Caltech

Sayonara Suckers!

That's what most seniors keep saying to underclassmen in the last week of the spring term, but in all honestly I will miss Caltech.  My advice to those of you here and coming here in the fall:  always remember to enjoy your college life.  You know you are only going to have it once and this was something I did not fully realize and take advantage of until my junior year.  Remember to work hard and play hard and you will make the most of your experience here.  I don't know if anyone actually read this blog over the course of my sporadic posts.  I was much better at this when I was in Scotland.  Who knew senior year could be so hard up until the end?  I hope that if you have read what I have written, take advantage of the town.  Visit the beautiful things like the Huntington Gardens (remember to pre-register for the monthly free student day) and when you are old enough, have a night out on the town in Old Pas, there are some clubs and bars there too.  While it might not be Hollywood or the glamorous Los Angeles, it is time away from the academic stress of Caltech.  Good Luck to you all and remember to have fun time too.  Don't just pull all-nighters for sets!

If you have any questions on anything I have written about or other things to do in Pasadena, don't hesitate to email me, I would love to hear from you. 

All the best,

Angela

P.S. Don't forget to carry a camera around to capture the memories you make in the next few years.  I know I regret not doing it more.

If you've got no car, what else can you do?

The main problem with having to car in CA, especially the LA area, is that it is really hard to get anywhere.  You can't really go to Hollywood and you can't answer the questions your friends from high school ask about "living in LA".  I've given a few things for you to do while you are in Pasadena and I hope that you will check some of them out in your four years here.  The last two main places I would like to talk about in this blog are the Gamble House and the Norton Simon Museum, two places you can check out easily on the ARTS bus or a long walk.  Both are beyond Old Pas, but if you take the bus all the way to the end of Old Town, the walk is really short. 

The Gamble House
You may be thinking, what do I care about some random person's house.  That is what I thought my sophomore year when my friends asked me if I wanted to go visit it with them.  Most people may know it more as Doc's House from the film Back to The Future.  Yup!  There are a bunch of houses that were designed in by the Greenes in Pasadena, and this is the most famous.  If you are interested in architecture, it is a good place to go.  When I visited, we mostly just walked around the outside and browsed the wayyy to expensive gift shop without buying anything.  They do tours, but it is only Thurs. through Sun.  I can't remember if we missed the tour, or were just unwilling to pay.  Honestly, for us it was just the novelty of seeing "Doc's House" and for the amount they were charging, you could probably get into a pretty decent museum for a day.  For us, it was enough to just wander around the outside of the house.  It was a nice day and we just sat around the house and wandered the backyard.  Here are some pictures. 

This is probably the picture that has the best shot of the house that I have, where the roof isn't cut off. We were just chillin' and basking in the sun.  The guy in this photo was a friend of a friend visiting from London.  That was probably the real reason we trekked out randomly =)

 

Some how, there was some idea that we should indicate that we were at the Back to the Future house as Andy (second from right) called it so we decided to pose with our bodies, spelling out the initials of the movie BttF.  Can you tell?  I made a really bad "F" there on the end, but my friend Aimee made really good "B" on the left, don't you agree?

Warning: When you visit the Gamble House, make sure you bring a map or an iPhone with GPS because it is on a really small street that is not very obvious and so it can be really hard to find without a map.  We ended up wandering a bit in the area after getting off the bus before we actually found the place.  When I was looking through my pictures of this day, I smiled when I found this one of my friend Aimee posing with this awesome license plate we saw when we were lost

For more information on the Gamble House, you can visit their website here

The Norton Simon Museum
I would be lying if I said I actually spent a lot of time here.  To be honest, the only time I went is when I accompanied a friend on a visit when she had to look at some paintings and write about them for her art history class (Yes, they have them at Caltech, even though they are few and far between).  However, that does not mean the place is not worth your time if you are interested in art.  When I was there it looked small, but from their website it appears to be a very large collection with works from many different periods. The building is also very nice looking with a lot of open space inside, so even though it is a small place, it feels like a very nice museum.  The best part is: its FREE with your student ID.  I regret not spending a day here looking at the collection in my four years at Caltech, which means you should take advantage of this awesome opportunity that is so close to Caltech

According to their website:
"The Norton Simon Museum is known around the world as one of the most remarkable private art collections ever assembled. Over a 30-year period, 20th-century industrialist Norton Simon (1907–1993) amassed an astonishing collection of European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century and a stellar collection of South and Southeast Asian art spanning 2,000 years. Modern and Contemporary Art from Europe and the United States, acquired by the former Pasadena Art Museum, also occupies an important place in the Museum’s collections.

