Hello YDSHINTO.COM & Project cont.

I just recently bought myself my own domain. SWEET!!! so instead of using the Simon Fraser URL, I can now just use my own domain url. My website is now located @ www.ydshinto.com ... Other then buying my own domain I have 2 more projects left to finish - Animation & Spatial Prototyping. The animation is almost coming to an end and the spatial prototyping project is still under development.

Right now, I am still trying to implement arrays into the Flash Action Script that I am creating. This is so that the project can just run off a simple code but have multiple input. The Flash Server is still in process so I am a bit worried about trying to get information from MAX MSP. The WORST case scenario is that the project is just running off MAX MSP, without the Flash but that means that my portion of the work has gone to waste. So hopefully that I would start to see some good results for the up coming days.

On other news, the 2009 ItaliaDesign layout is almost coming into completion. More like just the pre-studies that I have done before going to Italy. This years ItaliaDesign guys have a lot of context that they are covering. I have yet to see what they will introduce to this years Italia research.

ITALIA DESIGN 2008 - DONE

Tiramisu @ Vita Bella Ristorante

Even though today is Wednesday the ItaliaDesign 2008 website is finally finished. It was a long and stressful year, but it's all over now. The final form turned out really well and the entire team worked their butt off into finishing this on time. Everyone gave it their best and their contribution to the project paid off. But I feel this  loneliness knowing that I won't be able to meet up with these great members. Being able to hang out with them and engage myself in a conversation of italian design was probably my most memorable moments during the production of the ItaliaDesign website. Now everyone is off on their own and looking for jobs for the coming year. At the end of the day we had our last group lunch at Vita Bella Ristorante on Hastings and just enjoyed the moment where everyone is in the same room having a nice lunch together.

The Dark Knight - Limited BluRay 3 Disc Set + Pin

I am officially an Teacher Assistant for next year's course on Fabrication & Implementation, which I am super excited about. Therefore I don't need to worry about my income until the summer. Today, I celebrated by going out to FutureShop early in the morning to pick up a copy of The Dark Knight - Limited BluRay 3 Disc. After having brunch with a friend I went back to check to see how many copies were left and out of 100+ copies that was available when I went to pick mine up they sold out. Not just in Richmond, but in 3 other locations as well. On top of that my Design in Italia finally came from Amazon.

Thursday Nights

D-Pante and I in the Grad Media Room

So it's a Thursday night and we just finished working on the Production Wisdom video for the next Italia Design kids. Ordered in a pizza and just relaxing for the night. Currently working in the SFU Grad Media room, which is pretty sweet. Hooking up rock band on the big theater screen and enjoying a game or two. Right now I feel sick from the pizza, but w/e it was nice taking a break from work and all. 

Tomorrow is my last presentation for the semester. After that it's time for some boarding at Whistler. As for ItaliaDesign, Monday is our last day that the group is together. Can't believe that it's all coming to an end so soon, but good work to everyone in the team. We did it! It's finally done.

2008 FieldSchool Photo Contest - 1st Place!!!

Italy - Trajan's Market - Student Life (dedicated to Brad Slavin)

So I should have posted this yesterday BUT due to cramming projects and such I didn't have time to post anything. Requested from D.Pante, I am posting this for him. I won 1st place for the 2008 Field School Photo Contest and not just one category, but two categories!!!...YAY Happy times!!! but then again on the down side is that I can't collect my prize unless I go all the way up to SFU Burnaby Mountain. Can't they just send me my prize? or at least transfer it to Surrey SFU?

Italy - Rome's Fountain - Places

I dedicate these photo's to Italy, because I didn't do the work. Italy did and all I did was share their vision with the World. I hope many of you would consider visiting Italy one day, not just for shopping (well maybe) but also for its fabulous views.

Chemical Calisthenics from Paul Hoppe on Vimeo.
Just though I'd post this because its nerdy but beautiful at the same time. And the fact that he's using Helvetica which is nice so thats another reason for me to post this up. Found this while surfing on Vimeo. Enjoy and nice work to Paul Hoppe

Work @ SFU

Me @ work with my delicious S.Pellegrino Frizzante

So my typical thursday is involving work and more work...Joy, on the bright side the Italia project is going smoothly. Fixing a few bugs here and there and working on the videos. Currently I am working on the Labics video project. Labics is a Architecture company in Rome, that works with context when building something new for the city. The context focuses on culture, geography, or anything that reflect the identity of Rome in particular. Rome, being a historical city, becomes very difficult to work with when trying to build something new. The government won't allow architects to just build something new, unless they approved it or  has to have a legitimate reason. Therefore if the architect wants to create something for a city or change it in some way, there has to be some context within the existing city.

Other then working on that, my next video project is going to be the Bialetti tour which I am starting on, after I post this blog up. On top of that, I am just chilling with a few Italia members. Working with them every week,  which is nice. But then again sad at the same time because I know the project is coming to an end. There are those I would miss deeply but then I know that I will be chilling with them even after this project ends. 

Cinque Reunite

ItaliaDesign 2008 (Before Screenshot)

At last gruppo cinque was able to meet up once again. Everyone seems to have had a nice break after the split from Milano. Everyone had many stories about their journey they had after the field study and looking lively compared to what they looked like during the field study. Our hard work in gathering the research infield and photographs will soon pay off as we start building our 2008 ItaliaDesign website in the following months.

So it is already going into the 3rd week of school so far. Nothing new at the moment. Today we were introduced to our new mentors that we may be working with the next few months. The start of the project website and the content within the website is going according to plan. After a few minor tweaks and it should be ready for the pre-production of our animation. 

My new Sony Ericsson w580i

Other then my school life, I have finally bought a cell phone. It has been a good 8 years with my Samsung, but I finally had the motivation (Thanks to Karen) to get myself a new cell phone. Something that will last for maybe another 7-8 years and something that has color other then my old cell that was limited to its neon blue led lights. I am currently using the Sony Ericsson w580i at the moment and so far I am very pleased with its functionality, weight, durability, and the color. I can finally put the ringtones that I have been hearing/seeing what others have been doing during the past 6 years. Feels like I am a part of this whole new group of, "hey look guys I have a new cell, along with my other 20 cell phone???...

I have Returned

Bialetti Factory Tour

Last Days in Italy

So it has been a while since I last posted on my blog. Been busy with the Italia Field Study which has ended on July 13th and ended up taking a long break since then. Last few weeks of the field study I had a chance to go to Milan and meet some sweet designers. Designers and Studios including Andrea Branzi, Stefano Giovani, OneOFF, LucePlan, Artemide, FLOS,  Bialetti (which was one of the best tours during the field study), and many more. During my stay in Milan, I had a chance to visit the National Design Museum: La Triennlle di Milano 

After the field study, I went back to Rome and chilled there for a while. Meet a few new friends during my stay in Rome. Definitely going back there once I brush up my Italian. After Rome, went around Paris to do a small tour by myself and enjoyed the view before I leave Europe.

As of now, I'm back in vancouver and enjoying my break so far. Meeting up with old friends and wondering around the streets of Vancouver. Spent most of my times walking around downtown and chilling at the coffee shops.

Good bye Dolciano, Hello Florence!!!

Day 24
Karen was going to squish a kitten. So in the morning, turns out that the cat in Dolciano had a baby kitten, awww. Leaving Dolciano *sniff* we headed off to Florence. First impression of Florence, IT IS BLOODY HOT HERE....I miss Dolciano!!! I miss the swimming pool, the quiet country life, but then again need to put my thinking cap back on and keep my mind set in knowing why I am here. So here in Florence, we unpacked everything and began out tour.

First path we took was towards The Corso, where we ended up in Piazza di Signoria, travelled to Ponte Vecchio, and arrived at the Duomo. My first impress of the Duomo is, wow... Not just because of the size, but because the moment when you walk around the corner and see a glimpse of the Dome, you get this shiver; a sense of joy or happiness. Truly enjoyable from any direction you come in. Spent some time up in the Duomo, climbing around 415 steps? or somewhere along those lines. After we picked our bikes up. Yay to bikes, I can Travel around town now *cheers*...after obtaining the bikes we went into SS Annunziata Piazza and went to see Brunelleschi's Ospedale!!! I love Burnelleschi's play or proportions and mathematics. When you enter the buildings in Florence, such a different feel of space. This is something that Rome may be different, the accessibility of open space where nothing is restricted. In the end, I had a chance to shower. Thats how I ended my day. Ciao



Day 25
So today is hot...very hot compared to what yesterday was like. But even in this intense heat, we must continue our studies and suck as much information as we can while we are still here in Florence. Today was all about touring the churches. Sadly, Saint Felicita was closed due to the masses that was being held there, so we ended up going to Sto. Spirito, Santa Maria Del Carmine, then to Brancacci Chaple, and ended the day at Sta Corce in the end. Going through these churches one by one, I needed more time to take in this vision of space. The churches, especially Sto. Spirito is one of my favorites at the moment. The space and the lighting coming from the morning sun is something that I am enjoying from all these tours.

After the tours of the churches, its Siesta time. Especially in Florence, siesta is something that all the Italians are doing here. All the shops are closed between 1pm to 5-6pm and re-open again. This is what I like about their business. I go out during the time I am most active, which is during the night. So all the stores and shops are all open when I get out of the house. The only bad side of this is that all the wonderful places like the Duomo, Uffizi Museum, and many more touristy locations are all closed after 5 pm. So with this change, I am beginning to work on waking up super early, enough to bring myself to the places I want to go visit and then come back home, siesta for a bit, then wake up again and enjoy the night life. So since I'm tired now, writing this at 1:50 am, I am going to sleep. Buona notte. Ciao.


Day 25 - 30
So much has happened all of a sudden and time flew by I decided I am just going to post what has happened during my stay in Firenze instead of typing up what has happened every single day. The second day was church day!!!...As the context is based on churches, we went to see . So on the third day we had a day off, I decided to go travel the city and of course went to do some shopping. Went to Lilium to buy some nice hand made leather goods for a very cheap price. The leather quality in Firenze is pretty crazy and for its price!!! the leather goods they sell here for 70 euro would be around 400$ Canadian. Thats the difference in quality I should say. Continuing on, so the day went pretty good until the end of the day where I kinda wanted my own personal space and time alone, just to get away from the work and such. I biked off to the northern part of the city and turns out I got lost. Lost to the point where my map was useless when I asked 4 locals asking me where I was located on my map. So the map I have of Firenza (Florence) is only the central portion and I was located on Fiesole, which is the Norther section of Firenze. None the less, I eventually got my way back home and as a reward I was lucky enough to get far away from the main city and had a nice 3 hours of sunset while my ride up the steep hill.

Days in Dolciano

Day 16
I'm in Dulciano!!! and it's completely different from being in Roma. If I compare the two cities, Roma is a city thats filled with narrow roads and tight spaces; while Dulciano is like country side with a lot of free space. Feels so much better here, being away from the cars and traffic pollution. A completely different environment. So once we got here we all took a break, took a siesta, then woke up to meet Andrea and Marino (the owners of the house)...they prepared a welcoming dinner for us which was nice of them =] pizza for all!

After the dinner, went back to our rooms and relaxed by watching some Resident Evil 3. As for the coming day, it's going to be a relaxing day yet again. Can't wait for the morning light to come out. In addition, we have a number of cats living in the area and one of them is suuuuuper cute. Cute enough that Karen wants to "eat the cat" for some reason. Must keep the cats away from her for now =]....For now, ciao...


Day 17
Went out to swim today for our free time. The swim was molto (very) relaxing. Cold at first but adjusting to the temperature and it was fabulous. After the swim, I had some lunch, had a expresso, and played with the cats. After playing with the cats, took off to one of our first hill towns in Dulciano.

Our first hill town was, Pienza. A hill town filled with many elders and very few young people around the area. The place was known for their cleansing fountains where many people across the world come to place their pains in the running water. During our time in Pienza, I worked on the project with the Pieza team in being their photographer for the project; had a chance to talk to some people in the town and in the end had a nice dinner. Ate some sweet pasta, had a drink of wine, ate some delicious grilled rabbits, had a nice coffee cake, and ended off by having an expresso. Although that was a mistake, because it's nearly 3am right now and I'm wide awake!!!...yay?!?! no....BUT the good news is that tomorrow is one of our free days, so we'll get to chill for a bit and I get to prep for my hill town project, which is Pitigliano!!! Can't wait to check out the hill town in this area since its away from cities like Roma, which I am hoping to enjoy =]

So far the food here is pretty sweet, people here are very nice, and best of all the weather is pretty nice. Overall, I am loving it here...but then again I do miss the city. Missing the interaction with a lot of people and how a large city operates. So far, learning that Pienza's a town where there aren't that many international tourists, other then those who are coming in for the cleansing water, BUT there are many local Italian tourists. For the coming up events, I'm probably going to be examined on the "Dynamics of Delight" book for the field study and having the presentation of the Pienza hill town project maybe by tomorrow? or the following week. So after we got home, guess what I did. I went out into the forest to look for some fireflies....and there were a LOT of them. Haven't seen any fireflies before so it was a pretty nice thing for me. Stayed out into the forest for around an hour or 2, caught some and just enjoyed the view while it lasted. Chilled with Karen and Simon, played around with the slr's and taking night shots. After that ended up home, so for now, ciao...


Day 18
Today was pretty relaxing. Had some time to catch up on some rest as well as a nice swim in the swimming pool. As its tradition in the ItaliaField design, the group makes a whirl pool. And as tradition goes, we did make a whirl pool. Indeed it was fun, so we had it done twice =] after swimming for a while, my team for Pitigliano, the next hill town gathered up for a meeting a prepared for the project the following day. Other then that, had dinner with the others then slept at 3am finishing off the questions both in english and Italian. Ciao...


Day19
So it is 6:30am, leaving for Pitigliano at 7am. We first arrived in Saternia, where we dunked our feet into the hot springs (except me, derek, Kiks, and April), while the others swam. For one thing, the water is warm, yet makes me want to swim in it. Kinda regret not swimming in the hot springs, but maybe the next time I go to Pitigliano, which I hope to, may have that opportunity again.

So we got to Pitigliano, my hill town neighborhood with team Derek Pante, Kiks, and Azmina; arrived in town around 3pm. Took 2 hours to do some research which seemed very short, but we had it done anyways. Meet a few people in the town, which gave us a ton of information. Made a few friends within a few hours which is by far one of my most memorable moments in the Field study. Exchanged emails and contacts to keep in touch so thats the sweet part. Bought some Pitigliano di Bianco (Pitigliano white wine) for around 5 euros, there were ones around 2-3 euros (WHY IS THE WINE SO CHEAP IN ITALY!!!! ITS NOT FAIR!!!!) anyways, after getting some wine the group had some dinner. By far the best dinner/day I've ever had so far =] through this entire day. Although Pitigliano's a small hill town, with limited space in making anything modern, the people there are sustaining themselves pretty well. A hill town I would suggest for those wanting to visit Italy that has a lot of free 'space', where Roma is more like a fast-paced city, where everything is chaotic but with orderliness in their system. As far as my opinions of the hill towns, I'm loving it pretty much. Can't wait to recapture the moments into text from what we got from the interviews and observations, as well as seeing a new hill town as well. Ciao.

Day20
Our last to the two main hill towns for our field study. Woke up in the morning to go to Siena, one of Toscana's well known hill towns known to tourists and such. Went there early in the morning, arrived there around 11am to beat the tourist wave and climb the Palazza Pubblico, Siena's bell tower. The view I must say is something that I would remember. Was able to check out the structure of Piazza del Campo. Unfortunately we couldn't stay for a long period of time due to time constraints and with the project deadline coming up. Had some time to explore North-west of Siena, but I wish I can go visit again to explore a little bit more on the place.

But the good thing is that I was able to see the "good and Bad Government" in the Palazzo Pubblico by Ambrogio Lorenzetti!!! When doing research about paintings and historical locations, I believe the by seeing the actual piece of architect makes the experience a lot better then what you can imagine. The amount of pleasure and joy is a totally different level, this I believe is something that the Field study is bringing me so far. To the point where I'm wondering off and nerd-ing out on the Good and Bad Government painting and looking at the amount of detail that's right in front of my eyes. What a start this has been.

The following we head down towards Montepulciano. Now being in this hill town is the complete opposite of what we have experienced from Siena. Siena is like tourist central, where Montepulciano is like the dessert, where there aren't many tourists. So why did we come here? We can here to research how this town is known for Italy's best wine. The city is a winery in general. There aren't any tourist attractions to keep these people there, but there is a sense where it allows wine tasters to come and enjoy a large selection of wine. I went down to a winery with Karen and bought 2 bottles of wine. One is the 2001 Vino Mobile and the 2004 Chianti Classico. Was able to talk to the storekeeper at the winery and asked about some wine questions. After buying some wine, the group meet up at the Gattovechio where one of the finest Vino Mobile is made in this winery. We were able to have a tour about the winery then ended the tour with some wine tasting. After a long day we had out group dinner at the Osteria Acquacheta. The menu there was mainly 2 main dishes. Entry was pasta and the secondi was a LARGE piece of meat...literally the meat was huge. The day ended with a nice sunset where the team had our group transcendent moment, cheers to Karen for finding the sunset for the team. Such a new way to end the day.

Day21
Project day. So every crammed in the project, worked on it from 9 am until 7pm. Our group compiled the content of the research and did what we can. So, presentation time. The group improved from what happened in Rome and we were able to move the project forward from last years work. After the presentations, we packed our stuff ahead of time then went to see some fireflies.

*Note: Images will be update soon, give me time. I found internet *hearts*... oh how I miss connecting to the world!!! hahaha

Roma Panorama Gallery

Outside of Saint Peter's Basillica @ 7am

Inside Saint Peter's Basillica

Roma - From top of Saint Peter's Basillica

Saint Peter's Basillica @ 11pm

Trajans Market

Roman Forum

Inside of Colosseum

Good Bye Roma...

Roma '08 from bslavinator on Vimeo.

Video made by Brad, for our last few days in Roma.
Good bye Roma, Hello Dolciano *hearts*

Italia Update

Day 13

Day 13 now and Rome is coming to an end very soon... 2 more nights and I'm leaving for Toscano for another project. Today I woke up early and went into the Colosseum. It didn't feel as interesting as I thought it would be, maybe because I've seen images and movies from many different perspectives so that excitement kinda faded away. Although being in the Roman Forum and being able to see Agustus's house is something that I have been waiting for. Many people pass by Augustus's house because it's not as large and appealing compared to the house of Emperor Caesar or Nero. Some say they saw Augustu's house, but they're just looking at his garden and the entrance to his garden. Even though his garden is pretty interesting, I find that his is enjoyable to spend time in as well as looking at it from a far distance. It's the only house that's located near the edge of the hill where the view of Rome is magnificent. Went to the Forum twice so far just to visit Augustus's house again before I leave to Rome and had fun taking some images while relaxing and reading a book.

After staying in the Forum and the Colosseum for a few hours I went down the Via del Corso to do some shopping for a new shirt. Found a few for 4-5 euros, which is sweet so I don't need to spend 40 euros for a shirt from like OBJ or Martins. In the end, went out for a walk around the Circo Massimo and ended my day there.

Day 14
Work day today. Went out with my team members and continued working on the neighborhood project. Overall, went out in the morning and observed a few piazzas such as: San Cosimato, Santa Maria in Trastevere, and Piazza Trilussa. Began working my way down the south and went past Porta Portese and observed the area which held a market on Sunday. Going back to that place, the area is completely different. During the market on Sunday, the Via L. Serra was filled with people and shops opened everywhere. Now, during the weekdays it's completely empty to the point where it seems like there was never a market. Completely filled with cars instead of people. Going further down, I ended up on Ostiense. Ositense is like the complete opposite of Tratevere, where modern architect is found everywhere. There are multiple number or apartments and under the apartments are little stores. Similar to those found in Hong Kong and Japan. After wondering around for a hour or so I had lunch at a local pizza shop. After went back up north and stayed in the Piazza of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Had a short break and drank some freshly squeezed orange juice, which was d-e-l-i-c-o-u-s!!!... from that point, I ended up relaxing and continued observing people as part of research.

After observing the area roughly for 2 hours or so I went into a local book store with Karen and had a nice conversation with the bookstore owner. Talked about the neighborhood of Trastevere and telling us how it changed over the years, where it has become tourist central similar to the one in Campo de Fiori but not to the extreme. It's slowly getting there, but still sustaining themselves. After our nice conversation we head towards home where we continued to work on the project. Might consider going back to the bookstore and seeing if there are any interesting books that I can find there =]


Day 15
Last day in Roma. Woke up the morning around 8am to rush down to Trastevere for some 2-3 hour research and some interviews. Made my last stay in the Piazza of Santa Maria di Trastevere, had a nice interview with two people that worked at the same book store that me and Karen went into that interview with another guy there. Had a nice conversation with the two bookstore keepers. Talked for a while about the community and people in Trastevere, so had a nice experience about talking to people. Being able to talk to the people and having a nice experience with them is such a rewarding feeling. So sadly, had to rush back to our apartment and made our slides.

Making the presentation took around 2 hours? Talk about mad crunch time on the projects. So the presentation was a success. The coordinator loved the presentation and wanted to look into Trastevere a little more deeper for the next year students. So cheers for my team Karen, Azmina, Murray, and myself. Having the presentations done we had a short movie which was SWEET. Capturing out best moments as well as our memorable moments. Hoping to see more of these sweet videos made by Derek, Brad, and Simon. As we finished, its free time....therefore our last dinner in Roma *sniff*...went to San Lorenzo with the team and had a fabulous dinner. Dinner was around 18 euros, free wine and bread. So me liking free food and drinks I kept on drinking and eating. Eventually, I got drunk.....and some we ended up in the piazza. Saw a LOT of people, which was nice to see before leaving Roma. So being drunk and all, I puked sadly on my own shoe....that's how I ended my day in Roma. Some how ended back to the apartment, cleaned up, packed ahead of time, and went to sleep...haha...BUT on the bright side we're heading up to Dulciano the next day. Can't wait to head up to a new environment and meet some new people along the way.

Day's in Rome

Day 01: Arriving in Rome May 27th 2008
So finally after being on the plane for around 9 hours, I have finally arrived in Rome!!! First off it's super hot here and hot as in 37 degrees, which is crazy!!! I don't know how the Italians' deal with this heat but its crazy. So even though I just arrived, the field study has just started. Back to work and enjoying what I shall be immersed in from this new environment. Starting day one, we went to San Stefano Rotondo to observer one of Rome's first churches and seeing the interior as well as from it exterior. Along the way we walked past the Arco di Dolabella; some people don't know that this arch is one of the oldest architects in Rome and they just walk past it, what a shame...hope people would talk the moment to look into its beauty and its structure ^____^ .....after that we went along Saint Giovanni E Paolo for our last tour for the day because of the lack of time, then finally back home for some SLEEP *hearts* .....lucky for me, I got use to the all-nighterz I had last month, so I was able to conformably adapt to the new time zone here (cheers for me).

Day 02
Waking up from my first night in Rome, the morning air is sweet. Not too hot, yet not too cold and it's just about right. For today we started our tour by taking the metro towards the Centro, walking to the Piazza di Popolo, which I must comment, it is like one of my favorite piazzas by far, because of its open space, but also being able to observe people (both local Italians and some interesting tourists). The metro is some what getting use to, but once I become familiar with it, it shall become my best friend. Moving away from the piazza, we continued to move down to Spagna passing by the Fontana della Barcaccia and then down to the Piazza Barbinini where we took a quick look at the Fontana della Tararughe. After walking around from piazza to piazza we all had our first lunch together at Dar Pallaro. I must say, food in Italy is sooo good. I don't know how to compare the food from here to back in Vancouver without spending more the 40$ for the meal. My lunch consisted of olives and some deep fried meat? for antipasto (appetizers), pasta for primo (first course), some kind of mean for secondi (second course), and freshly cut strawberries with home made apple cake/pie for dolce (desert)....yummy!!!

After the meal we went towards the jewish ghetto area where we ended the day at Campo de Fiori where we were lucky enough to see the piazza changing into an open field. Some background info on the Campo: the Piazza changes based on the time of day it is in. From the morning the locals open up their stores selling fresh vegetables, fruits, coffee makers, cookware, and many more. Between 2pm to 5pm the area gets cleaned up and becomes an open space for the kids/locals to mingle around the place and finally at night the place becomes young generation central where the Italian night life begins. The night life is pretty sweet, had a chance to go there myself and to be able to see some crazy Italians move around the space and was able to interact with them just a little bit. Still having some difficult talking to them at times, since I feel rejected when I try my best to speak some Italian to them, but then practice makes best, so I am still trying hard. I will be accepted within their culture some day, but for now I shall just accept their way of treating me as an outsider.

Day 03 - Lunch in Trastever *yum*

Day 03
Today is my FUN day, because I get to go to Trastevere *hear* which is my home neighborhood for this years project. Had a chance to see some of the spaces and narrow streets that 'Real City Rome' has mentioned in their books. As I expect this interior side is pretty quiet, where the outside becomes noisier and noisier, yet still nice to be around. After touring around the place, I had my first Italian style Spaghetti Bongola, which was something I was waiting for a long time (well also with the carbonara). Again the food was delicious =] after lunch we had free time we I ended up wondering around the town to going down Via dei Corso and found a lot of designer clothing/shoe stores. Most of them ranging within 20 euros and they had like a LOT of crazy clothes that I am hoping to shop around or maybe wait until I get to Florence? Not sure yet, still debating...

Day 04
Turns out that our tour in the MAXXI was cancelled because of the construction that was being taken place, all we were able to do was go observe from the outside like the other tourists are doing and see as much as we can... *sigh* after that we picked up some lunch at the Ponte Milvio and end up going to the SAS Hotel to look around at the contemporary architecture. Broke into a team of 3-4 members, seeing how much information we could gather up from this place. My team including Murray and Azmina, had a chance to talk to some of the janitors in the SAS hotel and turns out that we could actually get a whole tour of the building, top to bottom, including the funky rooms and such. Neat info on the SAS hotel: each room is designer differently to give its uniqueness and the exterior form fits within the context of the outside portion of the city, where the inside has its elegance look to make it look classy. The building is divided into 7 floors, where the top floor has a pool and consists of 2-3 bars in total. At the very end of the day, we walked around the area and took a break from work and had some free time in the end. Had a chance to wonder off into the streets and had some time on my own to wonder around the neighborhood and has a chance to walk beside the Colosseum at night =]...


Day 05
So being Italy, today was the HOTTEST day ever....temperature being around 37-37 degrees, which was boiling. To summarize todays event was 'stairs climbing'... so it turns out that I climbed more then at least 500-700+ steps of stairs, on the hottest day of Rome *hooray* so this is what my day was like: woke up early to meet up with the coordinator at the side of the Campidoglio stairs and meeting at the very top of the stairs where he suggested.....then moving to main section of the Campidoglio museum, for those who's interested in seeing Romes history and interested in sculptures in its best condition, the Campidoglio Museum is one of the best museums by far from what I have seen. Later on, we moved on towards the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II and climbed to the highest portion of the monument. Given the time range, this was roughly around lunch time where we had a short lunch break and continued our observations from there. From the Vittorio Emanuele, we had a chance to see the Roman Forum, but the sad part of this was that the Roman Forum is now closed off to the public and has a entrance fee of 12 euros/day which is a shame. Last year, those who were lucky had a chance to walk into the Forum anytime/day they wanted to but has now restricted people from entering it, which is one of my disappointments...BUT I did have a chance to see it in front of my eyes, so I am graceful for that =] .... after the museums and such we travelled to Palatine Hills, where we got a change in atmosphere and enjoyed our moment in gelato... I must say that gelato in Italy is like heaven.... for 2 euro, u can get 3 scoops of the largest size in Canada and on top you get fresh cream to go along with it. For 3 euro you can get an large gelato sunday desert thing, but I prefer the 2 euro scoop just because of its price... the gelato it self... *hearts* this is what gelato should be and should taste like. For those gelato lovers, all I can say is this: if given the opportunity to go to Rome, head towards San Lorenzo and the gelato there is something that will be within your memories forever *hearts*....trust me, it's well worth the price and its only 2 euro!!! compared to Canada's 4$ dinky scoop of gelato....HA!!!!

Day 06
The earliest day of our Field Study....Woke up around 6am to meet up with the coordinator and the rest of the group, why? Because we wanted to beat the crowed to get into Saint Peter's Basilica. So why go to Saint Peters that early? Well, if you like open space and wanting to experience something that you could never do in Canada, this is what you've been waiting for. The space in Saint Peter's is just.....priceless. Completely open empty space at 7am. Down side is that, past 11am it becomes a tourist battlefield. The open spaces suddenly fills up with more the 1000 people within seconds. Interesting to see how this space quickly fills up. So from this point, I got lost.... with my friend Karen, which was stupid because we were taking photo's around the Basillica and turns out that non of my other team members told us that we were going up to the cupolla... *sigh*, BUT we ended up going up there with a fee of 7 euro, which was well worth the price. The view from Saint Peter's can't be compared to anything I have seen so far in Rome. From this point, I can't say much of what I have felt....there's so much to express but words can't say much. The experience in seeing the view will explain it all. Everyone has their own way of explaining how they've experienced the view from Saint Peter....for mine, it's just silence and an image to go with what I'v seen. After Saint Peter's Basilica Derek, Jenny, Karen, Azmina, and I travelled around the neighborhood and eventually ate some a Japanese resaurant. So why did we eat there? well maybe because we're a little home sick and wanting to have some of our cultural food in our system. Interesting to listen to chinese people speak Italian though, because after ordering they were mocking us of speaking Italian to them, go figure....we're not from around here. But we're still trying to adapt into their culture =]...Welcome to Rome, this is how everyone treats you. Being watched by everyone in the store even from the moment you enter their shoe store, they're always watching. From that point, how you communicate with them or how you talk to them (with manner) will then finally begin to slowly accept you into their space. It's not like they don't like you, but they just want t get to know you and to make sure you are not just some random tourist trying to take away their Italian-ness, by buying 'I LOVE ITALY' hats and shirts and acting like you should be the one that should be getting the attention. This is Italy, even though you are the customer you are not always on top of the world. As I go into these stores, I can feel this sense of being watched from what others has told me. It's not like a unwanted feeling, but its a feeling of being tested and how much you want to be a part of their culture.


Day 07
Had a chance to sleep in which was nicer for a change. Woke up around 10am and had a chance to look at some of the images that I've taken so far. Out of the group, I have taken the most, which was around 1,744 images within 6 days when the field study study has began =] so for those waiting in Canada, yes I have taken a LOT of images and there is more to come. Around 5-6pm my team and I left to Trastevere to look/observe the neighborhood on our own and to see what we can gather from our observations. Had dinner at the La Tarsa, which is the traditional Roman style cooking. Ordered some olives and ham for antipasto, white-wine for a drink, Traviolli con cioci e pepe for primo, and Taramisu for desert. Got a little lost on the way back, but eventually found our way back home. By not my feet is getting use to the pavement in Rome, some note in streets in Rome, their roads are NOT like the one's we see in Canada or anywhere else within North America. The roads are literally individual square shapes flat stones, with irregular levitation... as for the traffic, its completely chaotic, BUT that does not mean there's order within the driver. Cars are running everywhere, but all I can say is that people here can certainly drive better then those in canada/Vancouver. Even though there are no traffic lines dividing them up, Italians know how to get to places even in this chaotic system of theirs. As for now, it is 3:33am and I am falling asleep, so I shall end my blog for now.....ciao


Day 08
So this morning woke up early to meet up with Jeremy King, an Roman Architect group called KING ROSELLI ARCHITETTI. Had a interesting interview with Jeremy King, where the interview was controlled by Derek Pante, Rob White, Kiks Chua, Simon Shum, and Ryan Murray. The interview talked about the changes and connection with Rome and its surrounding neighborhoods, as well as his perspective on the direction that Rome is going towards in the future. After the interview we had lunch with the group at Da Oio, located in Testaccio, which by far has one of the best Spaghetti Carbonara. Stayed at the restaurant for a while to catch up on some social time with the rest of the members and realxed for a bit since it began to rain for a while. Honestly, rain in Rome is completely different to Vancouver's rain.... Vancouver's rain is like constantly raining for I don't know how long and the rain in Rome is massive but usually lasts for only 5-10 minuets or so. After the rain, we moved around the neighborhood and ended up at the Centrale Montemartini Museum. The museum itself has a completely different arrangements compared to the other museums in Rome, which in my opinion I find this one enjoyable, just because of how the statues are arranged and the space that they are being placed in. Saw some pretty neat statues and mosaics such as: Statue di Nike, Statue of Agrippina, and my favorite statue, Niobide. Along with the statues, I was able to see some crazy mosaics made during the cremation as a symbol of immortality and desire for afterlife. The details on the mosaic such as the Letto di Osso is something that people should consider going to during their trip in Rome. Worth the trip to see some different mosaics and how well they are pre-severed over the period. The day ended with an interview with the company LABICS, interviewing Francesco Isidori. The interview was controlled by Morgan Taylor, Brad Slavin, Karen Lo, and myself *yay*... so this was my first time being an interviewee, I was getting a little nervous asking the questions. I screwed up a little trying to ask questions based how they maintain their Roman/Italian identity while working within a group of global context and how it affects they way they design as Italian/Roman designers. Eventually the professor helped me out with the wording, but the interview went pretty well. We had a nice conversation talking about their works based on the importance of context and their values; we had a chance to take a look at their previous projects along with their current projects, which was sweet because we had a chance to see their scale models and renders that they used for their prototypes. Overall, my first experience of interviewing an Italian architect was pretty amazing and I'm hoping to meet many more designers along the way.

Day 09-10
Today was research day!!! *yay* so this was the beginning of my neighborhood research with my team members, Ryan Murray and Karen Lo. Walked all over Trastevere and explored certain areas that we might consider going back to. Stayed in a few piazza's and mingled with a few Italian's. Had a chance to wonder around the market in San Cosimato then travelled between the West and East side of Trastevere. We found a few differences between the two sides, but we might consider changing our observations to the North and South side of Trastevere instead of the West and East side of Trastevere based on a few observations and from talking to a few locals. For lunch we had a panne with some delicious expresso at a local bar, which I'm planning on going there often so that I can slowly learn some more Italian during my stay in Rome with the locals. In end end we went home for a siesta (siesta, is a nap taken between 1pm to 5pm where the Italians go out during the morning then coming back out during the night, hence the Italians are known for their nightlife and social gathers at the local piazza's) then coming back out at night and head back to San Cosimato to see if there were any changes. There were a few Italian's playing soccer and surprisingly the amount of people that was there during the day was no where to be found. Compared to Piazza G.Belli, the piazza was packed with a whole bunch of people just gathering around and enjoying their time. So we took a break and joined the group, trying to blend in as much as we can....but being asian makes it very difficult *haha*... so while we were there a magician came and all of a sudden the entire crowed began cheering and yelling out his name. A great way to end the day by enjoying a nice show with the Italian while having gelato *hearts*

