cavaan

lost in the rain

2012-01-31T23:58:00.005+11:00

model anna

stylist emma

mu & h victoria

barely started the roll of film before heavy rain took over completely; not the first shoot lost to mother nature. x.

heart of a lion

2012-01-14T23:11:00.006+11:00

model laura

mu & h victoria

laura is the loveliest and sweetest model i have ever worked with! other than this, i haven't hung out with my camera at all. i have however been slaving away in retail in an attempt to save up some money (all the while trying to find a legitimate job, what ever that is). which reminds me, now that i am on the other side of retail, i am too scared to enter clothing stores because you know, TIME IS VALUABLE for them too. i hope you're doing better, much love xx

my shoes are shiny

2012-01-05T16:45:00.006+11:00

i think i just dislocated my entire right leg... and the black platform catches lint like crazy.

two thousand and eleven

2012-01-03T23:11:00.014+11:00

i was going to let the last year pass unannounced, but the 'camera roll' on my iphone had these to share! so here is a collection of 2011 through a device i mostly use to check the weather. especially of places i don't even share the same hemisphere with. unfortunately it only starts in june because i had no (functioning) phone before that...

london

come on, you can't love london walking around the way i did. some dude yelled KONICHIWA to my face the first five minutes i set foot in the city. it made me realise, no matter where i am, i will get race related remarks, (maybe except for taiwan). by all means this stranger could have been whole heartedly welcoming me, like the way people in china yell out, 'HELLO HELLO' when they want a tourist to buy child laboured clothing off their temporary-set-up-store in the market; or when they see a non-asian in general.

tate modern, london

i visited the tate modern every day in london. the rest of my time was spent eating bagels and being snobbed off. oh london. the friendliest person was some boy working at urban outfitters, and he was only lovely because it's under the basic moral rules of customer service. just kidding, he was probably that nice without his name tag too.

alexanderplatz, berlin

people i met in berlin during a simple overnight stay:

a man (who was driving taxis in thailand when he met his german ex wife and moved to berlin, he now runs a really delicious thai restaurant) and cried when he told me about how he built the restaurant with his bare hands and how sad he was about the breakdown of his marriage and how he's going to close the restaurant early so he can take me for a drink. i told him i had friends. who i needed to meet. urgently. so we can all go feed our cats.
a mexican girl who originally wanted to show me around but that plan kind of went astray when she lost her digital camera with all her 2 months worth of berlin photos within 30 minutes of hanging out and i am instead lead for a whole day on bike around every possible place she has been in the past 60 days taking photos of her.
three australians who took the mexican girl's wallet and passport. i was not one of them and it took us a few hours to get it back again.
an (omg so beautiful) palestinian boy from jordan who probably gave me lung cancer from second hand smoking within a close proximity.

basically i made no friends in berlin, but i want to live there. differences unite people, you know.

airport, berlin

the sunrise before my flight to... i don't actually remember. but i stayed up that night so i could save accommodation costs, i didn't really save any money and never want to do that again, (it's only 15 euros for a super clean and comfortable hostel but i spent way more euros eating food to stay awake). i actually wanted to die by 2am. but i spoke german when i bought orange juice there and was very proud of myself for a good few weeks.

view of stockholm from norwegian air, they have wifi on their planes!

prague

prague was magnificent! it was almost as a couple city as paris. i kind of just took pictures for a lot of lovers and visited the exterior of churches as entry fees were now slashed from the travel budget.

prague why are your streets so preeeeeety!

arriving in venice, veneto

st marks square, venice

green somewhere, veneto

asiago, veneto

vicenza, veneto

sunrise in florence, tuscany

walking back to the city from a camp i stayed at overnight in outer florence. i missed the bus to my accommodation, and spent the night before in a tent with two sydneysiders i met on the street at around 10pm. they were lovely and i feel bad i don't even remember their names.

magical forest in brittany, france

the morning i was to leave in bourbriac, brittany.

valencia, spain

i met some strange but nonetheless wonderfully kind people in spain. one person a friend and i stayed with in madrid had five pots of... *ahem* plants growing on his balcony and a room mate with a cat who looked like victoria beckham.

view of valencia, spain

inside st peter's basilica, vatican city

flying over uae!

best pot of chai, melbourne.

suburbia after rain, melbourne

emma playing the piano. she serenades me with SHINee covers.

back of my door with postcards and collectables from other's travels.

waking up early, gansu

over the past years i stopped making 'promises' unless i knew they would be done in the next few minutes. but one person i always promised to was my grandmother, and that one promise was to call her once a month, for five minutes.

i saw her last year in november, she told me again, 'i just want to know you are okay, just call me once a month and let me know how you are, so i know your healthy, safe.' this year i called her in january to say happy new year, i called her in mid february to tell her i have safely arrived home and will be starting school soon. the next time i called her was in june, i was about to leave for europe and i thought, i should call. i didn't tell her i was going to europe, just that school had been really busy. she started the conversation with 'i haven't heard from you in so long, have you been okay?' and it ended with 'please call again soon'.

i wanted to call her in july, august, september, october... but i didn't. was i busy? definitely not to make a five minute phone call. but when you're so caught up in every day things you always think 'i'll call tomorrow, she won't mind'.

november came and i thought, alright, time to call. i finished all my uni classes, had a summer job lined up, and that's something to talk about. my grandfather picked up as usual, and we asked about how each other were before i asked to speak to my grandmother.

'she's sleeping'

'this early?'

'she's been sleeping for the whole day'

'is aunty there? i can call her mobile and that way grandma won't need to get out of bed'

sure, i straight away suspected her health might have declined, and began to regret not calling earlier. but i thought, if she can't move i will move the phone to her.

'she won't be able to hear you'

'okay, i'll call back tomorrow when she's awake then'

'she might not be able to hear you tomorrow either, you should maybe call back in a week...'

'...what's wrong?'

my grandfather clearly wasn't going to let me worry, so i asked him to pass the phone to someone else.

by the end of the week i made my way to my grandparent's house, 10,000 km away.

she was gaunt, a skeleton with skin, the quilt on her was too heavy for her figure. she couldn't see, but her pupils reacted to light. she couldn't speak, but she moved her tongue sometimes. i wanted to talk to her because that was all she could do, hear. but for the first two days every time i was in her presence i couldn't say more than a few words, i just cried.

my cousin told me it was probably the last time i would ever see her again, but other people said a person could live for a few years in her current state. towards the end of my week long stay i saw she was getting better, her face wasn't so gaunt. i left telling her i'll see her again soon, i told her i was healthy, i told her i was safe.

a month later i received an one lined email from my cousin. grandma passed away.