The Museum houses more than 12,000 objects, roughly 1,000 of which are on view in the galleries and gardens. Three temporary exhibition galleries feature rotating installations of artworks not on permanent display. The Museum’s online collections database presents a portion of the objects in the permanent collection, and is continually being updated."

For more information on the Norton Simon Museum, you can visit their website here

confessions of a shopaholic part deux

Hi all, sorry for the delay on the second part of this post.  I was quite busy recently looking for an apartment in Georgetown, where I will be next year and it is quite a relief to have found a place.  I have no idea if people are actually reading this, so I have been a bit lax and sporadic in my postings.  Anyway, onto the part about Old Pasadena,

Old Pasadena is the main place people go for nice shopping and nice food.  I guess, the nicer date would be here, within walking distance or bus distance.  You can take the Pasadena ARTS bus to get to here from the Caltech area.  There are two bus stops near Tech, one at Chester and Del Mar and one at Wilson and Del Mar.  Take the 10 line to Old Town.  The buses are not very frequent, after all we are not exactly in NYC, They are usually every 20 min.  To get to Old Town, make sure you are on the north side of the street (not the side Tech is on) I made the mistake of getting on the bus on the wrong side of the street the first time I took it and ended up taking a much longer route to get there, including a driver break, where I basically just sat on the bus while the driver parked and took a smoke and grabbed some food to eat...  The ARTS bus makes multiple stops in Old Pasadena.  Once you pass the Paseo area, it is pretty much Old Pas.  To return to Tech, the bus stops are on Green Street, which runs parallel to Colorado Blvd (where most restaurants and shops are) on the south side.  The bus is only 50cents.  Sometimes there are promotions.  I think Caltech made some kind of appreciation week and if you showed your ID you could get on the bus for free.  I think it was a one time thing though, so don't count on a repeat.  If it does, the school should email you about it, most likely through the directory, which may not be that helpful because after the first two months most students have figured out how to filter those emails out.  For more info on the buses, like schedules, see the ARTS bus website here.  

Shopping in Old Pas:
There are a variety of places to shop here.  Some are more expensive than others.  For example, I don't expect many people will be doing regular shopping at Tiffany and Co, but I expect many people will be popping into H&M.  Here are a few favorites.

Barnes and Noble: If you are against Borders for some reason, want to have Starbucks while you browse a book store, or simply have a gift card for BN, there is one on Old Pasadena.  I think the store speaks for itself.  It looks like every other BN I have been in, with its Starbucks Cafe. 

Urban Outfitters:  This shop has to be one of the biggest clothing stores in Old Pas.  There are two floors and if you are into the hipster style this place has, the store will be a feeding frenzy.  The first floor is women's stuff and the second floor is men's and furniture.  There was once this SUPER comfy dish chair there that I loved, but didn't want to lay the money down for it, even after it went on sale, it was still too pricey for me.  One of my best friends absolutely loves this store, but again it is pricey if you are a cheapo like me.  Luckily, there is usually a very large sale section that can give you really good deals.  I once for a pair of jeans for $9.99.  Of course after the 8.25% tax it was much more, but what can you do, living in NJ spoils a girl.  By the way, tax in Pasadena is now 9.25%, just in case you are from out if state, it recently went up.  I have had plenty of friends that have found great finds in the sale section. 

Forever21: I honestly think that this is the biggest store in Old Pasadena.  It isn't on Colorado, Blvd, but because it is in this huge building, you can't miss it if you are in Old Pas.  It is next to 21 Choices, the frozen yogurt place.  This is a good cheap place for girls to find party tops and cool accessories.  The problem is there doesn't really seem to be any sort of real organization, at least, not that I can figure out.  I kind f end up just browsing by color.  Usually I look for black party tops (black makes everyone look thinner!) and there are racks of the stuff here.  The store is also two stories and accessories take up about 1/2 of the first floor and one could honestly spend all day here.  Have fun girls!

