NYC Day 3

Rivington Club (fail)
Katz Deli
Pixie Market
DQM
Thrift Shop
Niketown
Filming of the David Letterman Late Night Show and saw KENDRICK LAMAR perform live
Soho-
Flight Club
and 5 other billion sneaker shops til I got dizzy
NY Pizza
Baohaus
Momofuko

NYC So Far

Day 1:
Touched down at Newark, New Jersey at 5pm
Drinking beers and eating chips at the hotel by 730pm
10pm Beer and chips run as we ran out (note: liquor stores here dont sell beer, only wine)
1030pm Skull beer then off to Joe's Shanghai Place in Chinatown for a feast
11pm Cab to the Empire State Building FREEZING!
1am bed time, researching NYCs Top 10 sneaker places and could not sleep

Day 2:
Cream cheese on a seasame seed bagel and hot chocolate for breakfast. Cream cheese spread was enough to match the thickness of the bagel
Top of the Rock(afella) building for a misty morning view of NYC and the empire state building. It was beautiful and we were in awe. 'Concret jungle where dreams are made of..'
Walk to Times Square, passing little sneaker shops on the way
Footlocker, Times Square - mad shoes, rediscover i can fit into kids shoes and pay 75% off the price of womens
Lady Foot Locker - bought another pair of Airmax 80's (purple reminds me of Ube)
Macy's - the biggest in the world with 9 levels. Bought a pair of hgh cuban heeled lace up desert boots that i wore straight away. Love them!
Too the subway for the first time to the borough of Queens where it looked all dodge. Dave bought a pair of Red Wings and I bought a couple of knits at a thrift shop there. Probably the most packed thrift shop ive ever been, the pile of clothes on the counter almost touched the ceiling. Purchases include a white jumper with the american flag on it.
White Castle - yum
Grand Central Station - bumped into Lily and Kari.
Home, dropped of laundry
H&M store for some stockings
Cab to HARLEM for Sylvia's Fried Chicken, Queen of Soul Food. $40 pp fried chicken and ribs! yum though, everyone there is african american.
Turned on international roaming for my sim.


Plans:
Wednesday

Morning local exploration/shopping/ Central park
12pm brunch at cat alley?
Forbes Gallery
Noho Market
Sneaker shopping in Soho, Noho and Greenwich (Rugged Sole, Flight Club, Kith, Supreme, Michael K, Kith, Adidas, DQM)
Dinner at 10?

Thursday

C21
Explore Finanacial District/Battery Park
Statue of Liberty
5:30 Fancy Restaurant dinner
Possibile 8pm broadway show The Lion King

Friday

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Art and Design 

Saturday 

Last minute shopping

check out 11

leave for airport at 2pm

5pm flight to Vegas

Four Days in LA

MELROSE AVE
Sportie LA
Necromance

THRIFT SHOP
x4


HOLLYWOOD
Avenue of Stars
Chinese Theatre
Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills the suburb
Hollywood Museum
Hollywood Sign
Griffith Observatory (at sunset)

DOWNTOWN LA
American Apparel Workshop
Garment City
China Town
Japan Town
San Antonio Winery

UNIVERSAL
City Walk
Bubba Gump
Starbucks

SANTA MONICA
The Grove

FOOD
Norms for Breakfast
In and Out
Penguin's Fried Fish
Bubba Gump

Filippino Food

Last Day of San An

San Antonio Museum of Art
MACCAS!
La Cantera (AA and Macy's)

San Antonio Museum of Art has to be one of the nicer art galleries ive visited in my travelling life. The building, built in 1884 was Lonestar brewery and in 1970 was falling to dispair. in 1981 the building opened as the place it is now. You wouldn't tihnk the building is an old brewery when you visit, it has been restored so rooms are perfect sizes for what is being exhibited. The artworks flow from room to room even if the subject matter changes. Nice transitions. The artworks are also displayed in a way to enhance their full potential. and also placed in groups or front/behind one another to enhance meaning (e.g. japanese samari being the first and only subject matter to be scene upon entering the Japanese art room, followed by a back drop of a japanese rug. e.g.2. different types of roman sculptures grouped together but still convey balance and cohesion).