*deep breaths*

my grandfather reading an old piece of newspaper.

i went for many walks in between staying by my grandmother's bedside. this is the newly renovated mosque down the road from my grandparent's house.

transit in shanghai, i made everyone boarding the same flight to stand behind me so i could take this photo. just kidding.

sofia came to visit me in december just as i had visited her in stockholm past june. she spent majority of her time feeding kangaroos and going 'nawwwwwww' at the koalas.

fireworks on christmas eve, view from my bedroom window. what a surprise as i live in deep suburbia.

other things that happened in the year:

emma and i launched pocketto magazine in print. volume 2 is now in the works!
passed all my subjects, will be graduating in march!
don't really recall any other pivotal moments, exclamation point!

i hope you all have an exciting year coming, let me know if there is anything you're really looking forward to :)

much love,

aimée

p.s pictures taken and edited (crossprocess app!) on iphone 4.

spirited away

2011-12-19T22:12:00.007+11:00

model hanna l @ MIKAs stockholm

special thank you to sofia hilding

shot this in haga park on a sunny swedish day for the lovely victoria at kneon magazine.

no november

2011-11-29T15:05:00.002+11:00

i can't remember whether my brother fell out of a tree or just tripped over.

we wander but are never lost

2011-11-09T08:47:00.013+11:00

yesterday, emma and i entered a competition held by lee jeans australia. the winners get to go to new york city for a week! i'm not very good at competitions, i think i might have even fraudulently won a 800m race in high school (as the only participant of the race at the time). this one is by voting, and i don't know how many of you are out there, but if you like my photos, will you vote for me please? it's just a click! (which is really good exercise for the index finger btw, and i will be eternally grateful).

update: thank you so much everyone from the bottom of my heart. i didn't win, but! it's warm and fuzzy knowing you took the time to vote, thank you again! much love.

rain rain go away come again on a school day

2011-11-08T22:54:00.008+11:00

my rock collection from left to right –

red granite: from a coast in brittany, near paimpol. the beach was scattered in many heart shaped rocks. i kind of picked up this one, i don't know why.

white granite: from the ruins on a mountain near santo tirso, portugal. i wish i had pictures of the view, but alas, i have a rock and no view.

brown rock (which sparkles when put to the light): from ecuador! it is my favourite because it's from south america.

grey pebble: from venezia, italy.

bluish pebble: from barcelona, spain. i am surprised it's not strawberry shaped and coloured like a rainbow considering everything else is like that there.

the last one is from loch ormond, scotland. my friend drew it for me because she felt sorry for my rock collection. ...or maybe she felt sorry for me.

– most collections start from receiving a useless gift, i.e 'what should i do with this hand crafted jewellery box that can't even fit a pair of earrings? oh i'll start a hand crafted jewellery box that can't even fit a pair of earrings collection!'

i started collecting rocks after i realised i had too many sea shells bracelets from various holiday makers. when someone asked 'what do you want from *insert name of their holiday destination*?' i started answering 'a rock'. most people forget anyway, but this is what happens when they remember. they help me build an empire! (of granite roughly the size of a few corn flakes so no need to worry your world is safe).

have you any unintentionally started collections?

two way street

2011-11-02T00:05:00.003+11:00

kimbra, february, lt collins st.

can you bring me my chapstick

2011-10-30T08:36:00.007+11:00

this year i finish my last day of school ever on ultimate wish day 11/11/11, there could be no better wish – and by ever i really mean never because i will always been attending the school of life. no that is not a cult, unless you mean the cult of life. i am hysterical but you can't tell okay. here is an interview of emma and i talking about the genesis of pocketto to spook if you're keen. if not, happy halloween/let's-accept-candy-from-strangers! xx

another runaway

2011-10-25T23:08:00.004+11:00

model tess @ maverick

stylist emma

star

2011-10-21T22:32:00.005+11:00

it's my last month at university and everything has been pretty busy, i am definitely not ready to face the world after i graduate... but as they say, you must throw yourself into the deep end if you want to learn to swim! in my case if this was literal i would probably die as i can't swim, (and i have been to the deep end plenty of times).

these photos were taken on a friend's film set, where i was helping out with some stills. paolo is the protagonist in the film, titled 'star'. he is from sicily! the first day i didn't know and was thinking, 'wow he is really holding on to that italian accent,' (the character he plays is a 'petite italian visiting from rome'), and i comment 'your accent is so good!' and he just stares at me and replies with a 'what?...what accent?' face and i suddenly realise oh... he is italian. quick, say something to make yourself sound relatable and not so stoopid, 'i like... maccheroni calabresi'.

i know places

2011-10-17T21:58:00.004+11:00

model anna

make up phoebe

stylist emma

here comes the sun

2011-10-09T22:36:00.007+11:00

model arielle @ giant

stylist emma

occlumency

2011-10-08T20:08:00.003+11:00

mind bank, memory blank.

no stranger than fiction

2011-10-07T23:59:00.008+11:00

when you were younger, did you ever think you were the only person who had a brain, who could think, who lived, and everyone else was just put there to be in your life? (okay maybe it was just me... *tugs collar*) but that was how i felt till i was 9 and wondered what a friend was doing, and went, 'holy mother of moses other people continue living their life when i am not around'. it was a relief the fate of the world no longer depended on me.

hellooooo it's frank walker from national tiles

2011-10-05T19:22:00.008+11:00

might start to wear this crochet skirt a bit more. (i found it in the garage several years ago, i think it's time now.)

emma

2011-10-03T22:10:00.003+11:00

emma

stockholm home

2011-09-30T23:22:00.002+10:00

'everyone in stockholm has a framed picture of new york city in their apartment.' – sofia.

this is sofia's apartment in stockholm.

she had lots of beautiful pictures in frames that were all printed from her 'work computer or cut out from magazines', what a difference a frame makes! she also joked 'don't look at some of the frames up close because their pictures are pixelated'. either way, it made me realise i was dying to have a place to call mine so i could build my own cocoon of reminders and dreams and comfort. i will probably have a picture of new york city too.

launch off

2011-09-25T21:42:00.006+10:00

why do i always look pregnant in dresses! i could probably answer that, genetics have it that all the fat in my body centres around my stomach grrr. this is what i wore to our baby shower/pocketto launch some weeks ago, i bought this dress at a H&M in hong kong after trying it on at least four different times haha.

