sophia’s travel by night

sitting in an internet/gaming place in bangkok, sumkumvit area to b exact. getting online myself, sitting next to me is this boy. how old do u think he is? he's playing GRAND THEFT AUTO! and very good at the violence too! shouldn't he b home or outdoors playing something more innocent? less violent?

well, the day (sat, dec 9) b4 i leave for taiwan, i had a full scheduled day. first, i had to make it to korean town in LA to pick up my taiwan passport b4 it closes. someone ther recognizes my father's name... then, i made a mad dash to the children's hospital, as a volunteer, thru disney channel, decorating for their annual x'mas party for teens and their parents. (noon to 4pm)it was fun to decorate a x'mas tree (my only one ths yr) and lite up the party. thnx to my decorating partners sean and denny. after this, denny and i decided to attend the UglyCon opening. special event at the GR2 gallery. damn, ther's a line of ppl, some said tht they've been ther since 5 am, to b sure to b first 25 ppl to get in n hv the free gifts. i'm not tht crazy about these characters, didn't even kno'em actually. except we're here n wasted the time to wait,... so we continue to wait. the whole process of getting the limited hand-made plushes. they'r not cheap...

wow, my sister's boys have grown even taller! if that is possible. and a bit wilder. i'm baby-sitting them for the weekend (they're in bali) and just this morning and afternoon is enough to drive me insane! morning was the worst, cuz i had my little brother to deal with tht was horrible too. he's another brat.... was sooooooooo tired decided to stay home n rest on a friday nite.

almost ready to take off! but... looking at my tix... why did i buy air canada n hv to transit in the middle of the nite in vancouver? nevermind, gotta finish packing. ths time, because of thailand, i need to pack both winter n summer stuff.

wonder if ther's a major difference now tht i've edited down to 1/2 the frame amt.

so i've arrived back in newport, oc, california, after spending loads of times on the plane, at the airports, going backwards in time. left early morning to airport, due to heavy fog, left 2 hrs after (nearly 1pm, starving, should've remember to bring a french sandwich onboard, much better than plane food) anyway, by the time plane landed in chicago, it's 4pm chicago time, but nearly midnite in paris. i'm still travelling on nov 30th. ther's so many ppl at chicago airport. stuck. playing musical gates. talking to stranger. i talked to an IT guy who's stuck ther trying to go home to miami. very interesting man. reading similar books as i do. we swiched gates btwn our flts. n i ended up leaving b4 him. finally at 8pm (i was due to leave at 6.30) after another 4 long hours or so, i ended up in LAX, 9:30pm! wow. still on nov 30th. i'm just always amazed at how u loose and regain time. bodies come n go encountering on planes n airports. faces u see for a few hour...

so sad i spent the day for paris travelling from barcelona to paris then on a bus to the city, sitting in traffic. will i have time to go ladurée to pick up something for my friends? i wonder. i haven't time to go shopping much at all.

i've been living and working here at camil's apt/office near gare montparnasse for a week now. it's been quite nice. tho tough in the mornings with ppl in and out of the office (living room) during the day. unlike my normal working habbits of taking naps, it's tough to stick around a desk all morning. but, camil's dad is quite chill. ths past sunday, it's been really beautiful day and we went for walks from the Grand Palais thru the palais royale then all the way to Centre Pompidue, thinking the Yves Kleine show wd b great way to end the day of disappointing art exhibits. but the line there is just too long. we ended up eating tartines (our really early dinner) nearby. everyday involves a bit of drinking, of course. last nite was the Rhum Bar. tht's nice too. and some guy named Laurent asked for my number (gave me his) as i was leaving the bar. funny. he's actually cute, but young.... anyhoo. heading to barcelona this sat. to finish up the second portion...

i feel a bit sad... to find out he's getting married, the last person on earth for me to expect tht. shocking.

i'm just loving these things, my new form of drawings. anne was right to say it's getting larger. however, the color here is just not showing up properly. so to c it properly, pls click on the link above.

november 14-30, paris december 10-jan 20, taiwan then thailand.

