travel journal: part 3

In the span of a couple of days, a lot of things have happened. Michael Jackson's sudden death was one of the most talked. It's really too bad that he couldn't have finished his last tour beforehand... Being the fan that I am, I'm sad to see him go; though at the same time, it's good he finally found some sort of peace from this unforgiving world. His music will always rock my world and his dancing will always be off the wall. Thanks for changing the world the way you did.

Speaking of change, I should get back to trying to finish the travel journal. This next bit changed the way I view my life quite a bit. India really opened my eyes as to how good I have it in North America.

Day 6: The real adventure begins.
We arrived at Bangkok Airport from Guang Zhou at 2:30am. We had to wait for the Air India booth to open at 8:30am, so we decided to save ourselves some money and crash at the airport. It felt a little nomadic and bummish with our backpacks, chilling and sleeping at the airport. The hours passed by slowly but we tried to pass our time joking around and sleeping. I had a hard time sleeping though. We would've hung out at the internet station if it wasn't so damn expensive. It was 100 Thai Baht for 20 minutes or 300 Baht for an hour. That's about $9 USD/hour. To use the internet... Rip off.

We originally wanted to fly to Kolkata but then there were cheap seats available to New Delhi for 12:55pm. So we bought the tickets and boarded the flight. I found the stewardesses' on Air India weren't as pleasant, but we got service nonetheless, so I can't complain.

We got off the plane to 39°C heat... It was HAWT as shit! But at least it was dry heat as opposed to Hong Kong's humid heat. We went through security fine, but then it went downhill from there... We lost a chunk of money due to currency exchange fees, and we went on a prepaid taxi service with a driver who didn't know how to get to our hotel. At that point in our day, we were still feeling somewhat adventurous and feeling that ounce of excitement of something so new, different, and unknown. Until the driver dropped us off in the middle of a busy intersection in Old Delhi. He told us to make a left and walk for 5 minutes and that the hotel should be there. We argued with him to drop us off in front of the hotel, but he would have none of it. He insisted taxis weren't allowed on that road. We got frustrated and stepped out of the vehicle to grab our backpacks.

The stupid cabbie had the nerve to ask for tip. We left him and kept walking. Before today, I had never seen this kind of poverty. Kids running around the streets, rickshaw taxis everywhere, motorcycles, tuc-tuc taxis, lots of stray dogs and men, and many many more shameless stares and leers at us. It made it really uncomfortable to walk through the area. Kids would run by and yell something at us, street vendors would try to get our attention and sell us shit. All senses were overstimulated by the sights, sounds, smell. That sense of excitement quickly turned to fear.

We eventually ran into a couple of police officers after walking 10 minutes down that street. They informed us that Hotel Broadway was a 15 to 20 minutes walk back the way we came. So basically, the taxi driver should've told us to turn right and walk for 5 minutes... We were not pleased. After some heckling and such from people as they drove/walked by, we found the hotel. Oh, there was also a security guard who took a photo of my female cousin with his cellphone camera as we walked by. Creep.

It's a hell of an experience so far, I must say... I'm really starting to miss home now. We've only been in India for a few hours now and I find it quite mentally stressful already.

Day 7: Indian Summer.
We woke up fairly early to pack a few things and plan our day. It was decided that we would walk to Connaught Place since there are a lot more tourists in that area. My cousin also decided to wear a nice dress with a thin sweater overtop to be less revealing. But instead, she built quite a fanbase for herself. Men and boys of all ages looked her up and down (mainly down)... The women and girls also stared. Unlike North America though, if you make eye-contact, they don't look away. Since we were Chinese and pale skinned, we obviously stood out from the crowd. We got got many stares, but my cousin got the most. It was so bad it made all four of us uncomfortable.

We got lost a few times on the way but we reached the New Delhi train station. Among the mostly dirty-civilians we saw everywhere, a strange clean and well-dressed man approached us and spoke to my brother. We decided to go with him as he told us he works in Block N of Connaught Place and that Block P, where we were headed to, was on the way. He lead us into the metro and got us to Block P. What's funny was that he was on the phone quite frequently in the metro ride. After he dropped us off and headed back to work, another man approached us almost immediately and started talking to us. He was just as friendly as the other man. We told him what we were looking for and he lead us to the tourism centre. I'm 85% to 90% sure that those two men worked together to get us there and they probably collect commission from that tourism centre...

Anyway, after much inquiries and bartering, we ended up with a complete 8 day tour of India. This included a flight to Kashmir, then seeing the "Golden Triangle Tour" from Delhi to Jaipur to Agra. Then it's an overnight train to Varanasi to see the Ganges and ride elephants, then another overnight train to Kolkata to catch our flight to Bangkok. The price of the tour probably could've been cheaper, but us being from North America, it was cheap in our standards. In Indian standards, however, we most likely got ripped off pretty damn good. But still, thanks to my brother, the price was lowered significantly from the original.

