Unbelievably I've been meaning to put this up for about a year now, but I was waiting until I had uploaded them all to Flickr. Well, I'm still just uploading NZ, so I thought I'd just get this done now while I have a couple of minutes. My absolute favourite photo from Bangkok, if not our whole Antipodean trip from last January lies below the break here. The story is this:
We were on Khao Sahn Road on our last night in Bangkok, just having a couple of beers and watching the world go by. For those who've never been, Khao Sahn Road is backpacker central. It's quite tacky and tourist-geared, but definitely toward the younger, beer chugging set. So it's nice and cheap and there's a lot going on. Anyway, we were sat in the bar and I noticed a larger guy come in with a Thai girl.
Now, I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as it used to be, but you still see what I might charitably describe as a number of "unlikely" pairings when walking around Bangkok. I'm sure many of them are perfectly wonderful love stories, but I get the feeling many aren't.
So this guy came in and sat down with this girl and they proceeded to sit in an increasingly uncomfortable silence. No conversation, the guy fidgeting and looking a bit miserable really. The girl looked everywhere but at him. This wasn't the vibe of a couple who have had a fight, but rather two people who just aren't clicking. This was great, I thought, a wonderful opportunity for me to get a photo of something which I had so keenly noticed around town over the previous few days. I got the camera out, all casual-like, sitting it on the table, turning the flash off. All the while chatting to Alex, I glanced down occasionally to line up the shot from the table-top, resting my hand on the camera like some kind of master spy. Brilliant. Looking at Alex, I gently pressed the shot button.
Now, the shot that I was expecting, that in fact I got on a second try, was this:
But the shot I got upon initial inspection, the shot that had me do a quick double-take, was this:
HOLY SHIT!
My initial reaction was of course - me being me - GHOST! Perhaps this woman was some kind of restless spirit, returned from the dead and luring this man back to God only knows where in order to exact her revenge on all men. A cunning ruse, unmasked by my trusty camera.
Or perhaps someone just walked past at the wrong time.
But still, I love it! I love the possibilities of it. I love the fact that no trace of the woman remains; that you can even see the back of her chair, she's so perfectly obscured. Fucking brilliant!
So now that's done. Hoorah!
My Photos
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Sunday, March 01, 2009
Something I've Been Meaning to Post
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Flickr Dump: South Island Day Three
Day three of the South Island trip is now up! Travelling from Franz Josef down to Wanaka, taking in Fox Glacier, the Blue Pools, the Gates of Haast and lakes Wanaka and Hawea.
Go have a look!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Flickr Dump: South Island Day Two
Day two of our South Island trip is now up on flickr, covering Cape Foulwind down to Franz Josef, taking in the pancake rocks at Punakaiki and the Franz Josef Glacier!
Go look!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Flickr Dump - South Island Day One
Okay, I've uploaded photos from our ferry crossing and the first day of our trip driving around the South Island. Here's our route:
Go look!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Flickr Dump - Paraparaumu & Levin
In an effort to catch up and get some of the wedding photos up I'm going to be putting a lot of stuff on Flickr over the next week. Ridiculously that starts with the remainder of the Oz/NZ trip photos, beginning with the time we spent in Paraparaumu and Levin (and a day trip to Palmerston North) just after we arrived in NZ.
So head on over!
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Australia Redux
So I've decided to create a directors cut of our holiday that actually includes Sydney! The photos are up on flickr now!
Okay, so actually I completely forgot to do the Sydney leg. A bit silly, given I had more photos for there than anywhere up to that point. Also because I had actually chosen the photos to upload then deleted the folder from the desktop because I thought I had done it already.
Anyway, needless to say Sydney was great. Caught up with Dan & Naomi, Sera and cousin Felicity, which was nice. Had a bit of rain, but on the whole the weather was just dandy. Did a tour bus which took us around all the main sights, but just generally wandered about seeing what we could see. Our hotel was quite central, so we were able to walk around fairly easily.
Popped my head into a comic shop over there. Kings on Pitt St. Nice store, but a bit sterile and not terribly well laid out. Bought a copy of the Local issue set in Park Slope as a pressie for Lisa (who used to live there).
We really liked Sydney. Enough to realise that it was probably the #1 contender for us in terms of places to live when we leave the UK. We had been thinking of Melbourne, but Sydney just feels a little more vibrant to me. I know Melbourne gets a lot of NZ love these days, but to be honest Melbourne felt a little dull in comparison.
Okay, these are judgements based on very little time spent in either, but that's the immediate impression for me. Sydney, the city, feels more like a living, breathing, sprawling city, whereas Melbourne feels a bit like a collection of suburbs whose populace work and shop in the city. Unfair judgement? Possibly, but at the end of the day Sydney clicked with us in a way that Melbourne just didn't.
Oh, while we were there, a massive cruise ship had come into harbour. This thing was bloody huge! The Sapphire Princess. Tacky as all get-out, but quite the sight to behold. We sat by the opera house and watched it depart, which was sadly entertaining. Nice one, Sydney!
Friday, April 25, 2008
NZ at Last!
Man, talk about slowly but surely! Anyway, I've uploaded photos to flickr from our arrival and first brief stay in Wellington before we went down to the South Island.
After a fairly smooth trans-Tasman flight into Wellington, we were picked up from the airport by the esteemed Dr Wu (who we were lucky enough to catch before her move back to NYC). Wellington's airport, by the way, is tiny. Teeny tiny. In a "This plane had better stop soon or we're going in the drink" kind of manner. Oh, and it's built in a wind tunnel, making for some pretty bumpy landings. I still love it though. Because it's Wellington.
