Greetings! Is anyone there? No….? Nothing.
Oh well. I enjoy writing to myself. So it was mind-boggling to read the last entry I posted right before I left for China. I am glad that I did that, to document the things I was doing in LA. Because you see, I’ve been back for 2 weeks and it’s as if I never left at all. I find I am doing the same things, leading the same lifestyle.
Anyway, why the silence while I was away in China? The Chinese goverment blocked me from my own blog! So I had to start a new one, JUST for CHINA. Read here, if you care. The latest post is very shitty, thrown together for the sake of the study abroad assignment required from Northeastern. But there are some good depictions in there.
I’d talk about China, but that was SO 5 months ago. INTROSPECTION SEGUE: Today, I am surprised to identify myself (as identified by others, although I shouldn’t rely on others’ opinions to identify myself) as a person who simply cannot sit still. A world traveler, jet-setter, nomad, transient, blah blah…I am waiting for something to STOP ME. Ok, moving on.
I’ve basically been living it up in LA, soaking in the wonderful AMERICANNESS & CALIFORNIANNESS before I have to move to Cleveland for 6 dreary months for my 3rd co-op job. Honestly, I am scared. Yes. I will hop on a sleeper train in China by myself, and couchsurf with people I don’t know in Inner Mongolia; I’m completely willing to go to Africa and run around the jungles, I’ll bungee jump off a helicopter in Germany…anything along those lines, because these things don’t scare me one bit. But the prospect of moving to the MIDWEST for a 9-5 cubicle job….that terrifies me. It does. Rattles me to the bones. Gives me nightmares. I already feel suffocated to the point of death.
Everything is going to change, has been changing, things will never be the same. Family is planning to sell the house, to move further inland, further east and further away from Los Angeles. Bu hao. And parents are expecting to move in with me by age 25. WHAT?!
Highlights of LA, to remember as I sulk away in Cleveland:
Tokyo Tables Tuesdays w/ Ronny, Derrick, & Co.; SD trip for graduation & clubbing at OnBroadway (hey hei-se-ren!); Gold Room Combo w/ Duo Jenny & Tommy and meeting Zack Morris; Talia’s visit to LA(!!!); 35cent cock-tails at The Edison in Downtown LA; Redondo Beach: getting pulled over (drinkin’) with 4 ppl in the back seat, after two pen tests and a breathalyzer I get off the hook with no ticket & no warning; falling asleep at the wheel hitting a curb – missing hubcap and ID credit cards which were later brought back to me; stepping in Gizmo’s dog poo; MJ’s death & FF’s anal cancer according to Tammy; Father’s day with the Chang family and using some Chinese; visiting United Auto 5 times in one week; spontaneous surfing adventure at Venice Beach; Yoga w/ live music and the couchsurfer; catching up with all sorts of people; and now I’m in my last week to look forward to here in LA!!!!
People often ask me where’s my next adventure? Where will I end up? Here’s my answer: I have seen many things, been to many places, but I will always come back to LA. LA is where my home is. It’s my town.
YO.
Currently listening to the soundtrack to Across the Universe. It’s like listening to the Beatles on broadway.
Tomorrow we greet the new year of the Ox. It has been a long weekend of reunion festivities! Friday night was spent in Manhattan beach with some co-opers and then in Silverlake with Tony, Ronny, & Matt at a hipster bar called Cha Cha Lounge! I must say it is one of my favorite places to drink in LA, you could tell just by looking at my face 
It was crazy because I ran into a Billionaires band member who I had met awhile back. Then I ran into two fellows that I used to go to University of Redlands with. Randomcity. We topped the night off with Alberto’s. Bleh in the morning!
Chinese new year festivities came shortly thereafter with Grandma’s famous pancakes and plenty of red envelopes. It had been rainy out so I wore my blue peacoat. We talked about how my uncle is livin’ rich in Hanzou (8 hrs from Shanghai) in his impoverished village, just chillin’ in his skyscraping 4-story complex. I don’t think I’ll be able to make the laborious trek out to his town. I hope I meet him and his family one day.
That night I snatched Jenny after beeranddumplings had contacted me & we ventured out to Pocoima for a random-ass party. We never made it because the cops had already broken the soiree up. Feeling slightly ashamed for almost being at “one of those parties” we sped on the highway to Koreatown to meet Peter at Izakaya! I had my first souju shots (yuck) and yummy pineapple souju. Ronny, Derrick & Company where there as well. Stegasaurus will never get old. Then Jenny & I went to pick up one of my college friends at USC and headed towards Peter’s studio, which is amazingly close to Jenny’s flat. I got home at 4am.
The next morning I took Mama Chang to Little Tokyo for some Sunday morning shopping and mother-daughter bonding. I bought a new pair of orangey-purplish adidas so that I could look like a fob in China and fit right in. Then we had Chinese New Year’s part II w/ the Chang Mafia. Let’s just say that we came shorthanded and I am exhausted from feasting at 888 restaurant for 4 hours. I gave my aunt plenty of Neutrogena product and lots of pictures were taken. A slideshow of my grandfather’s 100th birthday extravaganza played in the background. Satellite tables, distant families.
Now I am listening to ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Immunization shots tomorrow and last week of work. Shanghai in 9 days. Looking back on my LA experience, I must say it was a very good one.