This deal also included a day tour of Old and New Delhi for the rest of today. We saw Humayans Tomb, Gandhi's Smirt, and ate at a touristy restaurant (more expensive in Indian standards). We then went to see Red Fort, and walked through the park where Gandhi was cremated, saw India Gate, and then drove by the President's Palace. Of course, our day was filled with shameless stares and heckling from beggars and vendors.

The sites were pretty nice. The structures were historic and great and unlike anything I've seen before. The heat was pretty insane. Our driver told us that it was a really hot time of the year. Even him, being a local, was struggling to keep cool. Things I've noticed was that the men pissed anywhere in public, there were stray dogs everywhere, the traffic was chaotic, the men to women ratio was pretty ridiculous, many of the locals thought we were Japanese and would yell "konichiwa" at us. We feared for my cousin quite a bit as we walked down the streets and we were still so uncomfortable everywhere we walked. Everytime I would see a foreign white person at some of the touristy areas, a part of me wanted to run up to them and latch on to them...

travel journal: part 2

I'm home safe and sound after a month-long trip. I'm still a little jetlagged, as I keep passing out before 10pm and waking up early in the morning... I'm trying to find time to see what the damages were to my finances from this trip, to unpack and to organize myself. Starting work right away and not giving myself time to recover from jetlag was a bit of a bad idea, but still, at least I have an income again! Here's the second part of the travel journal. Going to try and write what I can before I leave to get my braces taken off... Monumental day!!

Day 4: I can see clearly now the rain will come
Rain day 2. Woke up at 7am. We stayed the night and will be spending our nights at a relative's house in Guang Zhou. As we were leaving, there was a disgusting giant spider that came running across the kitchen. I didn't see it alive as I was putting my shoes on. But I saw our auntie kill it with her slipper and these giant legs, the size of a tarantula, all twitching and shit. So nasty. I couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day...

We took a bus to go to this area of the city where it seemed a lot less run down. There were more streetshops. After walking around for a bit, we went into this four story mall that sold nothing but glasses frames. It was crazy how cheap everything was in Guang Zhou! For the frames that I got, I paid 85 RMB which amounts to roughly $14 USD. I'm going back there tomorrow to get the lenses fitted. I think it'll be around 390-500 RMB ($65-83 USD).

We ran a little late for lunch to meet up with more relatives. We ate at a Japanese barbecue restaurant, owned by a Japanese man, but could also speak Canto and Mando. It was much like the Toronto Korean barbecues, but instead of a gas grill, they used hot coals with a cross-wire grill. Everything was uber delicious. The relatives were great and very hospitable. Some I had never met before, and a few others, I hadn't seen in ten years.

After lunch, our distant uncle took us to a driving range. On our way there, his driving was pretty insane! He made his own lane, drove onto oncoming traffic; it felt like a rollercoaster. Thankfully, we arrived alive to hit some golf balls into the wet grass, as it was still drizzling a little. Afterwards, we went out for dinner at McDonald's with my mom's middle school friend, whom I've met once before.

I've noticed in Guang Zhou that the police here is not intimidating at all, except for the fact that they could be corrupt, but that's all preconceived thoughts. In terms of their uniforms and just looks, they wore no bullet proof vests, they seemed older and less fit, and the uniforms in general were not that intimidating. My cousin was much thicker than most of the officers there. Though I'm sure they could still kick my ass... Another thing is the service here; it's so efficient and great. It's probably due to the fact that the employees are overstaffed because of cheap labour, so they have to provide excellent service due to competition.


Day 5: Guang Zhou, Rain City
Third day in GZ and once again, I wake up to the sound of rainfall. I think it's been cemented in my head now that GZ, ponchoes and bicycles, and rain go hand-in-hand. I haven't truly missed home yet, though I have thought about it a few times, mainly due to the living conditions here. It makes me think about how good we have it in North America. I've realized now that I'm quite a princess for cleanliness. I always thought I'd be able to handle something like this since I've always loved camping, but I guess outdoors dirtiness in is a totally different kind of dirtiness from urban dirtiness. But I think this is only the beginning, as India I'm sure will be much worse. So I guess this will be a nice transition to get my prepared for what's to come.

The sky cleared up a bit as we stepped out to pick up our glasses, but then started to pour again shortly after. Our auntie took us to this park where my parents went to on their first date at Shamian Park. It was beautiful. My dad's such a romantic, heheh. I wonder what it looked like back then... The rain had dissipated by then, making way for a beautiful view of the riverside, though the water could have been less brown and murky. It made me want to hear stores about the details of how my parents met. I've only heard a couple of stories.

