She Sells Seashells By The Streetside

Float Like A Butterfly..

A Time To Reflect

Enlightened

Stoned

Moonshine

Sunset Strip

Old School

We dropped off some rice and water for these orphans.

Christmas Morning

Life's Bike Ride

The journey of life is like a man riding a bicycle. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. We know that if he stops moving and does not get off he will fall off. William Golding - Author of 'Lord of the Flies'

Twisted Sister

Day 1 in Siem Reap and someone's sprained an ankle already.  Luckily I remembered my emergency first aid from Grade 9 gym class.  Good old R.I.C.E. - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  Thanks Mr. Trask!  Anyways, now we're at the local clinic to pick up some ankle wraps and pain killers..

We're Still Here..

Off The Deep End

Emerald City

Although this building isn't quite so sparkling anymore, "Morakot" means emerald in Thai.  The green/white fade looks crisp.  Gonna have to use that.

P.F. Flying...

The Economic Naturalist

Ever wonder why there's a light in your fridge but not in your freezer?  Or why DVDs are region specific but CDs are not?  Robert H. Frank uses basic economic principles to explain many of these quirky conundrums. You would never imagine that economics has so much influence on everything around us.. until you read this book.

Well Hung

Ok, dried fish, no problem.  Fowl I can kind of deal with.  But a pig's snout??..  What the HELL are you supposed to do with that?  I know there's this movement towards non-waste and 'nose-to-tail' eating, but I don't think they meant literally.

On a different note, homie's colour coordination game is pretty tight.

Greatness is Fleeting

"No matter how great you are, the next great one is already sitting there waiting to take your place."

- Joe Theismann -

Zhujiajiao

Zhujiajiao (朱家角) which literally means "Zhu family corner", is an ancient water town located on the outskirts of Shanghai.  Dating back over 1700 years, there are a total of 36 walking bridges that cross the numerous waterways lining the town.  From Shanghai, you can get there by public bus in about an hour for only US$1.  Once there, you can spend the afternoon wandering the lanes, checking out the little shops, having tea by the riverbank, and trying some local food.  It's a nice way to do something a little different outside of the city.

Mama Said Knock You Off

I haven't seen this level of fake awesomeness since the early 90's! Most knock-off operations these days have up'd their game to make product that actually looks like the real deal.  These guys keep it O.G. though, with the one-off letter spelling (who's gonna notice the difference, right?), and slapping that logo on anything made of pleather that they can get their hands on.  Maybe there'll be a resurgence in these classics. AAAA Grade fakes are so passe anyway.  Quit being a poser.  Either man up and buy the real thing, or just get one of these that says "I don't give a f*ck".

Trashy To Classy

The urban renewal and gentrification in Shanghai seems never ending, as the city continues to grow and evolve.  It's a common sight these days: the juxtaposition of run-down, low-income housing, with shiny, new office buildings and luxury apartment complexes towering over them in the background.

Red Carpet Blues

I was invited to the Shanghai edition of this year's Elle Style Awards.  Victor & Rolf and Christian Louboutin were there to accept awards.  But apart from them, unfortunately, I'm not up on my Chinese celebrities, so I had no idea who everyone was fawning over and trying to take pictures with.  They were tall and good looking and I'm sure very good at whatever it is they do, but I was neither here nor there..

Having been to my fair share of events in Shanghai, what I'm always surprised at/disappointed in is that no one ever stays to party!  It's always like as soon as the show is over, and people have got their pics to post on their social media to say that they were there, they're out.  Any other city where there's a DJ and free flow booze, you can't get people to leave!  It doesn't seem like there's a culture here of just hanging out for the sake of socializing and getting eff'd up on free champagne.  What's up Shanghai??

Something's Fishy

It's okay to eat fish because they don't have any feelings.

- Kurt Cobain -

Give Me A Reason

New piece I did for my living room.

Wasted Youth, Pt. 45

Damn, an hour and a half delay on my connecting flight.  It's been a long travel day. I just wanna get home.

Airline: Shanghai Airlines

Route: Guangzhou - Shanghai

Delayed flights: 45

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 7.5 hours

What's Your Poison?

At Bar Trench for some absinthe drips.

Tokyo Skytree Tilt-Shift

Went to check out the new Tokyo Skytree, currently the tallest tower in the world at 634m (2080 ft.).  Its primary purpose is as a broadcasting tower to replace the outdated Tokyo Tower, which is only about half the height.  Of course in Japan, it wouldn't be an attraction without numerous shopping and restaurant options, as well as 2 observation decks.

We went on a Monday morning, figuring it wouldn't be too busy..

Wrong.

