Yukai Daiko at UCLA

Fred is a 4th year Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics major (class of 2011 woot woot!) and very much enjoying his second year in Yukai. When he is not behind the drum, he is often found in lab trying to make bacterial colonies glow different colors for fun. He loves spam, tempura ice cream, vitamin water and helium. His ideal world would involve telekinetic matter manipulation, limb regeneration, real life Pokemon and an unlimited supply of toilet paper.

Peter is a fourth year Electrical Engineering major at UCLA. This is his second year playing taiko. He enjoys living out his last year at UCLA in apartments, but wishes he didn't have to always cook and clean for himself as it consumes much time and effort that could be spent on playing taiko! He has a strong appreciation for the visual and musical arts that matches his passion for his major. When not playing taiko, he builds rockets, cooks food, plays video games, studies, practices the trumpet, and hangs out with friends! He looks forward to improving his skills as a percussion player and looks forward to a fun and exciting year in Yukai Daiko.

Elise is part five-year old girl/part squirrel stuck in a college student's body. This explains why Elise is often seen tripping, acting oblivious, jumping up and down, twitching, and squeaking (actually that's just her voice). If Elise isn.t playing taiko, Elise is studying while dancing, singing, exercising, sleeping, and walking. Yes, Elise likes to multi-task. Elise likes awkward jokes and is super pro at making anything awkward. Oh, and Elise also likes to speak in the third-person.

Jaclyn can be accurately described as indecisive, forgetful, and easily entertained. She is sometimes likened to a cat because she is always hungry, constantly in need of a nap, and highly averse to getting wet. She loves all aspects of music - dancing, singing, listening to a wide variety of music, and playing instruments (especially taiko!). Outside of Yukai, she can be found fulfilling her passion for dance with VSU Modern, returning to her cultural roots with ACA Lion Dance, or studying the the fascinating field of neuroscience. Although she is shy, she loves to meet new people. She also enjoys good food and trying new restaurants. Stuffed animals, boba, fruit, and friends are essential ingredients to her happiness. In her ideal world, Jaclyn would own a domesticated dinosaur/dragon, be fluent in multiple languages (this includes being able to communicate with animals), have the power to freeze time indefinitely, and be able to use teleporation as her preferred method of transportation. This year, Jaclyn is excited to learn many new things and hopes improve herself not only in taiko, but in all parts of her life.

Danny is a happy drummer thoroughly enjoying the Yukai experience. When not playing taiko, Danny can often be found thinking about taiko, watching taiko, or hanging out with his taiko friends. Danny's outside hobbies include breaking the fourth wall, squaring the circle, and proving that all natural numbers are interesting.

Shake 'n Bake! Steve is a 4th year chemical engineering major, and this is his third and final year in Yukai. He likes to listen to Lady Danville and has mancrushes on drummers with beards. (See Matt Frankel and Jack Conte)

Amanda is a third year EBE major (not EEB) and is thoroughly enjoying her first year as a member of Yukai. When she's not being a taiko ninja, you can usually find Amanda performing amazing feats of balance on her slackline, watching shows on Hulu, or reading a book from her bucket reading list. She is also quite addicted to watching movies and drinking boba.

Mingja is a first year who is fascinated by her new life here at UCLA that has been made amazing by her eccentric floormates and new Yukai family. She passes her time studying like a super-nerd, lurking the world on Facebook and obsessing over Korean pop music with anyone who is remotely willing to listen. She loves to be curled up in bed with nothing to do but watch Asian dramas and Youtube. She looks forward to learning tons about taiko and actually getting a sense of rhythm...

Marty cannot believe how quickly the past 2 years in Yukai have flown by! Working with Steph as the directors of Yukai Daiko this year, Marty is eager to serve all his beautiful fellow Yukai members and to watch each of them continue to grow as taiko players, as people, and as his beloved pals. Marty hails from Glendale, CA, home of the original Porto's Bakery! When he's not talking about Yukai, Marty would love to have an honest conversation with you about God, the Bible, and the gospel! After watching the movie Cloverfield in theaters with his man-friend Spencer, Marty made up this quote, which is completely random and irrelevant to the rest of this biography, but because he wants to finish with a cool, profound, original quote, here it is: "Better to die in love than to live in regret." Yes!

Stephanie, a member of the always awesome Generation 4, is currently in the midst of her fourth year with Yukai and a directorship she shares with the supa cool Marty the Fong. When not in class, doing homework, or playing taiko, she can be found chasing after the elusive entity popularly known as "sleep," snacking, drinking copious amounts of hot tea and mostly milk coffee drinks, getting hooked on awesome shows like Doctor Who, Psych, and Buffy, or listening to bands with interesting names like Pink Martini, Apple Jelly, and sometimes, Infected Mushroom. Despite her dabbling in other instruments, she thoroughly enjoys her life as a percussionist and consequently, her inability to have idle hands. As it is her last year with Yukai, she wishes to thank absolutely everyone in the group who has made her life at UCLA so spectacular and unforgettable, especially for this thoroughly busy, but very exciting, upcoming year.