We met up with my dad's cousin later and he treated us to a fancy dinner. It was so good... The service again, was excellent. We had a lot of fun in GZ on this last day, although I miss having showers. I say this because I only showered one day while I was here because the heater wasn't working, and also because you had to stand over the squatter toilet to shower. The squatter toilet, you have to manually pour water into it to flush, and after a number 2, you can only imagine the type of smell that comes out of there... Like I said, I'm a bit of a princess when it comes to these things... Oh and GZ was pretty hot too, so the days I didn't shower, I used a wet towel to wipe myself down instead.

We packed our backpacks after dinner and caught our flight to Bangkok to lay over to India. We didn't purchase out tickets beforehand, and it's in the middle of the night, so we have to wait until the next flight and purchase the tickets then. We'll be flying Air India, I believe.

travel journal: part 1

Sine leaving for the trip for Asia, it's been really really fast-paced and I haven't really had a chance to use internet all that much, so I've been writing in a journal to keep track of my observations and events. I'm just going to type it out here.


DAY 0.5: Leaving on a jet plane
I got to the airport 3 hours early since they say that you should do that for international flights. I got to the airport at 6:40am and was checked in, went through security and reached the waiting area by 6:55am... It was quite a long wait from there.

Lift off was at 10:30am and it was a rough flight over. 15.5 hours of air time with 3 meals and barely any sleep. I tried to drink some wine to put myself to sleep but no such luck. So we watched movie after movie. One of the movies was Ip Man starring Donnie Yuen. Amazing fight scenes, highly emotional. Forget Jet Li and Jacky Chan.


DAY 1: Hong Kong
We reached HK early in the morning local time. The subway right from the airport to our hotel area was sweet. It was so clean, well-maintained, and lots of room. TTC sucks compared to this. We walked over to the South Pacific Hotel, checked in, and walked around while waiting for Vincy to meet up wit us. The hotel rooms were a tad small, but pretty good for HK. It was pretty humid and warm there. Cockroaches running around the sidewalk, lots of people, a few stares here and there, but nothing too bad. It really sucked we couldn't read the menu signs for dinner, but at least we could speak and understand quite well. Free internet in the subway is awesome. We were recommended a place by a friend called King's Hotel and it was so weird. It almost felt like a sex hotel... It was one floor, and no hallways. As soon as you open the room door, it's the lobby. These rooms were all pimped out, and the workers weresurprised to see the 4 of us walk in...


DAY 2: HK shopping
We started the day by going to a cafe lounge for breakfast to use their complimentary computers. We noticed that school uniforms are really ugly in HK. We later met up with some friends and went shopping. First stop was at UNIQLO. Great clothing for a pretty cheap price. Felt like H&M but a lot better, though their t-shirts are a bit too wide for my body... Shame... I thought we had already adjusted to the time change since we didn't feel tired much, but by 6pm, it hit us hard. We passed out from 6:30pm til 10:30pm. Then we were wide awake.

We went out to Lang Kwai Fung to party it up with some foreigners. It was pretty crazy. Lots of white people and CBCs, lots of pubs, lots of booze and drunkards. We stayed out pretty late, playing Chinese drinking games (our local HK friends taught us) and drank the night away.

HK has an urban/modern feel, but at the same time, very grungy. Almost like Chinatown, realy. It's humid and hot, and I've decided I can't live here. Too many people and no sidewalk space. It gets rather frustrating when you're in a hurry. I can't even imagine what India will be like.


DAY 3: Arrival to Guang Zhou
Rain. We packed up our bags and went out for breakfast. By 12:30pm, we were on the bus to Mainland China. The coach was uber nice. It was brand new with leather seats, soft head cushions, reclines 5 times more than a crappy Greyhound coach would in North America. Funny how that works. Everything about that coach was superior. It even has a side door in the back to let people in too! Only thing missing was a washroom.

The highways were filled with rather large billboard signs everywhere with large Chinese fonts. The billboards were at least twice the size of North American billboards. It was overpowering...

Guang Zhou isn't what I remembered ten years ago. I don't remember much of it from then to begin with, just that there were a lot of constructions sites back then. Now, it reminds me of HK, with the modern tall high-rises mixed with grungy old buildings. Everything is cheap here, especially the food. The girls are much cuter than Hong Kong girls for some reason. Hannah, if you're reading this, you're right about the toilets in China. Kinda gross...

asiabound - day 0: toronto.

