from the mixed-up files

hello friends…

leaving Los Angeles for a bit - heading to NY, LONDON, SPAIN, PARIS, VENICE, LISBON.

I leave september 24 - and return october 23 - would love to have you crash at my pad while i’m away.

900 square foot loft - in the lively Old Bank District - Downtown LA
18 foot ceilings.

Fully Furnished.
Dishwasher
Laundry Room steps away
Pet Friendly Building
free utilities : T-1 internet line, Electricity, Land line (unlimited minutes), sorry no cable - don’t believe in it.

Neighborhood :
http://laloft.com/location/
-restaurants
-coffee shops
-dvd rental
-book stores
-boutiques
-art galleries

1200/month or $300/week obo  - parking NOT included.

june nho
213 291 3206 home | 323 397 9321 cell
june.nho@gmail.com
will email you pictures.

so. yeah. i’m not into halloween. I don’t like the effort that halloween takes. After my massive birthday party, i just didn’t have it in me to throw yet another fabulous soiree. And bless my kindred Heather, but we were going to throw a party…and then cancelled it. we suck. bah humbug.

so. then. i *felt* obligated to make the actual costumes go full into effect. but i didn’t want to be something like like officer naughty like last year (once again, lazy). so, I decided to break out chola (thanks jesse and lauren) and also. tadah! the librarian.

the librarian. was super sexy complete with wart with hairs. mmm…yummy. but the wart kept on following off. two sets of glasses, ballpoint pens, all i really wanted was a card catalog.

the chola. complete with temporary ghetto tattoos. it was amazing. yes. i wore it to another party. yes, it wasn’t a wholly original idea, but it was funny. piece de la resistance? the gold tooth (with a skeleton on it - pirates are really big this year - go figure)

y’all should be proud. i haven’t put this much effort in a costume since…god. heaven and hell, madonna party? oi vey.

oh. you know what i’m talking about. The “Relationship Hole”. It’s when your friend meets someone who may or may not be super rad and sucks your friend into a vortex. And sha-zam : disappears. Voila! Like that.

It sucks. Because there was this beacon of light and hope in your life, and then they just disappear. And this person, this being gets all the benefits of their awesome-ness, and you’re left high and dry.

yeah. screw that.

btw : i welcome three little ones in my world this week. one which happens to be a kitty named Phillip (aka Milo)

yes. it does.

i don’t know if it was the reality of “the return” - or what - but I COULD NOT SLEEP. See you have to know about this very important thing about me - i have a super power. i have an amazing super power…I can sleep on a plane. I sleep before we take off. I have this magical ability to sleep when the drink cart is coming around and when the MOVIE STARTS!. It’s really amazing. I can sleep through the whole flight 1 hour to 14 hours. It’s brilliant.

so, i went to bed the night before we flew because i was playing online games (yes, i know - BIG LOSER) until…oh, I don’t know..THREE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Can’t wait to post the photos of this magical hotel pics - with a vending machine in it. it rocked in so many ways - like a ghetto ass business hotel. snap!

therefore, I arrived at the hotel front desk late. I disco-ed napped after breakfast and check out at 11:57 am. (hannah - i got you the pocari sweat, it better be AMAZING). I arrive at the airport 4 FOURS ahead my Boarding Time. (i became lame) Couldn’t hang out with my cousin because I thought I could master the seoul bus sytem in 15 minutes. (bus sytems - not my super power). i’m just feeling a li-t-tle special right now.

so i hang out at seoul incheon airport (which is one of the sexiest airports i have ever been in). for four hours. i had a bit of a problem at the ticket counter (paper ticket - what’s a paper ticket?, etickets? - i don’t speak korean well - oh, let me dig through my suitcase) go through security. i get my liquid gel hand sanitizer removed (yes, i’m lame). go through custons - admire my new and sexy stand collections.

a is for asia - awesome airports and amazing airlines!! oh, and also a) stamping. europe sucks! visa stampers in asia are geniuses!

admire the stamp collection and hang out at the airport for 3 hours. i use the internet. at 2, i’m hungry. i ate a korean version of chirashi, where the sashimi was FROZEN. I never complain about bad service and food. but if i’m going to consume this overpriced lunch that i don’t want to eat but have to because i’m sick of korean food - then goddamn it! i’m going to get some semblance of sushi! i will forgo the wasabi and the soy sauce and SMOTHER IT with gochujang (spicy bean paste). i somehow, i don’t know how, communicated it to the Welly waiter that in broken korean and sign language this was unacceptable. oscar winning performance. oh - i also got a discount on the food due to my obsession with internet at the airport. (note to airport honchoos around the world - get wifi and put in internet cafes - and make them free or available - it *pacifies* the unruly customers). the asians understand that - look at their cellphones for gods sake.

