Roll #6

105. Saturday 13th November. “Just ride your bike and wander”. I have a spare roll of film with me, so I decided today that I would shoot a whole roll in Shanghai. I had lots of fun mainly because so many people were fascinated by the Holga. Most thought it was a toy and many could not believe that it wasn’t digital. Film is so foreign. I let a film girls play with the camera and they inadvertently took some shots and wound on the film too far, etc. So who knows how the photos came out. I took the first shot of the new roll of a quirky sculpture just off Nanjing Road. The sculpture was accompanied by a great poem, the first line of which I used for the title of my photo. “Just ride on the bike and wander
There are no files, no books in the backpack,
Just full of his love words.
The season’s forecast by the corner shops
Is always more accurate.
The scent of delicious food Is always a better guide.
The breeze hums this popular melody
With the twittering of the birds.
It is weary to run after life.
So why not let life run after you!”
Georges Soultarpe, 2006.
106. “ Shanghai Ceramics Shop”. Nanjing Road – Shanghai. Full of designer label shops – Gucci, Longines, Cartier, you name it, they are here. But just off Nanjing Road and the real Shanghai peeks through the designer veneer. I took this photo of an antique shop just behind Nanjing Road. I like the contrast of old versus new.

107. Christmas décor in Osaka”. I walked into the Osaka Hilton and was overwhelmed by the largest Christmas decoration I have ever seen in a hotel. The dissonance of Christmas décor in Japan just stunned me. I took this photo of the reindeer against a huge Christmas tree, because it looked so quirky. The reindeer looks a bit dopey as well. At dinner with customers we discussed Japanese culture and I came to the conclusion that there is art in nearly everything in Japan. Art and order. So it surprised me that the Hilton hotel would put up something so tacky as these Christmas decorations.
In Japan
There is art
In everything
In everything
There is order
Order and harmony
In everyone
So why so much Anxiety!

108. “Osaka street scene”. I snapped this photo in Osaka of a café o a nearby street as we walked back to our hotel after another meeting with customers. I was drawn to the bright signs and neon in the background.

109. “Wanchai Night”. Spent a night and a day in Tokyo and never got a chance to take a photo!. Flew to Hong Kong in the evening en route home (yeah!). I had to spend the night in Hong Kong as my connecting flight was only the next day. I took this photo in Wanchai trying to capture the bright and seedy feel that is this bar and nightclub area. I had previously tried to photo a small shopfront in the same area, but the owner wouldn’t let me. “you never know where these photos end up – all over the internet!” she argued. I couldn’t deny that fact, so I let it go.

110. “Wanchai Day”. Had a meeting with a work colleague in the morning before I flew out. Their offices are near Wanchai, so I thought it would be interesting to contrast Wanchai during the day, compared to the previous night.

111. ”Kitsch Kitchen”. Back home after nearly three weeks travel. Our friend Step had invited us out to drinks in the evening, which quickly morphed into an early dinner at Kitsch. I love the bustle of their kitche, which can be seen through a window from the outside eating area. Or when you go to the bathroom. So I asked if I could take a photo of the chefs at work, which they happily agreed to.

112. “Flower @ home”. We spent the day preparing for our annual wine club year-end lunch. As usual we were hosting the lunch and Janet had designed an ambitious eight course menu for 22 people. I thought I would take a photo of Saint Anne-Marie of Lavigna, where we went to buy wine. But she had the day off because she was a bridesmaid. Michael, her father, just isn’t of the same photographic quality, so I forewent the shot. I only remembered that I had to take a photograph much later in the day, so I took this shot of some flowers on our dining room table.

113. “Rotters year end lunch”. Crazy day. Up at 6.30am and worked on the Rotters lunch flat out until 12 noon, when the guests arrived. Then worked flat out serving, cooking and cleaning up until about 9pm. Still had stuff to do but we were both so stuffed ourselves by then that we decided to call it a day. Great day however! Everyone enjoyed Janet’s exquisite’s food. The wine was good and plentiful. And as always, the company was boisterously entertaining. The highlight of the day for me was Janet’s smoked BBQ chicken thighs served with homemade mole’.