H&M: I never really understood H&M until I studied abroad in Edinburgh Scotland and realized that I couldn't afford to shop anywhere else.  This is a small shop, but they recently added a small men's section, so guys, don't say I never mentioned places for you to shop.  The Usual.  The fun stuff is usually on the upper part of the store, but you can often find really nice things on sale here.  They have a great mix of party stuff and business casual.  I am a big fan of the accessories here.  I recently bought some fake flower clips here for pretty cheap and almost bought a straw hat to wear instead of my commencement cap.  Thank goodness I didn't because it rained on commencement =(

Banana Republic: The typical shop with both men's and women's sections.  I have had a hard time finding good deals here off the sales rack.  I had better luck at home, maybe you will have better luck. 

Zara: It opened within the last year and it was supposed to be a big deal.  I first heard of Zara when I was in the UK, because it is a European chain.  I was under the impression that the place was supposed to be like H&M, reasonably priced fashions for young people.  I actually had a hard time finding things here.  On average, it is definitely more expensive than H&M, with similar styles.  I have mostly shopped the sales section, which is quite extensive.  Unfortunately, a lot of they clothes don't fit me that well.  Maybe I have a weird Asian body shape.  I only bought an over sized sweater there once, on sale.  There is also a large, very nice men's section here though. 

Ella Bella: Great shop for accessories.  They have all sorts of stuff, earrings, handmade hair accessories, etc for good prices.  The funniest thing was the huge racetrack hat they have.  They are fun to prance around in and pretend to be rich enough to be betting on horses. 

J.Crew: Ahhhh... I became a big fan of J.Crew after going to Caltech.  Again, too much for me to pay retail, but they have great sales!  A lot of times they will have an extra 40% off the sales rack so you can manage to get jeans and tops for $10-20, but again, it is all luck.  They also have great accessories, shoes and the awesome "magic wallet" that, as a person that doesn't like to be held down my a handbag, lets me carry cash, plastic and my ID in my back pocket.  Great women's section and men's section.  I absolutely love the ties here, but they usually end up being really pricey, even off the sales rack.  One of my friends found a great dress that she wore for ASCIT formal off the sales rack here.  Also, J.Crew does 15% discounts for students if you just show your ID.  Just another way to save money!

American Apparel: I have no idea why people love American Apparel so much.  Most of the stuff is really simple and is really expensive.  If you are looking for dresses, tights, and other dance type stuff, you can find it here.  The only thing I have ever bought here is a belt.  One thing to note: if you are just looking for plain American Apparel t-shirts you should check out the screening house on Hill.  They have started to stock American Apparel for screening, but you can just buy then and not screen them if you want.  I bought a few there, for the girl's fit, they are only $6.  I am not sure about guys, but I think they are $7. 

Abercrombie and Fitch: There is a shop in Old Pas, again, I have no idea why they are so popular, because I think they are overpriced and I am not at all attracted to their advertising, but again, if it is your cup of tea, there it is. 

Armani Exchange: I just think their style is really strange and is mostly hit or miss.  I have never bought anything here, but if you are into their clothing, you may want to check it out. 

Victoria Secret: Girls, if you are like me, the limiting factor for laundry is underwear, not clothes, so you can pick up lots of underclothes here and put off laundry for yet another week...  Typical shop.  Maybe a good place to stop by for an Apache costume??

Kate Spade: Again, this place is like Tiffany & Co, pricey and not ideal for most students.  However, the nice thing is that they do 10% off for students, so if there something you must get, you can show your student ID and save some money.  Unfortunately, in Pasadena it means you are basically just shaving off tax.  Sorry girls!  Good news is, if you go on the katespade.com and go to the store locator, you can get a 20% off coupon until the end of Sept.  So you you just have to have that handbag, you might be able to afford it...

These are most of the apparel shops that I have been to and can remember.  There are some boutique-y places that are too much for me, so I don't go in or don't show there, but if you can afford it, then by all means. 

Other stores in Old Pasadena:

Apple Store: Yes, if you love Macs, iPods, iPhones and other apple products, this is your fantasy.  The shop is actually pretty plain, not like the ones in NYC or SF, but it gets the job done.  If your mac is giving you trouble, at least there is somewhere close you can get it fixed. 

