If I'm not mistaken, my first time out of the country was for a trip to Hong Kong. That was with my dad, my brother and my dad's friend, Tito Art. I think I was fourteen or fifteen and I have two distinct memories from that trip. The first was that I was amazed that there were malls right under our hotel, and that they were connected to adjacent hotel/malls such that you could walk miles through shops and not have to step out into the street.

The second was that we ate at this amazing restaurant called the Golden Deer. I actually don't remember what we ate. I just remember that it was on the second floor of a rundown building and that we had to enter through the kitchen. The small dining room was full of expats drinking San Miguel Pale Pilsen, and busboys were pouring used glasses of water on our table to clean it.

Since then I've been to Hong Kong for a number of times, usually on quick weekend trips. I go with friends who know the place pretty well so shopping is executed with surgical precision. I like Hong Kong mostly for the food. I can live on Chinese food, especially Cantonese food with it's roast goose, fresh seafood, and dumplings. I was there again last weekend, this time with my brother who hasn't been back since that first trip fifteen years ago.

And for the first time since I've been visiting, I considered Hong Kong as one of my favorite cities. Favorite enough to half seriously consider living there for awhile. It's fast-paced and modern yet it has a patina of something old like most Asian places. The city is small in size yet there are tons of things to do and places to see, and with an awesome public transport system, it's easy to get around. Also they have ferries! I also like Hong Kong because, unlike Singapore, Hong Kong isn't ultra clean and sterilized. You can smell the harbor, the streets have "texture," and things can go wrong.

Like when I brought my brother to this row of eateries along a back street. I go there with my friends and we usually pick the last eatery because there's a Filipina waitress there who we can order fresh shrimps in garlic, taosi clams, and Tsingtao beer from. Well, she wasn't there this time. So I had to make do by pointing at the photos on the menu. Still instead of getting two cups or steamed rice, I managed to order two platefuls of stir fried noodles (which were good anyway).

Anyway, the thought to live in Hong Kong occurred one night while we were hanging at the beach at Discover Bay. It was a cool night, my feet were in the sand, and we were drinking beer. Well, everyone else was drinking beer. I was having a sundae. Anyway, I felt at peace and content. And I realized that if I could feel that way in a place as crazy as Hong Kong, then this place was special. I'll be back.

So Much Excelsior

Owel Alvero, guitarist and song writer for one of my favorite bands, Ang Bandang Shirley, released his solo EP, So Much Excelsior, online and for free. Listen to, and get it HERE now.

I've had this since last month, so I've been remiss in saying that I enjoyed Zach Lucero's album, Fall Crash Infect.

My friends at Sputnik have been tag teaming me into getting Apol Sta Maria's "Alamat Ng Panget..." Making it to Cubao X last Friday with some actual cash in my wallet, I finally got my copy. (Only 200 bucks and less than 10 copies left!) This crudely drawn collection of crass visual and verbal gags belie the intelligent commentary this comic makes on life and art itself. Ramon De Veyra writes a better review here.

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I miss writing entries here compared to the inane little things I post more often at Twitter. It's a bit of mind job how the Internet can actually be used to minimize information by spreading a whole lot of it. The possibilities of the Net is uselessly endless.

I also miss baring my heart online and in public. Haha. I remember when posts in my old blog were just rawer, intense and personal. I miss it, but I don't think I'll ever do that again. A major part is that I really am old...er now. Thirty really isn't the new twenty, no matter how much we package and market it to be. You know why I know that? Because I gave up my old camera backpack and bought the same version but with wheels. (Also, the old camera bag is for sale. Check it out here. End plug.)

Back to the baring of one's heart. I don't think I really miss public and online emotional seppuku. I just miss the fact that I, once upon a time, could.

Christian Patterson: Out There

Christian Patterson is one of my favorite photographers who shoots in color. He's good and he should be. He's only worked with William Eggleston. After Sound Effects, I'm glad to know he's wrapped up a new series called, Out There, which is visually inspired by Terrance Malick's film Badlands. Which is, in turn, based on the story of Charles Starweather, a multiple murderer.

About this series, Patterson says,

"I have long been fascinated with and inspired by phantom events—events that have little or no physical presence in a place or an image but have a very strong relationship with the place that is photographed."

Found out via Shane Lavalette.
Interview of Patterson on Out There at Making Room.

Ondoyphotos.com

Some friends of mine were quick, smart and sensitive enough to feel that there was a need for a visual compendium of the effects of Typhoon Ondoy. Within the week after Ondoy hit the metro, Ondoyphotos.com was up and running. Good job guys.

community

Things seem to be settling down.

Last month was shitty, as I've said. I guess emotions started going haywire in August, when Cory died and the country went into collective mourning. Then in early September, Alexis, one of the good guys, and his girlfriend Nika were killed, and I saw my close friends grieve. After that, the nice family of three who ran the cafe across the bar I sometimes hang out at were also murdered in their own apartment. And in the past week, I've had friends scampering to higher ground, losing everything to the the floods of Ondoy. Right now, Metro Manila just might be able to duck this new storm, the tragically named Pepeng. (Next time, let's stick to the international list of typhoon names.)

My almost-meltdown due to work-related stress seems trivial in comparison to it all and I'm just glad that the people closest to me are dry and safe. And happy. Right after the madness that was Ondoy, it was good to see my high school buddy, Hester, marry Tonee.

At this point, while there's a lot of things to be done, back to regular programming will be a relief.

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Take a minute to enjoy photography of David Leventi, who takes pretty good portraits of a place.

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I love Community. And I mean the TV show, not how we are all connected and shit.

September was a shitty month, and that's something I'll try to recap later. I'm just glad it's over. Here's a quick quote that broke the monotony of things going on in my head. It's a bit refreshing to think about photography by itself again. And, you can't go wrong with a basketball metaphor applied to photography.

"Then, it occurred to me that these plays almost always have a component of near failure involved in them. It's the fingertip catch, the unlucky or lucky bounce, or a player making a grab on a line drive that shouldn't have been catchable. It's almost never the "perfectly executed play" or the "high percentage shot" that makes us leap up from our chairs in disbelief. I feel the same way about photography." - Bradley Peters.

More on Bradley Peters and his staged yet failure-dependent work at Conscientious.

The idea of receiving a fairly nice paycheck for shooting a hell of a lot of pots, pans and other shiny, round objects sends me into a descending spiral of panic and depression. It's not panic and depression in the form of hair pulling, drunken binges or car crashes. It's just when I find time to take a short break, to sit in a coffee shop with a cookie while waiting for conflicting, unconfirmed schedules to sort themselves out, I tend to question a lot of things: my choice of work, my commitment to personal expression, my talent or the lack of it.

Times like these, it's comforting to have friends. Haha. Also, it's just panic. After things (or when I) settle down, I remember that this was the plan to begin with: work as photographer so that I can afford to take my own pictures. I remember the places where the job has brought me, and the people I've met. I remember that, because of the job, I've met a lot of my good friends and have been given the opportunity to meet (and shoot) people who've influenced my life. Also the job pays enough so that I can get Chinese dinners and buy a lot of books. Maybe I just need a vacation. Or maybe I just need to stop griping about not doing personal work, and do personal work.