Failing isn't bad, so you may as well try to do it spectacularly

I'm typing this up on a plane at the moment, with the hope to have it all done and dusted some time on the weekend when I finally have a moment.

I've spent half the week in Japan. It's just three days, but I've been shooting quite a bit.

Mr Puddles decided that he wanted to come along. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't really listen. 

Usually I take a picture of my hotel room desk and post it somewhere saying it's my desk for the week. However, nothing could be further from the truth this time. I spent maybe an hour at this desk while all of my work was actually done while in transit around Japan.

I travelled from Osaka to Kobe, back to Osaka, then via the Shinkansen to Tokyo over the course of three days (one of which was taken up by a 9 hour flight). As I type this, it's on my return flight home. When I get there, I'll be straight into photography work again.

So my desk for the week? It's really a bus/plane/train seat.

In the toilet, "This paper has been recycled from used milk cartons collected by our hotel staff". As I sat on the loo, I had to grin. I imagined earnest workers scouring the streets for discarded milk cartons for their precious customers' bottoms. 

But their toilets? I'm already missing it. Seriously. Best toilets ever. Spraying your bum after going to the loo should be a feature in every toilet. So clean. Okay, that's now too much information.

We were staying very close to Osaka castle, so on the second morning I got up early and hiked out there. On the ground level of the castle, possibly hundreds of people gather and exercise. It doesn't look like Tai Chi, but whatever it is, it's pretty cool to watch.

It's a really peaceful place. I'd like to come back one day, but I don't know about visiting Osaka. It seems a lot like an industrial place from the way in from the airport. I have been told however that it had the largest underground shopping complex in the world. I didn't get to see it, but that might be interesting to visit.

A closer view of the castle. I had a bit of a problem encountering Japanese people while I was there. I don't speak Japanese, although I understand a few words. However, looking Asian means that Japanese people often mistake me for one of them. I've been given forms in Japanese and relayed instructions in Japanese. I'm really quite confused sometimes.

Looking out across Osaka in the morning. I thought Osaka was big, but Tokyo puts it to shame. I went to Ginza and Akihabara, but didn't get much of a chance to look around. 

The Shinkansen to get there is seriously fast. It feels like you should be lifting off, but you never do. I didn't get much of a chance to look out the window since I was writing the whole time. A bit of a shame because I would have liked to see what the countryside was like. Perhaps next time.

Apparently inspired by the Kingfisher bird due to its aerodynamic shape. Sort of reminds me of the Concorde. 

I forget the name of this building, but it's essentially just full of electronic goods. Completely full. It's near Akiba station and the area itself is just full of super geek. I'd really like to visit again. Anime and manga aren't really my thing anymore, but it's still amazing what is around.

So, of course, obligatory shot of me doing Japan… like a Boss.

It's actually iced coffee, sold out of a vending machine that sometimes has Tommy Lee Jones' head on it. There are so many vending machines. I wish that we had that many in Sydney.

But just as quickly as I had landed, we were leaving. Tokyo is a beautiful city, one I'd love to visit again. I had put my travels off for so long that it had gotten to the point where I really didn't care anymore.

They say that travel experiences can change people. I think I understand what that means now. Several times I wondered if I would be happier living in Japan, and I seriously thought of re-learning Japanese for the next time I visit.

So, while it's not Sydney, I hope the abundance of photos makes up for it.

I'm also heading straight to Sydney's Animania Festival after I land, and I'll add some of those photos next week. I did say that I have very little time to myself.

Sometimes it's not what you do in life, but how hard you tried

It's been a week of returning to normality, with Queensland out of the way. The sun has been sticking around for longer each evening, meaning I'll soon have very little excuse to not shoot during the walk home from work. I should make a detour at least once a week, just to see what else I can discover.

I'm not sure when this appeared, but it's awesome. It's made out of post-its. Reminds me of that office romance video that was all about post-its. Also reminds me of giant post-its that were used for project planning. Funnily enough, my stack of post-its on my desk have vanished. Bummer.

We have our priorities right at work. We throw out food to make room for beer. PPDD = Pre-pay day drinks. That's right, we spend our money before we get it! I'm becoming increasingly aware that my alcohol intake has skyrocketed since beginning work here.