Frozen Yogurt: Take your pick of 21 Choices, Pinkberry, and Squeeze and Scoop.  They are all pretty similar in the sense, they all serve frozen yogurt with toppings.  The difference is Squeeze and Scoop is the only one that is by weight.  There is a place that is also closer to campus called Cherry on Top.  Good for a date, or in my case, for girl's night out.

Other places in Pasadena:

I forgot to mention a few other places you might want to check out in Pasadena.  If you are into larger commercial bookstores like Borders and BN, there is also a Vroman's bookstore.  This is the place to go to for some hard to find books and some reasonably famous book signings.  The one time I really browsed the shop, there was a poster for Neil Gaiman's book signing.  Yes, for the graphic novel readers, the writer for brilliant Sandman Chronicles, for the book readers, the author of American Gods, and for the moviegoers, the author of the book Stardust was adapted from.  I am a huge fan, but was disappointed that I could not make the signing because I was out of town. 

Movies:  In my previous post I mentioned two of the movie theatres in Pasadena, the Paseo and the Playhouse for big studio productions and independent films.  If you are cheap and can wait to see films, there is a theatre that shows films that have been out for a while at discount prices, $2-3 dollars I think.  I know it is definitely under $5.  This is where I saw Iron Man a second time in the middle of the summer with a girlfriend.  Great for catching the movie that you wanted to see, but ran out of time at the main theatre because you were working.  Yes, that happens...

It's been a long post and I hope it has been helpful.  Let me know if you want to know a particular thing about Pasadena and I'll try and answer it. 

Future posts: The Norton Simon Museum and the Back to the Future House

"confessions of a shopaholic" part 1

I'm sorry there have not been any posts in a while.  I ended up being totally swamped with trying to finish senior year and clearing out my room in time for housing.  As I was moving my stuff home, I realized how much clothes I managed to accumulated at Caltech.  My mother even commented that she had no idea how I was going to fit all my clothes in my closet at home.  I've dedicated this post to how you can also accumulate way to much clothes in your four years at Tech, especially if you use shopping as therapy for the academic difficulties. Don't say the title of this post didn't warn you about what is to come. 

There are a couple of big shopping places in Pasadena, South Lake Avenue, Paseo, and Old Pasadena.  Granted, Lake has more restaurants than anything else, it is good if you only have an hour or so off to browse the shops.  A couple popular places to hit:

On Lake Ave:
1. Borders bookstore: As soon as you walk off campus via San Pasqual in the western direction, you will hit Borders.  It is a good sized shop with a decent selection of books, if you are looking for the popular kind.  Most students end up joining the rewards program there because they send you coupons for 30-40% off ever couple of weeks.  That is how I managed to amass a bunch of novels and DVDs that had nothing to do with my studies.  The nicest thing about Borders is that many people find it a good study place, like a coffee shop.  There are tables and a coffee shop on the first floor and you can find many people catching a cup of coffee while they are studying or doing homework.  You can be there for hours!  On the second floor there are couches that many people quickly snatch up.  You can usually find people reading magazines and books here that they have not paid for.  Not entirely kosher, but you know people that do it. 

2. Coffee Bean, Starbucks, or Peet's coffee: If you just want to do your studying in a plain old coffee shop there are three in close proximity to Caltech.  The Starbucks is at the corner of California Blvd and Lake Ave. and probably has the most indoor space and tables.  There are usually a lot of students working here and young people.  Across the street is Peet's Coffee for people that like smaller franchises and bagels.  This shop is connected to Noah's Bagels, so a lot of people stop in for a bagel and coffee.  Yum, I love the jalapeno-cheddar bagels.  My favorite coffee shop is Coffee Bean, which is right next to Borders.  It has a very large outdoor portion and a small indoor portion.  Great for the California sunshine. 

3. Macy's: There are two of these in Pasadena, I don't know who thought it would be profitable, but it is true.  There is one on Lake and one at the Paseo.  This is the typical department store.  Lots of expensive stuff, unless you troll the sales rack like I do.  I managed to get a pair of boots for $20 and a pair of Seven Jeans for $55.  That is what I call a bargain. 