114. “Bertil Vallien Sculpture”. Recovered from Sunday (sort of) during work. Then back home to finish cleaning up. Not much time for photographic creativity at all. So I resorted to photographing our glass sculpture by Bertil Vallian. Long day but our house almost looks normal again.

115. “Christmas Decorations”. I noticed that Perth’s Christmas decorations were up today. I’ve been away for 3 weeks, so they may well have been up for ages, but this was my first chance to photograph them.

116. “L. Cohen Concert”. Big night out! We never thought we would see Leonard Cohen live again. But he is back in Perth! I was too far away from the stage to take a photo of Leonard himself so I thought I would photograph the Big Screen with Leonard in the picture. Unfortunately the photo did not come out. I wish I could write poetry like L. Cohen. I wish I could take half decent photos.

117. “Bondi Beach”. Up at 4am to fly to Sydney for a meeting. Stayed overnight and caught up with my friend Lucy. She kindly took me to dinner at a restaurant at Bondi Beach. I took a photo of both Bondi and Lucy before dinner while I explained the (limited) workings of my Holga to her. Unfortunately she is lost in the Bondi exposure. We ate at the North Bondi Italian Café. Busy as anything, full of “the beautiful people” and a couple of stray backpackers and, well…us.

118. “The Audreys @ the Fly By Night Club”. Up at 3am (Perth time)to fly back from Sydney. Caught up with Janet for lunch at the Greenhouse. After work we went to the Audreys concert in Freo. Doors opened at 8pm, Audreys came on at about 10pm. Got home after 12.30am – long day, but a great concert. Taasha Coates is very dreamy. I pushed to the front at one point to take this photo, hoping the bright stage lights would help the exposure.

119. “Beaufort Street Blunder”. Ah the problem of having two Holgas in one bag. I was taking some photos for the Beaufort Street Festival and had brought a second Holga along to take the majority of photos. I took my “photo of the day” early, but in my eagerness to take another photo I took out the ol’d Red&White H and snapped another frame before I realized my error. So two photos in one day. Don’t think I will go to jail, but it will throw out my sequence. For the record I photographed the display window of Jacksons and the crocket hanging on a wall as my two photos. After I got all my photos back from the day, it was clear to me that I liked the Holga shots much better than the Nikon Digital shots. As Janet said, I should have followed my Inner Holga.

120. “Sunday Snooze”. Ambrose captured my feelings about the day with his sleeping pose. Some days you just want to cover your head up and keep on sleeping. But I had to get up and do chores – the house is long overdue for a big clean, since our cleaning lady ran away (well I guess she hobbled away as she broke her foot) and never returned.

121. “City Christmas Décor”. Saw this Christmas decoration on the way to collecting a hire car. It was the most interesting thing I saw all day, so I snapped away.

122. “Distracted Décor”. I drove down to Capel and back today for a series of meetings. Janet was having her hair done at Distracted, so I met her there after I got back. The new window display was up and I may not get a chance to photograph the Christmas display again.

123. Wednesday 1st December. “Melbourne Airport Christmas”. Flew to Melbourne today for a meeting at the airport, so how exciting is that? Airport – plane – airport – plane – airport – home. I thought I had stopped doing this sort of stuff? Any what can you photograph at Melbourne airport – besides a Christmas tree. Also got a Jetstar plane in the background. I seem to have a mini Christmas theme happening at the moment.

124. “This is Bali Baby”. Arrived in Bali this morning and drove to Canggu Beach. Changed $200 and became instant millionaires. Along the way we saw lots of sculptures, doors, light fittings and other bits and pieces that would look good in our MR House. Also saw a tortoise sculpture with a penis for a head! Not one for the new home. We had lunch at a nearby beach café and order a bottle of prosecco without realizing how expensive it was (>$100 for a bottle). Consequently we flattened our cash reserves in one meal! I took this photo of a Bali bust in our villa garden. We are staying at a great villa with our own plunge pool and lots of room inside. Plus our own outdoor shower.