They had more Oceanic Art than any other museum I've been to. I love this type of art. So tribal, primitive methods and a creative use of natural material. So much spiritualism and stories conveyed. I like looking at geometric islamic art and reading about the meanings behind their jewellery. I also like learning burial rituals/looking at items across all ethnic traditions. Sculptures are cool too

What I saw at SAMA:

• Irish Silver Collection
• European Art
• Oceanic Art
• Islamic Art
• Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Imperial Chinese Art 
• Liao Dynasty Art
• Korean Art
• Himalayan Art
• Japanese Art
• Roman Art
• Greek Art
• Anicent Glass
• Egyptian Art
• European Decorative Art
• Latin American Folk Art
• Pre-Columbian Art

Photos of these to come.Disappointed that i misse out on Spanish Colonial art :(

I could have spent all day here sketching but i only spent 2hrs. Tita grace was waiting for me at the entrance and I didnt want to keep her waiting.

We went to a homeware store in La Cantera and i observed their VM. Homewares VM must be the most interesting/funnest VM job ever! the colours, textures, finishes, product types and themes! man made, natural, metallics, hot, cold, sensual... exotic - oriental, african... the possibilities are endless! I observed their floor to ceiling display. A five column wall is divided into three. the middle is the most attention grabbing so impressive and expensive works are placed here. The columns on either side of this will mirror exactly. But balance of colour and shapes will be maintained where possible.

It's surprsing to say i havent bought a pair of shoes yet. I am saving my pennies for NY which everyone who has been there has said I will go INSANE. i think i might and im excited to think about the feeling i get when i power shop! Ive bought an extra luggage and will pay $70 for an extra 23kg of check in for all the shopping i do in NY and LA.

Oh yeah baby

Before I Forget

San Antonio, Texas

Oversized utility cars that are always sparkling clean
Oversized shiny and silver rims
Mansions on hills
Open lands, green pastures or dried grass
Ranches
Cow shoes
Blue denim, button up shirts and cow boy hat
Dress shoes with blue denim
Thank you, uh huh
Yes mam, right away mam! You got it
50% off Australian RRP
Mexicans
Mexican resutrants
Steaks
Heavy meals
Bling belts, earrings, clothing embellishments
Blue sky, sunny hot afternoon winters!
New york cheese cake yoghurt
Slow turning drivers, paitent drivers
Signs that say '____ next exit! 99miles'
'Drink Drive, Go To Jail'
Country music
Rodeo and lasso shows, Let's Rodeo San Antonio!
'Ya'll'
Genuinely friendly and accommodating people, very sweet
Slow paced city, perfect for settling down or retiring
Little city stuck in time
Reusing and recycling old buildings

Second Last Day in SA, TX

San Antonio Caverns
Taco Bell
Tanger Outlet Mall (spend $266 in 3hrs. Finally purchased CK Escape)
Walmart

Danny.

He smelt, coincidently, of CK Escape.

From my list

What I didnt do:

San Antonio Museum of Art (egyptian, greek asian, latin art) $10 Adults

See a show at the Arneson River Theatre, Aztec Theatre

La Mansion Hotel
Cappy's Restaurant

McNay Art Museum

Bishop's Palace (top 100 of U.S architectural significant homes)

Ashton Villa (Victorian architecture)

Texas Highway Patrol Museum

Steves Homestead Museum

Botanical Gardens

What I've done:

Rivercentre Mall

HemisFair Urban Park

El Mercado (cultural shopping)

Japanese Tea Gardens

King William Historic District (25 blocks of historic mansions)

La Villita (arts and craft community)

San Antonio Missions e.g. The Alamo and San Jose (1720's Spanish church)

Natural Bridge Caverns

San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo

Spanish Governer's Palace

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower
and more!

San Antonio, Texas

Woken up by Tita Grace at 1pm.. For a second I thought it was my mum and i was still home

So valentines day is a big thing here. Tita grace went to the shops this morning and got a big helium singing ballon and two lots of roses. Tito Romo got me strawberries dipped in chocolates. Shisha, the aggressive, dominant Chiuawa (spelling) finally did something with all that barking and actually bit my pant leg. 

Everywhere we went, there were couples holding hands, going on dates.. it was cute to see. the girls got all dressed/slutted up in red.

