“What-If’s” and “Ah ha’s!”

It was smoggy today in Hong Kong.  The sun never really made it out from behind the curtain of moisture and smog and clouds and yet, today was the first day when I could see into the distance.  Well, not the literal distance but the theoretical distance, the possible future, the likely ‘whats-next.’  Each discussion I have illuminates new perspectives and challenges and opportunities and slowly but surely the scope of my work here is revealing itself.  It’s not going to be a small job and it’s not going to be dull.  I took a huge leap of faith when I abandoned my nice life in Tirol for this unknown but with each passing day I feel more confident that I knew what I was doing :)

I managed to shave my commute down to 35 minutes from over an hour because I stopped being a dumbass and because a nice colleague showed me the MTR station right next to the office.  Duh.  Part of the fun is the not knowing and then the next stage of that fun is the eventual knowing.  Its my pattern to wait until I’m all-about-the-knowing but by then I’m also usually going…the irony….In any case, my commute allows for fresh air (tram), book reading (MTR) and a (walk) past a (coffee joint).  It’s ideal.  When typhoon season hits I will only have a few spots where I’ll be exposed to the elements and I imagine that this will also come in handy when the summer comes and decides to steam this island up to unbearable degrees.

My brain is a little frazzled with all the “what-ifs,” “ah has!” and “dude….i totally need to do-thats.”  It’s a bit of a treat that I have a 3 day weekend to absorb all the info and ides swirling and try to relax a little.  Or at least try to.  The cats are finally settled but I feel like there are pieces of me that haven’t quite arrived yet.  Like I’m somehow still in transition, that static person shaped blob that isn’t quite beamed up or down yet.  I’m getting there but, often throughout my days, I am still surprised to see such a new landscape.  My hair and skin are going to need a new routine as well since sticky, humid, salty, smoggy air is a new environ.  Lots of adjusting going on here at 2bean…

In honor of the fact that I am just now beginning to see the light…

Shark Fin District

So it’s bedtime on my first ’school night’ since I moved to Asia.  Tomorrow morning I will wake up, get dressed and make my way to the other end of the island to meet my colleagues and get my feet wet.  I’m psyched and prepared for this job but I know that, as with any new gig, it takes time to feel smart and prepared.  That said, I’m going to absorb what I can and trust the process.  My cold is finally subsiding and it was good that I had some days to recoup before getting going.  My sleep is still off but I think I’m as ready as I can be.

In the last days I had a burning desire to see the skyline of my new city and a wish to get acquainted with my new neighborhood.  Of course, the satisfying of these two desires brought me to new places, eateries and vistas.   Below are some of my favorite images from the past couple days…

Central - Hong Kong

Insomnia Goes Great with Neon

Spicy Pork Noodles

I’ve learned that my ‘hood is only in the very, slight beginning stages of gentrification so it is more Chinese than anything else.  Shark fin, ginseng and edible bird nests are among the most popular specialties sold here and I am certain that one day I will bring my camera and focus only on those things that I wonder if you would put in your mouth…I even found a crocodile specialty store for all your edible, crocodile needs.  It’s amazing.  Those slight signs of gentrification on the eastern edge of Sheung Wan are also nice as, today, I found a delicious tuna sandwich and a savory muffin made with bacon, cheddar and apple.  I live between the best of both worlds…

Here’s one last photo to help put everything in perspective…

Hong Kong Sparkles

As a side note, I’ll tell you that I did a little research to see if there was hope of some music in my future.  What I found not only gave me great hope but booked me for this Friday night…assuming I’m back from my business trip to Guangzhou on time I’ll head to The Cavern to shoot something that I’ll tell you about later…

So far, so good.  Wish me luck for my first commute.

The Light Finds Its Way

Rainbows can be a sign of good things to come or a reminder of good things that have already been.  I would like to believe that the rainbow that hungover Cherry Valley on the snow-capped day that I left the Alps was a bit of both.  A sweet reminder and a charmed farewell…

Cherry Valley Rainbow - Last Hours in Innsbruck

There was no rainbow or snow-capped peaks when we landed in HK but instead a hot, humid wind and some sun sparkling on Victoria Harbor.  I took the fact that the cats came home with me rather than sitting in quarantine for 4 months as a less colorful version of a good luck charm.  I can already tell that it is going to take some time to capture this place in a way that does justice to its energy and atmosphere but I did fire off a few photos to give you a taste.  Whereas the image above was my neighborhood last week, the image below is my neighborhood this week…

West towards Sheung Wan

I wake up every morning to boats and cranes and construction and ferries on the harbor with the steep skyline of Kowloon in the hazy distance but I haven’t shot the shot that I want to share with you.  It’s nice to smell salt air again and to be able to see more than a handful of kilometers in any direction…So I’ve done some limited wandering around the main drags that connect the different neighborhoods here and I am thrilled with my locale.  I was concerned that living in the “dried seafood district” would leave me both isolated and smelling funny but dried shark fin and crocodile parts are benign enough and the location is perfect.

