sophia’s travel by night

after taking the hi-speed rail from sendai (仙台), japan, we arrived an hour further north in morioka (盛岡市). here the maples have turned to just the right shade of bright oranges, yellows & reds with the evergreens off-setting the reds. such beauty lining the highway was we drove to Hirosaki Castle (弘前城). this town is also famous for its apples. wow, such amazing apples! yellows & reds. we wnt apple picking too. here it's quite different than the states. u don't c any tossed apples on the grounds. u get a bag & can ea/pick 5 apples in total of eating or take away. ok will upload more fotos later on. the hot springs every morning & nite makes me sleepy. gonna go grab another milk n go draw.

the chinese scroll frame shop ruined my scroll drawing! :-( so sad, it's all bleeding badly, like my blurred vision! it's nearly 7ft of blurred vision. i can't show this one! boohooooooooo!

next stop (as substitute for my dad) i'm on a trip to sendai, japan, just north of tokyo. we'll c. i'm a bit nervous about the various unfinished errands for my show on next sat. worried cuz i'm not back til nov 1, show's on 3rd... well, wish me luck. almost time to board the flight.

it isn't me! i only stopped in southern cal for a few days & i left everything as is. natural disasters r not my forte!

well, this is my exhibit's invitation, front side & below is back. the front is 4-up, so actually 4 cards, but placed together makes a nice image on it's own, like a little puzzle. the artwork itself is being framed right now for the show. so many things to prep for and decide besides the framing! hv to decide how much booze & wht booze & munchies to get for the show. how to price my work. how to hang it. how many invites to print. how to write it in both english & chinese (i get a lot of help on this one). i believe the toughest is parting w/them. becuz once it's sold, it's out n gone. no longer mine. maybe i don't want to sell'em? not sure what to do on ths one. this is the single card view. this is the back with all the info in both english & chinese. gotta b lingual.

damn! i meant to buy coke zero, been wanting to try how it taste for myself. instead, i'm staring at the buttons of the vending machine, B7, n thinking i'm pushing B7, n i got B6! i'm loosing it. this is happening way to often to me, picking up the wrong things to buy.

this is my plane from LAX to TPE via tokyo. this leg is the longest. all the plans my family has is changing & shifting since dad lost his taiwnese passport (finding out right b4 u fly isn't very good) so mom isn't very happy for she's worried n packed for nearly a week, planning on wht to wear, golf, etc. packing another case for me to take for taiwan, etc... the sleepless week! now she's pissed. well, dad is the main story of our conf. so, it'll b strange if he can't make it. so then what's going to happen to our 2 full color pages in the book dedicated to this press conf? :-/ then, when will they return? will mom n i b going to this other japan trip together?

last nite, instead of going dancing & clubbing, mark/maggie & i wnt to the faux octoberfest here in huntington beach (wht a rip off) and to the burning man decom after in the industrial spaces in downtown LA. it was near the end of the 2 day/nite festival so we only got to walk around a bit n listen to some music & watch ppl perform fire dance & such.

Damn!! Ths fone looses the blog i'm writing if i answer incoming call! Anygoo, after sitting extra 2 hrs on runway at jfk, due 2 runway jam, it's really annoying to finally arrive here to find the gate occupied n we hv 2 wait a bit longer sitting here. 5 hr flt turning into 9.+ 2 more to get luggage n ride home! Shiva!

Leaving 4 jfk in a cab now. Goodbye 2 all my dear friends here. Def will miss the everyday things we do. Tks 4 lending me ur sofa n lovely company. Missing nyc as i'm about 2 leave. Until the next time.

Ther's another french bistro on the upper east side, henry. It's called Orsay, just cross from starwhich cafe. As i ride this bus, reminded of so many sights n places, n tht i sh'd home shopping. This line is perfect 4 dave if u want 2 avoid time square messy traffic on M104. And ths foto is of hotel name tht's hard 2 read.

There r my apples from maskers orchard. All mixed up but very yummy, too bad won't b keeping them. This year the summer n fall has been reversed 4 me. Summer as fall in france n summer in fall here in nyc. Wonder about cali.

very sleepy. wnt to bed at 3 & woke up at 5.30. took the local plane from liberia to san jose w/a stop over to pick up more passengers. it's like a little bus! arrive in san jose too early, now just waiting around, ssssssssssooooooooooooooooooooooo very very sleepy.

in another 3 hours, i'll b in a van, riding to liberia airport, then san jose, atlanta, nyc. (happy to b getting away from mosquitos but sad to b leaving beautiful place) well, the highest hi-lite of ths trip are def the beach (beautiful warm waters) and the zip line (canopy tour). my dad came w/me cuz he didn't want to let me go all alone (tho secretly, i kno he's curious too) and mommy came cuz she couldn't nap & didn't wanna stick around hotel room all afternoon. it's low season here, so it's practically private tour (ok, it is) since monkey dad & monkey me both r really into it, we've convinced mom to at least try one line, n we got one of the nice guides to take care of mom. she was really scared of the possible dangers. at our insistence tho, she did try it once n learnt it to b ok w/a guide. she thought she might get to quit by the sixth line, but b4 u kno it, she's at the finish line w/us, 20 lines later! so amazing & fun! let...

rainy season in costa rica. we took a guided tour (remember, i'm w/my parents & frnds, everything is guided) to leave the complex of four seasons here near liberia. the complex itself is far away from everything and secluded. so, we wnt on a hike thru a tour company. very muddy cuz of the rain. this thing is in the racoon family, it's a male (which meant unless it's mating season, he's not allowed in the herd of the rest of females & babies) isn't he rather cute?