Joseph Chen

Lisbon is home to the outlet where the Tagus River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The red bridge is the Ponte 25 de Abril, starkly resembling the Golden Gate Bridge. As for the other pictured bridge, the more industrial-looking gray one, was built to alleviate traffic from the Ponte 25 de Abril and is considered the longest bridge in Europe (second only to Russia’s Crimean Bridge).

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

while in Lisbon, we were bombarded with the amount of art on the building tiles. it turned out they were azulejos, an ornamental art form constituting a monumental part of Spanish and Portuguese architecture, but also functional in aiding temperature control in homes. we were warned online that these tiles in Lisbon were often stolen and sold in the street markets, which was helpful in helping prevent us from encouraging to this destructive black market.

they were honestly quite beautiful, and i took quite a few snaps of them; here’s ten!

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

with only 3 useable hours of daylight in dublin—the remainder lost to work, transit, and forgetfulness—i took 35 photos, 6 of which made this final cut. unedited of course. i still have not learned how to edit.

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

with photography, i really just do snapshots: quick, pretty spontaneous, and with only some consideration of composition. still getting the hang of it despite its simplicity, but curious if i’ll dive deeper into photography or keep it as such!

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

our trip barely just overlapped a small set of plum trees blossoming; gorgeous aren’t they?

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

coming upon these shrines, we shared a common curiosity of religion in japan. i know there are definitely religious groups, and the more outspoken ones have made their way into my news feed here and there. however, these shrines felt communal and respected ubiquitously, not tied to a specific group within the country. i had initially and correctly associated the shrines mainly with Shinto, but i wasn’t well-informed enough about Shinto to explain what it was. but, i just did a bit of reading to refresh on it. Shinto’s the indigenous spirituality of japan, revolving around nature, but more specifically supernatural entities called kami that are believed to inhabit all things. this tradition today remains very imbedded into japanese culture, media, and lifestyles, and shrines continue to serve as local gathering grounds to commune, celebrate, express, seek, forgive, pray, and wish. gabi and i love visiting them, not only to get unique omamoris (お守り in japanese; they’re protective charms), but also to have a change to appreciate their beauty and intentions.

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

surprised gabi with a trip to the boonies of fukuoka to pick super cute “stwoobweries”. little did i know that my grand plan of calling a taxi to and from the bus stop was futile from the start. there was no taxis there. no uber. no go. no didi. nada… we walked, in the sun, in the sticks, an hour and a half, round-trip, and waited patiently for the singular bus—our one and only lifeline back to urban civilization— that served the area… mind you, this was after i’ve been up since midnight, a whole 14 hours prior, working remotely. what a sobering realization that was, but gabi was a trooper as much as i was and we survived.

photos were a little overexposed as it was pretty dang bright out: the singular sunny and clear day of a rainy week. not sure how to best adjust my camera to adapt to it, but i shall learn for next time!

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra)

in berkeley, RRR stands for Reading, Review, and Recitation, which is the week after classes end and before finals when students focus on studying, reviewing course material, finishing papers or projects, and attending optional review sessions. typically, you do a bit of that and also a good bit of trips, adventures, parties, and other fun.

after a recent development that was a bit of a downer for one of us, it became prudent for gabi and i to embark on a post-grad “RRR”-esque in paris: studying for mcat (her) + working (me) while enjoying the sights and seeing a few friends! it was fun, our apartment was adorable (6th floor with only a cramped, uneven staircase), and she brought back vacuum-sealed butter after seeing katia, erin, and becca doing the same…

ricoh gr iiix (royal supra recipe)

poland, all in all, was a wonderful and affordable trip. would visit again! three notes:

• milk bars were great (they’re government-subsidized food eateries w/ a bunch of traditional Polish food) but i specifically liked this one the most by far in terms of value, quality, and offerings)
• the museums were all really informative and valuable experiences, although accurately harrowing in their content
• hanashi omakase cocktail bar in krakov was an absolute blast, delicious cocktails and amazing bartenders

ricoh gr iiix iphone 16 pro (singular photo, figure out which!)

here’s some snaps of gabi and i while we struggle with the concept of winter and snow after many years in sunny california

ricoh gr iiix