snacks on a plane

2011-09-22T00:23:00.004+10:00

it is hard to eat properly when you're travelling.

by properly i mean 1. healthy, and 2. within reasonable intervals called 'meal times' – that's hard because a. you're travelling, and b. you are on a student i-saved-this-money-from-my-horrible-part-time-job-and-now-i-am-rewarding-my-self-by-spending-it-travelling-then-going-back-to-an-equally-horrible-part-time-job-to-save-for-my-next-trip budget.

the most meal routine i have is found on 10 to 20-hour-long flights. where you are systematically fed every four hours with snacks in between... which is great because, i really like plane food. something about the microwaved tin foil amongst thousands of others that really just delight my taste buds. i have fond memories of plane food served by singapore airlines, mainly because it was the first few meals cooked by someone (or thing) else after 3 years of my mum's cooking.

two years ago i flew korean air, and realised their plane food had the closest resemblance to their national cuisine! my eyes actually widened from the sight of being served bibimbap on a flight. who needs plastic surgery to have bigger eyes when the surprise of excellent plane food can do the same trick. you'd probably just need to be surprised by excellent plane food on a constant basis...

flying back from europe i found myself on an emirates flight, my life was changed again and i do not think flying any other airline will ever make me feel as satisfied. though the staff seemed a little all over the place, and i was asked to change seats twice so i didn't divide families (we all know families can't sit behind each other, they have to be next to each other!) the plane food was hands down the best ever.

eva air deserve a special mention for having fruit meals. i had the funnest ride from the natural sugar high to and from taiwan because of that.

this is useless information (like everything else) but i really like being 'vegetarian' when i fly. the food look and taste better. there is no risk of getting pork, (or beef or lamb). plus it comes before everyone else so you don't have to keep an eye out for the trolley and pretend you just saw it as they get to your row. when really you have been eyeing them the whole time muttering under your breath to roll faster! roll faster! get to me and ask whether i want the chicken or the fish before the fish runs out!

which airline do you think serves the best plane food? (if you say air china i will throw a cold dumpling from their menu at you. just kidding!) i think most people dislike plane food, i guess i haven't lived to taste enough good food to push plane food out of my idea of 'good (plane) food'.

but do share with me your favourite, and/or least!

kimbra

2011-09-11T20:57:00.007+10:00

stylist emma

sometimes the air in my lungs swell then all disappear at once

2011-09-06T17:15:00.012+10:00

i am back in familiarity, see pic. 1, and i need to go and breathe again. i get melodramatic otherwise, see pic. 2.

once on a family outing when my brother and i were both very young, we drove past this stretch of silver sand and turquoise ocean called 'fairhaven beach', i said to my parents, we have to come back here! we all agreed at the time but never did. the very beginning of last year, or even the end of the year before, i was driving to lorne and drove past the beach again, i saw the same coloured sand and sea, it hadn't changed from my memory, and as much as i wanted to stop there at the time, i didn't, thinking, i will come back and be by your side another day. i never did.

for this summer, i hope the sea will be welcoming once more, because i would like to promise to all the mermaids in the ocean, that i will finally make this overdue visit. much love, aimée.

asiago

2011-09-05T22:30:00.005+10:00

very small town at the foothills of the alps, asiago. vincenza, italy. completely ethereal.

chai time

2011-09-04T21:53:00.002+10:00

how much do you love chai?

edison was a jerk

2011-09-02T23:59:00.025+10:00

starring peregrine and alien.

new haircut

2011-09-01T10:15:00.006+10:00

mathilda: léon, i think i’m kinda falling in love with you. it’s the first time for me, you know?

léon: how do you know it’s love if you’ve never been in love before?

mathilda: because I feel it.

léon: where?

mathilda: in my stomach. it’s all warm. i always had a knot there and now… it’s gone.

léon: mathilda, i’m glad you don’t have a stomach ache any more. i don’t think it means anything.

view from above

2011-08-31T11:40:00.009+10:00

my heart feels bigger. i finally get it. love isn't a certain amount that you divide between people you care about, but this never ending light that expands for as long as the universe allows. traveling makes you realise weird things.

maroc

2011-08-29T09:14:00.007+10:00

when i put my hand on the back of my neck i can still feel the moroccan sun. it's red, dry, and feverishly hot. maybe i was sunburnt and that is my souvenir.

i took my camera out for only one day in morocco, to ourika valley. we climbed mountains to reach the waterfall, where locals and tourists cooled down and danced around. there was an incredibly adorable boy (in the purple t-shirt and smile) who completely stole my heart, we talked in minimal english and french, which was token to the point where i still don't know whether he is from france or the netherlands. i think he said he was seven. on the bus ride back to the city he moved his baba's bag so he could sit next to me across the aisle, my heart pretty much melted.

marrakech is full of people and travellers, the food is delicious and cheap. i really liked bread rolls with fillings of egg, rice, and olives and onions, they are so good to eat for supper. breakfast was amazing and i really can't begin to describe what i ate every morning because i might break down and cry at its awesomeness. there was also a stand by a busy street that sold the thickest smoothies, blended from lots of fruit and little milk, it would come in a huge dirty jug, but no one minded, because it would be the yummiest thing you have ever tasted, and only 50 cents.

i guess that's it, you can tell these people live on very little, but their hearts are far from small. that's what i loved most about this place. other's happiness became my own, and the place calmed me.

on my last morning, i climbed the stairs to the roof of the riad and nestled myself on a sofa under the open air, it was dark but stars decorated the sky, in the distance the koutoubia mosque shone and blanketed the medina in a thin layer of golden light. i wanted to freeze time in this ancient red city. i was so far away from all i knew, i began forgetting things.

when i was a child i moved around a lot, at least once a year, to a new city always, and before going i would cry to the people i am leaving, why are you sending me away. but when you are young, you grow and flourish where ever you are planted. when i would arrive at my next destination, i would talk the way these new strangers did, forgetting the old dialect i spoke in, play the same games these new friends did, and forget the names of those i spent months with.

you create a new future because it is the innate way for you to survive, and you begin to forget life before hand, as if life had only begun in this new place. that was how morocco was starting to make me feel, it captivated me, and i had spent so much time being immersed in another world that priorities began unconsciously shuffling.

but i couldn't freeze time. the moon was soon pushed away by the rising sun, and i headed downstairs to leave.

now it is all just a warm memory in my mind, and i hope dearly it stays.

brittany

2011-08-27T07:17:00.002+10:00

the morning i left bourbriac i walked to the square in the center of town. it is only a few houses down. business had not yet started and light mist surrounded the landscapes behind the stoney-laid town. it must have rained the night before, for the air was very cold. leaves in the distance waved slowly at me.

days in brittany were wonderful, i fell in love with liberté, her mum, her baby daughter, their two cats and new litter of kittens. there was one kitten, he was the cutest, whom by the last night would cuddle up next to me to sleep. heavy eyed it would lick my fingers with its brush like tongue, then curl by me and rest.

together (the cats and kittens stayed at home though) we ventured to the forests and seas, islands and storms. all around brittany we went. the landscapes were like those from folklores, surreal and mysterious. there were never too many people, as if no one knew about such gems lying sleepless next to them. liberté was so kind to me, and i think brittany will remain for a long time one of my favourite places.