4. Anthropologie: This is one of my favorite stores and I never got hooked on it until I came to Pasadena.  In fact I had never heard of it before I went to Caltech.  Unfortunately, it is also one of the most expensive places to shop.  As a result, almost everything I have bought here has been off the sales rack.  This is a women's only shop in terms of apparel, but they also sell housewares and furniture.  Nothing a student could afford, of course, but sometimes it is nice to look.  It is located near Lake Ave. and Del Mar.  Anthtro is a great store because they have such interesting decor and unique clothes.  I always get compliments on the stuff I have managed to scrape off the sales rack. 

5. Men's Warehouse: I think this is where a lot of guys rent their tuxs for ASCIT formal.  I hear they have good deals.  I know a lot of guys that have bought different ties there.  That's all I know.  Sorry guys!

1. Paseo:
Pacific Theatres:  I don't actually know the name of this theatre because we always just called it the Paseo.  It usually has all the big releases.  If you want the more arthouse or indie films you can hit up the playhouse theatre a couple of blocks east.  This is also where Caltech rents out a couple of theatres in the spring for ASCIT movie, which is basically a free movie for undergrads.  It has a reputation for being a really bad movie every year, but this year finally broke that trend with Star Trek.  They have student discounts, but as usual, day showings are cheaper.  Also, since Pasadena is really close to LA, outside the theatre there are usually these people that seem really sketchy and ask if you want to see a free movie.  The first few times I was creeped out, but then I realized it is pretty normal.  These free tickets are for movies that are coming out and the film people want to know what people think of the film or what parts they should cut.  It is pretty cool because you get to see a film before it is put out.  Unfortunately, you do have to fill out a survey at the end, but if you are lucky, the movie will be awesome and you won't care.  This is how I saw Rendition, with Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, and Jake Gyllenhaal. 

2. DSW shoes: Tons of shoes as usual.  Both men and womens styles. 

3. Mac or Sephora: both of these shops can be found at the Paseo for all your makeup needs. 

Other shops: There are loads of other shops here including Lucky Brand Jeans and a second Macy's.  There is a  shop called Reference that is a bit like Forever21, but you can find that in Old Pasadena. 

This seems to be a long post of my shopping habits, but the title of the post should have clued you in.  I'll check in later with shopping and food in Old Pasadena. 

shooting animals... of the 2D variety

One of the fun things you can do in Pasadena, if you can drag yourself out of bed at 8am on a Saturday morning, is head down to the archery range.  The Pasadena Roving Archers is a club in Pasadena that has an outdoor range and on Saturdays they have beginner classes.  The nice thing is that if it is your first time, then the lesson is free.  It is $5 after that, but free if you are a club member, and as a college student it is only $15, well worth the investment.  I've had difficulty dragging people down to the range with me to have some fun because most people are unwilling to get up that early in the morning.  It is a really fun thing to do on a Saturday morning, but some advice if you decide to go.  The equipment that they lend out for beginners in the Saturday class runs out pretty quickly and it is first come first serve, so you should get there at 8.20am or so to make sure you get into the class.  For Thanksgiving, there is also a turkey shoot, where first place takes home a turkey, second a chicken and third bacon.  I took my stack there for my Robin Hood Ditch Day stack and got them a small private lesson with one of my coaches.  Be sure to check it out!

The funny thing about my senior year is that I actually wake up earlier on the weekends than on the weekdays for classes.  Since I picked up archery, I've had to wake up at 8am to go to the archery range on Saturday mornings for coaching and on Sunday mornings for general shoots.  Yes, I wake up that early, even when I have been partying at until 2am in the morning.  The prime example of this is this past weekend.  A group of students managed to organize a party this past Saturday where we had DJ Earworm come down from San Francisco to DJ a party.  You may recognize him from his mashup, the United State of Pop.   

Anyway, to get back on topic, after the massively awesome party, I had to crawl out of bed at 8am to go down to the range. It was a special day because there was a 2D animal round, where I was shooting picture of animals.  Somehow this is supposed to simulate hunting.  It was a pretty fun experience, since most of the shooting I have experience with is at target faces.  I was shooting a bit blind because I just got new arrows this week and did not have sight markings for them.  As a result, I was happy to hit the bonus spot in the "kill" zone of this deer.  I think this was the from around 47 yards or so. 

