Sunday, May 30, 2010

Fez, Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco

Morocco exceed my expectations. A beautiful country, the kindest and happiest people I have
ever met. I am seriously in love with Fez and it's rich culture. The medina is the oldest
preserved city since the 800s. About 400 000 people live there. And it really is a maze, about
9000+ alley ways. No cars are allowed in the walled city, only donkey's and mules.

We also traveled out of the city and visited another 5 towns. Our driver/ tour guide, Samir,
showed us around, and mind you, he has the most brilliant blue eyes.

On our fourth day we ended up spending half the day with a local we met, at one of the market
stalls he was working in. Ahmed is his name. He gave us a tour of two of his businesses, a
mosaic factory and a carpet stall. One of the mosaic workers carved a love heart by hand from
one of the tiles and gave it to us as a gift. Ahmed showed us the various carpets he sold and we
bought one also. He spoke to us about life, Islam, family and Morocco. That was one of the
best experiences ever, he said that it was destiny that we met and I believe it too.

I'll never forget the sound of the call to prayer. There is about 300+ mosques in the medina,
and when you hear it over the loud speakers it has an eery, beautiful and meditating sound.
It starts off with a humming noise in the distance, just like the sound of a motorcycle scooting
past. The sound progressively gets louder. There was a mosque just near our hotel. And the
intensity of it is so amazing. It gives you goosebumps.
The sound of each prayer from 300+ mosques just bounce and echo off each other. It was
mesmerizing to hear and it's one thing I'll never forget.

I brought my Holga camera and took some shots. I need to develop the rolls and I will post
them up soon. So all the photo's that you see in this entry is shot by Tim and I fiddled with
them in photoshop.


Saturday, May 22, 2010

PORTO

Porto

Porto

Porto

Porto

Porto

Porto

Porto

Porto

This is where I have been the last 3 days. Porto in Portugal. We were blessed with 3 days of
beautiful sunshine, yet I was cursed with a manic case of hay fever.
It was such a lovely town. The food was great and cheap as was the beers. I had a Portuguese
tart everyday. drool. and the coffee down the road from the hostel we stayed in was the best.
Why can't London coffee be that great?

The port we drank was delectable. I've never really drank port in the past, but I can see why
people love and enjoy it. We went on a port tour with Vasconcellos, a family run business
that only sell in Portugal. I found it really interesting how it was brewed, I never knew how
important oak barrels were in the process of making port.

On the topic of hostels, if you're a hostel accommodation type of person stay with Oporto Sky
Hostel, you can find them on hostelbookers.com In all honesty, it was one of the cleanest
hostels I have stayed in. The kind folks in reception are all very helpful and are fluent in
English. All the facilities were pretty much new, it's a great place to meet new people if you're a
lone traveller. I would stay there again.

Travel stories 101.
* Don't hop on the tram with out a valid ticket. Because you don't want to be that 12 y.o girl,
that decided to jump off the moving tram when the ticket inspectors hopped on.
She consequently face planted on the bitumen. The sound of flesh thumbing on concrete
still haunts me.

*Don't be late for your visa stamp check. Because you will be one of those people running from
the train station to the check in counter to security gate to passport inspection to final
boarding gate.
AND the hot Jessica Alba look-a-like airline hostess wont be as kind next time and will refuse
you entry on the plane. Yes, that was us by the way. And yes they let us on the plane.


Image Source: Photo's taken by Tim and myself

Monday, May 03, 2010

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Rob Ryan:
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Print Club London's live studio
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

?
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Mr Bingo:
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Andrew Rae:
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

?
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Art Fair

Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair at the Somerset House in London.
I'm so very glad that I went with my sister and Tim, it was seriously brilliant.
I am always blown away at how talented young artists are. High fives all round.
I was in illustration/ graphic art orgasmic heaven. And I know that my friend V from
Manila would have been salivating with me.
Rob Ryan was there along with his studio, yes it was relocated to the Somerset
House for the duration of the exhibition. His mood wall was huge and full of inspiration.
I seriously want to live there.

I ended up buying a piece that I am totally in love with, which I will post very soon, artist
profile and all.

Image Source: photos taken by myself and Tim

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Berlin Birthday

Berlin Wall East Side Gallery

Berlin

Berlin

Reichstag

Holocaust Memorial

Berlin Wall East Side Gallery

Berlin Wall East Side Gallery

Berlin is a pretty amazing place, rich in history and blessed with beautiful
people.
We did all the touristy things; bike tours, walking tours, seeing all the landmarks.
I think that's what I enjoy most; learning about a particular city's history, where they
have came from and where they are now.
Berlin has a different feel to it, I struggle to explain it. All I know is that I love the place.