00:16

I can’t sleep, so I lay in bed thinking, day dreaming, except it’s night dreaming, but it’s not night dreaming. Anyway, I think I come up with the best ideas in these delirious moments. So I have decided that I will continue with my photography portfolio while here in London, put something together and take it myself to Italy, to Fabrica.

I am here afterall, a train ride away to Venice, I will take my work there, I will sit and wait in the lobby til Enrico Bossan looks at my portfolio, even if it takes days of waiting. I think that’s a pretty Italian way of doing things, don’t you?

Yep, decided, done.

Now, better get my ass together and get the camera clicking.

What I’ve been upto recently

You know my week 5 in London is nearly over, incredible how fast time has gone by. It felt like yesterday when I got out of airport and straight onto the tube. And now I navigate the tube like it’s my second home. Buses are cheaper though and they have aircon! Such luxuries!

So what have I been upto lately? This is what:

I swang by Selfridges and checked out this thing they call consumerism. Good god things aren’t cheap there and people are buying them up! What recession?

I decided I like this particular bit in the Green Park tube station. It’s very matrix like.

I went to the British Museum, twice! And I still didn’t manage to see everything. It’s huge, it’s crammed full of things from all over the world. How many of them got to Britain is very questionable, but hmm, I get to see them for free, I suppose I should be grateful.

The great hall is very impressive, especially at first sight. Did you know it’s the largest covered outdoor space in the world… or something like that.

It was amazing to see ancient Egyptian with my own eyes, it’s something I’ve seen on TV so so many times, it’s used over and over in popular culture, yet this was the first time I saw the real things.

Not far from the British Museum in Soho is now my favourite place in London. It’s call Princi, it’s an Italian bakery/cafe that serves the most amazing cakes. I’ve been going back a few too many times, somehow I always make up excuses, “Oh I’m peckish, oh Soho is only 5 hours walk from here!” “If I walk all the way then I can eat a whole cake and have coffee too!” So the female logic goes.

This strawberry mille fuille was amazing! The cream fresh and light, the sponge fluffy, the filo layers crispy, the strawberries incredibly soft, as if they’ve been cooked. I can also state that the passionfruit cheesecake is delicious as if the cannonici.

I saw some random dude in a big plastic ball.

I finally went to the photographers gallery, it ain’t too bad.

I went to St Paul’s Cathedral, it’s big, it’s impressive from an architectual point of view, but those aren’t going to convert me from the cult of flickr.

You aren’t supposed to take photos inside, but what the heck, rules are meant to be broken. If I’ve paid bloody £11 to get in, I want to take photos! The whipsering gallery near the dome there is quite impressive. I sat there for a little while and the voices of other really gets carried across, but the sound gets distorted, so it does sound a bit ghostly and scary.

View from nearly the top of St Paul’s. That’s the Thames! And that’s Millenium Bridge across it, behind the bridge is Tate with the tall chimney.

I’ve walked across the once wobbly Millenium Bridge, actually when you stand very still on it you feel the strong vibrations, it was a windy day though.

That’s all for today. I’m going to stay with Sissi for a little while since Yasinta is coming back very soon. Then I’m off to the Turkey with Jady from the 9th June til about the 19th. I don’t think I’ll be updating the blog again til I’m back from Turkey. So please be patient with me. Because when I get back, not only will I have photos from Turkey, I’ll have access to Sissi’s scanner, which means I can finally show you all my photos from Portugal. Exciting!

Portugal

Apologies for the lack of updates. I told you this blogging thing is going to slow down, but mainly it’s because I’ve no photos to share with you. I shot Portugal entirely on film and all of it is still at the lab, well, I sure hope it’s not lost in transit or I’d be devastated! Anyhow so I’ll borrow some of Jady’s photos for now.

Porto was just lovely, hilly streets full of old houses, flower pots on the balconies, laundry hanging out to dry, full of charm this town. I went a little photo crazy, I was very snap happy, trigger finger, etc etc… You know it reminded me of studio ghibli movies, those perfect quaint European towns, reminded me of Porco Rosso or the town in the beginning of Howl’s Moving Castle. Aww I loved Porto!