île de bréhat

2011-08-25T23:25:00.004+10:00

sunny day on the island of bréhat.

bassano del grappa

2011-08-24T11:48:00.018+10:00

in bassano the mountains hug its valley, and the people all reside close by their families - sometimes next door but often in the same house. the gardens are always filled with green and colored by flowers of all sorts. simoné's parents are the loveliest of people, the kind that leave you feeling blessed and fortunate to have met. and the wonderful thing about being with people who have grown up amongst the land you temporarily sleep on is their knowledge about the place. and the food! the food! all from the garden delicious to eat.

we went on many day trips for simoné's work. one afternoon we crossed over the mountains to fiera di primiero and san martino di castrozza, more or less looking like two beautiful retirement villages with old retirees sitting outside circling the pavement, both places had postcard views in every direction. i walked and wandered (not too far though) with my camera stuck to my eye. i kept on feeling i had walked into a painting:

venice

2011-08-17T22:00:00.004+10:00

if venice were a poem. venice is a jungle, venice is a maze. all through my day, i was in such a haze. thank you, x.

vatican city

2011-08-15T18:45:00.005+10:00

the first photograph was taken around 9am on a bright morning after days of thunderstorms, i don't know how but maybe it explains the light – orange you glad to see me? haha, unplanned joke of the day. tick.

st. peter's basilica is impressive, and inside the church it becomes quite overwhelming: the details in the late renaissance artwork, the magnificence of the interior, the amount of asian tourists (at one point i realised the only non asians were the statues, but no i think it's because we all like to get up early and beat the rush, early bird catches the worm! but oh i was also thinking about this the other day, what if you were the early worm? that's just awkward, well it wouldn't be because you'd be dead but... think about it). crepuscular rays also make regular appearances which is... fitting. it's majestic, i can't do justice describing the place!

lisboa

2011-08-14T22:48:00.013+10:00

walking through the streets of lisboa.

lost in the post

2011-08-10T23:06:00.002+10:00

i have always liked traveling by myself, you arrive as you can, go as you please, yet the places you feel most alone, are always the cities with many others. i liked my time in berlin and barcelona, because i could feel the culture and sense of community on my skin even as an outsider. but in london, the only thing i felt connected to was the tate modern, and in madrid it was the reina sofia. the cities were a giant silhouette to me otherwise. oh bagels from a bakery called beigel in london, i went there twice a day every day it became a little creepy.

the places i fell in love with, would have to be italy, portugal, brittany in france, and morocco. more photographs to come i promise. here are the very few photos i took of passing cities.

berlin

beautiful berlin is your name from now on, because in the words of sinéad o'connor, nothing compares 2u... uuuuuuuuu. it feels though all the congenial forces in the world gather and bake cakes from rainbows in berlin. i would return here in a heartbeat and plane ticket.

copenhagen

copenhagen is like an elegant, perfect, rich cousin that everyone wish they could visit so they can play with all her dolls and stroll in her gardens, and maybe speak to her. but the price they need to pay to reach her glorious castle is too much... for a travelling student, anyway. and even when you do finally make it, you realise you never liked dolls in the first place.

prague

i almost cried at my incompetence of not being able to buy a bus ticket from a machine for half an hour. i had to take a long walk, clear my head, eat a bounty bar before the epitomist steps of how to buy a ticket in the czech language came to me. the city is breath taking nonetheless.

vienna

sugar and spice and all things nice.

paris

apologies for the obligational eiffel tower photo, this place kind of broke my heart. i will come back and see you again, properly perhaps.

barcelona

i turned 21 in barcelona. i kept forgetting my birthday, and even now i still don't know my age. below is fruit from la boqueria market, the place is wonderful, fresh juice, candy, happiness... and with it you travel to sit on the longest park bench in the world designed by the craziest architect ever, looking over barcelona in its entirety, and the feeling becomes pretty euphoric.

nederland

2011-08-03T03:27:00.013+10:00

it is always nice to be greeted at an airport, (unless it's by interpol). often i try and hold back my smile when i walk through the final door to the arrival hall. i want to smile because the feeling of adventure makes happiness run wild all around me, but i don't want to make a fool out of myself before i even get a chance to leave the airport, so i stay composed as much as i can in front of the people looking for their someone.

this time was different because a friend was going to pick me up from amsterdam airport, and i smiled from take off in london till i arrived at schiphol.

roj and i became friends in high school due to our similar assignment starting hours, almost always the day before, and we would stay up through the night giving each other encouragements, and thinking of ideas to buy more time. she was a part of my photographs when i first became interested in photography, and is still one of my favourite people to take portraits of.

she gave me a space to sleep on her floor in leiden, her room was beautiful, the ceiling seemed to reach the sky and the window was the wall itself. we wandered around leiden one of the mornings, eating raw herring, kibbeling, bitterballen and stroopwafels, not all at once but i am pretty sure within 2 hours.

leiden is charming but not very bold, so we ventured out. these are some photographs from ambling through the streets of amsterdam. it was an heavily overcast day, but the flowers in holland make every turn look blissful.

in sanity

2011-06-18T00:30:00.007+10:00

the gust of wind really emphasises my craziness doesn't it. as does the horrible belt i bought when i was 13.

flip through pocketto magazine

2011-06-15T06:00:00.012+10:00

flip through the advanced copy of pocketto magazine, our first print issue has been a year in the making! there have been quite a few glitches in the matrix during all this, but better days from here! love, x.

p.s the music ends quite abruptly, i have no idea how to edit without final cut pro. *shakes fist at premier pro*.