125. “Bamboo Blonde”. Went for a body board this morning for the first time in who knows how long – 3 to 5 years! Fortunately the surf was very tame and a lazy left hand break that allowed for an easy paddle out. Got back to the villa in time for a cooked breakfast then we both had one hour massages. I could get used to this life. We went to Seminyak in the afternoon for a look around. Traffic jam all the way there and slight confusion on the part of the taxi driver as to where we wanted to go, made it a stressful trip. Fortunately we had a wonderful lunch at Café Bali. We started to wander around the town, but then it started to rain, so we gave up and went back to the villa. But not before I got this photo of Janet standing below a banner which read Bamboo Blonde.

126. “Hope and Grant”. Went for another bodyboard in the morning – same lazy wave. Much better suited to longboarding. Then I did the best thing I did all holiday – I hired a scooter! Best fun ever. I’m 16 again and hooning around Canggu and Echo Beach. No helmet, completely without a care in the world. Even better I managed to get Janet to jump on the back so we had transport and didn’t have to worry about hiring taxis. Caught up with the Wedding Party in the afternoon. Had dinner with Mark and Michelle (of Pink Zulu, et al. fame) and their son Grant and daughter Hope. I took this photo of them at dinner. I haven’t seen Hope for over five months as she has been traveling overseas, so it was great to catch up on all her adventures.

Photo 365 Roll #5

82.“Delhi Athletes” This was the first day in a while that I got the chance to wonder around the city at lunchtime. When I got to Forest Chase I discovered that the city was holding a “Welcome Back” event for the WA Athletes who had been to the Commonwealth Games. It seemed like an interesting shot – lots of colour, lots of people. A good opening shot for a new roll of film (#5). Somehow managed to take a double exposure…ghost in the machine?

83.“Roses in Sunset”. Another flat out day at work. I collected my previous roll of negatives from Fitzgerald’s just as they were closing and got home after 6pm. I had been admiring the beautiful roses in our neighbour’s garden, which were now in full bloom. So was a good “near to home” shot.

84. “Saturday Dress”. I was planning on photographing my hairdresser before she goes on maternity leave in December. But in my haste to make my appointment on time, I forgot my camera at home. Curses! All is not lost. I have one more appointment before she goes on leave. After my haircut, Janet and I did some shopping and then had an excellent lunch at the Greenhouse. I had a chicken and mushroom pastie in a wholemeal pastry and Janet had the ever delicious tasting plate. In the afternoon we ducked into our local shopping centre for some groceries and I spotted this cute dress outside a children’s clothes shop.

85. “West End Deli”. I was enjoying my Sunday morning ride until I punctured. That was OK. I found the responsible shard of glass in the tyre and changed the tube relatively quickly. But in my enthusiasm to pump up the tyre, I managed to snap off the valve. So I had run out of tubes and because I was cycling by myself had no buddies to bum another one from. Nothing else to phone Janet for help. I work her up from her Sunday morning sleep-in and she had to drive to Claremont to pick me up. A first in over eight years of cycling. As recompense I took her to West End Deli for brunch. And while we were there, I photographed the kitchen with the counter in the foreground. Note to self: include puncture repair kit in bag if planning to cycle solo.

86. “Adelaide Kangaroos”. I’m in Adelaide today, doing a presentation to members of our South Australian Office. On the way back to the hotel after work I spotted a large sculpture of two kangaroos in a park adjacent to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre. After checking in, I walked back the few blocks to the sculptures and took a double exposure – one photo from each side so that (hopefully) the kangaroos are facing each other. Then I wondered around the city taking photos using my i-pod and the Hipstmatic App. I got a couple of neat photos. I love the effects of the different lenses, film and flash choices. Notable was the wrought iron window grill of stylized roses (ala JH Macintosh) which would make an interesting gate for our Margaret River property.

87. “Flight to Jacinth”. I am visiting one of our minesites today and I decided to take this photograph of the turboprop aeroplane after we landed at the minesite. I wanted to get a good shot of the prop and the wing. Its interesting staying here out at the mine site camp. The people work between 10 and 12 hours shifts for eight days straight. I am here on their last night before the “swing” change so most of the people ate early and then retired. That left a small group of visitors talking in the dining room until it closed around 8pm. I went to my room and answered some e-mails and watch a TV program about Mumbai slums before falling asleep. Not sure I could this type of fly-in, fly-out job. Perhaps you get used it after a while.

