sophia’s travel by night

saturday, my dad decided to jump the april 4th weekend mad rush for spring break and tomb sweeping day by a week. on this beautiful summer day we all drove out ther and did our duty. brought flowers and fruits. met up w/cousins we rarely c. then ate a simple lunch at my dad's golf course nearby. teddy has the largest bowl being the youngest of the clan...

wow, this woman is cleaning her windows just like tht... no safety features. it's a 12 floor fall too if u're not careful.

oops, forgot to write something here... but this was my grandpa's residence. now will b mine sharing w/brother, vic. tho it looks amazing, the plumming sticks.

in our new home, an alley to left of my previous location, ther's a huge plumming problem tht we weren't aware of til we moved in. and. our water tastes of bleech or something, very heavy. it makes me appreciate all the work that was done there, tks mom. here, well, we hv to figure out how to get the water to taste less like chemical... it's quite gross. the smell is so strong!

frank's family came back w/me n our taipei home is now at full capacity. most of the family, except for tony's r now here. it's very lively to c four little boys running around... i'm also very happy i'm now living in a seperate place, cuz i'd get no work done n just wanna play w/the little ones. n boy, hv i got a deadline coming up! it was frank's bday, n i didn't get to cook for him like i did b4, no time to anyhow. so we end up getting unagi bento boxes from our fav place in combat zone, 肥前屋, and a great little ice cream cake. but cutting into his face was a funny thing. happy bday, frank.

i hv 4 types of favorite breakfasts to eat anytime, 1. yogurt with granola & fruits, 2. soy milk and cranberry almond crunch cereal, 3. p&j on toast or english muffin with milk, 4. chocolate croissant with coffee. makes me wanna break my fast anyday! like right now, it's 3.30am and i'm snacking on number 2!

ever since i was really young, i've felt a deep connection to ancient egypt and nepal/tibet cultures, these places i've dreamt of going in forever. yet ea/time i seriously plan a trip, like hv set a time to go, something political happens there. last time was nepal when the whole massacre in the palacehappened. this time, as i'm getting ready to go in the spring w/dad, this protest happens, tibet is now under lockdown. maybe i'm just not meant to go ther? but alas, i can choose to go to nepal instead, no?

i've returned to taipei sans 1 luggage. with all the chaos of cleaning up my things, deciding what to bring back and spending time with the little ones, and of course, trying to load up all our 10 suitcases, my stand-out red luggage was forgotten in the elevator. since it was quite chaotic, no one noticed til we've arrived at the worst international airport in the country, LAX. luckily, a frnd is returning this coming weekend and will lug it back for me to kaoshung, which frank will help me retrieve it. i'm here in taipei again, greeted by the horrible rain. everyone tells me, i've missed the awesome sunny days while i was gone. i really know how to pick days to leave and stay. bummer. now i'm jet-lagged, got projects coming due soon with nothing in-progress... and i've gotta clear out of my room asap cuz my mom has agreed to let her frnd n husband stay here during the election week. so far, i've packed 2 small luggage of my clothes. how does one acquire so ...

beautiful sunny days, warm & clear skies, and great company (my nephew, sean) to hang with at the perfect sandy beaches of southern cal, what more can a girl ask for? --- i love the wild flowers that blooms everywhere after a few weeks of rain. the usual desert-like brownish hills and roadsides all sprung to life in beautiful greens, yellows, oranges, lavenders and pinks. so amazing to witness the changes.

this is a very cool alt. to having just a dining table. these days, with home sizes being smaller, it's good to have furniture tht's multi-purpose. this 1 in particular, is perfect, with both form & function in total harmony. too bad it's also unaffordable so far.

it's so strange, i'm home here. i feel as if i'm on vacation. imagine that i used to drive everywhere and go everywhere. these last few times i've been back, i realized driving long distance n stuck in traffic is no longer my thing, i tend to doze off. i still love it here. just not the driving anymore. how strange is that? i must b getting old. it's amazing how being able to c wide open sky affects me. and stars at nite, tht's another thing too. today, instead of going to visit friends, etc. i will do yoga at the studio w/1 of my favorite teacher and go for a walk at laguna beach (with sean, my little frnd). then, maybe raid the art store! one thing i gotta remember to do is go and sort out my storage and send stuff to taiwan or get rid of thing. also, last nite, i was clearing out my closet, amazing, ther's still some pants i can fit into tht i couldn't last october when i was back for a week. i must've lost a little wt. altho not like back in the ...