Man seeks another man or woman to take photos of their ……. classy or sporty motor vehicle in Sydney. Please check Photographer’s Page for contact details. Here are some older shots taken at the last Sydney Motorshow. It’s much easier to take nicer shots when everything is already set up for you, click for larger image. 
It’s simply remarkable what can be found in a single city let alone a whole country. You can spend a week in Saigon, absorb the vast scenery, meet the locals and explore the history. There is always that sense of bewilderment when your immersed in an unfamiliar culture but also satisfaction in understanding what your surrounded by. Ho Chi Ming City during February (particularly Chinese New Year) can simply be described as sinking into a large beanbag while playing Massive Attack on a very hot day. If Australia is ‘laid-back’ then Vietnam is asleep and dreaming.
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It’s not to say that Vietnam is a quiet country especially with the continual buzz of passing motorcycles in the background. Everyone you see appear a little too relaxed, having visited the poverty stricken district of the city I was surprised. You’ll find areas covered with patio chairs and people with their iced coffee watching the traffic (if they aren’t on holiday at the more famed beaches). The weather is humid, very humid, the type of humid that creates the sudden need to strip down and dive into a cold pool. I remember the first night upon arrival, as soon as those slide-doors of the airport open your hit with a gush of hot air. We had to take a small taxi bus for our luggage and during the trip between airport and hotel the sight of any car was rare. People on their Honda or Yamaha motorcycles. At one point we passed a small open stage just adjacent to some sort of club where people were performing shows, rather than seats people drove up to watch like an outdoor cinema.
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I write letters to myself when overseas. It has been a year since I was in Vietnam and without both my photos or notes I barely remember much about Vietnam unfortunately. I do know, however, that I had a great time. I’ve written a lot of words which I have no clue what they mean today. What I do remember though was the Pepsi, not your typical flavour but a special fruity version that I tried a few times. Also the motorcycle rides were a highlight during the trip. These photos will probably speak out more than my small update here.
Left: Small local temple with incense hanging from the ceiling.
Right: One of the pictures taking at an ‘amusement park’ along with other breathtaking monuments (many were huge including a giant turtle and mountain-side creation).
Left: Market fruits.
Right: Another monument at the park.
Top Left: Market outdoors for local vegetables, fruits and fish.
Top Right: Sunset along a busy road.
Bottom Left: Famous Ben Thanh market displays.
Bottom Right: Building side and one of many banners you’ll find in Saigon.
Although China (travel) is perhaps known for its vibrancy and colours/red I thought i might add some B&W into the mix. Hope you enjoy.
Top Left: None other than the Great Wall of China. (You can not actually see the Great Wall of China from spac let alone differentiate between continents).
Top Right: Lion in the zoo.
Above: Restaurant; many of which within Beijing or region are very well designed. I don’t think I went to a single eatery that wasn’t as welcoming as the one above.
Above: Beijing night market. From exotic to extreme. Prefer sugar coated fruits? Perhaps some starfish?
Above: Cheap as chips. A local diner near the Shantou region; their specialty is beef and meatballs but what was more shocking was the price. From memory lunch for 4 people who cost $10AU. Rice noodles (top right) a large plate per 2 people would be about the same as a regular pack of Doritos (less actually).
Above: Quangzhou; vegetarian dishes near a Buddhist camp. The restaurant serves all kinds of dishes with imitation meat.
Left: Temple of Heaven, Beijing. Depicts the center stone where offerings to Gods were made by the Emperor in return for good harvest during each season.The symbolic number 9 is heavily represented in the architecture. The middle stone surrounded by 9 other marble stones and there are 9 concentric rings. Furthermore 9 steps to reach the top.
Middle: Quangzhou; shopping district on New Years Eve. Spent less than 20 hours in the city but there is much to see which I haven’t included in this blog. The sheer number of people shopping was incredible and the area is quite large, simply one massive ‘One-Way’ lane. We followed the crowd but when we had to leave it was like being in a can of sardines swimming against the tide.
Right: Beijing traditional opera. It wasn’t ‘tradition’ in performance as it combines dances and martial arts brought in by actors outside of Beijing. It was also near by the place that strangely served Beijing Duck (Peking Duck); having carved the crisp skin off they served it with a small plate of sugar (normally served with a pancake, chive and hoisin sauce). It was heart-stoppingly good though.
A simple and quick update. I’ll let the pictures speak for me this time.
Left: Caught someone’s eye amongst the array of columns.
Middle: This girl was just standing at the ceiling high aquarium , some of the fishes were actually large than her but she didn’t seem to be afraid.
Right: A nice place to visit, open all the time but nobody visits often. It’ll be my secret for now
09.May.07
Roadblock: a roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform.
Wednesday nights as part of my Innovation Management Diploma – Business Startup Skills; is the time allocated for our team meetings (6-8pm). Of the 22 people and 2 mentors, our task is to create from scratch a product or service, use our skills and knowledge and then sell the product. The course is dividied in to section/units – election of directors, product generation, selling of shares and raising capital, manufacturing, selling and finally liquidation of the company. All profits are real and shareholders will recieve what we earn. I remember the first time I heard that we were being paid for building the business and recieving wages, being told how much we were recieving is like being given $50,000 Vietnamese dongs only to later find out how much it is actually worth.
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Harsha our YAA (Young Achievement Australia) – Resilyance secretary comments on the traffic light as we (himself, Ivan; finance director and myself) sat crammed at the back of our taxi. Krishan shotguns and adds that the red light is painfully long. As we’re running late for the match, held up at the corner of the road I couldn’t help but feel like we were on The Amazing Race struggling to make it to the next pitstop. It was almost 8pm, having called a taxi earlier on, Harsha was also given the duty to announce to our team and Wallace & Gromit (mentors) that we were leaving early for a soccer match.
Luckily for Krish and myself, Sabby (Sabrina) had networks within Aussie stadum and was kind enough to invite us to join watch the game for free. To be honest, I had only spoken to her on perhaps one or two other occasion, during a conversation with Krishan. We met up with James, Eric and Sabrina’s relatives and friend at the stadium entrance having missed 30 minutes of the match. The game itself was dissapointing, you could describe the Shanghai players as active kangaroos on a green field jumping about but ultimately lacking the gene which allows them to land on their feet (however this is compensated by the fact they tend to heal quickly from a dive fall). The stretcher would come on to take the player off the field and as they approuch the sidelines the player would hop off (followed by echoing boo from the crowd) and run back on – an equilibrium; the constant cycle of players from one team coming off and back onto the pitch. The game ended nil all.
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Coincidentally, it began raining as we headed to the bus stop (Krishan, Eric and myself). Opting to wait under cover as the queue shortened it took a good few minutes before we were able to board. At Central, Eric and Krishan headed home as I waited 29 minutes for the next train. Hungry Jacks was closed just moments as I walked back up from the platform. The final photo is of a street near Westfields between an ice-cream parlour and newly built apartment block.
Awhile back a friend from Prague introduced me to the Kiev 88 an Ukraine made camera that mimics the Hasseblad series. It came as a surprise as to how heavy the camera was when I initially held it, literally a brick painted black but heavier. Most of the shots were taken around The Rocks in Sydney near one end of the Harbour bridge (the giant coat-hanger dubbed one half of Sydneys main tourist landmarks). What actually invoked me to buy the Kiev was actually a sudden interest in 6×6 or square-framed photos that I had seen online such as those in these galleries:
http://foureyes.deviantart.com/gallery/
They are different, unique and although medium format photography has been around for a long time it is not common to see shots composed in a square.