88. 27^th Oct. “Chinatown Reprise” I can’t believe they have started putting up Christmas decoration in Adelaide already. I mean, its not even November yet! I’m back here again on my way home after my minesite visit. I had spotted an interestingly looking tapas restaurant when I was here on Monday, but it was closed. So tonight I have come here. On the way I walked through Chinatown and it reminded me of one of my first photos taken in Melbourne way back in August. Bright lanterns and red gates marking the entrance. Chinese dragons gleaming at the front of the gates in the late evening sun. So I took a double exposure and photographed one of the dragon’s head up close. Adelaide – double exposure town. The tapas bar is Sangria Y Pintxos Bar (I think). Sitting there I have two revelations. 1. I am setting under a row of cured ham. 2. I need far more practice and training if I intend to improve both my writing and my photos. Janet gave me a book called the Leadership Dojo, which talks much about training and practice to hone skills and ability. And suddenly it dawns on me… duh. “we are passionate about what we practice if its relevant to the life we want to create” (R. Strozzi-Heckler)

89. “Mackey’s Sign”. There is a building in our neighborhood which was previously a corner store, then a hairdresser, then a number of other businesses. Recently it has been renovated and is now just a house. But the owners have hand-painted an old advertising sing on the front wall. It caught my eye the first time I saw the sign (riding home form work). So today on my way home I choose this as my photograph.

90. “Kitsch Wall”. I seem to have a bit of a painted wall thing happening at the moment. Yesterday it was the Mackey’s Wall. Today it’s the painted wall at Kitsch, the Asian Tapas bar next to the RE Store on Oxford Street. Yes, you read right – Asian Tapas Bar. We had our usual prawn crackers to start, then pork dumplings, followed by a spicy pork and octopus salad and stir fried greens. And the spicy salad was spicy! All washed down with a bottle of Rolf Binder 2007 Riesling.

91. “Janet the Smurfette” I popped into Distracted while Janet was having her hair done. It was during the blue dye stage so she had all this blue gunk in her hair and it was all standing on end. A photo opportunity that I could not miss.

92. “Sayers on Sunday. We slept in this Sunday and then decided to go to Sayers for breakfast. We walked down to build up an appetite. We managed to squeeze into a table as Sayers is always packed on a Sunday morning. I took this photo of one of the wait-staff as we were leaving.

Day 93. 1^st November. “Monday Colour Boost”. We are off to Hong Kong tonight for a conference, where I am giving a presentation. It turned out to be a busy day, with lots of last minute tasks to complete before I head overseas for three weeks. I ducked out at lunchtime and took this photograph of the local Boost Juice stall near our office.

94. “Hong Kong View from Hotel Window”. Overnight flight from Perth to Hong Kong. Didn’t have too much to do today, so Janet and I went for lunch at a local noodle bar and then we had a massage in the afternoon. We are staying at the Intercontinental in Kowloon, which has beautiful views across the harbour to Hong Kong Island. I took this photo from our hotel window, which hopefully got the Junk looking boat in the foreground.

95. “Same view at night”. A very busy day with a number of meetings. The day just seemed to get away from me and before I knew it, it was dark outside. So I decided to take the same shot as the previous day, but with a long exposure this time.

96. “Hotel Room snap – in desperation”. Well if yesterday was busy, today was just flat out. I gave my presentation in the morning, which went well. Then meetings wall-to-wall during the day and a customer function in the evening. No time for Holga shots so I had to resort to a photo within our hotel room at the end of the day. It’s kind of disappointing that I haven’t had time to find time for some more interesting shots of Kowloon, but then I am here to work….

97. “Rob, Jason at Spoon”. The last day of the conference. The marketing boys had worked extremely hard over the last week and were having a quick celebratory dinner before flying out. I took this photo of them (and Janet) at Spoon, the French restaurant in the hotel while we had dinner.

