Revelry

Hong Kong

Vibrant, exciting and fast-paced. Thats just the shopping. The lifestyle, nightlife and the rest is just moving at breakneck speeds. Everything is NOW, NOW, NOW! No WAIT! Must NOW! Have you hear how a honky speak? No time to breathe man. Well fuck me. despite all that, these guys really know how to shop. Chock-a-block shopping malls to make shift stores. They got everything you need. Need to get a Hermes Leica M6 at 9.45 pm, no problem. These guys are open till 10.30pm. These guys are hardcore. Looking at doing some serious damage on your Visa, head down to Honky Town…

Home?

Kowloon – Hong Kong

Came back from a business trip to HK in Nov and the hotel I was putting up at was at a busy intersection. 50 meters away from the hotel which is also the view of what I see every morning of my 6 day stay there, is this ugly monolith of a residential building(you are lucky you can’t see the years of dirt and decay accumulated but believe me its there, just a good photographer like that that you can’t see). I am not really put off by its lack of architectural flair as i know how residential blocks look like but  mystified at how they allow the buildings they live in look like this. I cannot fathom how packed they are cramped close together and how squalid the the buildings look.  Just when I thought this was bad, at my office the distance between the residential block and the building is a mere whiskey away! How close you say? Lets just put this way, if i can read the cantonese subtitles on the telly  i could tell you the day’s soap drama…

Found

Masjid Jamek – Kuala Lumpur

KL is a location both B and myself love to go when we want to go for a quick getaway. Food is abundant(most stuff are halal) and affordable, lodgings reasonable and safety questionable. I have done a fair deal of travelling and I must say KL always puts me on my toes. Strange cause I can speak the language and I am malay damnmit! But, nevertheless I never let me guard down when  I am there. I never felt safe there. Some how, the locals have a way to make you feel uncomfortable. Maybe its just us but in the last 12-14 times there, I feel somehow either a victim or on the way to be victimized.

But does it put me off going there? No way. Love the food, man! Even the malls serve decent grub. And because of that mouth watering ribs and succulent satays, I will always be there….

Buy

 

Chinatown, Singapore

Money, not morality, is the principle of commerce and commercial nations – Thomas Jefferson

Chinese New Year, Christmas and the like are all similar in that we are reminded of the things we have to buy or to decorate  rather than the purpose of the celebration itself. Instead of celebrating the beauty of the day, we spent it at the malls shopping. We celebrate commercialism, we adore our possessions and dream of having more. Celebrations such as Christmas have been reduced to a shopping list and many trips to the mall. Is this what our religious/festive celebration are entirely about?

Connections

Sydney, Australia

Harbour Bridge, Sydney

“The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn” – Davis Russell

 

Todd James – War Party

  

 

A whimsical piece by Todd James entitled War Party, edition of 150 signed and numbered and wonderfully mine.

Eat

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Food is our common ground, a universal experience – James Beard

Each time I spy on the locals during meal times, I see a modest feast spread on the table or floor in this case. Wherever you go in Asia be it Nepal, Bali or Vietnam, despite their meagre incomes good food at decent prices can always be had. I am never adventurous with food always sticking to what I am comfortable with. Never a big soup fan either till I tried Pho. It must be an incredible comfort food cause it’s so flavourful, reassuring and fuss free. And the best thing is it never leaves you feeling bloated or fat…The good thing about travelling in Asia is great food is abundant and affordable, and always leave you with the feeling of , “Hmmm, what should I have next?”

Food

Serangoon Road, Singapore

 Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and, be silent – Epictetus

 I enjoy walking around the Little India market area to look at the abundant produce and fresh vegetables on display, and always I ask myself at the rate our global population is growing and our ever increasing deterioration of our planet, when will this bounty end. When will this gift be taken away from us..Just a matter of time.

Old Town

 

Malacca, Malaysia

What we call “progress” is the exchange of one nuisance for another nuisance – Havelock Ellis

 In my travels in Asia, the one place I must visit will always be the town’s  market. The sight, smell and the buzz always excites me and to me the market represent the heart of the town. The more vibrant the market, the more vibrant the people. Always one of the more colourful placesm, the market.

Ben Thay Market, Ho Chi Minh

Always friendly smiles from store owners. Always exciting experiences at the market. I use to have the same vibe in the markets in SG but with the privatisation and modernisation of the wet markets, it becomes another chain business. Faceless and without character. I say bring back the noise, the smell and the singlet-clad armpit hair sprouting store owners back to where they belong! Give the younger generation a chance to hone their bargaining skills! Give us back the joy of jostling with sweat drenched old ladies along narrow lanes of the fish section, and getting splash on with refreshing prawn mix with sotong (octopus) ink gunk on your Havaianas…I say,”Market lovers unite!”

Derelict

Brisbane, Australia

The more rapidly a civilisation progresses, the sooner it dies for another to rise in its place – Havelock Ellis

My 2 week stay in Brisbane was heavenly and as usual went by me too painfully fast! This picture was taken in the West End area which I stayed during my stay there, a quaint bohemian town that reminds me of Melbourne but without the bustle. Very laid back but not too laid back that it is mindlessly boring, just the right touch that puts your senses on cruise control before the inevitable madness of reality beckons you home…

It’s touching to see many old buildings in Australia being restored instead of being pulled down. It gives the country a sense of history and offer visitors a glimpse of their past. I always akin demolishing such beautiful old buildings to removing section of your memories, bit by bit till you can’t remember what was initially there in the 1st place.

Faithful

Brisbane,Australia

Never confuse the faith with the supposedly faithful – Randy K. Milholland

Nope, the picture was NOT photoshop. The letter R was painted over when I took in 2005, it was there a couple of years back when I was there. Cheeky bastards! Love big signage like these, you don’t see them often now.

Travel

Nepal

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it -George Moore

Beauty

Nepal

The ability to see beauty is the beginning of our moral sensibility. What we believe is beautiful we will not wantonly destroy – Reverend Sean Parker Dennison

Music

Bali, Indonesia

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music – Aldous Huxley

This colourful troupe came to perform in the middle of a field for a few of us. We were extremely honoured to have them performed for us and I must say the elderly gentleman with the musical instrument extremely strong(check out them veins on his forearm). The damn thing is bloody heavy and the performance lasted 45minutes! Talking about suffering for your art…

 

Children

Munich,Germany

There was a time when we expected nothing of our children but obedience, as oppossed to the present, when we expect everything of them but obedience – Anatole Broyard