Dominion, San An THE suburb of the rich an famous, home of country singers and basketball players.. Tita grace lives here, she is rich but no famous. Some of these houses are multimillion dollar estates, castles on hills, interior water fountations and wine cellars, watch towers..

St. Bastillia Church of Little Flowers oldest church in San An

Marcada Square market full of exotic mexican homewares, gardenwares, clothes, shoes etc. I suddenly want a mexican blanket.

King William suburb of Historic and heritage listed Houses. This place was my fav. these houses were built in the victorian era and worth millions of dollars. They are old mansions restored. It was very beautiful

Japanese Tea Gardens (two weddings going on)

San Antonio River Tour and Cruise

Macy's 

Chester's Burgers (the shit bomb!!)

Yee Haw!

Touched down San Antonio, Texas just before midnight. Waddup. 26hours later and im finally here. Resting in the comfort of my aunty's lavishly furnished display house home. Tomorrow I will wake up to the high pitched yapping of their little beloved chiuwawa (spelling?) shisha. Mmm i wish i could have some of that right now.

Oh.. Calli?

LAX baby.

Seafood breakfast at Captain Kidd's by Redonna Beach
Starbucks Java Chip Frap at South Bay S/C
Having deep and meaningful's with my uncle and aunty
I am inspired and my attitude inspires them.

Wide wide concrete roads
Six lane high ways lined with palm trees
Black and white cop cars
Something Boulevard this, Boulevard that
Pale blue skies
and oh my .. the shopping

Stranger boys and girls love my hair.

Texas

Things to do:

• San Antonio Museum of Art (egyptian, greek asian, latin art) $10 Adults
• See a show at the Arneson River Theatre, Aztec Theatre
• La Mansion Hotel
• Rivercentre Mall
• HemisFair Urban Park
• El Mercado (cultural shopping)
• Cappy's Restaurant
• McNay Art Museum
• Japanese Tea Gardens
• King William Historic District (25 blocks of historic mansions)
• La Villita (arts and craft community)
• San Antonio Missions e.g. The Alamo and San Jose (1720's Spanish church)
• Natural Bridge Caverns
• San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo
• Bishop's Palace (top 100 of U.S architectural significant homes)
• Ashton Villa (Victorian architecture)
• Moody Mansion Museum
• Botanical Gardens
• Spanish Governer's Palace
• Texas Highway Patrol Museum
• Steves Homestead Museum
• Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower 

Coming To America

Tickets to the United States of America booked, bitches!!

San Antonio, Texas
LAX, California
Newark, New Jersey
JFK, New York
LV, Nevada
LAX, California
Melbourne

4weeks! I'm so pumped im filling out my outgoing passenger card already.

Planning

OPTION ONE
Feb 8-15 San Antonio Texas
Feb 15-19 Toronto, Canada
Feb 19 to LA, Paramatta California
NY, Las Vegas, Nevada
March 9 Melbourne

OPTION TWO
Nov 11 -


Phuong:
Departing : Melbourne 11th November - 12:55pm via Sydney
Arriving : San Francisco 11th November - 10:40am
Departing : San Francisco 27th November - 2:07pm
Arriving : New York, JFK - 10:29pm
 Departing : New York 6th December - 11:30am
Arriving : Los Angeles 2:38pm
Departing : Los Angeles 9th December 10:10pm
Arriving : Melbourne 11th December 11:20am

 Ace would be,
Departing Melbourne 27th Nov
Arriving NYC via San Fran 27th Nov
Departing NYC 6th Dec
Arriving L.A 9th Dec
 Departing L.A 23rd Dec
Arriving Melb 25th Dec

Inked

Getting inked is an incredibly easy process. I didnt need to show ID or have the full amount of cash on me before tattooing. I got my ink done in Hong Kong. Originally I wanted it done in Korea but for the sake of healing, Hong Kong would be better since it would be our last destination. People also spoke more English in Hong Kong and its more of a Westernised country, I'd feel more comfortable communicating my ideas to an artist.

I done my research and settled on Star Crossed Tattoos in Kowloon. Rich, he was my first. Popped my cherry. I thought we were a good match as he graduated with a bachelor degree in graphic art/communication design and worked as a graphic designer before coming to Hong Kong as a tattoo artist. Plus he was south african, with a south african accent that I took in.

