walden pond

This past Saturday I made an impromptu trip to Walden Pond with Iris and Erica. The only other time I've been was almost two years ago, at the beginning of fall semester junior year when things in my life were much warmer. The pond was frozen this time and from how the weather has been this past week, it might still be. There's something extremely invigorating about walking on top of a frozen pond knowing that there is a chance the ice will crack, but that you choose to keep walking anyway.

I took some snapshots with the new lens I just purchased, the Sigma f/2.8 17-50mm. I got it off eBay from Japan for just a bit above $300 (way below the retail price) and for an inexpensive lens, its quality exceeded my expectations.





I'm hoping to slowly get back into photography with this new lens. Given the rough patch I've been going through, I think it will be therapeutic for me. I'm also taking a studio art class this semester called Intermediate Digital Media and Installation, which focuses on creating interactive and immersive spaces using a mix of photography, painting, video, and sculpture. Truthfully, I am a bit burnt out by academia and I miss being able to express myself through art. We'll see how this goes.

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau, Walden

stockholm, sweden

After our class study tour, a group of us decided to continue our own journey by taking an overnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm. After rocking back and forth for 18 hours in our cabins, I could not have been happier to see Swedish land under sunny blue skies.




Stockholm reminds me a lot of Copenhagen (København), my study abroad home base, but a bit quieter and more soft-spoken. After leaving the ferry, we walked for about half an hour to reach our hostel (Old Town Hostel Gamla Stan), which was located right in the outskirts of Stockholm's Old Town. For less than $30 for a Saturday night stay, it was comfortable and more than decent.





Before heading to the airport, we did drop by Chokladkoppen to try their hot chocolate (as our class instructor suggested). Mmmm, perfect cup of heaven. I think it was around 35 Swedish kroner, which is slightly expensive, but definitely well worth it.