98. “Umbrellas on the star walk”. I came down with a cold overnight and then woke up this morning feeling miserable. A mood to match the weather, which had been raining the last few days. Still the rain did not deter the people walking along the boardwalk below our hotel. The multiple coloured umbrellas caught my attention, so I took this photo. We moved across to Hong Kong Island today and after having a slight misunderstanding about which hotel we were staying at, we settled into Hong Kong “Central”, briefly catching up with our friend James in the evening. Note to unwary travelers, there are two Lang Kwok Fong Hotels in Lang Kwok Fong.

99. “James, Barry and Janet @ the Lamma Hilton”. The improved today as did my health and mood. We had arranged to go to Lamma Island for lunch with James and our Hong Kong friend Barry. We ate at the Lamma Hilton and got free T-shirts. The Lamma Hilton is all plastic chairs and old round chip-board tables. No prizes for décor, but the sea food is excellent and the wine really cheap for Hong Kong. I took this photo of James, Janet and Barry after our 3^rd bottle of wine. And things only got worse after that. We got back to Hong Kong after that and continued eating and drinking in Soho and LKF. James fortunately had the sense to abandon ship early in the evening, but we pressed on and made the mistake of popping into the ice-bar, which is really just a big fridge where you get to wear fur coats and drink vodka. All downhill from there…

100. Monday 8^th November. “Hong Kong girl”. Not surprising, Janet and I woke up feeling sorry for ourselves this morning after our Big Party last night. It was our last night in Honkers before she flew back to Perth and I flew up to Shanghai for a number of customer visits. We had coffee at Waygu in LKF before walking around aimlessly for a while. I took this photo as we were heading back to our hotel up one of the steep pedestrian walkways.

100 days! I can’t believe it has come around so quickly. Off to Shanghai.

101. “Beijing Model”. Got into Shanghai late last night. Up early this morning for a flight to Zhengzhou, then a two hour drive to a pigment factory. Quick tour of the plant, then lunch. Raced back to the airport and flew to Beijing. Exhausted after Day 1 of my China trip. Plus my cold has gotten worse. Lots of great photo opportunities, but not opportunity to take a photograph. So finally I resorted to a photo of a display window of the shop in our hotel in Beijing.

102. “Beijing International Hotel”. We traveled over a 1000km today via a combination of rail and road. Beijing to Jinzhou by train (3hrs) Jinzhou to Fuxin by car (1.5 hrs), Fuxin to Jinzhou by car and then back to Beijing by rail. Left our hotel at 6.30am and got back after 10pm. Completely exhausted but had a number of interesting meetings. Visited a Ti-Slag smelting operation, which looked like something from the mines of Mordor – dark and smoky, with molten slag and iron running from large furnaces. The most bizarre thing was seeing someone boil a kettle on top of a slag pile which had just been tapped and was still glowing red. Of course I did not have a camera of any description on me. So I had to take a photo of our hotel entrance when we got back to Beijing.

103. “Jinan Night Street” Double exposure plus extra shot of tree lights. Same again today. Up early – long train ride to Jinan, life threatening drive to a factory, meeting, banquet lunch, factory tour, life threatening drive to train station at Zibo to catch a train to Jinan. Arrived at the station early but in the confusion which is the Chinese railway station, we managed to miss our train and had to wait around Zibo station for another two hours. So we only got to Jinan after 9.30pm, exhausted and still feeling sick. I ducked out of the hotel after we arrived and discovered a street market happening on the pavement around from the hotel. I took a double exposure shot of a street vendor in front of a brightly lit doorway. Then I saw these tree lights and broke one of my rules by taking another photo.

104. “High Speed Train to Shanghai”. So today we left the hotel at 6.15am and caught a plane to Nanjing. Then a two hour (life threatening) car ride to Bengbu. Banquet lunch, followed by a 2 ½ hour meeting. Then a 3 ½ hour train ride to Shanghai. Still sick and predictably arrived in Shanghai exhausted – actually completely knacked! I took a photo of a high speed train as it stopped at the station. I wasn’t sure if the first shot came out, so I took another one. This is the last exposure of the roll (post note: turns out no photo of the train came out – bummer). Spending the weekend in Shanghai and I am so looking forward to a couple of days of rest.