guess wht? i'm going to paris/ barcelona for november! a friend of mine has asked me to help his father's company design a website in paris. we'r going to meet up over ther, stay at his father's apt near gare monparnasse area! then we'r gonna travel to barcelona for a week, just hang out. how much should i charge for a website design?

i sit in traffic, like millions of other southern californians. contributing to the ever expanding ozone hole. i feel guilty for it. yet unable to chuck the driving. cuz i live here where there isn't really a way to get around driving. it is time to move out of here!

last nite, i wnt to watch Lynn Redgrave perform her one woman play. i was soooooooooooo tired from driving to all day, that i was afraid i might pass out during the play. yet because it was very well written and acted out, i had no problem at all watching. altho, i was hungrier than i had expected. 1/2 way thru the show, my stomach made such loud noise tht all my friends heard me. we then went to eat in Little Tokyo. ramen, perfect for chilly nite.

since i've been home, this is what i'm doing everyday, playing with sean, the 2 yr old boy. he's my playmate. i have a seat at his little trainset, thomas the train. i've learnt the names of his various engines and harold the helicopter. he even calls me by my name instead of the "aunt" part, it's just Sophia! he's a cutest parrot. gonna get ready for work now. sad not to c him today, he's gonna wake up and come visit to find me gone. hope he'll b alright.

what does it mean to b jet-lagged? my body is here, but i guess my sleep isn't with me! -------- i've got a really really confused one then, i must say. cuz i've not idea why i'm up! since 4am! shouldn't it b a little delayed since i'm coming back from europe? not taiwan like my parents. who's also jet-lagged. so... i'm up all nite, watching (catching up) on the shows on my tivo, and drawing! ok, now i'm feeling tired, but it's 9am.

i'm home again (in cali, my parents' home) slept and did nothing all day. hv yet to finish unpacking. soooooooo much mail has piled up. reality hits. what should i b doing with myself here? where can i set up my huge roll of paper to draw? or... should i just go back to work thru my agency? dunno.

so after a week in london... i returned to paris via Eurostar, the cross channel train. i left my woodtypes in garrett's. didn't want to lug it around. cuz i am lugging around a tall roll of paper that i will do my drawings on. anyway, met up with jimmy and kelley (two of the 5 members of our dining club back in southern cal) in paris, to hv a mini pairs adventure. and, ther r 6 restaurants i think is a must. plus a bakery. the following r my lists to J&K, didn't think i'd end up meeting them here, n eating some more with them. 1. le fumoir (by the louvre), 6 rue de l'amiral-de-coligny, 1st. metro: lovre-rivoli. ths place i've been back 3x's. sunday is packed w/ppl for brunch til 4pm. so up to u, menu items r yummy, or plat du jour is always a good bet here. 2. laduree (on 75 champs-elysees, 8th. main store/restaurant) awesome pastry. food is great too. n if they offer u a fish called Dorade, grab it, yummy fish. the macroones r best i've had, n i no...

was in london from 19th to 25th. while ther, i stayed in north eastern part of london called south woodford. takes nearly an hour train ride to get into central. but it's nice. garrett (tyler)'s daughter, fiona is just sooooooooooo cute. every year i c her, she's just growing and growing. she's starting grade k now. wow. time flies by. tho i spent some days at home, just hanging out and doing nothing, working at nite... i did manage to go into town several times to visit the V&A, amazing place for studies on design, esp ironwork. and then, ther's the LONDON design fair all over town. tht was fun. bricklane area is awesome! but, i must say, this week of eating in london, made me really miss the food in paris! so i pigged out in paris!

is it possible to b only allergic to short haired cats? or i just simply have allergy, europe and nyc?

