m.y. photography

wanderlust + 2012

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:28:24 +0000

it’s the end of 2011 and i realized i haven’t blogged once about my travels all year. 2011 was a year of many big changes, the biggest of which was leaving my job as a consultant and becoming a full-time mba student. with that drastic change, i bid goodbye to glamorous work-paid travel and became grounded in cambridge for almost half a year. while it was a nice change of pace to be settled in one place for an extended period of time, it certainly feels weird to be spending the holidays at home. however, as i reflect on the places i’ve been over the past few years, i’m extremely grateful for the sights that i’ve seen, and for the moments that simply take my breath away. here are some of those that i have not blogged about before.

Huangshan (Yellow Mountains), Anhui, China
it took 2 days of hiking to see this beautiful world heritage site, and i vowed to return one day.

Bonn, Germany
the perks of working for a german company: travel to germany every year. i miss the christmas market in bonn so much.

Sacre Coeur, Paris, France
heart-stopping view of paris from sacre coeur. now i see why people fall in love here.

Sunrise in Avesta, Sweden
God’s gift to me at the end of my first missions trip. every year i returned to sweden after that, i would always visit this lake first.

Jungfraujoch, Swiss Alps, Switzerland
i am enamored with mountains, so i had to visit the highest one in all of the swiss alps. another world heritage site.

Christmas in Milan, Italy
i’ve seen more cathedrals than i can count, but the duomo in milan blew all the rest away. christmas lights were a nice touch too.

Ponte Veccho, Florence, Italy
the famed ponte veccho in florence, and yes, this was my desktop wallpaper for a long time.

Ruins in Rome, Italy
so, so much rich history in rome. i loved the catacombs, but they wouldn’t let us take pics there, so this will have to do. =)

Xiamen Island, China
i went to search for the future in china, but found beauty in the present.

Bamboo Forest in Kamakura, Japan
so many moments from my time in japan, i wish i could list them all…

Autumn in Nikko, Japan
fall foliage in new england is beautiful, yes, but the “koyo” in japan totally wins.

1,000 Torii Gates in Kyoto, Japan
there are hundreds of beautiful temples in kyoto, but it was this stairway to heaven that captivated me.

Night view from Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan
4 months in this amazing city = forever changed.

Palais Badii in Marrakech, Morocco
what a fun adventure morocco was…

Shopping in the Souks, Fes, Morocco

Sevilla, Southern Spain
is there gonna be another city in spain that’s better than the ones in andalusia?

Bonjour Paris, again
this time i spent only 24 hours in paris, and soaked in every minute

The Louvre, Paris, France
a gorgeous lazy afternoon, where i didn’t mind being by myself and just simply people-watching

London stole my heart in 2011
it only took 7 trips, but i love, love, love the city of london so much. i can definitely see myself living there one day. and it will be a good, good life.

there’s sooooo much more of this world that i have yet to see. fortunately, there are many adventures to be had with my wonderful new classmates, and weddings to attend in exotic places. looking forward with anticipation to the travels next year!

on the slate for 2012:
kenya and tanzania (jan), norcal (feb), beijing (march), socal (may), thailand (july), hong kong (nov)

lynn + dom [preview]

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:47:32 +0000

two more weeks and i’ll be done drinking from the fire hose that is also known as the mba core! since it’ll be a little while until i get to editing lynn and dom’s photo shoot, wanted to put up at least one photo. you can tell it was definitely a while ago since there were still leaves on the trees. =)

thanks for being patient with me guys!

Danny + Nancy

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:41:26 +0000

danny is quite a sneaky one. not only did he offer to drive me to cenia’s wedding, but he also conveniently texted me the morning of to say “bring your camera and lenses.” even nancy was caught by surprise when we ended up doing an engagement session at wellesley college, on the most beautiful fall afternoon ever.

i’ve had the privilege of knowing nancy since our undergrad days back at mit, and danny when i first joined crossroad. i still remember when danny awkwardly asked me to play softball six years ago (he left me a voicemail and said “you seem kinda athletic…do you want to play softball?”), and i’m so thankful he did, because through this sport and many other fun activities, i’ve enjoyed six awesome years of getting to know danancy. you guys are such an encouragement to me in so many ways – in your love for God, for each other, and for the bcec community. thank you for the many wonderful memories we’ve shared, and for the many more to come as you embark on this new adventure together.

nancy, you’ve always been so great about documenting all the good times online – now here’s a chance for me to do the same for you!

i’m pretty sure this pose was danny’s idea

whitney + matt

admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:03:19 +0000

football + softball, whitney + matt. two awesomely related pairings that i love.

only 22 more days to go until the big day – i know the wedding will be soooo much fun, so here are some photos to get everyone excited. skpers should definitely recognize where these photos are taken. see y’all in pittsburgh. =)

Happy 50th, BCEC!

admin — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 21:09:05 +0000

a few weeks ago, my church, boston chinese evangelical church (BCEC), celebrated its 50th anniversary. although i’ve only been attending BCEC for a little less than 1/5 of its existence, i have been immensely blessed by the community here. every time i reflect on how i ended up here in boston, and why i am still in boston 10 years later, i know it is because of this special building on 249 harrison ave. the things that are most dear to my heart, from my small groups to my softball teams, from chinatown ministries to short-term missions, are all deeply rooted in BCEC. without this church, i wouldn’t have found my life-changing mentors, some of my best friends, and i surely wouldn’t have become CEO and president of aznriderz (a group of hardcore, fun-loving snowboarders). =P

i like to think that the 50th anniversary celebration must’ve been like that for the 1000 others who attended the service – a deep reflection of God’s continual faithfulness and goodness to individuals, and also to the community as a whole. it was such a privilege to shoot this joyous event.

thank you, BCEC, for everything you have meant to me. i hope that perhaps i’ll be a good enough photographer to shoot BCEC’s 100th anniversary!

gallery here
and a whole lot more pictures here

not any given sunday on the chinatown basketball courts…

how many people does it take to blow up a balloon? ahem, charles…

yun-yun rocks my world!

one of my favorite songs growing up – if i were a butterfly =)

the founders: