~ Film Festivals ~

Heyooo guys~

How's your 2016 so far? It's been a while. Time passed really quick hasn't it? It's the middle of the year now. Wow...
I've been quite busy recently. Projects, film screenings, work, and buzzing ideas.

If only time could pause for a while. That would make everything, if not, most things, better.
At least that's what I imagine.

Let me briefly catch you up on somethings that has happened to me in these past few months since I've been away. I'll do another blog post on some more things that I've been doing the past few weeks. For now, this is about some new proud moments of my life.

My film life (so far).

In April, my short documentary I did last summer was screened at Columbia University's and Tribeca Film Festival! And it's going to be screened at Rochester Teen Film Festival, Brooklyn's BRIC TV, and in the Hampton's for a fundraiser. How exciting!

I can't thank my mentors and peers (who are more like friends and family to me) more for what they have done to help me get to where I am today. I'm always grateful for their endless support and realism that encourages me to grow, and keeps me more grounded to who I am.

Last month, my second short documentary "How To Be Bad," was finished and released into the world at a small screening.

It's about a new friend of mine, named Ed. A quaint, quirky, wise, and inspiring man that I became close with during the time we spent together filming and talking.

In the film, he reflects on how his beliefs and goals has influenced his past and present life. He's an free-spirited elderly intellectual who has a strong anti-work philosophy. At the screening, there was a nice amount of people who really cared about what my fellow filmmakers and I had to say.


Columbia University's City Lights 2016 Film Festival

The ambiance was really cool. The campus and buildings felt rustic, yet, new. Students milled around the streets while I was walking over to the Teacher's College Columbia University (where the festival was being held). I felt like a kid. Keep in mind that I'm 16-going-to-17-year old, and that I'm still 5'4 (thanks for the g-r-e-a-t genes mom and dad). 

I was already intimidated by the college students, let alone, see only (I kid you not) people in their mid-20's to 70's. I was also probably one of the two asians in the room. It felt weird at first, but then it felt nice to be different. Out of everyone's films, A-D-U-L-T films, that were being screened, I was beside them. 

Tribeca Film Festival's 2016 Our City My Story 

When I was at the screening, it felt so ODD because it was so SURREAL.
One year ago, I was at Tribeca Film Festival's Tribeca Teaches with some of my school mates. We had made a short film together, and it was great. I made a blog post actually, called Mushed Thingy Mabob of a Mess ~Part 1 (click the name to read it). We had the fall and spring semester to work on it after school, and it was my first film festival.

Since I'm not in the after school club anymore, I was kind of disappointed to not go. But I got the news that my film was accepted to Our City My Story! Like - WHAT?! How cool?!

The event was held at the Bow Tie theater. The same theater I went to during Fall 2015 - for a documentary film festival - DOC NYC.

So, in November 2015, I went there as a audience member who watched professional documentaries. I went to the workshops to learn how to enhance my skills and hear more about the industry.

8 months ago, past-Vicky had no clue that I would be back at the Bow Tie theater for Tribeca Film Festival. In April 2016, I went there as a participating filmmaker.

If that makes any sense to you - as it does to me, then you could see how surreal it felt to me.
It still baffles me - how only time could tell.
Never would I have guessed that I would be there.


"How To Be Bad" Premiere

In my first documentary screening, I wasn't good friends with much people at the time, so I didn't stay long. I was that awkward girl who stood on the side, nervously holding a drink, and avoiding eye contact. I kinda still am.

This time, it was different. I actually invited people.
In the past, I didn't. Simply because people "didn't have the time" - a nice way to say they're not interested.

I had gotten close to a few people over the past few years, and I consider them friends of mine. They knew about my film and were interested in what I have been working on for the past 9 months. They're some of the most down to earth, kind, supportive, and genuine people who didn't mind spending their time with me outside of work or school.

There was food, drinks, and music. A nice combo to start and end the crisp early-summers night.

As the evening winded down, my friends and I walked to the subway station to head home for the night. Our energy was unsuspectingly spiked back up when 3 or 4 rats came running by our feet. There was even a cat nearby, but it just sat there watching! Laughter filled the air after the moment passed, and it's always going to be a memory that I will never forget.

By the end of the night, my voice was hoarse, my cheeks were sore from smiling so much, and my feet were tired.
A true sign of how hard work pays off.


That's my film rambles for now. I know that was a lot to read, sorry not sorry about it. Haha ~
They're some of the things that have happened in my life, and it feels nice to share my accomplishments. Maybe there might be more in the future, let's find out on this journey together!

Until next time, bye!
~ Vicky

"One Less Snowflake"

I had written this poem back in 2014, around April. Everything felt out of place and lost. I still feel like that today. This is one of the many poems that I had written during that time, and it still resonates closely to me. 

I've decided to share this with you because I had taken a walk in a blizzard yesterday, and I had taken a walk in the snow today, and it reminded me of this.  

The city spent the day inside peacefully wallowing as fresh snow blanketed them back to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "One Less Snowflake"

Ice cold, calming, but threatening

Made in the dark for hiding

The beautiful colors turned gray

Hardened with differentiation as a price to pay

Effortlessly impenetrable in a way

Once lit with energy

Nevertheless filled with glee

Eaten up by those who flee

Lost in a blizzard of confusion

Enclosed within everything but oxygen

Feeling nothing but freezing contraptions

Twirling alone along the walls of a den

Intertwined with a blank space

Napping with no sleep but a dream that's a waste

Thinking about the new and different whose voices are weak

Healing a wound that will always peek

Evolving into copies claimed to be unique

Dissolved with muted fame

And isolated to be tamed

Released into the sky and judged to be the same

Killing time being in vain

Aiming low at a single downfall

Left alone with nothing at all

Leaving the world as a piece of small

Bottled up and melted into rain

Yearning for this to be a game

Merging into a thread of a mane

Yelling, screaming, and pleading for bane

Slipping into a concussion of blame

Ecstatic with nothing but a pool of rain

Linked to an anchor sinking in pain

Floating gently with nothing to aim

Sitting softly in a ray

I pass by you day by day

Kicked, stomped, and thrown away

Watching surroundings with sympathy

Impossible to fly with harmony

Touching the uncharted with a complex melody

Hypnotized in a trance of fear used playfully

Not meant to be free

Or drowning in a remedy

The minuscule hope in water and sea

Eventually out of bounds with no rules

Ventriloquists controlling frolicking hot iron shoes

Entangled in labels marked as tools

Numb with everything cruel

Atrocities seen as perfections

Lightly fluttering about with a bounded hand

Implanted in reality alone and nowhere to send

Gazing slowly with no way to mend

The end must come to an end

Cookie Crash

Hey guys!

The holiday's building up to the next few days!

How's everything?

Today, December the 23rd, was the last day of school for the year. 

Oh how time passes by when you're drowning in school work.

 Enough of that though.

I'm writing this blog post because I made some cookies!

When I say some, I mean a total of 6 batches of cookies. Yeah.

On the 18th, I came home from school and made some chocolate chip and gingerbread cookie dough. I actually made a video while I was doing that, which I had uploaded today, called "Cookie Chats." 

I was actually making these cookie dough's, because I had two of my best friends coming over to my house to bake and decorate them. That way, we could all spread some festive spirit in our schools.

All I can say, there can be one too many people in a kitchen. Haha.

It was hectic!

The three of us had to work on the gingerbread dough for a long time, because it kept crumbling apart. That's mainly because I wasn't supposed to freeze the dough...

It didn't turn out bad though!

We just had to work it with a lot of kneading, flour, and water :P

It was like 7:30 when everything was done. It was tiringggg.

I ended up letting my friends take all the cookies home, because there wasn't a lot to share between all 3 of us. Despite there being at least 60 cookies...

So, I made a 2nd batch of all three cookies on Monday (the 21st) and baked them the next day. The pictures are actually from my 2nd batch, because the pictures from baking with my friends were (no offense to them) a mess.

XD

Everything was covered in flour and oily fingerprints.

But in this case, the 2nd batch, they turned out much better. I was kind of disappointed because the chocolate chip cookies didn't spread out as much as the first batch. Maybe it had to do something with the baking soda. I also added some additional white chocolate chips, because why not? Besides that, the sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies turned out really well.

My friends and I decorated the 1st batch with icing, but that was a mess as well. So I decided that the 2nd batch would be icing-free, that way, it's not a hassle or overpoweringly sweet. (Mostly because if I were to decorate them, it'll take so long. And I didn't have time to do that with all the projects and tests at school).

If you do want to decorate them, I sketched out some ideas of icing the gingerbread cookies.

If you want the recipes that I used, click on their names down below. My video "Cookie Chats," also has the cookie recipes in the description box.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

*Side note* It might also help if you squished them down a bit before baking, so you get a bigger and thinner cookie.

Gingerbread Cookies

*Side note* Unlike the video, you can use any cookie cutter shapes you want. I used a Christmas tree, gingerbread man, candy cane, reindeer, and snowflake. I got most of them at from Michaels (the craft store), they're really affordable (about $2 each). But for the gingerbread men and tree, I got mine at Sur La Table (aka, where I restrain my geeky self from cookware). They're my go-to stores to wander around in and look at things, but I never buy anything. You know what I mean?

Sugar Cookies

*Side note* If you were making these for people who don't really like chocolate and peppermint, it's totally optional and you can leave it out like I did. It might help if you squished them down a bit before baking, so you get a bigger and thinner cookie.

That's it from my cookie madness, I'll talk to you soon.

~ Vicky

Dear Autumn

~Hello~

How has your Autumn been? Winter?

Are you holding onto the edge?

That's a question that always manages to squeeze into my mind.

 

Besides that, I've made a short video and uploaded it to my YouTube channel called "Dear Autumn" (hence, this post's name).

I feel like this is only a small piece of what I want to create. Whether people would understand or not, I'll try my best on explaining.

So, here I go. This is the poem.

"Dear Autumn"

Dear Autumn,

It's been a while since I've seen you,

since I've talked to you,

since I've felt you.

I'm sorry to see what you've been through

the hushed way that time flew

but it's better now

and it's okay that you've fallen down

because you held on for long enough

bringing memories that will eventually drown

holding onto life no matter how tough

letting the concrete town breathe in this little big town

There's nothing quite like... the time we had together

the aimless wonders

I don't blame you...

for taking time...

and I know...

It's not fun playing fine

Sometimes I think of it as bittersweet,

when you'd leave me.

Sometimes I think it would be my last heartbeat.

And I just want you to know.

I'm sorry.

"Dear Autumn" is a poem that I had written not long ago. I was taking my annual walk through Central Park, and had thought of this video's concept. Later that day, I started to write this poem.

At first, I thought it was a love letter to Autumn.
I thought "Autumn" was a person. I thought it was the season itself.

But I realized that it was both, and that it was an apology letter.
A letter that was long overdue from being sent and read.

You can interpret "Autumn" anyway you'd like.

In the fifth stanza ("and it's okay..."), I was referring to everything that leaves endure throughout the year.
Like leaves, we try to "hold on" and make it through the unexpected and dreadful impediments in life. Sometimes, the rain and wind would get the best of us when we're the most fragile. So we'd give into the gentlest breeze, and beautifully, yet tragically fall. Other times, we try to last longer until our inevitable fates present themselves.

In the second to last stanza, it sums up a portion of my "bittersweet" thoughts of the season. If you think about it, its quite melancholic. The trees are bare and empty, it's annual lifespan has come to an end. Although, at the same time, I understand that it's something that needs to be done and can't be avoided. It's something that we don't want to face until we've tasted the blood in our mouths and said it out loud. Our subconscience would try to suppress the thoughts.

There's more to get into, but I'll leave it here for now.

This is only one of the many things that I've thought of and written down. 99.99% of them are rarely, or never, shared outside the pages of my notebook.

Mostly because I'm afraid.
Who isn't?

They're the most personal thing that anyone can physically get to, and I find it terrifying of how I could ever allow myself be vulnerable to someone. Let alone, anyone that stumbled on this video or blog post.

Everyone has some line or boundary right?

With that being said, I'll talk to you soon.

~ Vicky

September/October Favorites

Hello ~

How's your October so far? I caught a cold, and I've been sick for the past week.
Runny and stuffy noses complimented with my flem filled throat, yuck.

Unlike my usual posts, this one is dedicated to some of my favorite things. 

Snacks

(I devoured them all before I could take pictures...)

Trader Joe's - Sour Cream and Onion Puffs

I am a Sour Cream and Onion girl, without a DOUBT. No offence to the other flavors, but sour cream and onion is my favoriteeee. I would like to apologize in advance if you were to ever smell my garlicky or oniony breath. 

Mmm, cheezy, regular, honey bbq, Doritos ranch or spicy sweet chili ones... are you drooling too?

Does anyone else like salt and vinegar? I rarely eat it, but it's good.

Books

"We Should Hang Out Sometime" - Josh Sundquist
"I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves" - Ryan O'Connell
"Yes, My Accent is Real" - Kunal Nayyar

All the books mentioned above are hilarious, insightful, and a page turner. You get to delve deep into the funny, awkward, cringe worthy, and personal aspects of their life. I HIGHLY recommend these books, because you're in for a ride of emotions (mostly laughing at the dirty stories and the occasional insightful punch).

Movies and Short Films

If you're like me, watching movies and binge eating snacks sounds like a perfect afternoon.

(You can click on them if you want to watch it *cough* totally legal... *cough*).

Stuck in Love

I stumbled upon this movie when I was listening to music by Nat and Alex Wolf. One of their songs featured in this movie, and I though I'd check it out. There's beautiful and insightful quotes, books, and music that are woven into the story, which enhances the character's raw and vulnerable emotions really well.

La Maison en Petits Cubes

I would describe this short film as rustic, bittersweet, and memorable. Despite the short length of the video, it still has a moving impact. This reminds me of "Einstein's Dream's," a book that consists of a collection of insightful and thought provoking short stories, written by Alan Lightman.

Song of the Sea

I heard of this animation through Sleeping At Last, whose music is actually featured in this animation.
It's really heartwarming and beautifully made. The soundtrack is absolutely peaceful and the lyrics are meaningful to listen to (which describes Sleeping At Last pretty well).

Music

I've been listening to a lot of new music on Spotify recently, and these are some artists that I really like.

"Between the Bars" - Elliott Smith

This was a song featured in the movie "Stuck in Love," and I haven't stopped listening to it since.
I would close my eyes, and feel the slow and mellow melody travel underneath my skin.
With my head swaying gently, his raw voice would wrap around me.

"Old Pine" and "Promise"  - Ben Howard

If you like acoustic indie/folk music, then you'll like Ben Howard.
His albums "Every Kingdom," and "I Forgot Where We Were" are really calming for a rainy and grey day.

"October" - Jon D

His sweet voice and acoustic guitar makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I actually found him through his song "Mechanical Heart," and his albums "Alone Together" and "Roots" are amazing.
Pssstttt... Notice how the song's name is relevant? ;)

"Around the World and Back" - Sate Champs (feat. Ansley Newman)

I actually found this band because I was subscribed to the channel, Pure Noise Records (where I also found Front Porch Step). This band's music reminds my of Issues and their music, they both have unique sounds that I adore. Besides indie music, I love punk rock and alternative rock music ^like them.

That's the limit I'm putting for the music category, or else I will go on for ages.


Products

Burt's Bees - Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil
 Maybelline Baby Lips - 05 Quenched (or what I call - The blue one, haha)

I wanted to try Burt's Bees for a while, but why are they so damn expensive?! I went to Lot Less and saw it for a reasonable price and thought, "why not?"

The Maybelline lip balm has a glossier finish, if you go over your lips more than twice. It smells like Fruity Pebbles, so that's a bonus :)
The Burt's Bees lip balm is better in my opinion, it isn't as glossy, but it still leave my lips smooth and (like what it's called) replenishing. The smell and taste has a nice subtle flavor from the pomegranate.


I'm closing this to an end now, let me know your favorites as well!:)
Talk to you soon

~ Vicky

Cancun

Hello ~

If you have read one of my previous posts, "Silent Warm Nights," I mentioned how I was going on a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico.

Whilst I'm writing this, I'm back from the trip!

Being the anxious person I am, flying is not 100% fun for me. Sure, when there's no turbulence and pain in my ears, I wouldn't tense up as easily. However, when the plane takes off and lands at uncomfortably nauseous movements, nope. NoPe. NOPE.

When I get nervous or really anxious, I would clam up and stay silent in fear. All my thoughts turn into possibilities of things going wrong. My fear of heights also triggers more ideas of plummeting to death.

Isn't my mind a soothing place?
*Sarcasm*

When the plane's flying smoothly, and when my mind isn't frantically pressing the panic button, I'd try to distract myself by watching movies, listening to music, or sleeping.

Despite having to wake up at 4 in the morning to catch our connecting flight to Atlanta, I didn't feel very sleepy on the plane. So I watched movies, took photos out the window, and listened to music.

The landing into Cancun was horrifying. The plane was swaying side to side, up and down during the last 10 minutes of the flight. GEEZ. I felt my stomach flipping around, my head spinning, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.
It was one of the worst feelings I've had recently.

Besides my series of mini panic attacks, we made it past security and border control and exited the airport.

BOY it was humid and sunny! X__X
It wasn't as unbearable as Hong Kong though, so that was a bit better.

When we got to our hotel, we upgraded our rooms and got a better view.

The crashing sound of waves was really nice in terms of calming down my nerves.




You can also see the moonlight hitting the dark waters. The way the moon hides behind hazy clouds, or when thunder flashes in the distance.

We signed up for two mini trips to have outside of the hotel, one at a water park-thing, and another for submarine riding.

If you want to see Day 1 of my trip, it's actually on my YouTube channel :)

Click Here to watch.

On the third day of our trip, we went to spend a day at the water park. There was only 4 activities to do, zip lining, ATV driving, river paddling, or river swimming. I only did 2, zip lining and ATV driving. We did these 2 before drying off and having lunch. I didn't want to get wet again, so I read a book whilst my parents and brother went river swimming. 

I hate heights 100%. No doubt.

My parents and brother forced me to zip line because they "didn't want to split up and possibly have me lost."

I CALL BULLSHT.

It was the worstttttttttttttttttttttt.

My fingers were cramped and raw with redness from clutching on the harness so tightly. My whole body could not move, and I felt dizzy after getting from one landing to the other. The whole zip line activity is an hour long. There was also 4 different exits, but I couldn't leave my family.

D:

The zip lines were like 20-30 km off the ground, over forests, roads, etc. My legs felt weak, and I could barely breathe. It was cloudy and rainy, so the rushing cold wind didn't help much.

X __ X

Sometimes, there would be bridges made of rope and planks to get to the next zip line platforms.
Here's one for an example, but the one's there, had no metal support on the hand rails.



It was sometimes worse than going on the zip line because some people thought it was freaking funny to jump and sway it around.

Let me TELL YOU.

If you are ever one of those people.
STOP.
It may seem funny to you, but not for some others.
Be CONSIDERATE.
Not only for people's POSSIBLE ANXIETY AND FEARS, BUT ALSO FOR YOUR OWN AND OTHER PEOPLE'S SAFETY. It won't be funny if someone gets hurt, or has a panic attack. And it certainly won't be fun for you or the person if something does happen.

Moving along...

The only time I felt comfortable with the zip line was the final line that lead to splashing into the river. My feet were probably a foot or two from the water, so it wasn't as scary as the other ones.

After that, we all went to ATV driving.

Being the messed up parents my parent's are, told my brother to just lie about his age to be able to drive before we got to the water park.

(He's 17 right now, and the age qualification is 18 or up).

Anyways, when we got there. My parents drove off before we got a say in getting in the back of their ATV.

Great.

So my brother got behind the wheel of a ATV, and I sat in the passengers seat. A staff worker asked for his age, and he lied about being 18 and had no I.D. to prove it like the worker asked.

Despite that, the guy let us go and my brother managed to drive away.

Note: MY BROTHER NEVER HAD DRIVING LESSONS OR DRIVING EXPERIENCE AT ALL. SO THIS IS HIS FIRST TIME ACTUALLY DRIVING A VEHICLE THAT'S NOT A TOY OR GAME.

A few minutes down the curving path, my brother would hit a few branches or two from driving off of the path by a bit. That is until he smashes into a tree and gets a rock stuck under the ATV.

We spend about 5 minutes trying to push the ATV, pulling the rock out, and driving away but it doesn't budge. The smell of gas would just cloud up around us. A group of people eventually drove up and tried to help us, but nothing they did helped. A line of ATV's formed when the people gave up on helping us and drove away. They did drive away to get help, but we eventually jogged back to get someone.