Street Cleaning - Sheung Wan

There is less neon in my neck of the woods than in other neighborhoods but the light finds plenty of ways to slither and shimmer here…in the reflections of the wet streets, the mirrored gates, the shop windows filled with live, female crabs or sim cards or the bajillion other things that can be bought or sold in Hong Kong.  It’s beautiful in so many ways…though a very different kind of beauty than the pristine majesty of the Alps.

How I Carry My Visions of China

If I’m honest, I can’t yet imagine what my ‘groove’ here is going to look or feel like but with my first business trip to Guangzhou on the books for next Friday I have a feeling it’s going to reveal itself rather quickly.  One very exciting aspect to my new routine is the time on the tram and subway to catch up on all those books I skipped while driving to Wattens.  Coffee to go and public transportation..two great tastes that taste great together.

My Hood

My Lunch Today

Apartment pix will follow soon though I’m certain they will not do justice to the sweetness of my nest.  More images of the metropolis, its surroundings, its people and street art are also forthcoming…

Blu Wave Kinda Like Neu Wave

If you’re curious about more city pix from today, click here.  If you want a first glimpse at Hong Kong Street Art, well, click right here.

Home to a Place I’ve Never Been

I keep telling myself that I am going to wait to process my move before I sit down to tell you about it.  Tonight is my third night in Hong Kong and it’s clear now that “processing this move” is going to take a while.

I know that most of you are eager to hear about my new reality and you can be sure that I am excited to tell you about it.  It doesn’t seem right, though, to jump into Victoria Harbour without sliding out of the Tyrolean Alps.  I could wax poetic with the same teary, heavy goodbyes I did for the last 2 weeks with friends and colleagues that I love and will miss or I can cut to the chase.  I’ll cut to the chase:  Tirol became a part of me in the last 2+ years and I am going to miss living there and I am going to miss the people that shared my days with me.  I still have my last few photos I shot there to share with you and some juicy details on the commissions I shot that will linger in Tirol long after I’ve left.  I’m sure that I’ll dip into that pool of gratitude and melancholy now and again when thinking of my time in the Alps but not tonight…

I don’t know who of you have arrived ‘home’ to a place you’ve never been before but I did it (again) a few days ago and the sensation of awe and wonder and uncertainty and hopefulness never gets any less powerful.  The planning and stress that spun my wheels for weeks prior to my departure was worth it when I got Doozer & Walter through export and import Customs with no quarantine and only some drama.  We’re all still shaking off the journey and getting use to the view of Kowloon and Victoria Harbour instead of the Nordkette and it wont be long before I have some pictures to share.

Dark Fog

Last Thursday I could feel a dark fog creeping into my lungs, throat and neck.  Like all good eternal optimists, I convinced myself that it was just a little stress and exhaustion from the rollercoaster that awaits.  Saturday morning it was clear that that dark fog meant business and today I can’t quite see through it….

The rough part about ending one job and beginning another is that the loose ends need tying.  The drawers need cleaning and the boxes need packing.  Being sick or foggy or off the radar isn’t really an option.  I am certain that this truth feeds the fog and invites it to stay a while.  My gray matter is headbanging and my muscles feel like the dance floor beneath a mosh pit…

Whatever the plan was for today, it just changed.  Bed.  Stat.

Secret Bavarian SUNday

This was one of those weekends where there was a plan.  Not just a plan, but even a plane.  I was supposed to head north to Düsseldorf for some way overdue QT with my dear Irene but a twist of fate had me grounded in Tirol.  Fortunately I will still get to see her sweet face before I depart Europa and head east and, though I was sad, I tried to make the best of the weekend.

I’m tired and though I could probably write a novella about the epic, secret Bavarian lake, the German flesh-eating ants, the mouth-watering delicious Schwarmlgulash, the hail storm, the new photo commission, the fishcicles (like a popcicle only not frozen and made of Mackrel), the lost whiskey bet,  the failed shoe shopping excursion, the unwashed laundry, the missed Buchsenhausen brunch and the new and improved Beana Bern  website, I have to choose my battles and tonight sleep wins.  Not included in the list above is the broken Skoda and, as that requires some early morning attention tomorrow, I need to let sleep win.