kissed in sunlight

2011-06-08T23:11:00.007+10:00

test with isa @ london

we the morning

2011-06-07T00:18:00.009+10:00

model isa @ london

honeysuckles

2011-06-02T22:00:00.019+10:00

here is to finishing another semester at uni, now only one more looms before the four-year-degree chapter closes and i enter the real real world. the one where i will live in a square room with no windows and eat ramyun cooked from the stove that will become the centre of my existence. i kid! i know what i want to do, but how do i get there, how do i become a true pokémon master? wow... my 20 year old mind is never quite lucid near bedtime. nice dreams, x.

afternoon teal

2011-05-26T00:00:00.006+10:00

i got this mint coloured leather skirt from a trip to a store that sells old people smelling clothes. i loved it so much i brought it home. but it hasn't stopped smelling like an old lady after a few washes and that's taking a toll now.

smoking, in seoul

2011-05-23T20:40:00.013+10:00

two images from yesteryear.

i'll be shooting a 16mm short film later this year. we did camera tests last week, look how beautiful film is! there is no sound as it's just a transfer. if you have some music on for the 44 seconds, time seems kinder. much love, x

my room has eight corners

2011-05-14T20:30:00.012+10:00

my hair eats my face in the first photo but that's okay. just don't let it eat yours. have a lovely weekend, tea and all.

four for fall

2011-05-12T22:45:00.003+10:00

mint condition

2011-05-03T22:22:00.012+10:00

saw the fog, scrammed out of bed, threw on some clothes, ran out, took photos. 'oh forgot film'. rinse. wash. repeat.

always a good day

2011-05-02T20:00:00.016+10:00

when a butterfly greets you with its wings, and you are now the owner of a lensbaby thanks to a lovely kind friend.

from dusk till dawn

2011-04-29T09:28:00.015+10:00

tianjin

2011-04-29T02:59:00.012+10:00

I went to tianjin on my way to harbin, but before making it to harbin the trip was called off due to snow storms and minus fifty degrees weather. now I am in tianjin for a lot longer than the two-day stop over originally planned. I had been here before but only as a child. (it wasn't fun as a child).

this time I stayed with the daughter of my mum's college friend. she had a pretty bad addiction to world of warcraft so I spent majority of my time looking out the window and seeing the same things over and over. frozen lakes, constructions, endless smog that would cloud every inch of the city in the mornings.

I wanted to go out, and wander, and get away from being in the same apartment building, but it was always 1. "too cold", 2. "too dangerous", 3. I forgot wikitravel existed, and 4. asking the wow addicted daughter did not help because she said everything was too far away and the weather isn't good to go outside. true, the weather was minus twenty degrees every day, but the lack of freedom from a stranger's family was suddenly all too weird and I helplessly lost it by the last day.

my mum hadn't called me in weeks now, neither had I called her... but when she asked me how was tianjin I just bawled my eyes and told her I never want to be here again. she found it very funny and tried holding in her laughter (presumably at my silly first-world problem) while comforting me.

we did leave the house on two occasions though. once was to eat lunch at kfc, and the other to "see the city". we went to something similar to nanking road; a shopping district, I do not remember the name but it was built in british and french architecture. it took us 1 hour to walk there, in the cold, my legs felt like they were just stilts connected to my body. on our way back we took a taxi (yay) and stopped at walmart.

my sugar levels require chocolate every day, a medical condition I diagnosed myself with. while purchasing 1 x 65g dove fruit and nut costing ¥7.50, the check out lady over charged me by ¥10. I let it be known to her that I am short in ¥10, she tells me annoyingly I did not give her such money. I get a little irksome because of her attitude, after a long discussion and a letter to the president of walmart, which I'm sure is recycled and used as shredded paper for cat litter, I get my money back.

not really my thing to do what did, I am left feeling slightly shaken from this walmart ordeal, but nonetheless very accomplished for a winter day in a strange city. we go home, me to staring out the window with my chocolate, her to the computer because "there is a raid tonight," and she must get ready.

lakewood girl

2011-04-27T20:57:00.008+10:00

model maddie @ maverick

stylist emma

weekend somewhere

2011-04-21T00:00:00.012+10:00

model jess gold @ IMG

stylist emma

mandarin peels

2011-04-20T23:00:00.001+10:00

SHOP CAVAAN

sleeping under different stars

2011-04-17T10:37:00.009+10:00

I am going to europe in june-july, will you recommend me some places to visit, please? if you have a couch I'd love to hear about it too, haha... seriously! much love, aimée.

frankie says relax

2011-04-15T21:58:00.019+10:00

please ignore my (attempt at a non-way-too-over-excited) face and just look at the cover of frankie. it is chervil!

phillip island

2011-04-13T00:00:00.006+10:00

on saturday i didn't feel so good and spent much of my time lying on the grass next to a giant rock at phillip island. (I was being the 'ninth wheel' to a family outing of charlie's). the sun was beautiful, wonderfully warm and made me feel all better and cocooned by the light. but as I drifted below the sky, swaying my feet to songs by édith pilaff in my head, I hear abruptly 'aimee! aimee!'. I slowly looked over to charlie some meters away behind the fence, thinking he was going to say I love you or something normal, I smile all nicely, but instead he points to his left and shout 'there is a lawn mower coming at you'. I look to my right, indeed there was. I quickly stand up, so fast the sways from my feet rush straight to my head, and I need to remain still for a few more moments before running away.

x marks the spot

2011-04-12T19:42:00.015+10:00

heaviest glasses in the history of eyewear. people who wear them out must actually have a metal nose.

back to black

2011-03-31T14:44:00.021+11:00

model perrie @ viviens

fashion elinor mcmahon

my sister - the mean one - pulling my hair

2011-03-24T22:59:00.013+11:00

wearing things that mostly don't belong nor fit me. the tights are shoes are mine though haha.

boom boom boom ba

2011-03-12T15:46:00.014+11:00

stylist emma

24 - 70mm f/2.8 L

2011-03-02T20:49:00.019+11:00

anyone wanted to buy this beautiful lens? (see picture above), it is a canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, and it is pretty damn amazing. shot a number of photoshoots with it, great for fashion, portrait, landscape, anything! I've had it for about a year or less. it is in great condition albeit some super small natural scratches on the exterior if you look real close... it was purchased for AU$1800 and I would like to sell it for AU$1200 (including postage and handling). email me if you are interested or looking to haggle. I have the box it came in, lens case, and that lens hood thing that makes you look real professional when you attach it to the camera. x.

the trees, like lungs, filling with air

2011-02-23T21:58:00.021+11:00

the teal blazer from H&M is like... favourite clothing colour and beautiful cut all in one cash transaction of HK$199.