We ate a sandwhich which was swimming in hot sauce, apparently a Porto specialty. It wasn’t so good, but maybe it’s an acquired taste. We ate tripe stew with beans, pigs ears with onion and coriander and chicken giblet stew. Those were just the weird things.

We also went port tasting!

Then we took a train and went to Lisbon! We took day trips to Sintra, Obidos and Evora, via buses. Where I rediscovered my talent for napping as soon as the bus pulls out the terminal and somehow waking up when the bus pulls into the destination… Jady was very jealous of my napping skills, yes sorry, I’m just talented, what can I say :p

Lisbon was ok… I liked Porto much much better, Porto was like the perfect concerntrated version of Portugal for me. Lisbon was big, commercial, more spread out, didn’t have the old town charm Porto did.

Sintra was nice and green, a little rainy on the day we went but the Moorish Castle and the Palace were both very pretty.

The Chapel of Bones was worth it alone for Evora in my opnion, it was very cool to see, chilling, gave me shivers at first and some deeper meaningful thoughts later, I’ll spare you those.

Obidos was our last day trip, it’s a very very small town. Touristy and pretty but a good trip nonetheless. It is completely walled in and Jady and I strolled from one end of the town to the other in about 15 – 20 minutes.

In Obidos we had the yummies liquor! It’s called Ginjinha, a sweet cherry liquor and Obidos is the highest quality producer of the stuff. We both got a shot of it in this tiny chocolate cup, too cute and Jady liked it so much she got a second one in a normal little glass.

That’s all for Portugal folks. Tune in soon about Turkey. Yes Turkey! Jady booked tickets for us already, we’ll be leaving on the 9th June, going for 9 or 10 days. But what do I wear? Women are supposed to cover the whole length of legs and uppder arms, hmm guess I’ll just have to go buy some suitable clothes huh!

LDN – Week 1 wrap up

1 week done, lots more to go.

Mixed feelings, hard to explain, just thoughts floating in my head unable to be organised. I think I came here subconsciously looking for something, what it is, I can’t explain. What I found so far is just a bigger, louder more populated version of Sydney, not that something I’m looking for. Yet I wonder why is it that I’m always subconsciously looking for something, something more, something missing, something that perhaps doesn’t even exist. Did someone say Gen Y? Hmm…

So while I try to figure this out, here are some previously unseen boring photos.

Me in the tube

Ferrari shop on Oxford

Laduree, I just walked past, someone go with me?

W+K

One for you advertising folks. I walked past there on Sat, spotted off Brick Lane somewhere. Don’t know who that guy is, he was just standing in front when I was taking a photo and looked happy to pose… One of these days I hope to go in there and get a job >___< I was tempted to get down and pray to the temple of W+K then and there.

Day 7

Photowalk with Kiem and the lovely Wendy whom I met for the first time. We mostly walked in circles round and round and round, big circles, small circles, maybe a few squares here and there, but mostly circles. Sorry I have no photos, but Kiem lent me his P6 so youse all have to wait for the film shots. We did have some 3 ways shoot outs! I also attempted some performance art on the floor of Tate Modern. Hahaha, it was fun day!

Day 8 + 9

I spent some quality time with my laptop, I’ve been staying home because I ain’t feeling so swell. (I’ve been watching Mad Men!) So conserve my energy, sleep, tea and water, get better for Wednesday. I’m feeling much better than yesterday already.

Now now, on Wednesday I am off to Portugal for 5 nights with Jady, woohoo! I think I need a fun break to revive my mental image of Europe and some peri peri chicken and porto wine should do the trick. So the big question, what photographic gear should I take? Right now I’m thinking the 5D, 1v and the 28mm, decisions decisions.

LDN – Day 4, 5 & 6

Coming upto a whole week now. I’m eating jelly bellies as I write this post, you know they sell them at Topshop here! Ok I’ll stop eating them now or I’ll be jumping up and down around bed time. The feeling of newness is starting to fade a little and the feeling of the distance is setting in. Today has been the worst so far, I was sitting in Hyde park eating lunch, a couple were also eating their lunch on a bench nearby, they were all lovey dovey. That kind of got to me and I really wished V was here with me. Seeing an old colleague yesterday probably didn’t help, we talked about Sydney, that conjured all sorts of memories that stuck with me today.