Of all the things in that list that might have caught your attention, I am going to guess that secret-epic Bavarian lake and the fishcicles top the list.  What I can tell you is that shortly after the Skoda sh*t the bed, we hopped in Michi’s toy car and drove to Germany.  The lake whose name I promised to not reveal was *amazing* and we paddled to a private island and splashed in the turquoise water in the shadow of some amazing mountains until the sun was setting and our stomachs were growling.  It was dreamy.  Some beers and freshly caught smoked fish set us up to make the trek home to Austria.  Like I said, I could write a lot about today but instead I will share some photos and let you imagine the rest…

freshly caught smoked mackrel...devoured

michi and beate on our private island

secret, perfect see - Bavaria, Germany

perfect Bavarian sunday

you can see more pix here

Sun Behind My Eyes

I was up with the sun this morning and, as my Facebook status mentioned, also “sunnyside up.”  I can feel the sun behind my eyes today and I am grateful for the positivity because I was afraid I was going to feel the gray clouds of stress and muddled confusion.  Nope.  Not the case.  I’m feeling up to whatever comes my way today and wanted to kick the morning off with some coffee and a song…

The Music of Movement: Part 1 – Beijing & Mutianyu

In bed, listening to tunes and curled around my laptop like its a lover, I couldn’t fall asleep.  I wore myself out yesterday and should have been swimming in stars and the mist that was my dreams of yesterday, today and tomorrow but I was awake.  Wide awake. I feel like if I were sitting upright that  I would be on the edge of my seat…perched as though something certain is about to happen.  I’m pretty certain that the only thing I should expect is uncertainty, though, so I’m curious about what gives.  The endorphins from China and Mongolia did not dissipate upon my arrival home but, instead, channeled themselves right into the next adventure and I think it is this excitement that I am anticipating.  That said, I think it’s time to reflect on my past trip before I depart on the next one…

The whole holiday was a movement of music.  The rhythm and cadence of my movements was well choreographed and the itinerary was well-designed to carry me through.  A brief stop in Cairo could be equivalent to that moment before the concert when the lights go out and the audience wonders whats about to happen.  It was a clear departure from my current reality and an indicator that, like in the theater, it was time to suspend my disbelief and just let go.  A comedy of errors, between 2 broken buses, a ridiculous pig flu quarantine and over-friendly Air Egypt flight attendants, I was just happy to find my gate and some tea.  Prayers and chanting from a mosque echoed out into the terminal where I was sitting and they must have been heard because Allah carried us safely to Peking.

im out

5 days and nights alone in Beijing to feel myself away, shake off work and have some real quality time with the city was a perfect beginning.  I slipped slowly and sublimely into a groove that felt oddly like Orchard Street.  Same smells as the funny markets near my house, I felt closer to ‘home’ than I have in a while.  The melody began to take shape as I wandered all of Beijing – baseline of foot steps, the creaky rattle of the rickshaw, the echos and bells of the subway, the deafening squeak of the buses breaks, the spinning prayer wheels at the Llama Temple and the bi-lingual and ineffective conversation with the taxi drivers.

Rickshaw Driver - Beijing, China

Around the time that I was in sync with myself it was time to meet my guide and travel companion and begin a more structured exploration of the city.  At this point we got more ’serious’ about making sure that the history – the vast and long history – of the city was explored.  Between my days alone and with Tom, I saw : Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Forbidden City,  Temple of Heaven, Drum & Bell Towers, Panjiayuan Market, Silk Street, Longtan Park, Beihai Lake, the 798 Art District, the Birds Nest & Watercube, Monument to the Peoples Heros, Llama Temple, Dongyue Temple, Qianhai Lake, Donganmen Dajie and the night market, Ritan Park, a Peking Opera, some Kung Fu and countles hutongs throughout the city. To go through all of this would be a comprehensive travel guide and that is not on the agenda but feel free to ask me if you have any particular questions about these places or Beijing in general.

Summer Palace - Beijing, China

Hutong - Beijing, China

Restoration - Llama Temple - Beijing, China

Zhaoheng Gate - Temple of Heaven Park - Beijing, China

What I can say is that I was both saddened and inspired by what I saw.  The city is in flux, recovering from the INSANE growth spurt that was the Olympic games.  Tearing  down and building up, the air is always thick with brick dust and something that feels like a cross between hope and capitalism.  The locals that I connected with offered great insight on how that growth has dramatically changed their lives for the better – mainly in the form of mass transit, renovated monuments and public service announcements about enjoying themselves – and it was a unique perspective.  I still can’t put words to it but I also sensed a profound contradiction there.  Walls protecting more walls protecting courtyards with nothing in them maintained a symmetrical sense of power and control and ‘beauty’ but in a totally superficial way.  Meditation and self control focus on inner strength and substance yet there appears to be some ‘muscle’ or layer missing that connects this ’supreme’ facade with this inner power.  I got the sense that things were either all or nothing and can’t really explain it better than that.  What I can say is that the Emperor was surely a very lonely guy and China is a country in the midst of a fast and all-consuming transition.