bored blue

2011-02-21T20:01:00.023+11:00

layering everything you can find in the morning is the best way to dress for those not so warm days. i recommend.

thirteen

2011-02-20T22:05:00.013+11:00

hello clementine.

singapore

2011-02-19T00:05:00.004+11:00

it rained everyday and i didn't take my camera out much. the best thing about singapore (other than spending time with charlie and the food), was the food! (on the first afternoon there charlie's auntie made instant noodles and i'm going "this should be a dish at four seasons", well i didn't say it out loud, but i was thinking it... everything was so yummy, and so many options! from nasi lemak to lime juice to kaya toast, i was just, mind. blown. (well more like stomach blown). other than that singapore is just a whole lot of illuminati symbols and shopping centres.

here are a few things i remember, no images attached so use your imagination:

island ice creamery

count on me to mention food followed by ice cream. well i can't believe the ice cream here is so creamy it almost has a chewy texture.

sentosa

unless you survived your own fork stabbing, there isn't really much going for this place. either that or the singapore tourism board has a godly sense of humour. i'm sort of kidding, it's pretty cool if you want to swim in e. coli with cargo ships resting within pool distance.

night safari

seriously one of the coolest places i have ever been in my life. i saw a million bambis and actual zebra crossings.

haji lane

you can find top shop blouses, H&M shoes, and independent designer clothes in the same boutique, sounds weird but i have to applaud them for the convenience they try to bring. on the street exterior it looks very portuguese and there are many girls with expensive dslrs snapping away, at possibly windows.

editor's market

this place rests on the top floor of forgotten shopping centre name (there are too many), and it is ever lovely and wonderful and i want to buy 12 of everything. they have every basic in the history of clothing items, by basic i mean classy and wonderfully cut and... the materials aren't amazing or anything, but it's just super student friendly.

sushi kikuzawa

charlie's friends jase and dimitra suggested this place for sushi buffet. charlie was the first to bail, followed by me and said friends. it was pure joy when i said, "chef, that's enough *stomach swimming with fish*" sushi kikuzawa for the win.

blujaz

typical hipster joint that attracts mostly caucasians and musos, the decor is quirky and the staff are super friendly. i don't care if it's hipster if the staff are friendly.

esplanade

oh look two giant durians. cool story.

east coast

i didn't know things outside of china could smell this bad. though we did go at night, it was mainly of forbidden lovers rendezvousing on park benches and strong fishy odours hitting your face as each wave splashed onto the imported sand and manmade shore.

MRT

slightly less frequent than its asian counterparts (hong kong, seoul, taiwan, shanghai), it was super clean and no surprise assaults by strangers (something i frequently face on the metro). they also announce announcements in four different languages, which i have only seen in taipei. i wonder if any other cities have more... you'd need to start announcing as soon as you leave the previous stop!

but nonetheless i enjoyed the days, thank you charlie for making my stay super fun, even if this post doesn't sound close. much love, x.

smokeless coal

2011-02-18T00:01:00.007+11:00

home warm home even when it's freezing outside

2011-02-17T01:00:00.005+11:00

model lucia

pictionary

2011-02-16T08:46:00.008+11:00

model lucia

lucy with diamonds in her eyes

2011-02-15T22:00:00.011+11:00

this was lucia when she was ten, taken exactly three years ago today in summer australia. the previous post of her was taken a few days ago. my has she teenaged up, braces and all!

yesterday i saw my brother for the first time in six months, his voice... i use to always think "when did i get a sister?" every time he picked up the home phone, but now i'm almost like, "dad shouldn't you be at work?". the wonders of puberty. lucky i was born a ninja and the only thing i went through was intensive ninja training.

now i work on a cherry farm and pretty much get employee of the month every time*.

* = may or may not be factual.

sky snowed and lake froze

2011-02-14T22:23:00.009+11:00

model lucia

being bored and waiting to board

2011-02-13T21:13:00.018+11:00

monki headband.

going to catch up on some google reader before i take my flight back home. not sure if 6 months of efficient asian transport will send me to crazy land as soon as i see the metro. positive energy. positive energy. x

we're no big fish, but this is just a small pond

2011-01-11T04:38:00.022+11:00

thank you everyone, xx.

words for the new year

2011-01-04T17:24:00.010+11:00

"nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. but there is this gap. for the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. it’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. but your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. and your taste is why your work disappoints you. a lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. we know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. we all go through this. and if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. it is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. and I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. it’s gonna take awhile. it’s normal to take awhile. you’ve just gotta fight your way through."

-ira glass.

last week of last year

2010-12-31T17:09:00.019+11:00

happy new year everyone, hope your 2010 was adventurous but your 2011 has more adventures to come! these are some photographs from wanchai in the last few days. mainly sitting indoors sick and taking photographs through the windows. i'm leaving hong kong in a few days. i should write a reflection or make an interpretive dance seeing as i've been here for the past five months... *puts on to do list* but next stop is singapore with my beloved! x.

tai o

2010-12-30T16:48:00.014+11:00

tai o is a sleepy fishing village on lantau island, i think they are running out of fishes though. people say it's the venice of hong kong but really it's just glued aluminium pieces on stilts. beautiful nonetheless, x.

merry christmas!

2010-12-25T18:18:00.017+11:00

this is a better photo for christmas (I am in red and pointing to green). christmas was spent with charlie attempting to make food and failing. this is us at lamma island, we went there with fei and her camera when she visited hong kong last week.

so what I really wanted to say for christmas, was that you are all amazing and I hope you all had the most wonderful day. I never grew up believing in santa claus or getting presents or singing about Jesus, (when I was seven though I saw a shooting star and then gave a speech about the beginning of genesis when God created light) but when I did have my first christmas, I must have been ten already, my brother and I both received bmx bikes and I was like, "WOAH... scott calvin came and gave us presents!" the night before we had watched the santa clause and it totally fuelled my belief in this mythical white bearded dude.

few days later I found the box the bikes came in and the tools my dad had used to assemble them both. my dad was nice and always liked us to believe in a higher power at christmas. my mum just told us to thank them for the presents.

but either way, I grew older and realised the true meaning of christmas. the meaning of christmas is the idea that christmas has meaning. and it can be whatever we want. no not really, more like watching christmas specials from shows like arthur and madeline and fairly odd parents. the best!

where all the oceans meet

2010-12-17T00:44:00.020+11:00

for those yet to uncover, my lover makes the most beautiful music. the first time i heard him sing i thought my heart was going explode into a million pieces of never ending fragments to form a new star east of the sun.

nasa has since confirmed the location.