Highlights to remember: Star parties, half-day fridays and quick trips to the beach, good ol’ traffic, free yoga, new house, big fat brown couch, Gizmo barking at every whisper of a sound, Jet-skiing, Jeeps, Chipotle, Blingin’ grill on the Camry, Photoshoot in Angeles Crest w/ Jesse, Nike Race & Kanye West, sailing around Marina del Rey, Genarts fashion show, Halloween in Weho, Neutrogena craziness, tandem biking, rollarblading w/ R&D, Sharkeez happy hour, Hotel Cafe, Hyperion Tavern & Rock Band night, and so many moreeeeeeeee adventures I can’t think of right now!! Good times but now it’s time to say good-bye.
Happiness is a warm gun.
Filed under: Globetrotting
Word.
“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.” (Orson Welles, American motion-picture actor, director, producer, and writer, 1915-1985)
London.
So I’ve just returned from my 3rd international conquest – backpacking around London SOLO. Now, depending on the reader this can come off as an insignificant feat – or a life-changing accomplishment. For me it was the latter, and this experience has opened a gigantic heavy-set wooden door into the world…literally. This is the second time in my life that I’ve stumbled into this type of independent liberation as well as the realization that we will always be alone. Which is a beautiful thing.
Pre-Departure.
In a sense, this trip happened accidentally. Initially, I was convinced by a colleague of mine to accompany her on a quest to be rekindled with a former love. With an expiring $500 voucher for an American Airlines ticket, I decidedly used it on London – only because it would be financially feasible and I would have a place to stay for 2 weeks. Free of charge. Approximately 1 month before departure, my colleague found out that from her Amour that he had been laid off from Goldman Sachs because of the economic crisis, thus forcing him to move back to the states. Of course…I panicked becuase knowing that London would be wildly expensive with the heavier exchange rate I assumed a statutory position in front of my macbook – scouring facebook and old buddy lists for any potential London couches to sleep on. I even signed up for Travbuddy.com – which is like a facebook for travel enthusiasts.
Fortunately- I found an old college friend that happened to be moving there at exactly the same time I was leaving. But he hadn’t secured an apartment yet. Weeks passed and about 3 days before departure my colleague had just received the worst of worst news – her grandmother had passed and had to cancel the trip. So no place to sleep & no knowledgeable traveling partner and a non-refundable airplane ticket. Distraught & panicked, I geared up my backpack, bought a TimeOut London Guide, and peaced out to London all by myself!
Retrospect.
Cheers! In London, everyone says “Cheers” after everything. I was able to experience all realms of emotions and discomfort – my first 2 days I was lost as a tiny tornado in a big city. I had no idea what I was doing each day, but simultaneously overwhelmed with experience. Tube-hopping galore, museums abound, alcohol flowing, masses of international citizens, sleeping in a different place every single night. The funnest part of London was the spontaneity I was allowed – I loved spending days with random strangers from other countries and soaking up the London culture of craziness. I hung out with Australians, South Africans, Italians, & the French to name a few. I even conversed with deaf French people on NYE! They were going to a crazy party apparently. The touristy activities got boring after awhile and I tried to stay away from places that didn’t feel any different from America. My favorite area was the Shoreditch/Hackney area, east of London. Known as the heart of the”creative community” – there were tons of unique bars such as Ingrid Von Underbelly, Roadtrip & Mother. The Yard had the most delicious pizza! The scene was very “hipster” and the crowd ranged from artsy college students to professional 30’s. One night, we got invited to East Finchley by a group of English people and ate meat pies & crisps (potato chips). Chips are fries.
As always, the most meaningful thing about this trip was experiencing freedom and meeting the unique individuals that I met. It was a nice change from the cubicle life in corporate America. Crossing paths with other people and listening to their experiences has ultimately knocked down my walls of insecurity. Now I will now have a stronger stride and a confident step towards a path only to be created by me.
CRAZINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel like a plastic trash bag swirling about in the wind – like, that one home video scene in American Beauty – you know, that one part when the neighborhood boy gets very emotional about how much beauty there is in the world. Yea. Only it’s not beauty that I’m overwhelmed by – it’s chaos.
With the Christmas craze fastly approaching and the wrap-up of my co-op at Neutrogena, I am somehow finding time to capture a smidgen of my life into this blog – not that this moment has any relevant importance….it’s just the mild calm before ths actual storm. Christmas errands, work errands, and London next Friday! I have had no time to plan for that 2 week extravaganza, and I’m hoping New Year’s Eve won’t be a bust. Financially I am unsure how it’s going to fly, and I am eagerly awaiting a document from the Shanghai University so that I can quickly apply for a multi-entry visa before I leave for London! Intermingled between Xmas shopping, cookie baking, dumpling frying, unpacking to pack for London, I absolutely must catch up with old friends who will only be in town momentarily long enough to say good-bye to me after Xmas – London kind of messed everything up in that aspect – but na ja! I want to see the stonehenges, walk abbey road & tag a few meaningful words on the wall, drink british lagers at the local pubs, ride the london eye, eat really gross fish & chips, party in hackney and camden, and surf the tube!!! I am even looking forward to seeing my old friend Danny. Who shockingly resembles Turtle 
He was right – I am going at an astronomically fast pace, and it’s getting harder even for myself to keep up! I prefer it that way. It leaves zero time for absentminded boredom & minimizes time spent dwelling on what I COULD be doing, or wish I was doing, or being sad about not doing what I thought was going to be doing.
