My Birthday Started Before Greg's!

Happy Birthday to me. I am 21 for the fourth time today. Since I'm flying out to Prague today, my London friends and I celebrated my birthday on the 9th.

My sweeties Cathy and Sonja planned a little get together surprise. I guess it was supposed to be a surprise party, but I kept bugging them about doing something today so they finally gave in and told me they were planning something, but not what it was. But it was...

KOREAN FOOD!




And Cathy baked me a chocolate cake.

I'm getting so old that this cake is a fire hazard.


Make a wish...


And it's gonna come true!!!


Thanks for coming out guys...Cathy, Sonja, Thomas (aka Govenator), Magda, Dada and Edwin.

Then we went to get a couple drinks at a pub in Covent Garden.


The boys.


Cath and Edwin.


Me and Cathy's fashion shoot.


Cath and Ed at the LeiCESTer Square tube station. Piccadilly...what a great word. Hahaha.

BEST OF ALL...my birthday started 6 hours before Greg's this year. I called Greg at midnight London time, which was the 9th at 6pm in Texas...so for the next 6 hours, it's just MY BIRTHDAY, not mine and Greg's. Yeah, I moved all the way to London just so I could finally be in an earlier time zone than Greg. For those who don't know, Greg is my "twin brother" or brother from another mother. We've been friends since we were born on Feb. 10, 1983 in West Anaheim Hospital 11 hours apart and ever since he moved to Texas when we were 11 or 12, he's been 2 hours ahead of me...UNTIL NOW! Love you Greg. Hope you have a happy birthday as well.

And now off to Prague to celebrate Part 2.

It SNOWED!

Yesterday, I woke up and it was SNOWING!!! outside my window!!!!!!! Yeah, I'm Californian and I've never seen snow before.

Me in snow!!! Yeah, really bad one-handed self portrait.








But I was late for class because I didn't know how to walk in this slush.

By night, the snow was all gone. It didn't stick. But still, IT SNOWED just for my birthday. Thanks, London.

Dae Han Min Gook in Young Gook

So whenever I'd watch Korean soccer games played in Europe on TV, I'd be surprised by the fact that there are Koreans in Europe. BUT TODAY...I was one of them! The Korean football (yeah, it's called football here) team is in London to play a friendly match with Greece. It's one of the four games played by various countries in London today. The big game was Portugal v. Brazil. Anyhow, so me and my unni and my oppa went to watch the game tonight at the Fulham stadium. KOREA v. GREECE and we kicked their ass 1-0.


Me and Yunyoung unni representin' the REDS!


Fulham stadium, Korea v. Greece.


Most of my pictures came out like this because those bastards wouldn't stop running around.


Here's my unni and my oppa Junyoung. They're both in the same MA programme as me. My fellow Korean folk.


Me and unni. I even painted my nails red, and of course, the red lipstick. A lot of people didn't wear red because it's the middle of winter and they were freezing in their coats. Some girls wore Santa hats. It's hard to get all that Korean gear here in such short notice so they had to make do.


This guy had no trouble getting Korea-d out, though. He was like our cheer captain. He screamed through the whole game, but he was really entertaining. They did the whole "Dae Han Min Gook," "Pil Seung Korea," "Arirang," and even the wave. Yeah, he was full out. There was a Brazilian couple sitting next to me. They came to this game because the Brazil one was sold out. They asked me what he was saying...this whole "Dae Ra Mi Doo" thing, and I explained and the Brazilian guy got really into it.


Lee Chun Soo...#10...the guy that looks like John Jung from El Toro. He was the star of the game. He looks even smaller than he does on TV.


Aww! Player down. But he was okay. You know...I really don't understand how this game works, but whatever.


The Korean team in a huddle...hmmm...wonder what they're talking about.


After 75 minutes or so into the game, Korea FINALLY scored the one and only point of the game. And the crowd went wild. "Dae Han Min Gook!"


The scoreboard...South Korea 1, Greece 0!!! YAY!!!


Let's give the boys a hand!


Us at Fulham Stadium. PIL SEUNG KOREA!

I think the real victory, however, was the fact that we managed to score seats on the Tube on the way home. The train was PACKED! So that was my first ever football game and my first ever Korean football game experience. BE THE REDS! GO KOREA!

Bad Girls in Heaven

So these are some pictures from a couple weeks ago when some really naughty boys and girls went to Heaven. My friend Sonja's friends came to London from Austria for the weekend. It was her friend and now my friend TomTom's birthday. So we got in a big pink limo and went to a gay club called Heaven. I love Austrian people! They all sound like Schwarzenegger and they say "Cali-foh-nya" and "I'll be back." And they're sexy people who know how to party. :)


Me, Cathy and Sonja at Sonja and Thomas's apartment before we went out.


Our big pink limo!


Champagne and giggles!


Me and Thomas AKA THE GOVERNATOR!