Anyhoo plenty more time for being sad. Now there’s reporting to do.

Day 4

V&A inner courtyard

What you looking at woman?! Never seen marble men before?

Shiny stuff on display

I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. That place is like a maze, with loads and loads of stuff to see. Most things are decorative arts with emphasis on the material and techniques of making the items. I spent a long looking at the jewllery gallery “Ooooh shiny, ooohhh look more shiny!”

Double deckers on Oxford St

After V&A I went Oxford St, I checked out some high street shops, overtook groups of girls and tourists and went into Topshop. Now this Topshop is the flagship store, meaning it’s HUGE! It has so much clothes, there’s no way you can go through all the items and there’s just as many girls to match. Seeing this Topshop has definitely given me some insights into why British girls dress the way they do, when given abundant choices of cheap clothes, well, you just put everything on, don’t you? Hah! Though I did see some Balenciaga rip offs that I liked very much o_O

After Topshop I went for an interview at a digital agency just off Oxford St. It’s a nice place. But alas my recruiter called me the next day and I didn’t get the gig. Reason being the project I interview for, the client has actually put a freeze on all advertising campaigns, so not only is the project on hold, they’ve had to let current freelancers go as well. I think I made a good impression and hope they’ll consider me if other projects come up.

28mm isn’t wide enough to contain everyone, a few more people at the meet but not in this

After all this I went to London Calling Photographers meetup. It was an evening of some serious discussions about photography, the theme was why we photograph, Eamon did a presentation on this, people agreed with him, disagreed with him, it sure was lively. I walked away with my mind boggling about photography, why I take photos, taking photos consciously or subconsicously. Head hurts!

As you can see, this day was full on. Hence the relatively quiet Day 5 and 6.

Day 5

I went back to the V&A to see the things I didn’t have time for on Day 4, I still didn’t get to see the Raphael cartoons, the section was closed off for maintenance, guess I’ll have to go again another time.

I was very stupid this day also! I forgot to bring a memory card with me and still had to carry around the camera all day. DOH!

After V&A, I went to Natural History Museum which was very close by. It’s a great place, though it seems the kids rush through exhibits uninterested while adults linger to take in all the facts and information, even though the whole place is designed with kids very much in mind. I didn’t get to see everything so I’ll be going back for sure.

Dinner was with an old colleague Sheloian, we worked together at RMG, he is now splitting his time between London and Munich working for Sony Ericsson. We met at Nordic Bakery in Golden Square, but it was 6, cake and coffee just wouldn’t do. So we got a cab to a trendy Asian eatery called Bambou. It was my first London cab ride!!! Being inside a London icon, so cool! Sheloian’s been there before and pointed out there’s a cocktail called “me love you long time”, how could I pass up on that, so I ordered one, it was yummy and lasted the whole dinner.

Day 6

Buckingham Palace

Pollen filled Green Park

Yes I went to see the Buckinham Palace, well, it’s just something to tick off the list, isn’t it. Green Park and Hyde Park are both very nice though. So green. But the bloody pollens were everywhere made me sneeze nonestop and snotty for a while. It was a nice change of pace to sit there and enjoy the sun, slowing down a bit. Consequently sitting there also made me miss V, very much.

It’s a fake, not the original curiousity shop, not even in the right place, but hmm

One of the courts many Dickens tales were set in

After a hot dog in the park I went to one of those London walks. You pay 7 pounds and hope to see a bit of London that a tourist wouldn’t usually see. I chose a Charles Dickens walk, it was alright. It’s good if you know all this novels and characters well, which I don’t. Not worth 7 pounds, I won’t be go to any of the other ones.

Then I had 2 minute noodle for dinner. I’m feeling the pinch a bit, the money just doesn’t stretch the way it does in Sydney. I’ll be making sandwhiches for lunch and bring them with me on my day excursions from now on. Helloo world, I’d like some work please.