Stuck in traffic, but always with something good to look at. I visited my possible future in-laws on the weekend and was fed well. It was a very chilly day though, especially once the sun disappeared.

I was helping a friend clear out his house on Sunday and he decided to toss this office chair. So now it sits just outside his apartment's intercom for anyone to come along and sit on. Rather random, it is. I think that's also the first pic of me on this blog.

Sunday night in with the boys. We're horribly unhealthy. Beers, pizza and the F1 on the big screen. What a race. Huge crash on turn 1 right after Alonso gutsily slotted into the front of the pack, then Schumacher blocked Hamilton for about 25 laps. Michael Trollmacher, one of my mates said. 

For some reason we also had a Nerf blaster. Was playing with that in my happy, tipsy state until my hand started to get sore from firing it.

I've yet to pull off an interesting in-car shot. Perhaps the closest I've come is shooting out a window at a motorcyclist, but that's not really in-car. There's not really many options, it seems.

It's the mid-autumn moon festival also. I find it interesting that in many cases, people many miles apart can be looking at the same object in the sky. Then again, it's just a giant lump of rock in the sky, reflecting light from the sun. 

Humiliation is only when you fail to laugh at yourself

It's more like one in Sydney, six on the Gold Coast this week. I was there for work, so I'll be posting up some of the pics that I was shooting for work. They know how to party up there, for sure.

In the leafy back yard of a house in the inner-west suburb of Ashfield, we're celebrating Father's day. The Jess-dog is running around, doing the gardening, the kittens are sleeping under the bed in the house. We're all getting fat, fat, fat. I've been eating all week and I haven't been running due to a lack of time.

I feel like a pig. But a pretty happy one at that.

I love cars, but probably not as much as I used to. This here pic was actually taken under green fluros. I left some of the green in, but it often makes me wonder if others frown upon post processing? World Press Photos have corrections in them, so I don't feel bad correcting colour (which you need to do to RAW files anyway), and I never manipulate the pixels for editorial.

Ping pong. Unfortunately, I think this guy was way out of his league. They couldn't get a good match going, which would have been good to watch. One of the coolest things to watch is two pro ping-pong players going back and forth at it. Mesmerising, really.

This isn't my lighting. There was lighting set up already, but no one was taking any photos next to the car. In fact, no one was around when I took this pic. A bit sad since it was set up nicely.

Outside the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. Boy did the event organisers know how to host a party. Food. Everywhere. Alcohol. Everywhere. Games consoles, go karts, stand-up comedy, ball sports, free swag. It was a pretty hectic week for me, being thrown in probably over my head in my current position, but it was certainly a case of work hard, play hard.

My desk for the week. The hotel was listed as five star, but I've been in lower rated places that are nicer. Which makes me wonder, who gives out these ratings anyway? Not that I'm complaining -- I love staying in hotels -- but half the time the ratings aren't comparable. First world problems, anyone?

The Gold Coast is beautiful. Or so I figure. I didn't get a chance to visit the beach. Or the shops even. I think it's somewhere I'll have to visit again on my own time. I really do miss the travel.

Freedom is about loving who you are

This site does say Seven In Sydney, right? Well, here's nine. I'll be up the coast next week, so I won't have many, if any, from Sydney, so hopefully the greater number this week makes up for it and a bit of a cheaty week last week.

Well I took the Polaroid cam out on Monday. It has some 600 film in it that's expired. I'm not sure whether I like them or not -- everything is super warm (and I don't know if it's me, but even non-expired film seems to lean heavily towards the reds). Still got some in the camera that I'll need to get through before I send an order through to the Impossible Project, which is now making the film. Happy to hear they've set up shop in Perth, but they're not cheap. Something like $35 for a pack of 600 colour film which is good for just eight shots.

Spied this while helping a mate break the lock on his motorcycle. This was probably about 10pm on a Tuesday and I'd walked out from home with a heavy bag full of tools. Standing around in the middle of a street taking to his bike with a screwdriver is not suspicious at all, no sir. He'd used a cheap bicycle lock to chain his helmet to his bike, but the key was no longer working (whether someone had tried to break into it or it had just died is a mystery). Don't use crappy ones. They're super easy to smash.