Duan Gate - Forbidden City - Beijing, China

Offerings - Dongyue Temple - Beijing, China

Majong

Private Home - Hutong

A day before departing we headed about 2 hours north of the city to Mutianyu to see the Great Wall.  A ride up in the cable car that carried Slick Willy some years ago was funny and, from what I was told, an honor.  The throngs of tourists make this a difficult experience to absorb but that was true with a lot of what I visited in China.  Regardless, its a sight to behold.

Mutianyu - Great Wall of China

Mutianyu - Great Wall of China

"Be Loyal to Chairman Mao"

This search for meaning and understanding stayed with me the entire time I traveled in China and I look forward to seeing more of the country and discovering more.  Some high points for me in the city were the 798 Art District, Tiananmen Square, Ritan Park at 8am, buying electronics, eating any variety of fascinating (and sometimes tongue curling) street food, watching karaoke in Longtan Park, $8 full body massages (i think i had 4), a glimpse inside a private courtyard and, naturally, some quality time with the Great Wall.

798 Art District - Beijing, China

Peking Opera

Watch out for the stinky tofu - street food - Beijing, China

Ritan Park - Early Morning

Rainy Day - Summer Palace

You can get a better sense of what I saw by taking a pass through the images from Cairo, Beijing and Mutianyu right here.  For those of you particularly interested in Beijing’s art scene, click here for a focused album on the 798 District.  By the end of 9 days I had a handle on the town and was ready to shift gears and depart, across the Gobi to Mongolia.  Stay tuned for a recap about how the music changed on the leg from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  Paul Simon was right, ‘everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance.  everybody thinks its cool.’

Special Plums - yum!!

A Sip from the Ocean

The ocean of energy that was sloshing around inside my skin seemed to get concentrated while in the East.  The re-entry into daily life had some kind of ‘focusing’ effect and the results of this are still revealing themselves.  There is A LOT of stuff happening right now. Even on fronts that I didn’t realize were fronts I am experiencing activity, decisions, opportunities and other kinds of choices too.

I am not overwhelmed (yet) by any of these prospects but it is thier convergence that has occupied me completely and kept me from doing a more ‘proper’ recap of the trip.  Most of the topics on the table are things that I’m not gonna talk about here but I can give you a sip…

An interesting publication here in Innsbruck has commissioned me to photograph thier 2010 calendar.  The theme is both interesting and relevant and the task is 12 black and white images.  The press conference that will launch this annual publication will also house an exhibit of the original photographs.  This will mark my second solo show in Austria.  It is beautiful that the theme is so interesting and thought-provoking and strangely connected to much of what I was thinking about while in Mongolia.   I am excited to see what I make.

As for the other biggies, we’re all just going to have to be patient and let the games continue before I can tell you who won and what they won.

What goes up...gets to sled down!

The Tip of My Iceberg

It is totally overwhelming to pass through these images with the aim of choosing my favorites as each of them made it through many rounds of editing and are among those images I deemed necessary to both remember and convey my experience.  The 800 photos that reside in the albums are, however, more than most people have the time to comb through so I wanted to elevate the tip of the iceberg and make the whole (almost the whole) journey accessible.

Below you can get a taste of where I was, what I saw and who shared these experiences with me.  It is, by no means, the whole picture – 21% of it to be exact – but it is a good place to jump off from.  If you find yourself curious or inspired to see more, click here for complete albums on each leg of the journey.  My hot minute in Moscow seemed like a footnote compared to the bigness of Asia so it will appear when I have time to add it.

Perhaps what may be more satisfying would be to view this slideshow full screen, I recommend that, and you can click this link to make it so.

Getting Closer to Getting There

I’m not so much a ‘horse person’ as much as a ‘remote nature person.’  More transportation and less childlike obsession, I thought just under 5 days on horseback in Central Mongolia would be a perfect way to get off the beaten track and I was accurate.  It was spectacular and I am going to show you what it looked like and where I went.  Eventually.  Probably this weekend.

In addition to the memories, images and callouses I brought home, I have also acquired some crazy back pain.  I keep saying that I’m going to give it ‘one more day’ to sort itself out but I’m thinking today is the day to see what’s shaking (or, more accurately, what was shook).  Galloping across the open plains on a horse that has an invisible rocket up its ass looks like freedom buut I can tell you it feels like something else…

While I nurse my spine and continue to try and get back on the proverbial horse that is work, I will leave you with a favorite image of Ulaanbaatar’s Black Market.

Back Room, Black Market

As far as the ‘getting closer to getting closer,’ I will reveal to you my plan.  I am going to finish editing and uploading the images from Mongolia’s epic ‘countryside’ this weekend.  Once everything I wish to share is up I am going to accumulate a ‘best of’ album of the whole trip, basically my favorites…This going through, and going through and going through is the process by which I will distill the recap that will give you some insight into where I went and what it meant.