Our original plan was to head straight up to Mum's, but we decided we would be better off spending a night a Polly & Rod's place first, just to give us a break from travelling. It was nice to have a moment to catch our breath. Lisa took us to P&R's place in Newtown by way of a nice drive around the bays. It was a proper windy Wellington day and no mistake. Gale force winds were whipping up from the South, making for some spectacular scenery.
There are a lot of photos from this leg of the trip that look a bit like some clumsy 35 year old man has put a greasy finger on the lens or something, leaving a very slight vaseline-d look to it all. Anyway, we swung by Rintoul Street and picked up Polly (Rod was at work) and went for another drive.
We parked up and went for a wander down Cuba Street, which is always a nice thing for me. I spent a hell of a lot of time on that Street, working on it for 5 years and even living on it for a period. Lots of changes, including the building that used to house Comics Compulsion on upper Cuba not actually existing any more. The bypass was also new to me, although to be honest (and I say this as someone who isn't actually resident any more) it seemed fine to me. Just another road, really. Certainly not the motorway artery I was expecting. Anyway, we went and had a coffee. Ahh...sweet, sweet New Zealand coffee. The first of a Exxon tanker's worth I had on the trip.
Then it was off for a drive, up Mount Victoria and round the bays again, before grabbing some shopping and heading back to the house for dinner. Very nice evening spent catching up and then the next morning Lisa gave us a lift down to the train station, from where it was off to Paraparaumu!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Flickr Dump!
Not much to say on either really. Melbourne was very nice and as many of you may know, it was our chief contender for places to settle once we leave the UK. Well, although we enjoyed our time there and were shown great hospitality by Alex's mate Justine, it just didn't blow our hair back.
Well, not to the Gold Coast, that's for sure. Admittedly, we had terrible weather while we were there. They were catching the tail-end of a cyclone, breaking a 7-year drought. There was flooding, the beaches were washed away and it generally felt like the end of the world, but only the tackiest world you ever saw.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Onward!
And then we were off to Perth. More Flickr photos are now up!
Perth was the first of our "Family Stops". Alex's step-sister Sarah (who I'd met before) lives there with her husband and two girls (none of whom I'd met). Lovely folks, one and all, and their house (which is actually in Fremantle, about 20km away from Perth itself) is great. The lounge has a massive peaked roof with floor-to-ceiling windows leading out to the yard area. The house really revolves around this massive old tree that dominates the property: what I might describe in a slightly romantic manner as its heart. In addition to Sarah and family, Alex's mum and step-father were in town having visited for Christmas. A proper family reunion!
I should also mention that the flight from Hong Kong to Perth was the absolute worst flight of the holiday. Turbulence the whole bloody trip. Seriously, we had maybe an hour and a half of calm air the entire time. So another lost night of sleep for Andrew. In fact, I had to crash out for a few hours after we arrived just to feel human again. And for "feel human", read "less inclined to rip the head from anyone who dared cross me". No kidding, I'm like Dr Salmond and Mr Fuckyouasswipe.
Anyway, Fremantle is a lovely town. Like all places in the area it's a little on the drought-stricken side. Serious water restrictions and brown verges as far as the eye can see. We had just missed a heatwave actually, so things had settled down to a pleasant 35 or so. My first holiday realisation (of many) that I'm just not equipped for the heat. But it has a good character, feeling like a town in it's own right rather than just suburban sprawl. Nice cafe culture going on, plus lots of bars and restaurants. Plenty of good beaches nearby as well. On the whole, recommended.
Would that I could say the same for Perth! Sorry Perth-ites, but as much as I appreciate your surrounds, the city itself is a big snore. Oh sure, the public transport is free. Free to carry you from one boring shopping mall to the next boring shopping mall down the boring roads, perhaps jumping off to take a drink in one of the boring pubs. No heart, no soul, no character. Arguments to the contrary can be written on the postcard and sent with the half a pack of no-doze you would need to stay awake an entire day in the place. Pass.
Fremantle was nice though!
Friday, February 08, 2008
Hong Kong!
I've just put a bunch of photos up over on Flickr of our stopover in Hong Kong. Go see!
As an initial destination on our trip, HK was great: somewhere fairly different from our normal day-to-day life, with lots to see and do for the three days we were there.
I'm sorry to say that, contrary to my expectations, my anxieties about flying have not eased after more than 50 hours in the air over the course of this trip, let alone on the first flight to HK (and my first flight in over a year). So by the time we arrived I was in a slightly dazed state of exhaustion, something which stayed largely true throughout our stay. In fact, it's a state I am currently revisiting, not helped by the fact that the UK has seen fit to slap me with some kind of bloody head cold upon arrival.
But Hong Kong...
It was great. Very busy, very colourful and very much a financial hub. Though the latter doesn't wash as much character out of the place as it does in, say, Singapore. The remnants of it's colonial history are still in evidence, but are fast disappearing under the weight of it's modern role as the financial jewel in China's crown, although presumably thanks to that it is still largely bilingual. It's also obviously a top Chinese tourist spot, the waterfront teeming with tour groups.
Things of Note:
- It's very heavily regulated. I don't know if that's China's influence coming in, but there are signs everywhere telling you what to do and what will happen if you don't, and on several occasions we saw people being stopped and having their papers checked.
- On the other hand there were many open protests against Chinese rule which I assume you wouldn't see on the mainland.
- Lots of markets selling every bloody thing you could hope to find.
- Downtown Tsim Sha Tsui at night is like daytime. I swear, you never saw so much neon in your life.
- Claudia and Morgan were there for a day or so while we were! So we met up for dinner and a wander through one of the night markets.
- Our hotel room was very nice.
- Oh, and we took Fish, our stuffed Gorilla, with us.
Blah, my head is gummy. I'll stop there. In summation: Hong Kong is well worth seeing. We had a great time there, and didn't even really take advantage of the shopping, which appears to be excellent. Go and see the photos!