Anyway, looks like our sculpturing friend is still hard at work.

Remember that ferris wheel from last week? Well it looks like I spoke too soon. It's gone. Like, completely. I wondered for a second if I'd just stumbled into some other wide area that looked the same, but nope, it was gone. Maybe I'll notice something else one day and that'll vanish too to make a liar out of me.

I also seem to be making a habit of visiting the Sydney conference and exhibition centre.

There's a Thai place over on Pitt Street that I can't remember the name of, that didn't have business cards, but overall was a pretty crap place to eat at. It does, however, have a tuk-tuk out the front. I wouldn't say run, run away, if you happened across this place, but I'd probably look for better places to eat.

I wanted to jump in and pretend to lean off the side of it, but I didn't think the staff would appreciate that. Besides, no one leans off their scooter in Thailand, to my knowledge.

Don't know why I keep ending up here. Regent Place Gloria Jeans. I've been avoiding Starbucks and GJ's like the plague, but a good slice of cake never really killed anyone. Except maybe diabetics.

Friends and I end up talking crap all evening, which usually turns to talk of penises and sex. No joke.

I've been getting more and more excited that the day is ending with the sun still out. It reflects off a building and is rather disturbing in the last hour of work, but it's also a good sign that the day is almost out and there still is light in the day.

Just makes going home all the more happier.

It's been a while since I've sat down at Macchiato for a meal. Cnr Liverpool and Pitt, I think. The last time I was there they had a little jazz band. It's still a nice place, but I think things have been scaled back a bit. I feel sort of bad for them. They had a fire the other month or so ago which flooded out their restaurant. I imagine the water damage would have been annoying to say the least.

First time I've ever seen cops take a public bus for the purpose of transport. It feels sorta odd. Although, now that I've said that, I'm sure they'll appear on all the busses I take, just like how ferris wheels suddenly don't exist anymore.

I felt bad that they got off and went to the convenience store and the first thing I thought of was doughnuts. Almost every Aussie cop I've seen or met has been in pretty good shape actually.

Me on the other hand? This is becoming a habit. 3am at Pancakes again, with a beer for breakfast. We did try going to Star City as something new and different, but the bars there are either crap for talking at or were shut. I didn't realise they were under renovations at the moment. The entire place looks different than the last time I was there. Bit of a shame because I have several memories from my high school days there.

We talk crap, give each other advice as if we know what we're talking about. It's funny, I'm telling my friend to focus on his inner game, sort out his identity and who he wants to be so he can love who he is, but I'm not there yet either.

Always reminds me that when people say you should love who you are, that doesn't necessarily mean accepting that you've got terrible flaws and thinking you can't do anything about them, it's about making those changes in your life so you love the person you become and not a person you're pretending to be.

Bit of a cheaty week

I'm cheating this week with two photos that never made the Seven previously, most likely because I forgot about them, but perhaps because I had more than seven that week.

My excuse? I was horribly bed ridden this week and didn't place a foot out of the house on the weekend. Still feeling rather bleargh, but hey, you gotta roll with the punches.

I took this a while back, on the way to the Mint for some event launch. I love Hyde Park, but I rarely ever visit it. I once had a "very serious talk" with a girl I was chasing at the time and ended up in the park afterwards (at least I think it was Hyde Park. My head was a little every where that day). I often wonder where I was sitting, when I think back to it.

The fountain on the other hand, is where I met my friends one New Years Eve. Not the best meeting spot since everyone meets there, and doubly worse on that night, with so many drunken people around.

I was off on my way to Newtown a few weeks back, most likely to eat pie, and saw this down my street. There's quite of lot of this stuff around, if you know where to look. It gets taken down pretty quick, but it also goes up again just as fast, but with as much variety. I never know quite what to expect when I step outside.

Sending my sister off to Europe the other day, I never realised there's a bar on top of this bar. Then again, I never really hang around Marrickville. Or pubs for that matter.

Oh, Mac and Cheese. What's better than it? Mac and Cheese Deluxe. I can't figure out what's so deluxe about it aside from not having to make the cheese sauce yourself. I mean, how do you fancy up Mac and Cheese anyway? Add more cheese?

