A Simple Kind of Life

Since being in Hong Kong, I recently got internet back and a cell phone where people can reach me on a regular basis. I also started going on Facebook again and found a place where I can veg out and watch TV and movies all day if I choose to.

And I hate it.

As free and full of options all these things give me, I feel trapped sometimes within the confines of technology and choice. I don't HAVE to check my facebook inbox but I somehow have to. I don't have to text 24/7 but I somehow have to.

That's why it was nice to kind of see that you don't HAVE TO live that kind of life. You can live a simpler one.

One morning, we took some time away from the Shaolin temple and went up this mountain.


Beautiful winding trail where butterflies flocked around our hips and the winds blew in the bushes.


Our destination is this cave where a couple of monks sometimes call their homes. Because the cave is relatively isolated and cool, they come here to meditate, practice Shaolin and just enjoy being in the present moment.




We came here to help one of our monk friends with some chores.

The whole lot of us were helping to water the monk's garden, where he grows his own meals.


Then we worked out a bit. Nebula is fierce.

Because our monk friend is relatively clean and simple, there really weren't much to do after gardening so Carrie and Jani decided to sweep his entranceway. Nebula and I supervised.

After proving our spectacular housekeeping skills, we returned to civilization and our store bought meals and our iPods and designer shoes. But it's definitely nice to know that life doesn't have to be so complicated, so fraught with complexities we often bring upon ourselves.

Over the years, this is definitely what my travels have taught me: that it's okay to chill out, to enjoy the present moment, to be a little zen. I'm still not a complete master at it but it's a work in progress.

The Shaolin Scene

So in Beijing, you saw us in pretty dresses and heels and eyelashes and drinking tea with our pinky fingers lifted up and all that. In Deng Feng, the birthplace of Shaolin martial arts, we were taught to kick ass. And boy did we kick. Over and over again until our knees only felt pain. Half of the people in our group were from the Shaolin temple back in California and they had come to China mainly for the purpose of visiting the original Shaolin temple. We, as beauty pageant girls, seemed a little out of place but we quickly made ourselves at home taking lessons from a very talented (and cute!) Shaolin shifu and mastering this art. We also did some other things:

Like visiting a Shaolin school and interviewing with a local TV station (what can I say, we got paparazzi all over China.)

We checked out this amazing percussionist-based performance in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater. It was this big mountain/cave thing where they built the stage.

Breathtaking.

For half the night, I was like this monk, who was napping meditating throughout the entire show. I didn't regret missing the flying monk part though because a) my cousin-in-law can do that in his sleep and I get to watch him do it all the time and b) the music, the night air, the comfy seats... it was a perfect place to nap!

We also gardened and tidied up a monk's cave home (more on that later)

And of course, we also made our nether regions sore by learning Shaolin martial arts! More on this later as well!

I'd definitely say this portion of my trip was the most out-of-the-ordinary and refreshing. I did keep getting nightmares sleeping in the hotel rooms though but praying to Jesus Christ helped snap me out of it! Praise God for new experiences!

To Be Very Important

There are days when I enjoy just being a regular person.

You know, one of those you see crossing the streets and give nary a glance to. There are times when I just want to be treated like everyone else. Given the same amount of trouble and negligence by staff members, by teachers, by boys.

But then, there are also times when it is really really good to be VIP.

Visiting the stadium built for Beijing's 2008 Olympics, the bird's nest, was one of those times.

It would have been okay catching a taxi or riding the bus like other normal civilians, but it was a little bit better to have a police escort leading our van into the stadium so we would only have to walk the minimum amount of distance to get into the nest.

It would have been nice to just stare at the nest from the outside like all the other tourists were doing but it was just a tad cooler to be able to go into the stadium VIP status for a tour.

And to sit at seats where foreign dignitaries and celebrities and athletes were sitting to watch the opening ceremony at a more comfortable view.




It would have been nice to leave after visiting the bird's nest cause it's like, "cool, we got the inside view" but it was just a smidge better to get another view of the nest from the outside on a VIP rooftop suite.


It would have been nice to just leave you with pretty pictures of us in polite poses but it's just way more fun to be a little goofy and pretend we're on the cover of a Spice Girls album.

China Trip '10 Recap: Beijing: The Great Wall

That's the Great Wall. We were quite excited to climbing a portion of it. A smidgen. A little itty bit. Our goal was to reach that fortress at the top over there.