After lining up for a time slot ticket, dilly-dallying around the shops till our designated viewing time, and then lining up some more in a seemingly endless zig-zagging cue, we finally were able to pay our 2000yen ($20) to be whisked up in a super high-speed elevator to the deck at 350m.  The view is admittedly pretty great, and once up there, you have the option to pay an additional 1000yen ($10) to go up to 450m.  However, everything looked pretty ant-like already, so we didn't see the point.

Trying out some tilt-shift photo editing techniques, making everything look like a scale model.

Wasted Youth, Pt. 44

Only a 30 minute delay.  I'm surprised.

Airline: China Southern

Route: Guangzhou - Tokyo

Delayed flights: 44

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 6 hours

Early Morning Guangzhou

On the way to the airport..

Wasted Youth, Pt. 43

I hate flying to/from Shenzhen.  Two hour delay waiting for the plane to arrive.

Airline: China Eastern

Route: Shanghai - Shenzhen

Delayed flights: 43

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 5.5 hours

Squatters

No, it's not an Olympic sign directing you to the Standing Long Jump event.

Bespoke Footwear

Wuzhen

Wuzhen (乌镇) is a historic water town on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, a couple hours outside of Shanghai in neighbouring Zhejiang Province.  Spent the weekend strolling the small lanes, drinking tea along the banks of the canals, and imagining the idyllic life back in the day.. (well, I also imagined having a kung-fu fight in the streets to defend my family's honour..)

The town is over 1300 years old, and has been carefully restored to maintain it's heritage.  Although the town's primary source of income now is tourism, for the 12,000 residents, daily life remains relatively simple, and hasn't changed too much from days past.

The area is known for indigo dyeing of silk fabric.  As well as pickled vegetables and rice wine.

Worth a visit for a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai.

Wasted Youth, Pt. 42

..thirty minutes there.

Airline: China Eastern

Route: Xiamen - Shanghai

Delayed flights: 42

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 3.5 hours

Wasted Youth, Pt. 41

Another thirty minutes here..

Airline: China Eastern

Route: Shanghai - Xiamen

Delayed flights: 41

Total time spent waiting: 2 days, 3 hours

Above and Beyond

..um, I don't think Workers' Comp covers this.  View from my kitchen window on the 24th floor.

Eastside

Monument For East Vancouver by local artist Ken Lum is a tribute to the city that has sparked a lot of debate.  "East Van" has traditionally been home to the culturally diverse, immigrant, blue collar working class, and has a reputation of being the slightly grittier side of town.  But it's also by far the most interesting - with the mix of Italian and Latin Americans on Commercial Drive, East Indians on Main Street, Vietnamese along Kingsway, and Chinese interspersed throughout.

The East Van symbol has been around since the 60's and does have some gang associations, most notably when I grew up, with the Clark Parkers during the 80's and 90's.  Though some parts of the East Side are slowly being gentrified, the East Van cross has always been a ubiquitous symbol put up as a way of saying, we are here, don't forget about us, and don't mess with us, and Ken Lum's piece is a proud and somewhat defiant reminder.

Freshness

Giddy Up

"Who wants to go FASTER?!?"

Swingers

Every summer, during the last 2 weeks of August, Hastings Park is home to Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition, better known as "the PNE".  I have fond memories of my dad taking me there as a kid - all the carnival rides, the impossible-to-win games of skill, the rickety giant wooden roller coaster that looked (and felt) like it was going to fall apart at any moment, the funky barnyard smell at the petting zoo, the salesmen demonstrating the amazing Ginsu knives that could cut through a leather shoe, the super awesome demolition derby, and eating corn dogs, mini donuts, snow cones, and cotton candy till my tongue turned blue. Thanks dad.

"Free at last! free at last!.."

KIng Of The Road

I was helping my mom clear out her storage locker when I found a box of my past glories..  

Anyone remember Final Lap?  It was the first ever multi-player arcade racing game, and during freshman year, if we weren't sleeping or eating between classes, we were usually down in the Student Union Building playing either NBA Jam or this.  Our arcade had 4 machines hooked up, meaning up to 8 players could race head-to-head.

That year, the arcade held a tournament - single elimination, top 2 finishers of each race moving on to the next round, until only 8 racers remained. Pro athletes often talk about when "being in the zone" how everything seems to slow down around them, they can anticipate their opponents a split second quicker, and the hoop looks that much bigger.. Long story short, that day, I was in the zone.  It felt like slow-motion going through that last chicane, my heart pounding with excitement, and everyone cheering and patting me on the back as I crossed the finish line.  I felt like Ayrton Senna winning the F1 World Championship.

As I received my trophy and gazed upon the crowd though, my moment of triumph came to a crashing halt, so to speak, as I realized there would be no champagne spraying, no endorsement deals, and my admiring fans were in fact, not a bevy of beautiful women waiting to throw themselves at a winning race car driver, but rather, a bunch of geeky guys who spent way too much time in a dark, noisy room playing video games..