We've Graduated!! (well sorta...)

Ok so we haven't totally finished here at Stanford...But we've gone through the whole tradition of putting on the long black gown, pinning the square cap on and walking on stage in the hopes that we don't trip :) It's been 10 long months now and we've finally finished all the coursework. The light at the end of the tunnel is now in sight and we've got just a little left to go. The only thing that stands in our way is the monster of a monograph...The bright side is that this gives us more time to blog and scratch more off our Daisakusen list!






The main ceremony was highlighted by a very inspiring address given by the one and only Oprah Winfrey. Of all the commencement addresses we've sat through (in any language) they have not been as engaging and attention-holding as Oprah's was:

"When you're doing the work you were meant to do, it feels right. And every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid."

Although car keys were not found under our chairs, she did give two books from her famous book club to every graduate...can't wait to actually have time to read them!





The much more intimate School of Education ceremony proved to be more symbolic than anything as we were officially "hooded" by our program director, Christine Min Wotipka.

Step 1: Hand hood to Christine
Step 2: Kneel down and exercise those leg muscles as she unbuttons the hood.






Step 3: Smile big as you wait for Christine to "hood" you.
Step 4: Shake hands with Dean Stipek and receive your empty diploma holder.















Although we won't be completely done until we turn in the hard copies of our monographs by August 13th and we won't technically receive our diplomas until NEXT YEAR, we survived the very warm and long day of a time-honored tradition.

Cheers to THE BEST writing group!

Golf Carts, Alien Spaceships, and Spring Flowers

In our busy spring quarter, we managed to squeeze in some fun. Okay, maybe only once.
We took advantage of Julie's handicapped service by hopping a ride on the golf cart that came to pick her up when she was recovering from her knee surgery. Even though we're smiling in the picture, we were clinging on to the back of the chair for our lives. A golf cart doesn't seem to go fast at first, but when you have no seat belts to protect you, it is definitely a lot scarier than you think.

The rest of spring quarter could be described as a mix between a blur and torture, sprinkled with a lack of motivation to do anything. Aside from readings, readings and more readings, and monograph data collection and more data collection, Melissa and Angel didn't really have a life.

Nevertheless, 1000 policy articles, 500 surveys and 22 interviews later, the silver lining appeared and we got our opportunity to start exploring again!

Our first stop was the Rodin Sculptures near the Cantor Art Musuem. Behold, the Gates of Hell.

Originally, we had wanted to visit the museum's galleries. Seeing that free admission started on Wednesdays, feeling the emptiness in our wallets, and considering we came on a Monday, we changed our mind.

We redirected toward the Medical School Plaza. On our way to find food, we noticed cool lights outside the Medical building. We couldn't resist to take a shot of it.





It looks like an alien spaceship! Beam us up, Scotty!
Take us away....!







Stomachs a bit rumbling, we stopped by Alway Cafe. It was a small eatery serving Asian and Italian food. While Angel stabbed at her Veggie Teriyaki bento, Melissa had the lasagna.























Outside of the Cafe, was a beautiful courtyard garden with flowers in bloom.
Melissa said, "These flowers are as big as my head!"















The adventures continued to the Oval, where more flowers were showing off their colors. See the "S" for Stanford?














After picking up our graduation cap and gowns, we hopped into Melissa's car en route to Angel's car parked near the Cantor Art Museum. Yet, as we glided across hot 90+ degrees of asphalt, we noticed a sign that pointed in the direction of the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, also known as Y2E2. Spontaneously, we turned into the nearest parking lot to explore the building.


The inside was amazingly new and silent. The lobby was beautiful, and instantly became a possible candidate for ideal locations to write our monographs during the summer.

Additionally, the directory for the building was awesome: "Innovation doesn't discriminate and it doesn't distinguish between academic disciplines." Thus, all the different divisions, despite their color codings, are instead interconnected. How profound!















May ended before we knew it, but June marks the beginning of more adventures. Really, we promise! So, see you soon!

Olives and Buses

Hello again! As you will see, an important part to our Daisakusen adventures include finding new places to satisfy our palate. On April 14th, we journeyed to Olives, a Mediterranean cafe in the basement of Building 160. They serve falafels, pizettas, chicken skewers, and other Greek salads. The portions were quite big for a low price -- a good deal for the poor and starving Stanford graduate student!

Melissa had some wonderful chicken souvlaki with rice pilaf, salad and pita bread. The tzatziki sauce was delicious but the chipotle hummus wasn't to par. She washed it all down with Sobe Green Tea.






Angel had two ginormous pizettas and she ate ALL of it. One was the vegetarian one (since she is of course semi-vegetarian) and the other was a chicken pesto with sundried tomatoes. The chicken pesto surpassed the vegetarian because of its unique taste. On a personal note, in the future...eat less cheese in one sitting.










The following Tuesday, with about an hour to spare before the infamous School Board simulation, Superintendent Yeh and Conservative Board Member Chan hopped on the Marguerite to experience the busing situations that the Andrew Jackson students faced on a daily basis.

We were on our way to visit a classmate, Julie, who was bed-ridden as a result of knee surgery. We ventured through the jungle a.k.a. Escondido Village Graduate Housing. Due to construction closures, we got lost, but managed to find our way with a trusty map and desperate phone call to Julie. We found the light at the end of the tunnel and had a nice little visit before rushing off and being late for our school board meeting.