Amy is a fourth year WAC Dance major and is thoroughly going bonkers with her crazy schedule, but she's loving every second of it. This mad schedule consists of lecture/dance classes, rehearsals for The Chinese Cultural Dance Club, drumming practices with Yukai Daiko, rehearsals with her salsa group outside of UCLA, and interning for an upcoming festival. Don't worry, she does eat and sleep. She loves to eat and for a tiny person she can eat copious amounts; it's essential in being a member of Yukai. Not the amount of food being eaten but just loving food in general. . . . you know what she means!! She is addicted to tiramisu and anything mango-related. Amy is ridiculously happy and blessed to be a part of the Yukai family!

Michael is a third year law student who is grateful for Yukai Daiko's grad-student-friendly admittance policies. He has been playing taiko for most of his adolescent and young adult life (although, he insists, it doesn't show), including a four-year tenure with UCSD's Asayake Taiko. He believes that good food is second only to good company, and has been known to venture far and wide in search of both. The past two years have been particularly transformative for Michael's style of playing and outlook on the art of taiko, and he would like to dedicate his meager portion of webspace to acknowledging his Yukai brothers and sisters that helped make his experience an unequivocally positive one.

He speaks Japanese
He likes to play taiko, too
He is a huge nerd

Loraine is a sophomore English major at UCLA. Her newfound hobbies of the year include cooking, getting exercise, and eating healthy. While cooking remains a mysterious art yet to be mastered, Loraine enjoys the kitchen as much as any 50s housewife. Even after all those finger-burning, yolk-breaking incidents...Riding a bike in Westwood has its ups and downs, and Loraine has angered many a driver while on the road (sorry, guys). Jamming on her honkey-tonk piano, watching How I Met Your Mother, and of course, Yukai Friday night dinners keep Loraine happy, well-fed, and entertained.

Florence is a second year Mathematics/Applied Science major and a second year Yukai NOLDIE of Generation 6 (OMG!!!! She is NOT a newbie ANYMORE~~~ T_T). And yes, she is still a math major only because she is so INDECISIVE!? NAH!!! She just can.t ditch math although sometimes she really wants to burn the math homework. Anyway, hopefully she can find a way out combining math and life science and SLOWLY working towards that direction. So until she finds a career, her life will be about taiko, orchestra, acting, part-time job, studying, eating and sleeping.

Ben is oh so blessed to be around the incredible people here in Yukailand. Life sucked before Yukai!

Shake 'n Bake! Kristin is proud to be reppin G5, hollaback yo, for her third year in Yukai. She has been known to have a one-armed self-portrait superpower to fit a whopping twelve people in a single frame. She likes to talk in accents, especially southern. Everyday she must make the difficult decision of ice cream or bacon, for one mustn't consume both in a one day. Three things Kristin can't live without: her ipod, desserts, and sleeping in until the late afternoon.

Sam is a third-year English student who loves to read, write and play taiko. When she's not at practice or in her room, she can usually be found in the Daily Bruin office, where she works as the Science and Health editor. Sam also likes playing basketball, going on adventures to new parts of Los Angeles, Harry Potter and Stonehenge.

Hotaru is a 3rd year psychobiology major who is whole heartedly enjoying her 2nd year playing taiko with Yukai. Times when she's not practicing or hanging out with her Yukai peeps, she can be found doing research in her psychology lab, working at the graduation store, or loving her job as an Resident Assistant. Oh, and can't forget her life revolves around the MCAT right now!

Larry is a first year graduate student in Ethnomusicology. Aside from playing the taiko drums, he also plays the violin, viola, erhu, gaohu & the gong ageng. Larry's number one passion is eating! The only way to fully understand him is to have a meal with him. Some of his favorite foods include: rice, congee, cabbage kimchi, edamame, radish kimchi, seaweed, raw cow meat from pusan, bibimbap, pork dumpling, sushi, takoyaki, makgeolli, curry, ddokbokee, soon dae, oemook gook mul, red bean buns, roast pork buns, bubble tea with jelly, kimbap, pajeon, shrimp, clam, oyster, salmon, fish balls (0_0), duck feet, pig belly, tofu, stinky tofu, roast duck, frog legs, crab...

Arata is one of the member of new G7. Yukai's only native Japanese member who was born in Japan and stay in the United States as an international student. Transferring from Palomar College in San Diego, he is majoring Sociology and junior now. Inspired by Yukai's dynamic performance and strong team commitment, Arata is starting his new career as a new Yukai member.

Tracy is a first year PreBusiness Economics major and a proud newbie of Yukai's G7. Coming from Chicago, she is loving the weather in Los Angeles. However, she occasionally misses her deep-dish pizza. Besides playing taiko, she loves to travel, eat, and run. On her spare time, she can be found napping, eating froyo, running the UCLA perimeter route, or watching episodes of House, Psych, and Castle on Hulu.

Stephen is a second year mechanical engineering major. He's an enigma. He's a man of few words. Hence this short bio.