oh - another thing about asians - you can’t throw up things boundaries like now boarding first class and group 1 with the asians. we just pretend we don’t understand. and we are going to stand in that absurdly long line and you will let us in because you are asian and confucius says that we should service the customer (our indirect employer/superior) - and you don’t know who i am, so you will let me pass. because you can’t deny anyone. asians in a classroom are obedient, asians standing in line, it’s like organized chaos (you have to remind me to tell you about the protest rally i attended in taipei). so we get on the plane - and this line (which is usually on time and fast) is held up because we are going through SECURITY HAND CHECK at the airport. This time - this ain’t know x-ray machines - this is people UP in yo’ shit like you are going to the hottest club in town - and you are hoping the pill won’t drop at that moment. You just want to get on that plane. I’m wearing my brand new Escada sun glasses that I got at the Hyundai Department Store for 99,000 won. Hot! i work that jetway like i’m some international super stah.

another quick side note : one thing that definitely says that i’m korean - i love the eyeware. koreans have been wearing eyeglasses since 1300 AD (saw it at the korean folk museum in seoul and the one in gyungedom). Um, when did Ben Franklin launch bifocals? yeah. eat it white people. Printing press anyone - movable type? Asians rock. Johannes Guttenberg - pssht! Han-gul? Hells,yeah. My point : eyeware. So cute on the korean celebrities. Boys wear it — they look a bit sexy. I’m a sucker for eyeware choice over shoes on a man.

So, i’m on the plane. i’m seat number 54a (that’s the window). No personal monitors. Okay, that’s fine. No one next to me - that’s cool. Oh, Here’s this lady - she’s the aisle seat. Middle - nope. The seat between us empty - she puts her bag on it. Okay, whatever. She’s my elder - I gots it. I get my banket, pillow, personal kit (socks, eye cover, toothbrush, toothpaste). Movies : X-Men 3 and Nacho Libre - I can take a stab at that. Got my korean newspaper and my bad chick lit book.

I took like - three baby naps. I had room to sprawl. and i finished the lame overpriced book. there were some cry babies - but i’ve had WORSE. I didn’t even watch the movies. my timing was so off on this flight. the only thing i have to note about this flight.

pointed observations.
1. two of the attendants were white girls (so weird when white people bow), 1 was a guy
2. um the sam-chun instructions were AMAZING. on how to eat korean food. you thought exiting instructions were good.
3. I really do like the aisle.
4. cnn asia is on shuffle. so lame. my dad was right. i mean watching re-runs of sex in the city or project runway in asia is okay - but cnn? when it’s current news.
5. i’m going to miss listening to foreign programming.
6. i like to stare at white people and wonder how they feel surrounded by asians. i almost am like - i’m in camoflage. ha!
7. The monitors to explain all the US homeland seurity things - like scanning your index fingers and taking your picture - was this xenophobic american laws or is it anti-american propaganda. I couldn’t figure it out. I have to find this instructional video animation - it was RIDICULOUS. i was like big brother, anyone?

i land. lax. my least favorite hub. i think this is one of the things that makes me ashamed about living in los angeles :: the airport is lame. I mean, I like LaGuardia better. Dulles. Go through customs. The white guy makes small talk - like where was i the longest. He stamps my card. He doesn’t stamp.

um lax can’t accomodate a 747 in its baggage carousel. the international customs terminal is like being in mexico city. are you going to roll out the steps for me here, honey? and the geniuses sent some of the luggage to the wrong carousel. so, we had to look for our luggage on two carousels. there was 200 people on my flight.

i’m so exhausted - i took a cab home - i made a half hearted attempt at catching the flyaway. but smile to these guys as i take their cab and call my friends.

love you.
missed you.

i’m glad to be back.

it’s 11:55 pm in seoul, korea (technically, i’m in incheon - but how many of you know where incheon is). 

I left at the end of august removing myself from the reality of it all.  Work — is work.  My life — has drawn to a stalemate.  And I really, needed to change my perspective on everything.  And if there’s one thing that I know, it’s that change is inevitable and when life becomes dull - you need to just need to shift gears.

I haven’t been in asia in over twenty years, but I have to say - it’s great to get lost in it all, to rub your eyes, and see a bit clearer. with thousands of dollars thrown to asiana airlines and lonely planets in hand, i head off.

asiana airlines : When my mom told me that we were flying asiana airlines - i was like, what is this ghetto company?  I eat my words - after flying throughout asia on this airline - I MUST SAY asiana is the SHIZNIT.  I travel via airplanes - a lot.  Hell, I FLY to vegas, I’m that lazy, but I really abhor the thought of flying. The thought of flying on Asiana for 12 hours - doesn’t sound sexy. So, the wee hours before heading off, I decided I should check out the site due to air restrictions (liquid bomb plots in london, anyone?) - and i discovered that this relatively new airline could be just what the doctor ordered.