 

Of course, I also nailed the next guy in the same spot.  When you get to the end of the shoot, the last animal is a picture of a bear and you get an extra arrow to shoot a fish that is in his mouth from about 56 yards.  If you hit it, you get to sign the mark and get bragging rights.  I missed it by an inch!  I was so close, yet so far.  

One of the other things I would like to disclose is how I was able to buy my own equipment to shoot at the range.  It is no secret that equipment is expensive.  I was able to afford a very nice setup when I entered the Don Shepard Essay Contest at Caltech that gives up to $1000 for something that is not academic related.  Last year, I wrote an essay on my passion for archery and the 15 hours/week I spent on it while I was studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh (one of the best clubs in Britain!).  I was awarded $1000 in prize money, which I then spent on equipment.  This is just one example of the many ways undergrads have a chance to get free money from Caltech.  In this case, you don't even have to have amazing grades or research, you just have to have a non-academic passion. 

roses are red...

One of the nicest places in Pasadena you can visit is The Huntington, a nearby library, art gallery, and botanical gardens.  Most people I know have only been to the gardens, which are absolutely beautiful.  They have all different types, from desert plant life to a Japanese garden complete with huge koi.  I thought the fish on campus were big, but they don't compare to these guys. 

A few weeks ago I was at the Huntington for an English class, British Romantic Literature, with Professor Kevin Gilmartin.  He got us into the library to see some very old books from the period we were studying.  We were able to see original William Blake watercolor prints and first edition Jane Austen novels.  There was also an introduction on the method scholars believe Blake used to make his engravings.  It was amazing to be able to see the original works in person.  The amount of detail in the engraving and the colors blew me away.  There are few classes that go on trips like this.  The last one I went on was with my Irish Literature class two years ago, also with Gilmartin. There are some art history classes that go on trips to the art galleries and other English classes that may get you into seeing old books, but I haven't taken any others.  When you get here and it is time to fill those upper division humanities requirements, I highly recommending asking upperclassmen what classes go on trips to the Huntington.  Not only do you get to see things that normal visitors don't get to see, but you also get a free pass into the gardens for the rest of the day. 

There is a free student day every month, but you have to register at least a month in advance, so it isn't a last minute decision you can make without spending money.  I'd say it is a very nice place to take a girl on a date *winkwink*

 

My classmates, Carolyn and Pranay, and I sitting on a fountain with tons of lily pads

 

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...  (This rose actually smelt really good)



Bee!  Plus the yellow-peach blend of this flower was really pretty


The bridge at the Japanese garden.  It was too bad no one is allowed to walk on the bridge.  Although, when I saw it, the first thought was "Wow, that bridge is steep!  Is it even practical?"


Giant Koi!  This was probably one of the biggest guys I saw.  Someone commented that there were probably no small fish because the big guys like this were eating them.  I am doubtful...


In case you were thinking about eating those seeds...

being in two places at the same time

They say that you can't be in two places at once.  I figured I would start this blog off with how you can be in two places at once and some times even more.  

Because of our proximity to LA, one of the things you will run into as a student at Caltech is the film crews.  This is kind of fun the first few times they block your way to class, but it gets old when the fake students block your way to class or cut you off as you are dashing to turn in a problem set on time.  If you are fans of the show or movie that is getting filmed, you might be able to get autographs and photos with the stars.  It all depends on your luck.  So the first fun place in Pasadena I'll be introducing is Caltech itself.  So when we say welcome to Caltech, the film crews have already told you " Welcome to CULA, Berkeley, and Cyprus Rhodes".  

Although the show Numb3rs has become known as THE show that is filmed on campus, visitor's don't realize that they have also seen your beautiful campus in Legally Blonde, The OC, and Greek.  Most recently Entourage filmed on campus and some students that built an Entourage themed stack for ditch day got some of their t-shirts signed.  Yup, turns out, even if you don't go into LA much, sometimes it comes right to you.  

Here are some scenes you might remember from TV and film with their real life campus counter parts

What you remember it from: The opening scenes of Legally Blonde
Where it really is: In front of Milikan Library

What you remember it from: Ryan visiting Berkeley on The OC
Where it really is: The Gene Pool in front of the Beckman Institute (Where I work!)

What you remember it from: Ashleigh getting lost on Greek
Where it really is: In front of Parsons-Gates