Which brings me to another questionable item that I purchased last week. I bought some marmalade. I haven't had marmalade since I was a kid, but I figured why not. But what's the difference between Orange Marmalade and Breakfast Marmalade? They both have the same ingredients, both have the same nutritional info, and both look the same (as far as I can tell). Can you not eat Breakfast Marmalade for lunch? Or dinner? Do they make it out of breakfasts? I ended up getting Breakfast Marmalade.

Bastards! It doesn't taste like breakfast at all!

My SO had a giggle when she saw this. It's usually the sort of thing I would laugh at, but I was probably still trying to figure out the marmalade thing. Poor pope. Not that resistant to kinky-ness. At least he tried.

Over in Darling Harbour, this ferris wheel still stands. I thought it was only going to be temporary, but it's probably been there for a few years, I'm guessing. Such a strange place to put it though. Whenever I pass by, no one seems to be on it. I really wonder if there's anything worth seeing from that height though.

Come to think of it, I haven't been on a ferris wheel for years. Maybe it's time.

Aero Cafe on George. This is one of those places I'd probably rather not tell anyone about. It's a nice place to come after a meal for a bit of dessert, or a cup of coffee. Most people don't really know about it for some reason, so there always tends to be quite a bit of space. Their lunch and dinner menu doesn't look too bad though.

In other news, I dug out my old Polaroid Impulse AF that has been gather a bit of dust. Going to see if I can get a bit of film for it and try something different.

Blurry week

Another week, passed in a blur.

I managed to take a lot of pictures this week. I visited a datacentre that had just opened and also went about taking headshots for a volunteer organisation on the weekend. It's only Saturday, but I think I'm going to be buggered tomorrow. For once, an early seven.

Walking past Wake Up! while heading into the city one morning, I happened to be there just as fire trucks were pulling up. There were a group of bleary eyed young girls who had just stumbled out of the fire escape and on to the street in their pajamas and wrapped in blankets. I don't think anyone else in the building really could give a damn.

That would probably be me too. What? I'm on fire? At least it's warm in bed. Another five minutes.

One of our sub-editors at work looking at a selection of our journo's devices. She's why what appears on the site looks amazingly clean. I feel bad for when I hand her horrible copy or when what I write makes no sense. (Like on this blog, I really don't care for flow or sometimes making sense.) If journos worry about people not seeing their by-line, I think they should stop for a moment and think about their sub-editors who only get an obscure mention (if even that).

On our chief sub-editor's desk: motivation in a jar (also diabetes in a jar). I had a lolly jar once, but it kept emptying faster than I could fill it, so I gave up.

I'm sure I must have taken a picture of this before. Somehow I manage to take pictures at exactly the wrong moment. Doubly curious since my phone has a bit of a delay before it actually takes the picture. I wonder if anyone has ever climbed in their drunkenness. Is drunkenness a word? I think our sub-editors would take me aside if I ever used it.

Wow, just realised there's a lot of work-related photos this week. I suppose it's only natural when you're there most of the time. One of my colleagues received this in the mail. It's a USB stick! It's actually pretty heavy considering its size. Disappointingly, it's only 1GB.

Yes, that's also a jar of salsa. Don't ask.

One of my friends' awesome chocolate lighter. Makes me hungry just looking at it. When he handed it to me, he told me that three people had already tried to eat it. So I tried also.

I spent a fair bit of today staring at this while waiting for people to get ready between photo sessions. It was over at Australian Technology Park. There's awesome amounts of light, old machinery, old trains, all sorts of things. The male toilets are a bit weird though. Something weird about peeing into a plastic, waterless trough.

Vegemite

Just the one image this week; it hasn't been good.

Everything passed me by pretty quickly, even though it's been a bit of a slow news week. I guess I go through these troughs every now and then.

I always seem to find the strangest stuff at the supermarket. My first vegemite? Seriously? I'm worried some unsuspecting parent will pick it up thinking it's baby food and feed their kid the entire jar. I guess then they'll really be a vegemite kid.

I also love seeing stuff that is put back in the wrong place, as if to say, "No, I didn't want this, I want this!" Things like finding candy bars in the health food aisle. Or instant noodles in the vegetable aisle. Or toilet paper in the hardware aisle. Wait, say what?