Go Joyfulli

Somebody who heard that I was going to Tahoe for vacation told me about wildflowers in the Palisades (which apparently used to be called Squaw Valley but was renamed because squaw is a derogatory term). I was staying in South Lake Tahoe, so it was about an hour and a half drive each way... and unfortunately, the aerial tram was unexpectedly down when we got there. They told us it would probably be fixed in a couple hours, so we went on a short hike on the Shirley Canyon Trail. It's supposed to be a long and challenging trail up to "high camp," so we only went for a bit to the first waterfall and then turned back to have lunch and wait for the tram to be fixed.  To be honest, I didn't do any research before heading up so I was kind of expecting superbloom-style wildflowers/hills... which is not what we found. There were little patches (which I strategically took pictures of) but the area was kind of underwhelming in general. I don't regret going but I probably woul...

For my first (and only, so far!) time in Scotland, I stayed mostly in Glasgow because I heard that it was nice and also more affordable than the capital... like staying in Brooklyn instead of New York or in Oakland instead of San Francisco.  I decided to go on a one-day tour of the Scottish Highlands since there's no other way I would have been able to visit the more remote places on my own and without a car. I went on the "Myths, monsters, and mountains" Rabbie's tour. Absolutely no regrets at all!  

I've driven down to LA many times, but I never really pay attention to the route I take... I just go wherever my Maps app tells me to go. One time I driving and I just had to suddenly pull over on the highway because the scenery was so lovely! Actually, I often want to do that when I'm driving but this is the one and possibly only time I actually did it. I remember there was another time I passed an absolutely gorgeous field of wildflowers (coincidentally, on another drive down to SoCal), but I was too slow to turn off... I think about that missed chance a lot. But anyway... There's no real point to this post, just wanted to share a couple pictures! Though if you're road tripping around California, you could choose to take Highway 152 and see this reservoir (and stop at the rest stop). I guess it's the San Luis Reservoir? I would never have known the location but it was stored in my picture details... technology's kind of scary sometimes 😅. December 2018. 😍 I ...

Hi everybody! I decided to start my Instagram and this blog with a post on the first hike I remember going on the last time I was in Taiwan. As an introverted homebody, I often have to fight against my desire to stay inside when traveling. I hadn't planned on hiking during this trip, but one morning I decided to look up some options. I figured it would be interesting, good exercise, and get me out of the Airbnb without (hopefully) having to deal with too many crowds. Jinmianshan (金面山) came up as an option. The article I found said that it would be an easy hike and that it was close to an MRT station. The hike did end up being relatively easy. At one point, it looked like I'd have to traverse rocks by holding a rope, so I stopped there. I didn't want to risk a fall, especially because I was alone, and I wasn't sure it was even part of the trail. I still got a nice view of the city - it was definitely worth going! 值得 😄. I'll probably go again the next time I visit (m...