It's 4am... I'm still up. Cleared all my photos from my camera, all packed except for the stuff I need in the morning. Got my shots, my pills, my documents. There was a mix of feelings between excitement and nervousness earlier, but now, I just feel too tired to feel either. Why bother sleeping when I have to be up in an hour and there's a grueling 15.5 hour flight waiting for me?

Essentially, the itinerary's going to look something like this: land in Hong Kong and spend about 3 days there, then fly to India for a bit more than a week to see Darjeeling, Agra, Kolkata, Dheli, and Varanasi. Then it's off to Thailand to see some beaches and relax/backpack for about a week and half. After Thailand, we hit up Macau for a day then back to HK to catch our flight to Guang Zhou, China to visit some relatives for a couple of days. Then back to HK to shop til we drop.

Heh... As I'm typing this, the feeling of excitement is starting to come back. Funny how that works. The thing that worries me and gets me a little nervous is the thieving and the kid beggars. I've been told that they are quite relentless, and the whole ordeal is that you know by giving them money, you'll attract a swarm, and you're only fueling the cycle. But if you don't give them anything, you feel heartless, torn, and helpless to help these kids.

I think backpacking through some of the rural areas of India will really open my eyes. Which for me is part of the purpose of this trip. I'm hoping in Thailand we'll get to rent some bicycles and bike around the local areas.

Anyway. It's already 4:24am... I still have to shave my head. I'll try to update when I can. Photos will probably get updated on FB faster than posts on this blog, but I do intend on writing a traveling journal while on this trip. Toodles.

honster's list.

The itinerary: HK, India, Thailand, China, HK.

So far, everything just fits perfectly in my duffel bag... Hopefully I can find a backpack that'll be around this size...

Important
• Passport
• Flight ticket
• Insurance papers
• Moola
• Anti-malarial pills

Clothes
• 2 t-shirts
• 4 undies
• 3 socks
• 1 jeans
• 1 shorts
• 1 long sleeve t
• 1 Poncho/raincoat
• 1 sandals
• 1 shorts (worn)
• 1 shoes (worn)
• 1 belt (worn)
• 1 hat (worn)
• 1 socks (worn)
• 1 undies (worn)
• 1 t-shirt (worn)

Toiletries
• towel
• toilet paper rolls x2
• floss
• toothbrush
• toothpaste
• razor
• deodorant
• cologne
• bodywash
• SPF lip balm

Accessories
• garbage bag
• ipod
• earphones
• camera
• camera charger
• camera battery/memory stick
• fanny pack
• mini-sketch book
• pen & pencil
• book
• outlet converter
• ipod & camera wire
• first aid kit
• travel pack hand sanitizer
• nail clippers
• ziplocks
• phone
• laundry powder
• tea tree oil
• bug spray
• sun screen
• travel thermos

no time left for you.

Hmm.... So much to go on about. It's been a pretty busy month, between my portfolio, work, and my personal life. Luckily I was only unemployed for 3 weeks, thanks to the great friends that I have. It's another new beginning, meeting great people and seeing great work. Definitely better work environment to say the least.

Been doing a lot of things on my own lately, and have been really enjoying the me time. Biking to the beaches and discovering new places around Toronto is always fun. Earth Hour was pretty cool too, though I was pretty disappointed when I left Nathan Phillips Square early that practically everywhere else in Toronto was still brightly lit.

Went to DC with my brother, aunt and uncle and the folks over the long weekend. It was... hmmm, interesting...? All I have to say is that I'm never going on another Chinese bus tour ever again. It was so horribly organized. The tour guide was brutal and really took away from an experience that could have been decent. I was hoping for something relaxing since work and freelance combined have been pretty overwhelming. It was the complete opposite. It's definitely an experience I don't want to go through again.

We only had 2 hours to shop at the Woodbury Outlet Malls. Even though I've been there before, and knew where my favourite stores were, I still needed at least 3 or 4 hours. I walked out with only a $15 casual dress shirt from Esprit. Pretty good deal but it sucks that I didn't have time for any more. Was hoping to find a nice comfortable pair of shoes for Asia.

The ride back was most brutal; for me especially. We left Washington at 730am, got back to Montreal at 1130pm because we were stuck at the border for 3 hours. I had to catch the 1230am bus to Toronto so I could work at 9am. My legs, back and neck were cramping up, my stomach was hurting from the constant motion, I wanted to fall asleep but I just couldn't. I got to Toronto at 630am, and slept for an hour and rushed to work. What I failed to realize was that the office was closed. I wasn't told last week, and I've never had Easter Monday off from school or from work before so I assumed everything was operating as usual. The office was empty. Sigh.