We were finally freed and my brother drove more cautiously and slowly (but not better by much). I don't think I've ever shouted "ease," "right," "left," or "turn" so much in my life. He'd still hit branches, walls, and rocks though.

We got into another crash at a big dip into a cave of water. We rammed into the side of the cave and couldn't move for a while. I heard a loud bang a few moments later when the people behind us got out and helped us. From there, we eventually got to a checkpoint where a worker was stationed there and pulled us over. Apparently, the front right wheel was flat.

~ Slow claps ~

We ended up riding with two other people to get to the end of the course.

It took about 45 minutes for us, when it's supposed to be like 20 to 30 minutes.

-___-

It was still rainy and cold, and to top it off, I was then covered in dirt, sand, and mud.

The next day, we went to Cozumel to ride a submarine and look at reefs. They even gave us a certificate XD

After that, we got some snacks and ice cream before heading back to our hotel. Mmmmm, raspberry sorbet and cheesy goodness.  :)

When we got back to our hotel, it was time to pack up and leave the morning after.
The flight back wasn't that bad. I didn't even notice that we were taking off on the way to Atlanta.

A few hours later, My family and I finally made it back home in the middle of the afternoon.

Ahhhh...

The sweet and stable Wifi.

It was a nice change of setting for a while. The soothing sounds of the ocean; and of course, the buffet.

;)

I'm all about that food and photo opportunities.

~ Vicky

Return of the Medieval ~ Castle Village

Greetings my brave knights, for you have traveled beyond ye hills.

(I don't know why I did that, I thought it would go along with the title's theme...)

If you don't already know, I'm a New York City based blogger/film maker/photographer/etc. When people hear the words "New York City," most people would automatically think of Times Square, Madison Garden, The Empire State Building, or other famous landmarks in the city. I mostly see tourists roaming around these areas, but they rarely branch out to the hidden gems that surrounds them.

All these local restaurants, bistros, cafes, and bars rarely get visited by new comers (unless you go online of course). You may disagree with me, but this is what I've seen so far.

Now that you know this, I'm going to circle back to it later on. Bare with me.

In my previous post, I mentioned how I was a part of a documentary program and how it was kind of difficult to get production days down. When we all were beginning to shoot our documentaries, people had split up with their groups to go out and film whatever they had to film. My partner was out that day, so one of the program's instructor and I went out to Washington Heights to get some b-roll for the film. We spent the whole day walking from 165th st to about 195th st. The weather was nice, so the b-roll scouting didn't seem much of a hike.

In the end, the footage I got was never used in the documentary .-.

Haha, it wasn't a waste of time though. I really enjoyed the walk. We stumbled upon a gem of an area called "Castle Village" (see? I'm circling back now).

I never heard of this neighborhood, but my breathe was taken when we continued to explore the place. The apartment complexes looked AMAZING.

For someone that loves to observe and study the little things, the architecture is absolutely beautiful. It's like you walked into The Renaissance and the Medieval times.

The walkways, gardens, and rooftops were made with grey bricks that gave off a very earthy feeling. It reminds me of the book and movie, "Ella Enchanted."


It's magnificent.

I don't have the footage from the first time I went there, but I did go back recently with two of my closest friends. They were just as amazed as I was, and (of course) I brought my camera to capture our surroundings.

The area's location is brilliant, you get a great view of the George Washington Bridge and the Hudson River. Boats sail by as you hear the rush of passing cars on the freeway. In the distance, you can see cars crawl across the bridge over to New Jersey.

It's a place you wouldn't expect in a city like this.

With the sunny and humid weather, we didn't stay long. Even though it was a short visit, I wished we could have enjoyed the view more. The  sun was beating down our back, so that didn't help the relaxing and beautiful feeling I intended for it to be.

Despite being there for only two times, there's still moments I will try to grasp on. 

If you ever get the chance to visit New York City, or even if you do live in NYC, try to explore new places.

The cafe you always walk by on the way to school.
The little bistro that you pass by all the time.

Just find someplace new, you might find something worth while.

~ Vicky

(P.S. It kinda feels odd to end a post without my usual ending of "Until then, bye ~" but it feels different in a nice way).