but nothing i could say would mean any world until you hear his music, well… *cheesy grin on my behalf* you now can! though he is yet to release his much anticipated EP, which i have seen him pour every detail, love, super long days and late nights into for the past year, he has made the songs available free to download before its official release early next year.

so tie your socks with a ribbon to your ankles for they may be blown away, and let your heart be content.

taiwan

2010-12-16T00:19:00.020+11:00

taipei, taiwan.

taiwan was amazing, it made me realise how rude people in customer service are here in hong kong. (except for today at marks and spencer. they said merry christmas and smiled and i thought i had just mistakenly paid them 1000 instead of 100). unfortunately, i didn't take my camera on my trip (oh speaking of trips i slipped and fell down a flight of stairs in central today, it was pretty embarrassing so after i was helped up i went and stood facing a wall for about ten minutes till my body stopped aching), but taiwan! the fun times shall burn in my occipital lobe forever! everyone was so kind, strangers were lovely, it made me want to be a better person haha. i could feel my cheeks swell up wanting to smile at everyone i saw and everywhere i passed.

but a trip in asia isn't a trip in asia without some tiny scam! we call him "squid guy". he sells grill'd squids and told me it was 120 each after he had made them. i laughed and asked, "uncle, are you scamming us? everyone else sells for 50!"

squid guy: no! my squids are better than everyone else's, they are not frozen.

me: but behind you is a huge cube of squids defrosting in that face washing pan!

squid guy: that's um... for something else. my squids are fresh.

me: i can get three for that price though.

squid guy: i've already made them for you, be a samaritan, 220 for the two.

see what happens when you travel in asia with someone with blonde hair and green eyes? i kid. i kid. it is me. according to my friends i am bad luck, i attract the worst possible events, and get bothered by the craziest of people, in the most unlikely of times. this is one of the more minor things though haha. taiwan is on the to return list.

liger

2010-12-06T15:09:00.011+11:00

beautiful textures at liger store, causeway bay.

fell in love at the seaside

2010-11-30T20:15:00.007+11:00

had a shoot with a girl called perrie two weeks ago, the cove was filled with little dead fish of sorts that made us squeal at regular intervals. i can't believe december is almost here, another year like sand about to slip through my fingers. *cries self to sleep while eating ben and jerry's*

love like a sunset

2010-11-28T17:52:00.006+11:00

watching the sunset on a ferry back to hong kong.

gansu

2010-11-26T18:00:00.003+11:00

visiting my grandparents in gansu always seem to make me super emotional. i love seeing them, and being in the comfort of their presence and home, which i like to call mine. their land lies between mountains to all sides, the hills are dirt and the ground is dust, the air sometimes is just sand. the landscape would never make a good colour photograph, but i think there is beauty in all its bleakness. the supermarket still have dove chocolates, too.

looking for floor five and a half

2010-11-25T01:05:00.008+11:00

my hands look awkwardly gangly here, this is when grown up asians tell you they are hands for piano. insert uncomfortable laughter. change the subject quickly to avoid further musical endeavour discussions.

today i interviewed liger store owners for pocketto, both of them are through the glass ceiling stylish, and they were ever lovely and down to earth, now an hour's talk to transcribe! which i probably won't complete for another two weeks. things are getting busy! my lover will be here soon too, before christmas! yay! gute nacht for now x.

when she dreams she is sun

2010-11-24T03:25:00.006+11:00

model perrie

make up ophelia

feather in a baseball cap

2010-11-22T06:21:00.009+11:00

model marta

everyone is a winner at ocean park

2010-11-16T18:22:00.010+11:00

when tarquin and i went to ocean park. i was brave and went on the giant drop. something i have never done before due to my major fear of heights. but see the beautiful sunset in picture 4? well i would have never seen that if i didn't! i guess it's okay to - warning: cliché - take chances sometimes, whether that'll be leaving your home for narnia or going on the abyss...

by the way i have drawn the winners for the rings! see here if you haven't yet. thank you thank you. lots of love, x.

say hi to helene

2010-11-14T00:12:00.023+11:00

model helene

ring me up!

2010-11-12T02:23:00.010+11:00

so it turns out i'm not so good at jewellery making and the image looks way better than the real thing. haha but after giving majority of the rocks away i still have a rectangular purple amethyst and blue granite one to share with my readers! (i only made 7 all up). it is literally just a band with a ring attached. the first few i put too much effort with the bottom coatings and it just looked stoopid so the later ones are super simple. band + rock = ring. i did some of the rock shaping on the gravel road outside so excuse the roughness.

if you want one of the two just write your name and email in comments. i will draw 2 names out of a pensieve on the 16th, and whoever is whoever i will send you the rings! (you'll have to give me a week to send them out as i am going somewhere on the tuesday), but in short for those of you who hate reading:

comment

name

rock (amethyst or granite)

pretty much it, i also did a photoshoot yesterday so expect photographs in the next few days, yay/sorry! much love, aimee x.

update 16.11.10

names drawn are... miyu and gladys! yay happy days :) i will send it out by the end of the month, thank you everyone for commenting and being apart of it. i had way too much fun writing the names on little pieces of paper haha.

111010

2010-11-10T10:10:00.019+11:00

i have an outfit post, after a year and a half you'd think i don't even wear clothes anymore. okay theme park time!

epic rocks to knock your socks off

2010-11-06T02:30:00.028+11:00

i went searching for the forests and woods but all i found was motion sickness after taking four buses and ending up at some "family tree trail" with a baby cattle that wouldn't stop following. phun times. tonight i started on making some rings though!

four square

2010-11-05T11:57:00.006+11:00

model marta

new friend in hong kong

2010-11-03T22:44:00.018+11:00

model marta

go wherever you want to go

2010-10-31T13:29:00.010+11:00

canon ae-1 and film.

jay z is so good at rap he can rap while drinking soda

2010-10-30T14:54:00.013+11:00

halloween celebrations are supposedly tonight, (tarquin said he is going as the bunny boy from gummo, which i think is quite creative) but i think i'll just buy some candy and eat it alone under an oak tree while listening to the harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban audio book read by stephen fry. like a boss.

i've never celebrated halloween. the local supermarket is taking it pretty seriously though, i had to brush past cobwebs just to buy a bagel. i originally wanted to go as princess mononoke, but i needed a wolf! no not really i just couldn't be bothered with her clothes itself (and now with a few hours to go before dark, making a trip to mongkok would equate to going christmas shopping on christmas eve). last night i had the back up idea of going as gumby because my quilt cover is pastel green and i could just pretend i got bleached while walking through acid rain in russia hence the unoriginal green. but then i figured i could just go as a pastel green quilt. but then i realised i'd look stoopid and i should just eat candy alone under an oak tree while listening to the harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban audio book read by stephen fry. like a boss.

