hi!

wow, must be a record...only a month has passed since my last blog. ; )

Thailand was awesome. I kicked off my trip with four days in Bangkok, and despite what people told me, i really enjoyed it. i think it's all a matter of where you stay and what you do, and though i did see plenty of lady boys and a ping pong show* i'll never forget, i also did a bunch of other stuff. a bike ride through the jungle, breakfast with monks, a tiger conservation, riding on and swimming with elephants, and some temple roaming. LOTS of temple roaming. here's a few pics, the elephant pics will have to come later.

temple of dawn (wat arun)

the temples were amazing. i have HUNDREDS of pictures of them, buddhas, stupas, ruins, enough for a coffee table book. i saw the biggest reclining buddha in the world at Wat Pho, and climbed the Temple of Dawn, pictured at the left. it's really high and REALLY steep. good thing i like that.

releasing a sky lantern. this would not be ok in LA.

These sky lanterns took my breath away. they were lit and let go over a lake after dark, and they went so far and you could see them for so long with their flames burning bright. i've sailed little floating flower basket lanterns down the ganges river in india, and this reminded me of that, as they got farther and farther away in the sky.








One weekend i also got to go to the capitol of Laos, called Vientianne. this picture was taken at a stupa called Pha That Luang, and it's the national monument of Laos. it's huge, but this is the only picture i have that i'm actually IN.




 

now THAT was the relaxing touristy part of my trip. the other two and a half weeks were spent sweaty, dirty, achy, and exhausted, just the way i like it. i won't bore you with too many of those pictures of me looking not so hot, but here are two of my favorites:

i LOVE to shovel dirt/rocks/sand/etc...but the bottom half of this hole was CLAY. (that's how i keep my arms and shoulders pumped when i can't do pop physique classes.) trust me when i say that's a f'n deep hole...but i had help.

instead of ME getting laid, these bricks are getting laid. bricks, bricks, and MORE BRICKS.

The trip was awesome in every way. i can't wait till the next one. i already know where it will be, and i'm already thinking of the one AFTER that. worst case of wanderlust EVER.

I got home a little over a week ago and i was planning on a little me time so i could lay low and recover from my jet lag and properly bathe before i'm out in public (honestly, you should see my nails...and my roots.) HOWEVER, courtesy of the slimy, sick, germy guy sitting next to me on the flight from Taiwan to LAX, instead, i came down with pneumonia. i went to my doctor worried that i might have gotten dengue or malaria and after she heard me cough she ordered a chest x-ray. and as much as i hated it, i took a course of antibiotics and pretty much slept for a few days straight. as you might guess, very few things piss me off like being told i can't do anything. i'm really bad at taking it easy, but in the battle of me vs. pneumonia, i surrendered. i feel much better now.**

All this next week i'll be getting back to normal(ish) with the return of IN BED, my live show on PLAYBOY RADIO & very soon you'll be able to download past episodes. i'm live at 12 noon on Tuesdays, have a listen. i'm sure i'll be talking about the trip some more. in other exciting news, i have seen the very first rough cut of UNDERWORLD, and you're going to love it. Sexpionage is the newest movie i have out, and it's been on WICKED.COM for almost a week. i have a local dance booking coming at the end of august, i'll post that info shortly, and in the meantime, now that i can get back to work, i'll getting ready to direct two more of my instructionals plus hopefully a feature that i've been wanting to do for awhile now...i'm SO motivated. : D

i missed you guys!

xo,

j

*the ping pong show will most likely be a huge part of my radio show on tuesday, and could even evolve into it's very own blog entry. let's just say it's really too bad there was no hidden camera.

** yes, i do feel better, and i figure i owe ya'll some gratuitous t & a pics, just gimme a few days to look a little uhhhhh...more clean/relaxed/together.