I hate Hon Adventures. I should create a Wikipedia article defining what a Hon Adventure is. I'm really looking forward to just taking a month off of work and just travel. I was really hoping to take a week off after I got laid off to get my shit together and relax for a week, but I feel like I've been so much busier unemployed during those 3 weeks. My good friend Hannah's traveling Asia right now and it sounds like she's having so much fun learning. I was hoping to meet up with her before she came back to TO, but we'll JUST miss each other. It's too bad, but I'm hoping to experience some of what she's experiencing right now. You can read about her adventures here.

Someone at work told me about Grooveshark. It's really amazing; you can type in any artist or song and you can build a playlist and embed and everything. They even have Chinese artists! Much nicer and cleaner design than iMeem. iMeem's just a mess. I'm switching over to Grooveshark for my music-of-the-moment player.

travel inspiration.

I came across the Burger King's new Whopper Virgins campaign (the above clip) via FarFar Academy blog this morning. It really made me envious of the researchers. It really made me want to travel even more than I already want. Whether this campaign was effective or not in terms of advertising, I could care less. It's a great idea, but at the same time, I don't think I'm crazy about the thought of introducing fast foods to small communities like that. It could really wreck the eco-systems of the natives.

Anyway, it really makes me think... It's really hard to believe that some areas are so remote they have no idea of what life is like outside of their culture. International pop culture? Forget it. Michael Jack-who? Kanye-what? The thought of someone not knowing how to pick up or eat a burger is all so strange to me. All so foreign. But then again, I'm seeing things through the eyes of a typical North American. Limited vision, limited knowledge, history and culture of anything outside of this continent.

The idea of experiencing something different, something foreign and new, really puts questions in my head though. This world is so diverse; why do we trap ourselves in such a life of routine and comfort? Why do we cringe at the thought of change? Whether they be cultural, environmental or biological changes, shouldn't we live to experience these differences? Why do we live to work? Shouldn't we work to live? Life's so short. Why waste it? Take that leap of faith. Whether we land or fall, isn't the experience worth it?

I've been feeling a little trapped in Toronto as of late. I thought taking a trip to Los Angeles back in September would really liberate that feeling. As much fun as I had there, it didn't help much. I think I need a break from the city to kind of reset my mind. I've been losing focus and inspiration. I need to bring some life back into my work. Not to mention my heart... Until I get the time to travel, I suppose documentaries and photos will have to hold me.

so this is christmas.

watch video >

This year for Christmas, my uncle in Montreal rented out two small chalets near Tremblant for the family for 2 days and 2 nights. We had so much fun... Christmas Eve, we spent having snowball fights and building snowforts on the frozen lake. Christmas day, we went to Tremblant to ski, came home to play drinking games and Black Jack, and headed for home and then a spa on Boxing day. I can honestly say that I haven't had a Christmas like that since I was a 9 or 10 years old...

It's been three years since the last time I've gone snowboarding and I was never good at it. I haven't skiied since a child either, so I decided to try my luck with the snowblades. In the above posted video at the beginning, I apparently had gone down a black diamond thinking it was an intermediate slope... I lost control and hit the snowbank, hitting my chin and my head was a little shook up, but otherwise, no major injuries...

It was great to be out in the countryside though; to get away from the city life. Driving through the mountainous snowy areas reminded me much of the drive from New York City through Jersey. That was a crazy drive last year with a 9 hour drive non stop through fog and snowstorm in the mountains... This year was a lot safer though.

Watching UFC with the bros and cousins now...

standing for change.

Ben E. King's Stand by Me is one of my favourite songs. Back in the day when I used to go karaoke every month or so, I loved singing that song. My voice can't handle those high notes, but it's such a good karaoke song. Well... Such a good song, period.

The reason I bring this song up is because over the weekend, I came across this video on YouTube of Stand by Me, but this version was simply amazing and moving. It's for a documentary to be released on DVD and music CD Spring 2009. It's called Playing for Change: Peace Through Music. The people who sing and play the instruments in the song are all street musicians from around the world. Each are recorded separately, and are then mixed together. My favourite is Grandpa Elliott. He has so much character...

It must be so exciting for the people who work for the Playing for Change Foundation; meeting the musicians, hearing their stories and recording their music and traveling all over the world... I'd like to work for them one day, but I wouldn't know what to offer, since I'm no musician...

Seeing this makes me want to travel so much more. With the routine life that I have, time seems to pass by so much quicker, and there's so much in this world for me to see, to experience, to be part of. One of these days...

I'm posting both Ben E. King's version and the Playing for Change Foundation's version of Stand by Me.


Ben E. King - Stand by Me


Playing for Change Foundation - Stand by Me

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