mandarin lake

2010-10-29T01:24:00.021+11:00

yesterday i saw an old lady with a back so terribly hunched her head was touching her knees. she could only follow the gravel as she walked. i wondered how long since she last gazed at the sky. maybe that would be the least of her worries, with aches like that. sadness lumped in my throat, i felt embarrassed to witness the scene without lending help. she was enfeebled yet still hauling cardboard, presumably to sell. i wanted to be of use, but old people with cardboard in hong kong are gravely protective of their belongings, i've come to experience. very different codes of conduct.

having spent childhood walking from home to anywhere seeing poverty. children begging, mothers with babies begging, old people with their heads kowtowed to the ground begging. i use to wonder what spot i'd pick in the city if i had to beg for survival suddenly. while normally seeing these incidents would throw me into heartache, yesterday it kind of left me with a bittersweet feel. she had been doing something i didn't expect anyone of her physic to do. which made me realise, maybe i judged too early, maybe what i saw wasn't tragic, but another paradigm for encouragement, grit, courage, life. what's that line again... because I am bigger than my body gives me credit for?

by and by she will light the lake on fire

2010-10-25T16:04:00.010+11:00

every morning i wake up to the sound of heat stinging the windows, (people always say they can't hear it but it sounds just like honey combs crackling in a distant fire), the annoying adherence of my skin to my bedsheets, and the air conditioner so quietly whispering "enough… seriously."

summer in hong hong feels so wonderful. everyday the warmth of this air would wake me up before the sun got too high. i'd eat an icy pole every morning, the sugar would trickle down my hands and i'd have to lick it before it got sticky. i don't like it when it runs down to my elbows.

i have this map i've been keeping with me, it doesn't have streets but it does show all the islands. i have folded it a few too many times so some of the names are lost in the creases, but nonetheless it is still very helpful for a traveller. i don't like the giant maps that block paths from other people. the ones you see the adults in the family hold. they always try to match the street names, but it is silly because they often miss what's just around them.

today though. i realised in reality, it wasn't summer anymore.

i have been calling my time summer for almost two months after the beginning of autumn. time is amazing don't you think? sometimes they become our enemies, like when you are young and think the rain will never pass. you listen to your teacher in class, only to wonder whether the whole world has stopped moving, or if she is just really, really boring. other times they help us grow, to become better people, bigger dreamers, accomplished believers.

maybe i have been lost in time, if not completely. my time is counted by days. i think people keep track by banding them into weeks or months, but days are the best of times - so much can happen if you let it. so little can amount if you leave it. i have been whole heartedly embracing each new sunrise. i envelop it no matter what light is being presented. i am not waking up to dreams coming true. in fact i feel like i am handed a blank canvas. every. single. day.

i don't want to receive a blank canvas everyday for the rest of my life, but i like the fact that right now, i can still take it hold it, and make what i will. maybe one day i will have enough colours to paint a van gogh. but right now i whole heartedly appreciate the few paint colours i do have, a new canvas each day - so if i can't fix something the day before the next day i am given a new chance, and being able to step back and realise this has been so good for me. time passes differently for everyone.

i hope to get more paints for november though. maybe i can save a few canvases and make something prettier in the days and sunrises coming.

october diary

2010-10-19T17:04:00.010+11:00

snapshots between cities and walks.

here is a little secret

2010-10-16T18:59:00.011+11:00

i can't swim, i've almost drowned twice. i was skinny as a waif when i was younger and had lessons for 4 years, but nothing came of those. so i almost drowned twice. once as a nine year old at a friend's birthday party when the pool turned into a wave pool and the tide rose. another time when i went to camp and everyone went on a raft in the pool and i fell off just as we got to the deep end.

the first time my best friend saw me struggling and came back to save me. she didn't think much of it but she did save my life. i don't remember which best friend it was though. i had two when i was nine. it's hard being best friends with two people because there are three of you and so many things come in pairs. it's hard to be a triangle, you know. sometimes they would gang up on me and other times one of them would make me gang up on the other. i loved them both so it was sad when one would be left out. now that we are older i have not seen them since i left new zealand and it has been 10 years. i hear one of them is already married. she never seemed like one to marry young, but she did and i was sad i didn't get invited to the wedding. i haven't been to many weddings but i think they are cool.

the other time i nearly drowned was at year seven camp, i was 10 and i didn't have any best friends no more. while playing in the pool with the others, i fell off the floating raft but no one noticed me. i struggled and struggled and thought it was the end of me. i remembered how my best friend rescued me before, and wished she was here as well. i tried grabbing onto anything i could and got a hold of some old lady's bathers. i knew she was old because she had massive boobs. i had none of those when i was ten. my hand managed to hold on to the bit of her bather between her two massive boobs and lift myself up for a giant breath of air. but it didn't last long and i was under the water again, but i refused to let go of her bathers because that was my only chance at survive, you know. by that time she must have realised and lifted me out of the water by my elbow. i felt like she was twisting my joints but death was on the line, i was sculling litres of water and couldn't care less. she then pushed me to the edge of the pull so i could hold onto something.

i gasped for air relentlessly as i heard the other students still laughing on the raft. they weren't laughing at me though. i don't think they noticed. i turned to thank the lady but my lungs were full and i couldn't even whimper. she was still fixing her one piece bather because i had dragged it too low and i think it made her massive boobs show. she swam away without looking at me. i stayed there for ten more minutes trying to gain back my breath.

i love the sea and water, but i guess from that i learnt 1. water just isn't my element, and 2. i couldn't swim even if my life depended on it.

cheung chau island

2010-10-15T05:26:00.008+11:00

nachos were invented circa nineteen fourty three

2010-10-13T22:07:00.018+11:00

I finally decided it was time to start cooking after two months of not even stepping into a kitchen. the first thing i end up making are nachos... which you can make without stepping into a kitchen anyway. charlie always said nachos are better when the cheese is melted in an oven, but i swear on jamie oliver's face that microwaved nachos are crunchier! no one else seems to agree though. i also made stir fry udon with snow peas and enokitake for dinner. YUMMY. oh and yes... i did sprinkle seaweed onto the nachos. i have no idea why, but i'm bringing hispanics and asians together that way. through food! have a good tomorrow, xx.