The second day, we went out early in the morning to finish off the neighborhood project since it was due in 7 hours... so we rushed out, bussed to our neighborhood and took some notes on what the difference during the time of day. We observed the difference in interaction between people during the day and night, how they move through the spaces, where they cluster themselves and why, along with what we want to bring to this research. Passing by a few narrow roads, we began noticing that most of the shops in Trastevere (especially on the north side) are found inside of their homes, which makes it difficult to know whether if its a store or a house, unless you take a step inside. Once your in, you will be greeted by someone waiting to the left of the entrance. At time, most store owners will come out of their store and just look around and ask you to come inside, which I find very different from Vancouver. They way the shop owners come out of their stores and drag you inside; feels more welcoming rather then those waiting for you to come inside then greet you or ignore you. So 7 hours passed by very quickly, crammed our knowledge together and made a quick presentation which got bombed...although we expected to be a lot worse, but at least we have a definite direction we want to consider looking into. Overall the day ended with us rushing to gather information and finishing up a presentation within 1-2 hours.... talk about fast-pace info. gathering and presentation prep. cheers to Karen for finishing off the slides and making a final copy of it.

Day 11
Woke up early and went into the Pantheon as a whole group. It wasn't raining so we couldn't see the drops of rain coming down from the ceiling hole, but still worth the view. Might consider going in, although from my opinion the Pantheon was as glorious as I expected, maybe it was because of the timing? Got there around 11 am so my opinion might change once I have another look at it at a different time and with different weather conditions. A note from a few past Italia members: the Pantheon can be viewed at its best when it's raining.....so I hope it rains in a couple of days and I've yet to see it again. After the Panthon we had a short 45 min break to just wonder off. I ended up walking around Via del Corso, which for some people *cough*Jessica*cough* is like shopping heaven. Its like Gucci around the corner, then Prada beside it, oh and there D&G across from it.... a note to a few people that are thinking of visiting Rome and shopping for some fabulous clothes, wear NICE shoes and a nice top. I'v noticed that all Italian's in these high end fashion shops look down on you a lot based on what you wear. If you want service, wear some nice shoes at least since they look down at your feet and slowly look up and kind of decide what kind of attitude they should give you. Going into like a regular street-look clothing shop would be okay, but going to shops like Gucci, Fratelli Rossetti, Moschino, Eredi Pisano, and many more shops look down at you a lot. So a little note, don't feel offended, they are just doing what is natural to them. Accept their culture and move on, when you start to buy something they will be happy. Over all enjoy your shopping =] ..... I know I did. Finally meet up with the group and headed towards the Vatican Hill on bikes. Had a fun time just riding around an different atmosphere where that aren't many cars and all there is to see is just Rome in its natural environment. For those who don't know what the Vatican Hills are, its the road that connects Roma towards the other parts of the city, which the Romans back then used to travel from city to city. I had the opportunity to travel along that pathway and it was delicious. Although climbing up the hill by bike made it very difficult, but it was worth the climb. Yay Rome

Trastevere Market - Kitchen Stand Owner

Day 12
So, I went back to Trastevere on my own. Why? because I wanted some time alone and get away from work. Just wondering off and cool down, which I did ..... and it was sweet. Woke up early and took the number 3 bus to Trastevere, got off at Piazza Porta Portese and went to the Sunday market, which is well known in Rome for the cheapest deals. Being curious to find out how cheap it was... all I could say is that, everything there is CHEAP. Everything there was roughly around 2-3 euro, ladies clothing (street/designer style) was roughly around 1-2 euro, shoes (real Nike, Addias, Puma, etc) was around 5-10 euro, Soccer accessories/clothing (From teams around the world) was roughly around 5-10 euro, and some food (Pane + caffee + orange juice) was 2 euro.... all I can saw was that they have pretty sweet deals there. I had a chance to talk to the guy that I bought the Bialetti coffee maker, I was able to make a deal with him by dropping the price from 17 euro to 8 euro. This is what I love about Rome, they have good things here for prices you can cut down to half its price, maybe even more. Just 3 days ago, I bought an Italy Soccer Jacket for 15 euro, which is around 40-60$ canadian?...

Shoe Stand with many 5-10 euro Shoes *hearts*

Anyways back to the market, ended up wondering around the market, which got packed very very quickly. No wonder some of the locals don't come out after lunch, its packed with tourists and locals. For some background information, Italians tend to wake up early to shop for their needs early so that they don't have to deal with the crowed nor the tourists, smart people... I need to learn from them. So after shopping/observing and talking to a few locals, I meet up with Karen, Brad, and Kiks at the Popolo, where we broke off from there and ended up shopping. Shopping was fun.... very fun, but I think I will go back again the following day and wear better clothes so that I don't feel look down at =[ .... so by being in Rome for around 12 days, I'm roughly around 60-70% knowledgeable in knowing where I am when being dropped off at a random place. Rome becomes pretty easy to navigate around once you find a piazza or some fountain or even the metro, since the station tells you the name of the location, duh... 4-5 more night in Rome and we're off to Toscana and its hill towns. Hopfully these 4-5 nights will be fun and enjoyable as the rest of the days that I've had so far. Ciao...

Note: Images will be coming in soon since I need to edit some images and such haha... they will be good, I promise =]