Bagan, New York, San Fransisco, Guangzhou
Mid December to end of January, 2013
Not easy to avoid a child selling postcards or gum at any major World Wonder or Heritage Sight in Asia. Of course
you are told not to support this type of begging/bussiness, but sometimes you just can't help yourself purchasing a
post card which you will probably never drop into a mailbox. This young girl called Pho Pho & her friends bombarded
Tommy, Tobi and myself with curiosity and charm while climbing on one of the temples at sundown in Bagan.
The Asian Obelix.
One tasty hat you have there lady.
I was supposed to go to Myanmar on holiday with a lady friend, but ended up being with Tobi and Tommy. Couldn't
have been any better. Tommy was in charge of providing us where we shall eat each night while Tobi dealt with
Hostel & Guesthouse reservations and planning out the route to be taken the next day. Not sure what I did in the
equation besides complaining that I didn't want to take another sleeper bus or that my equipment was too heavy.
Probably the most enjoyable feedback on the short 'Myanmar' clip that I pieced together was the confused & furious
e-mails and comments on vimeo from random viewers being puzzled how I got those aerial shots of the temples of
Bagan. I thought I made it obvious when I gave away the key words 'hot air', but I guess to officially announce it, the
magical equipment used was nothing more than just pointing out a lens of an old fashioned floating wicker basket
which dates back to the late 1700s, when the hot air balloon was invented by Montgolfier brothers from France.
Standing on one of these baskets over Bagan should be standing on everyone's bucket list!
Getting ingredients at the market for the Burmese tomato salad, a snack which slowly because a petit addiction.
Myanmar, I shall be back soon.
Christmas with the family is always a nice treat, besides for the stomach which is just absorbing Hungarian delicates
in an assembly belt type fashion. From eating tomato salads in Myanmar to hurkas, Hungarian rice sausages is
quite a contrast.
Christmas Day.
A week later I find myself in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn. This part of Brooklyn
holds the highest amount of Orthodox Jews outside of Israel, which is no surprise when you look at the statistic
which show that on average a Hasidic or Hareidi family get up to seven children.
I remember calling my friend Derek, asking him where I should go to take photos of these Hasidic Jews with their
huge kolpik hats. He responded in a laughing matter saying something along the lines 'Good luck, they will be
chasing you down the block!'. I walked around the neighborhood for about an hour and asked about five different
people for a portrait and got denied every time. One instant I just posted up at a corner and was waiting and I would
see some of them making a U turn once they saw me with the camera. I guess what I learned is that you probably
end up buying your camera from one of these guys, but taking a photo of them is out of the question unfortunately.
If already in the United States, why not stop by the West Coast on the way back to Shanghai and finally try some
real Mexican food and wine from the Napa Valley?! It was quite funny how Walker ended up having jury duty right
when I was supposed to come for a visit. The case seemed actually quite interesting and I am sure he would have
loved to take part in it, but he was able to get a pardon by just telling the truth that a Chinese filmmaker has come
to visit the beauty of Napa Valley.
Flying over 7000 miles from the West Coast to Shanghai to have an American Breakfast at Homies in China.
Eric spoiling me with a Sheraton stay during a two day shoot for a Converse commercial with Blackie & Keng Qu.
Napa Valley has got hot air. Caution, Ballooning can get addictive.
Business can wear you out!
Love is in the air in Taipei.