what makes asiana airlines rock - by june nho

1. magic show - yes.  magic show.  I myself have not experienced the actual performances - but you MUST hit this link. Hannah’s flight back to the us - although didn’t have video on demand (like our previous flights) but it did have a magic show.  Our flight to Jeju-do (Jeju Islands), I woke up to the noise of obnoxious children crying - but what did they have in their hands - BALLOON ANIMALS.  Amazing.
2. Stewardess - so cute. Their outfits are a throwback to the 60s. Cute little hats and scarves - and when they serve you food (which is on EVERY FLIGHT - with SILVERWARE) - they change into a ahgeema outfit/house apron.  The staff (in la) - unfortunately wore bad hawaiin prints.
3. The Planes - Although all of our flights did not have personal monitors (I HOPE I HAVE IT TOMORROW), they are spacious and clean and nice.  I flew economy all around - and the long haul flight had the following : sleeping socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, and sleeping mask. So nice.  The bathrooms - lotion.  Ah. Luxury
4. Service : Never a late flight, Never (knock on wood) lost my luggage.
5. Food : Um, Korean food on a plane.  Bibimbap? Galbi? Wh-what?  It was sick.  And decent for airplane food.  I admit - I didn’t turn down a single offer.  Yummy!

For those of you flying to asia, I highly recommend this airline. If you fly first class or business - please tell me. I racked some mad mileage on this one - but i have to save it for spain next year.

beijing : my guide book said to head over to beijing before it all loses its charm (or when the olympics kill it). so, my family (sans Shane) headed over to the heart of the dragon and after a bit of confusion we find our guides - mr. kim (for the korean portion of our tour) and ellen jiang (for the english part of our tour).  We immeadiately headed to the forbidden city (unbeknownst to us - the tour guides literally threw us into it all).  Um, the forbidden city, is ridiculously huge.  I didn’t realize that it gave Versailles a run for its money on scale.  The highlight of tour : the tourist photo area where you to can be the emperor (or empress) of china. can someone says old west pictures at six flags? YES!

I, myself, have never been to a communist country, and I have to say - going to China in these transitional times is a very interesting socio-economic perspective.  China is communist, but has thrown a welcome mat to capitalism (stalin turning in his grave).  There are so many cranes thrown up in the skyline - it echoes berlin 2000 to me - ah, berlin. As you walk through the city, it is as if communism didn’t exist.  Nevermind the lack of advertising in a city around the city, or the thousands of laborers chipping away til the wee hours of the evening, nevermind the echoes of mao on every corner - beijing is happening in such crazy way - it’s bursting with capitalism - oh yeah.  cellphones that work on the subways (how frustrating our lame networks are in the us), the crazy asian perms and dyes, the starbucks on every corner.  and as the friendlies (the olympic mascots - yes a boyband of five cute little things) and china gear up for the olympics in 2008 - you, too, can purchase your souvenirs in 2006 (yes, i did).

so, we head back to our (five star?) hotel - the oriental bay - in beijing - which is seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  it’s nice. yeah, but there are a few flaws - oh, like, BROKEN GLASS, lobbies with no furniture, a business center with no internet - we found out that this hotel was built three months ago.  oh, and it’s right by the olympic park.  yeah.  hmmm…things like this - was so typical china. or beijing. or red china with green investors.  it was a nice hotel - don’t get me wrong, but it was funny to find all the little cracks and flaws.

to be continued…

At some point in time, you find yourself facing him/her. You look at them, and it hurts because you’re about to drop a bomb. And they have no idea. Or do they? Like Hiroshima, they have no fucking clue what’s about to hit them.

I want a new car.

I mean, did I say that out loud, I think we should break up.

Because when it all comes down to it, dating is like leasing a car. You can test drive it, trade it in, buy or just check it out. Whatever suits your fancy, your style, your personality. In all honesty, does a single automobile truly define us? Am I Jetta or a Jaguar? The fantasy and the idea of a relationship is lot farther from the reality of it all.

After much soul-searching and contemplation, I decided to end my two year lease on a really great car. It was reliable, it drove fine. It had a dent and a few scratches, but otherwise a very great car.

And it’s funny, because people are like, “why did you trade in your car?”

I reply thoughtfully, “because I feel like walking.”

I found myself dependent upon the car. Even when I wanted to drive a few blocks to go to the store– but I felt like I was driving this car alone. And sometimes, it was as if we were both riding in the back seat. No one really felt like driving. And I missed public transportation, walking, flying. It was hard for me to realize that because I have a car doesn’t mean i need the car. I was just very, very comfortable in the car - even though I didn’t want this car forever.

It was the most mature departure in the histories of departures — and maybe the best car I ever had. And that was the beauty of this car — we had a really great car, but neither of us really took the time to drive it together. And why would you pay through the nose on insurance and monthly bills, for something you never drove around? Why fill it up with gas when you don’t drive it?

We had a great car. I think about all the other cars I had in the past - some of them were a little shitty, a little used. Some of them were well-tuned machines - looked great, drove well, but weren’t me. Some of them were just a car. I liked the idea or the concept of driving them — but it was just a little test drive.

Why do we need cars? We don’t NEED cars — do we? Cars are nice. And your feet do get tired when you are walking around all the time. Some of like cars. I won’t deny the luxury of the car.

I have friends that are utilizing all forms of modern technology to find them a car — and I say to them, good luck. Have fun leasing that car, and if you end up buying it — more power to you.