Anh ChuAs a photography enthusiast, I love the ‘golden hour.’ It is the precious time around sunrise and sunset when sunlight diffuses evenly, leaving a warm golden blanket over the Earth. It is tempting to simply hold up the camera and snap infinite shots in the embrace of honey-sweet light rays.
It leaves you vying for escape, makes you want to rush to the countryside or climb up the highest building to savor the finest beauty
Not all places allow you to observe the golden hour though. With cities growing and pollution rising, sometimes (or most of the time) the sun simply refuses to be seen. All that is left to see is the dying amber sliding briefly over pollutant-ridden clouds or a flickering sunbeam behind skyscrapers. It leaves you vying for escape, makes you want to rush to the countryside or climb up the highest building to savor the finest beauty that our burning ball in space has to offer.
So you can imagine how absolutely moved I was when I set foot in San Francisco: it was beautiful. Despite the homelessness, the inequality, the dystopian economy, I still fell head over heels in love with the enchanting soft yellow glow of the city every late afternoon. Light bounced off glass buildings and giant towers of Financial District, glided over the leaves in front of the City Hall, and climbed up the high roads of Nob Hill to cast golden magic over the City by the Bay.
When I packed up and left San Francisco for my (seemingly) perpetual travel with Minerva, I thought there would be no place like it again. And yet, I met Seoul. As gentle as the city and the people of Seoul itself, the afternoon sunlight brought a flow of honey-sweetness creeping throughout the city, caressing everything in its calming embrace. And now, more and more do I wish for the snow to come and bring even more softness and glamor to the golden sunlight of Seoul.
In San Francisco (by Cyrus M22):
In San Francisco (by Anh M21):
Pier 39 and the lousy seals 
Hanna in 1412 Common Room 
Erin at Ocean Beach 
Near the piers – SF seaside areas are so precious 
Ocean Beach – start of school year 
In the Common Lounge 
An intersection on Market Street 
The City Hall Area 
Back to when Robin (my roommate) had two guitars 
Behind the UN Plaza where the Minerva statue stands 
On Market Street 
Katja in 1412 Common Room
In Seoul (by Anh M21):
The Seoul residence hall is on another beautiful hill 
In front of the Seoul residence hall – the sun coats everything in a warm yellow tone 
Looking out from a hillside road 
When we return from Gangnam on the 402 bus 
Banpo Hangang Park where Seoul Elevation closed off 
Lights bouncing off the glass surfaces of metropolitan Seoul 
Looking out from the window of the residence hall as amber lights slowly retreats from the sky 
The clouds in Seoul are super dramatic 
The end of an overcast day in Seoul 
The cross on top of the Haebangchon Church lights up all night