Thursday, November 13, 2014

Talk with Richard Ma.

Raw, believable, and beautiful are not strong enough words to describe that certain scenery you witness in person. How do you describe to someone that exact, perfect view of the sunset you see as the waves shiver in and out of the sand, and all the colors in the sky seem to paint each other perfectly. Immediately, your image is probably much different than mine, as I have added some turtles crawling back to sea (only because turtles happen to be my favorite animal). A photo can project a thousand words right? And that is why cameras that contain video recording is just simply amazing. So thanks to Frenchman Louis Lumiere , we can now bring images to life. The simple movements, colors, and sounds projected in front of you become surreal- mostly because people have some mad editing skills.


Richard Ma - current UCLA student- is one of the few people I know who can bring that certain awe to life. He is able to capture specific thoughts and images in such simplistic way that somehow each of his videos just seemed to be plastered with the perfect settings, images, characters, and music. Not to mention his editing knowledge and skills is impeccable; makes you wonder why he isn't famous already. His palpable videos makes you speechless, but most importantly it makes you think and question. What was the story behind it? Why did she do that? What was the point to the conversation? And I certainly believe that questioning is what makes things even more beautiful- it's the hint of sprinkle. Fortunately for us, Richard was more than happy to share with Knotuself today some of his favorites. So let your mind sink into these beautiful videos, and think. And if you're itching for more- which I know you will be after watching these- check out his youtube channel. 


Them (A short film): 


James Vincent McMorrow - Post Tropical (Unofficial Music Video):



Suburbia (A short film): 



1. People call me: Rich/Richie/Reechy.
2. I can't live without: My heart.
3. One place I want to visit is: New Zealand.
4. My favorite book is: The Little Prince.
5. Life needs a little more: Lemons.  
6. I smile when:  I see a puppy do a barrel roll. 

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Diary of Japan.


Finally, a scavenger away from home, and an adventure where food, fashion, and drinking is taken very seriously- Japan. I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Japan with my family over summer, flying to Sapporo and finishing our trip in Tokyo. Before I start, a warning should be put out- I probably had soft serve ice cream almost everyday here in Japan. Japan's ice-cream is absolutely creamy and fresh that I couldn't' resist it. So, if you see a lot of ice-cream photos, you know why.

Sapporo- Now, this vacation mainly resided in the countryside, besides the first day in Sapporo. Quiet, peaceful, and most importantly breathtaking. Every scenery was naturally photogenic. The ambiance of each different atmosphere seemed to release a sort of freshness and colorful environment. On our first day in Sapporo, we made our way to the Otaru Canal. Before having time to walk around, along the canal, we had dinner at a seafood barbecue restaurant. Smokey? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely. So many varieties were given to grill such as, scallops, claims, sausage, corn, and different sorts of vegetables. After a good meal, we took a walk along the canal. Now what amazed me the most was along this canal, there were a few vendors selling little items. One particularly caught my sister and my eyes. This middle-age man was hand making name necklace or rings. So delicate and elegant we decided to get one for ourselves.

Now, what I always loved about these Japan vacations with my family is that every hotel we seem to stay at provide buffet style breakfast- my favorite. (Probably because no one pressures you to order things that seem to be foreign to you). No matter what hotel we seem to be at, my plate always seem to come back colorful.


Noboribesu Onsen- Next stop, Noboribesu Onsen. Due to my poor memory at this time, I only specifically remember attending the Winter Sport Museum, where at the very top of the Museum we were able to see a phenomenal view.

Hakodate- Spending only a day in each city can be quite exhausting, but I think it's worth it. The next day, we managed to make our way to Hakodate. Starting our day, we visited Onuma Seminational Park. Better known for its picturesque, island dotted lakes and majestic dormant volcano.

Yunokawa, Aomori, Lake Towada- How we managed to cover all three of these places in one day baffles me. But we managed. What I forgot to mentioned is after our first day in Sapporo, each hotel we stayed at after all had Hot springs. Hot springs are a spring of naturally hot water, typically heated by subterranean volcanic activity. Sounds relaxing- right? We were so fortunate that one night, one of the hotels had hot springs inside the room. Each room had their own hot springs facing a private beach. Absolutely amazing. And the fun part is, our rooms were tatamis where we would sleep on bamboo floor.

Morioka, Kakunodate, Tsunagi Onsen- After arriving at Lake Towada Onsen, we made our way to actually visiting the lake. One word- breathtaking. the water was so clear and clean that I could easily dip my toes in and see everything. The fish swimming around were all visible, and the richness of how blue the lake was, was unreal. It was so peaceful that it made you just forget everything.

Hiraizumi, Matsushima- Our last night in Japan, and we visited a few historical sites include Chusonji Temple. We spend some time doing more site seeing, and my favorite ice cream eating.

Sendai, Tokyo- Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend more than an hour or so in Tokyo (so another blog post will be saved for Tokyo- eventually). But we were able to take the Bullet Train from Sendai to Tokyo, as we took off from the country side, to the city.

Even though I can't recall every details of our trip to Japan, overall I would say it was a success and an inspiring trip. Never had my taste bud been happier. It opened my eyes to different forms of beauty, freshness of foods, and most important the wonders of spending time with my family.