Umbrella in one hand, bottle of water in the other, I was set. I was ready. Let's go!

I did not anticipate being so out of shape (this is a girl who wakes up at 5AM to run some mornings!) but I caught slight heat stroke.

Sweet people started getting worried about me. They told me maybe I should sit it out while they continue up to that fortress. But I said, "NO WAY!" I don't half-ass things.


So I huffed and I puffed and I got myself up to that fortress along with the rest of my court.

I didn't have enough energy to do what shi fu (our Shaolin master on the trip) was doing

But we did get to stare and admire the beautiful view.

Then it was time to head down. One step at a time, down we go.


We were so exhausted afterwards but it wasn't something that ice cream and a massage didn't cure. :) Have you ever been to the Great Wall? What were your experiences like?

China Trip '10 Recap: Beijing

One trip, two chaperones, three weeks, four Miss LA Chinatown court members, five cities. My head is swimming from the past few weeks of excitement, adventure, companionship, experiences and travel. No time to waste! Must update now!

Let's start with Beijing.

Beijing, the country's capital, was last seen as the world's it-city thanks to the 2008 Olympics. It's got a nice mix of this old and new, from the Forbidden City to the Great Wall to the Bird's Nest. Here are some highlights...

The day we visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, it was SOO HOT.





We watched this acrobatics show where SIX-COUNT 'EM-SIX motorcyclists squeezed into this metal ball. It was painful to watch but I couldn't pull my eyes away.

We had a dinner one night where we actually had to order on our own (the rest of the time, the food just magically appears on the table right as we sit down) so I quickly scanned the menu. Seeing a picture of this big red bowl of soup with thingies sticking out of it, I thought it was this dish which had tasty fish soaked in the chili water base. After the dish arrived, it turned out the thingies sticking out of the soup were frogs. Whole pieces of frogs. Feeling responsible for the order, I ate 4 of those frogs. And then I proceeded to have stomach problems for the next 2 days.

We found this girl that looked exactly like Nebula in a magazine ad. Gotta love seeing Asian faces all over the magazines and billboards here in Asia.

Some other spots visited were the Bird's Nest and the Great Wall but they deserve their own posts.



Thanks for some of the pics, Nebula, Jani, Carrie, Tom and Chester!

LAhv LA

When I was younger, my parents used to come to downtown Los Angeles every Monday to pick up supplies for their shop. I would tag along, fall asleep during the long drive from the suburbs, fill my heart heavy with sympathy pangs as I awoke to find the homeless sleeping on every corner, make nice with the shopkeepers my parents buy supplies from and sleep again on the drive home.

This was before I knew how ginormous and diverse and varied Los Angeles actually is. This was before I chilled out by the soothing beaches of Santa Monica for four years during my stint as a Bruin. This was before I was lured into the seductive, and at times dangerous, dark cove of Hollywood and KTown in the PM. This was before I found the overly-glamorized borough of Beverly Hills to just be stuffy and boring (and overpriced).

So, you can say Downtown and I go way back. I fell in love with the whimsical architecture of the Walt Disney concert hall, the cultural hub of Little Tokyo, Even all the times I have to spend hours twisting and turning my way through the one-way streets, I just shrug my head and smile, "oh Downtown." (Just kidding, I wish I had such a positive attitude about Downtown's roads and parking.)

Here are some shots from recent jaunts through Downtown.

The view atop a gorgeous loft that overlooks the train tracks.

Attended an art walk one Saturday. This was a legit one where the artists who live in the artsy warehouses and lofts opened up their artsy space to let not-so-artsy folks meander through their artsy living rooms and artsy kitchens checking out their artsy art.

I didn't take many pictures of the artsy arts but we did have a lot of fun with this tetris-like lighting wall in which your dark shadows are sensed to stop the blocks from falling. Muy cool!

The cousin came round town for a visit so we decided to spend an afternoon in the Olvera Street/Union Station/Little Tokyo/Chinatown (my turf!) part of the town.

These flowers are called Jacarandas.


We noshed on blissful macarons from lovely (the second most popular restaurant in Downtown according to my well-informed friend, Jess!) Bottega Louie...

Took pictures...

And twirled about the streets...

Artsy

I will be heading to the homeland for the summer. Be expecting (hopefully) regular updates as the hijinks of the 2010 LA Chinatown court gets documented in all its glory! Until then, cheers to more LA adventures!