TomTom and Tom...yeah, I don't know why all their names are Thomas. Perhaps it's an Austrian thing.


Cathy the Chinese cleaning lady kept wiping the windows because they kept fogging up since it's bloody freezing in London! We made multiple stops around town to take in sights as well as a much needed bathroom stop at a McDonald's.


An Austrian with his pants down and an Asian woman. Hmmm...sounds like American politics, but it's actually a night out in London.


Cathy, TomTom and me. TomTom is the man of my dreams...except he's gay. I taught him the difference between "faghag" and "fruit fly" and he said I was his "#1 fruit fly." Awwww....


My girls!!!


I'm in Heaven. Although, really not my idea of heaven since I hate trance music, but it's Europe so I can't get away from it. :(


Party time!

So that was my night in Heaven with the Austrian angels. They promised me that "I'll be back."

Oscar Season

So sorry I haven't been writing lately, but nothing terribly exciting has happened. I went to a club a week ago and that was a pretty exciting night out, but I have yet to get the pictures from that night yet. Still waiting on that Cathy and Sonja! I've just mostly been writing papers since I got back, and now that's all over with so I've been just focusing on school and hanging out with friends and doing the day-to-day of living in London. I've been here for almost 5 months now, and I'm pretty much adjusted. I have my quiet little existence here. I'm a grown-up here. In Los Angeles, I always had my family and my old childhood friends reminding me of all the idiotic memories of my past. In SF, I still had my cousins to rely on as well as some old friends who had memories of my past. Whereas when I landed in London, I didn't know a single soul and no one knew me. It's a bit refreshing in a sense because I'm just grown-up Jen here. Yes, I continue to do stupid things, but my friends can't throw in my face something stupid I did 15 years ago like that ones at home can. (And I mean you Isis!) New friends, however, don't understand the context of everything I say and do like old friends do. But anyhow, that's the current status. Jen: Happy and Healthy and GOOD!

My latest project this month is OSCARS! Yeah, it's my first Oscar season out of the country. :( Ever since moving to Hollywood in 2004, the Oscars have been more or less a holiday like Christmas. We might not have many Christmas decorations outside, but when Oscars roll around, you definitely feel it...especially when you live right next to the Kodak and they block off Hollywood Blvd so you have to take another freeway entrance to go to work!!! Damn, I don't miss the 101. But anyhow, I usually try to watch as many of the Oscar noms as I can before the awards so I can make my own predictions.

In London, the Oscars will air at 1 to 4am since we're 8 hours ahead, but me and my friends are planning to stay up and catch it. I've spread the Oscar fever! Also, the other thing that SUCKS is that cinemas cost SO much more here!!! It's like £7-13. We had a guest lecturer this week from the UK Film Council, so I asked him why it cots so bloody much in London and he said it's the overhead. I guess that makes sense, but STILL!!! Also, films air later here so while by Oscar season in the US, many of the films are already on DVD, here I'll have to try to find cinemas. ONE DAY, I'll be a member of the Academy and they'll just mail me the bloody movies or give me free sceenings so I don't have to do all this.

So anyhow...I got a good jump start because the movies I watched on the plane on the way to the US and back this Christmas are nominated...Little Miss Sunshine and Volver. Thank you, British Airways! Today, I watched Babel at the cinema across the street from where I live. It's called the Renoir, and it's a lovely little independent theatre. It's just great! We don't get little cinemas in the US anymore since AMC, Regal, etc. own everything and all of them are huge multiplexes. London has a much better film scene because the cinemas are smaller and they have personalities in a sense. They PICK movies rather than just show all the big blockbuster hits out like the huge multiplexes do.

Anyhow, Babel is great. I highly recommend. I agree with the nominations. Adriana Barraza is nominated for Supporting Actress and she was great! Also, Rinko Kikuchi, a Japanese actress, was also nominated and she was also phenomenal. It also got nominated for Original Score, which I definitely agree with as well. Magda was moved to tears by the music. As for the Best Picture nomination, I agree, but I have to see the other noms before I decide which one deserves it. The movie was beautifully poetic. I really enjoyed, although it is a bit overwhelming. It's not a DVD movie, but it is a masterpiece.

The categories I'm most concerned with are (not in order):
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Achievement in directing
Best motion picture of the year
Adapted screenplay
Original screenplay

That list requires I watch 19 films. I've watched 6 so far...so 13 more to go! I don't know if I can get all of that done, but hopefully I can finish as many as possible. Will let you know the final count at the end. If possible, I'd really love to see all the Best foreign language films as well.

ALSO related to film, I'm taking Film and American Culture as part of my masters. It's pretty interesting so far since we're still in the 1940s and I'm getting a more clear understanding of film history. We watched Citizen Kane in class this week and while I don't think it's THE best movie of all time, it is definitely ONE OF the best movies I've ever seen. But I still think Clueless kicks ass.