I rocked up fucking 30minutes late and sweating through my clothes. I was still panting when he was talking through his design. I shouldn't have worn a dress because I would be lying down, dudes walking around, i wasnt even wearing a bra. Armpits where unplucked, legs covered in mosquito bites and scars and hairs and the black fluff from my jumper stuck to my sweat on my body so I looked dirty. hehe.

There was a chinese/american family sitting in the waiting room before me. The twin daughters, one with half head long hair/half head shaven. They were getting impulsive matching tattoos on their wrist. Theyre old and traditional looking parents where completely cool with this, the dad even came into the studio and watched his daughters get tatted up. I kept thinking, I wish my parents were this cool!

Rich stencilled me. I wanted it bigger than I thought. For the image and placement I thought the bigger the better.


Is this your first tattoo?
Yes.
Are you nervous?
I'm trying not to think about it. I'm only thinking about the end result.
Are you ready?


And before I responded, I felt the needle on my skin. Damn. What if I changed my mind? I asked a couple of friends about how to deal with the pain for a tattoo needle. Annie suggested inhaling as the needle touched me and exhaling when it didnt. Jess suggested freaking out about how much it will hurt so when you feel it, you will be underwhelmed of the pain. I found both advice useful, although I felt breathing out while the needle touched me to ease the pain better than to inhale.

It was good there was plenty of things on the wall and ceiling to distract me with. Street artwork, toy figurines, stickers, black white tiled floor and a mirror which reflected an image of my brand new black/white/floro green airmax's. It sounds crazy but looking at them actually made me feel better. MY SHOES ARE SO DAMN GOOD LOOKING.

Truth is, the tattoo doesnt hurt so bad. It is painful and the sound is annoying but its totally bearable. I would never say anything about the pain and I tried my best to hide it but he knew I was uncomfortable because I would flinch and bite my lip. I didnt know if looking away or looking at the needle was helping or making it worse. There were sensitive spots that he hit that I almost asked him to stop, they were the spots on the back of my arm closest to my armpit. It really felt like someone had stuck a thin knitting needle under my skin and waved it around and cut my inside flesh in the process. Ow.

Long lines and double lines killed the most, luckily i didnt have many of those. I imagine how much more painful it would be to get block colour or thick ass lines like vman has. the needle goes over broken skin over and over again. I was surprised at how little I bled (just a trickle) and how relatively un-inflamed my skin got. I was even more surprised at how quickly it healed. Pretty much the third day it was totally flat and begun to peel. The itchy part was bearable. The first and second day, I felt a bit of pain, like someone was pulling on my skin. This sensation would occur randomly and I would pull a twisted face of pain. People thought I was weird.

Lying on the chair, I couldn't believe I was actually getting this done. No backing out now. My parents are gonna kill me. Job prospects will be obsolete, including my once life long dream being a flight attendent. I am now tainted. My parents are going to disown me. Me, alone, in another country, getting a tattoo. I imagine my first with Vman by my side watching over me and keeping me comfortable, but I was truly alone in this experience. Ive been obsessed with tattoos as a child and ive changed my mind so many times about my first tattoo.. is this really happening? FUCK SHITCHYEA MUTHAFUCKA!

Rich tattooed for 1.5hrs but it felt like 45 minutes.  He was really gentle and caring when he bandaged up my tattoo which made me feel good. After care process was easy as and pretty much common sense. No excess exposure to sun or water. Pat dont wipe. Bepanthern cream three times a day. Dont peel or scratch. Getting this tattoo was such a positive and enjoyable experience for me this wont be my last. I am going to crave another, just as I did with body piercings.

I love my tattoo so much. I love it I love it I love it! During the first week, I would trip out when I see a flash of it and say 'what the fuck is this black shit on my.. oh yeah, tattoo'. Once it healed and became flat, I had accepted it as part of me. I couldn't imagine my arm the way it was before, I feel so comfortable with it like I've had it for years already. I love everything about it. It's a moving part of Rich's art. I love the placement and style which both add to its symbolism. Location makes it easy to hide. I love how it peaks out when I move my arm in a certain way and goes back to hiding when I move back. I love how its simple black and white, I think it would make a good centre piece - be surrounded by more detailed and colourful tattoos. How ironic, a black white line drawing as a centre piece?

It's so me. This is me.

Freedom