And now...off to a violin concert, Postcards from China, which is a part of the Stanford Pan-Asian Music Festival. Until next time, stay tuned for more!

Hisashiburi!

In Japanese, that means "Sorry, it's been awhile." This little phrase makes a lot of sense as the title for this post, since it's been a whole MONTH since we last updated this and we fully apologize! Spring Break was a lovely period of relaxation and endless drama watching, including a Kurosagi marathon! Although we haven't had a lot of time to go hunting, we did manage to sneak in a few shots last week! And when we say "sneak," we were really sneaking around ;) So here goes!



Spring Quarter began on April Fool's Day and with numerous scheduling issues, we finally managed to settle our classes this week. Here are some fun moments captured from Week 1 of Spring Quarter...




Here's Angel trying to express the creepy and scariness of the Green Library stacks that we try to avoid at all costs. We swear we didn't put this Caution tape in, we just happened to get lost in a restricted area...



Probably the only cool thing about the Green are these two-way stairways... Unfortunately, as Melissa was trying to set up the self-timer on the digital camera, a library employee walked by, staring at us suspiciously. He informed us that we needed to get permission to take pictures in the library. While we may have considered sneaking another in anyway, he continued to lurk near us for a few minutes, so we bolted :)









On a more fun note, Melissa accompanied fellow SF commuter Nick to the Burnham Brawl, to check out some Muay Thai Kickboxing action. Although this was a first for both, it proved to be a crazy and eye-opening experience. We cheered on our dubious T.A., Donna "Scarlett O'Hara" Winston, as she duked it out for 3 rounds. Unfortunately, she didn't come out victorious, but she put on one hell of a fight!


This event was sponsored by the Stanford Muay Thai Kickboxing club and the Thai-American Intercultural Society (THAIS). During intermission, musicians from THAIS performed some beautiful musical pieces.












Again, we apologize for the slow updates, but we hope you're all gonna stick with us as we continue our adventures! Stay tuned for more!

And we're off!

On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, we began our operation (or, daisakusen) by embarking into our first unknown territory -- the Engineering Quad.

Dodging dangerous bicycles outside Cubberley, and avoiding all tourists and (pretending to not act like one at the same time) as we crossed the Main Quad, the world of the engineers soon awaited us.

We must give kudos to Angel's high school and college classmate Chi for suggesting to meet for lunch at the Bytes Cafe in the David Packard Electrical Engineering Building. Next door to the Packard Building is his good ol' buddy, the Hewlett Teaching Center.

Bytes Cafe is a small restaurant on the first level of the Packard Building, which serves soups, salads, pizzas, and sandwiches. Of course, being the semi-vegetarian, Angel ordered the Boca burger with portobello mushrooms.

If you can't tell from Angel's expression, it looked and tasted really good!

After lunch, besides parting with Chi who had to go to class, we decided to take a parting shot with the two Engineering Buildings named after two famous engineers who collaborated together to create wonders in the technology world.

We decided to pay tribute to these leaders in technology....by whipping out Melissa's camera.

And so here it is:
Melissa in front of Hewlett Teaching Center, and Angel in front of Packard Electrical Engineering Building.


As you can tell, we were definitely not engineering school students.







Across the street stood Gates Computer Science building and a beautiful fountain (Angel likes fountains).











Our next stop before heading back to familiar territory was the Hoover Tower, whose presence looms high above all other Stanford buildings in its vicinity.


Since Stanford students can visit the observatory for free (and we like free stuff), we joined the tourists into the small elevator up fourteen flights to the top of the world...or rather, the top of the observation deck. There, the view was gorgeous.




There's CERAS, Meyer Library and a little bit of Cubberley!























There's the football field and other athletic facilities. And we see the Main Quad.









View of Encina Hall, Schwab Center, and the other dorms.






The blue in the fountain in front of Memorial Auditorium was just too beautiful for words!











Up in the observatory was also the carillion, played by a music professor once a week. The sad thing is, we never heard the music playing...either because we were in class or we were off campus. But the instrument looked really cool!




Cool bells, don't you think?
















Within Hoover Tower is several floors of libraries which archive millions of documents and prized possessions.


On the first floor were two rooms that had cultural artifacts and historical documents which belonged to Herbert Hoover and his wife. His wife studied Chinese characters and collected Belgium lace and Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. YAY for studying Chinese!








Our final destination on this trip included visiting a Herbert Hoover Memorial Plaza located adjacent to the Hoover Tower. The coolest monument was the sundial, which was very accurate!













Until next time!

The Beginnings...

It all started when Melissa didn't have food and we were stuck at our favorite fork in the road, also known as CERAS, Meyer Library and Sweet Hall. With no food and rumbling stomachs, the usual food hangout spots had lost its intrigue and appeal after seven months of the same thing. A light bulb turned on and we were drawn to Arbuckle Cafe at the Business school.

There, our brilliant plan was born. As commuters, we, Angel Yeh and Melissa Chan, realized we knew nothing about our campus. Was there more to Stanford than just CERAS, Little Tree, Axe&Palm, Tressider, Cubberley, Green Library and Moonbeam's? Thus began our journey to travel where no SUSE student has gone before...

Join us as we explore, taste, and experience all that Stanford has to offer!