coming home.

Home again to rain... My 9 day vacation ended with Eshwin picking me up from the airport and hanging out in Markham. Having lived in Little Tokyo for the duration of my trip, hanging out at a Starbucks in Markham and being surrounded by Asians made me feel like I was in Los Angeles still. As Esh drove me downtown, Toronto felt a little foreign to me, if only for that first few minutes. I guess it was the combination of the rain, the highways, and streets I haven't seen in a while.

I've realized that Los Angeles really doesn't have much to see and do. I kind of felt like we did it all and we really didn't need that 9 days of vacation to see L.A. We did Universal Studios, Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach, outlet mall shopping, the Grove and Culver City, and some drinking around town. In hindsight, I wish I would've driven out of the city itself to see the California redwoods and spend some time in San Francisco. A lot of time was spent stuck in traffic and getting lost because the freeways and road signs are so brutally designed.

Don't get me wrong, I still had an amazing time. Hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones was definitely worth this trip. Of all the things we did, I loved Santa Monica the best. The open space, the sand, the ocean, it was all so relaxing. Not to mention the building of Sandy Ho version 3.0. I wish I was ballerific enough to own a beach house by the ocean.

Aside from the sightseeing, I tried to be as diverse as possible with the food. I had a little bit of everything: bento box, Japanese curry, mochi and mochi ice cream, seafood enchiladas, In-'N-Out burgers, Cheesecake Factory, pasta, pho, and lots of beer... Well, not that much beer. Mainly due to the night of my arrival when the Welcoming Committee decided to haze me. It was a rough morning the next day... Oh the memories. Special thanks to Tessar, Yoskay, Scott, Yuta, Nimit, Rachel, Heren and Jason for the great hospitality and bitchin time!!


watch the L.A. experience >

Now back to the cold weather and routine life. Yes. New desk location, at least. I guess that's something to look forward to. Oh Toronto, how I've missed you...

fresh faces in los angeles.

Day 3 on my trip in L.A. and already I've climbed on top of a traffic light on Central Avenue, woke up hungover with writings on my legs, attended sick art shows, danced with a random old lady, and of course, had pho. The pho wasn't as good in L.A. as Toronto. As soon as I got here, we went out to Zencu's in Little Tokyo and had $1.75 pints and a delicious dinner. After Zencu, we went for more cheap beer. The result? An action-packed night full of craziness.

The next morning, we were all hungover as we prepped ourselves to attend the Fresh Faces art show at Project: Gallery where Nimit, Yuta, Dom, and Martha were showing. They worked hard during their two month internships here in L.A. for Fresh Faces and it really shows. Congrats, guys and girls!

Down the street were a couple of other art show openings, including Alexander Lee's and Ian Francis' shows. Truly amazing and inspiring. My traditional painting is pretty bad, so I stick to digital, but seeing Ian Francis' work makes me want to learn painting all over again... haha.

Outlet mall shopping tomorrow!! Universal Studios and Santa Monica beach are also in the itinerary.


Los Angeles from the sky


Fresh Faces Opening


Yuta Onada


Nimit Malavia


Martha Chan's work


Yuta's work


Dominique Fung's work


Nimit's work


Nimit, Martha, and Yuta


Alexander Lee's massive sculpture


Close up of Alexander Lee's sculpture


Ian Francis' work


Close up of one of Ian Francis' pieces


More Ian Francis


My favourite