thing is, people recognize me on the street cuz of the show more when I have my glasses on. Weird..

The next day, I had dinner with Stefan and friends. Stefan has come to every round of Super Idol to support me and has brought his friends to come as well. He's really helped me a lot giving me advice on my singing and helping me get more support from his friends and such. I'm happy to have met him (we met cuz I didn't know how to read the bus station plaque and asked him to help me translate cuz he was the only stranger nearby) Funny how a simple question can lead to such a great friendship!

Here is one of the weird things you wouldn't see in the States at dinner:

a straw to help drink bone marrow.....

yeah....

interesting right?

After a game of bowling (and realizing I've lost my touch-Once in my life I once got 160 and that's after I was given french fries as energy, but this time I barely broke 100 -__-) we went to chill at McDonald's. Caught this cute sight of a guy with his "girlfriend" (as we called it). The dog was SO cute and obedient and just sat there like this the whole time, and would politely eat the food her owner handed to her. They really looked like a couple at dinner. ahahha

So this past Saturday was the rounds for Top 17 and 16. I was a bit nervous because I had to learn choreography and lyrics to two songs I never sang before in less than 2 weeks (choreography, I only had 3-4 days). I just didn't know how things were gonna go, but I just knew I was gonna give my all, no matter what. Amazing thing is, I got the two highest scores I've gotten all season. I literally jumped on stage and did a happy dance (I hope they edit THAT out) But although it's good to get high scores, it only means I have to do EVEN better next time...

No pressure....NNooooo pressure

So before every round, we have to record a short pre-performance blurb. Usually for me they never show what I recorded cuz apparently they're either TOO boring or maybe my Mandarin isn't clear enough -____-. ONe day. I know they'll use it...

Had to take a pic of myself on TV....

Just a bizarre feeling seeing yourself on TV and singing your heart out.

Keep Fighting!!

One day, I got a random message from John Paul, a fellow Hokie from Virginia Tech saying he was in Taipei studying abroad. He didn't realize I was in Taipei, so when I got his message, I was really surprised! We decided to meet for lunch at Forkers for hamburgers (we need our American fix, obvi). John Paul's a realllly good swing dancer and it was cool to meet up with someone from the states in Taipei, of all places. Oh, also, he speaks Mandarin like a pro.. like...better than me -___- A real go-getter. Just got up one day and decided to live in China for awhile. Not many people have the guts to do that, so I was really inspired by this guy

Last night, I attended my friend Jennifer Chou (柔柔）Mini-music jam at Vinyl near Shida Night Market. Jennifer is another good friend of mine in Taipei that I recently met, but then she is ALSO leaving me to return to California to continue her studies. She's very musically talented (and did Million Star Avenue Season 3-top 12) and I learn a lot from her as well. Keep it up, Jen!

The menu was very creative. On a vinyl record. Cool, eh?

Jennifer, singing her heart out. Great sets and great band. Very proud of her

A lot of previous Million Star contestants came out to support Jenn's good-bye mini-concert, including Season 4's 梁一貞 and 林鴻鳴。 It's cool that 林鴻鳴 (guy on the left) recognized me from Super Idol and told me to "Add Oil!" It's also kinda bizarre that I used to watch these guys on TV back in the states, and now I get to meet them in person

With other past contestants from the show.

And pic with Kelly Poon 潘嘉麗, a Singaporean Singer based in Taiwan, who started her career from a Singapore singing contest called Project Superstar. She's a good friend of Jennifer's and has a few hits herself, so it was nice to meet her.

Well, this is about all I've done in the first half of November. I'm planning on having a Thanksgiving dinner celebration somehow in the end of the month AFTER November 27 though, since that is the next round of the competition, which is for top 14!!

Holy crap, it is getting TIGHT and TOUGH! (that's what she said)

Hope to bring you good news next time. Gotta get these next two songs strong and ready...Wish me Luck!!