how do i always manage to miss my flights? here i was, arrived way early and b'cause i had this instinct tht my giant box of wooden type would not reach LA, i decided to go into paris city (after arrving at airport via tgv from lyon) and pick it up! then b'cuz of ths, i had to repack my entire bag, cuz easy jet only allows one chk'g bag. n then, the crazy cross terminal bus decided to b late n drop me off at the wrong stop for the terminal... my fault for not double chk'g i guess. n i can't find easy jet at all! running all over the place. tired n hungry. then the gate closed early. so i hv to wait til 10 tonite. i wanna cry at my stupidity. never trust my instincts again. :-( maybe i will not stay too much longer in europe and just go home after london. who needs to go nice n amsterdam again? ther's a beach at home waiting for me too!

since my camera broke, chk out vienne via the website. beautiful roman temple still intact. well, here's just a few from my phone w/the little camera in it.

well, been in europe about 2 weeks now. first was being in paris, meeting up w/sister (chris N hubby, ming) and mom, there then to bordeaux for a few days. revisiting the haut brion vineyard... then we stayed the next couple of days at chateau barroge? in st emillion. ther.., well, mom took a fall. so was emergency room chk up, etc. dr is really cute. sweet too. and it didn't cost us much but 100 euro, x-ray fee. wow, this is good health care. anyway, back to paris after a day inside hotel w/mom. crazy shopping days the nxt few. sunday shops r all closed. if u come to paris, must visit Laurderee on champs... great food ther b'sides the famous macaroon desserts. met up w/Sophie and her hubby for dinner. by monday, everyone has split up, mom, ming and chris off to cologne/ amesterdam. sophie n her grumpy hubby to bordeaux. while i stuck around, chk'd into a small budget hotel near the centre pompidue, waiting to meet up w/John and Nanci, who's cousin is getting married he...

what a life this is. beautfiful sunset dinner that we cook up together! tonite on the menu, fresh lobster (while me n matthew made a pasta dish out of our lobster, everyone else has it whole, w/butter garlic dip), fresh grilled corn, sauteed spinach, fresh tomatoes, long grain rice, wine or sake. my pasta was also amazing... using grilled portabello and grilled tomatos w/simple sauteed garliced mushrooms... w/fresh lobster chunks and feta cheese! great dinner. then off we go to the Mansion Beach (got permit for bon fires everyday, but we finally made it)! it was the perfect nite for it. no high wind, breezy enought to carry the fire. we built it right away, properly set up, directly on top of a pallet, perfect base. i was the fire master! kept it going all nite til midnite. n had smores with these ultra long sticks Dave had the brilliant idea of using. saw lots of shooting stars. the only thing w/burning a pallet is tht u hv to pick out the nails afterwards. but tht's also kinda fu...

these r the rocks i picked up at the Bluffs Beach... it's the more pebbly beach w/strong crashing waves. i normally just pick one out and keep it ea/year. but ths ear, i can't somehow choose. so i took it home... maybe i can decide by the time i leave..?

as i'm listening to ths podcast, i'm really glad tht within the month's time, i'll b back on the west coast, in cali, to eat at my favorite burger joint, in-n-out! and i'm happy to find out tht the KCRW's Good Food program has enabled me to find the secret menu of it... i've always knew ther was other stuff, but didn't kno if it really exist or how to order it. thnx to this woman, Charlotte Makoff (http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp) who posted it on her site.

i forgot my swim suits, towels, etc! all my swim gear! it's all sitting in a pouch bag at dave n simone's place! i wanna cry, cuz i was sooooooo sure i packed it, til today when i was getting ready for the beach. Mansion beach day, fun!

once again, we've made it here to block island. aug 13~20th, 2006! -The house is set-North'Ard

the only time u can c the clouds from above is when u're flying high in the plane.

this is the first painting i've done since graduating from art center... or since b4, when i stopped at 4th term. painted w/help from natasha, rene, & brendon, they made it so fun. we gave it to K as his 29th birthday present.

the feasts u cook up to feed the hungry ancestors, buddhas, household gods, and "brothers" out ther, as my mom wd like to call them, the wandering, orphaned spirits. i called them ghost and gobblins. anyway, these r tho fotos of the feast at our house. everything has to b set up b4 noon to feed everyone. then we hv to ask permission from our ancestors to c if they'r done "eating" so we can "eat" their left-overs. COLD FOOD!