So that's my long awaited blog entry. I'll write more in the next few weeks since I'll be celebrating my first birthday abroad and my friend John and I are going to Prague for a couple of days. He's my Aussie friend I met in Bejing and he's coming through London on his around the world trip.

LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST...Happy 21st Birthday to my baby sister Elaine Chang. We're the same age now since I'll be celebrating my fourth 21st birthday next week. I love you, I love you, I love you and you're absolutely fabulous. :D Miss you, darling.

HILLARY IS MY HOMEGIRL!

I have said that once Hillary Clinton announces her run for Presidency, I will be the first to donate to her campaign. I just donated $100 to Hillary Clinton's run for President of the United States! I know it's not much, but I'm a struggling student and every little bit helps. Every dollar, every vote. So, I'm calling out to EVERYONE to join Team Hillary. I'm so excited she's running. BRING BACK THE CLINTON ERA!

www.hillaryclinton.com

HILLARY CLINTON IN 2008!

Stratford-Upon-Avon

So Shelly was visiting me for the past week. She left a few days ago, but as I'm horrible with this whole blogging thing and my blog is about 2 weeks behind, here is a trip to Stratford we did. I need a break from writing my paper anyhow.

So Stratford-Upon-Avon is where William Shakespeare was born and died. It's a little town about 3 hours outside of London by train. Honestly, I like Shakespeare and all...sometimes. But I probably would have never came here if it wasn't for Shelly.


Shelly at Shakespeare's grave at Trinity Church.


The doors here are tiny. It makes me feel tall!


Shelly at Anne Hathaway's Cottage. Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife. This is where her family lived until last century. Yeah, the Shakespeare tour is like...this house belongs to Shakespeare's brother's wife's roommate's cousin's best friend's house.


Shelly on the Shakespeare bus tour. This bus was like a roller coaster...mad crazy driving.


The street where Shakespeare's birthplace is off. It's such a cute little town.

HM...so that's Stratford. It's not all that interesting. It's just an English town where Shakespeare was born, raised and then left for London to be a superstar and then came back to die.

One day, people shall tour around Fullerton on a bus and point out all the places I lived, ate, and shitted since I'm going to be someone pretty important. They may just roll past your house, too!

Museum Fatigue

Thursday was Museum Day. We were originally going to go to Musee D'Orsay on Tuesday, but for some reason, the queue was out of control and raining, so we opted not to. So instead we did the Lourve and Musee D'Orsay all in one day.

First, the Lourve. We got the little audioguide thing and walked around, but the museum's just so freakin' huge and Shelly's so goddamn slow in the museums. So after lunch, I ditched Shelly to go at her snailspeed around the Lourve and got the headset for the Da Vinci Code tour. IT WAS GREAT! I can't say enough how great it was. The tour is hilarious. There's this guy with a French accent narrating the thing and he tells you exactly where to go and what to do. And there's music and quotes from the movie. And the narrator will say stuff like "Go to the window. Look, there goes Sophie and Langdon out the window! How did they survive that fall? I don't know." The tour is just awesome. I highly recommend. It includes a lot of the major Italian artwork and it's just a way to make the museum experience fun.


Museums with Shelly make me want to jump out the window!!!


The famous Mona Lisa. The voice in my head (on the headset) told me to push through the crowd...so I did.


Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo Da Vinci. I SWEAR there's a cross above his hand like it says in the book. Can you see it?


Me doing the V thing from the Da Vinci Code.


I SOLVED THE DA VINCI CODE! Me at the Rose Stone from the book/movie. This is where the Holy Grail is.

The tour was so fun!

Then we went to Musee D'Orsay where unfortunately, they didn't have a Da Vinci Code tour, but it's a much smaller museum and caters specifically to impressionist paintings. They had a gorgeous collection. I never saw so many Monets, Degas, Van Goghs, Pissaros, Manets, Renoirs, etc. My eyes hurt after.

Then Friday, our last day, we went up to Montmarte to the Sacre-Coeur, another cathedral. The view from this place is amazing.


Sacre-Couer


Shelly at the Sacre-Couer.

Then we went over to Place du Tertre. This is where Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso, etc. all lived and painted. They used to come to this park and meet at cafes when they were alive and poor struggling artists. How cool is that? So much of the artwork we saw in the museums just the day before were inspired and/or painted here!


Shelly bought a small painting from this artist.


Then we got our portraits drawn by this man.


The artist and his muses.

Then we ventured down the road to Pigalle, a seedy sexshop ridden street in Paris, also where the Moulin Rouge is. It is also called "Pig Alley" because the American G.I.s during WWII called it that.


The Moulin Rouge.


SEX! SEX! SEX!

Then, we went to the Museum of Erotic Art, which was interesting... There's a toliet cam exhibit that is really disturbing. The funniest part is that's where the real bathrooms are as well.


These are erotic drawings by Edgar Degas. Apparantly, he didn't just paint ballerinas...

Then back to London...but we'll always have Paris.