Early 6 o’clock wake up once again. I had no choice as I had to board the 5pm overnight train from Nanning to Guangzhou. I was out the door before the usual time the free breakfast was to be served, but the hotel was generous enough to offer me granola cereal with a banana on the side! The morning was dark and blue; it wasn’t until 10 that the sun finally rose over the dense fog, which gave the land warmth and a sense of depth. I took in a bit of the country side, and just sat back and continued working on my blog. On our way to the border, we made a short visit to a rest stop which consisted of a souvenir shop, a money exchange and a small patio restaurant. I exchanged the rest of my dong into Chinese yen and headed straight to the restaurant for my last enjoyable Vietnamese meal. Delicious, nothing better than warm pho to heat the body and mind!

The border crossing wasn’t too difficult; they all gave us tags so it was a smooth and easy transition from the Vietnam bus to the China bus. Crossing borders was by foot, nothing much to say except China’s checkpoint was a lot nicer than Vietnam’s. Sorry no pictures, I wasn’t in the mood to pull out my camera in front of six Chinese officials inside their checkpoint. In no time at all, I was on the new bus heading towards Nanning where I would try to board an overnight train to Guangzhou, transfer to Shenzhen by local train and walk through a border crossing into Hong Kong. The scenery was amazing, mountain haystacks dispersed across a landscape densely populated with trees. The weather also changed from a sunny morning to a misty overcast afternoon. The ride was comfortable and relaxing; I plugged in the iPod and continued writing from where I left off on the last bus.

The mainland was especially difficult for a foreigner like me to get around. Not a single person spoke English, and the couple of Mandarin words I did know (hello, good bye, thank you) weren’t enough to get me by. I wouldn’t use the word ‘disrespectful’ when I speak about mainlanders, but a little bit ‘unrefined’. They spat anywhere they felt like it, made loud annoying clearing noises of the throat, budged, shoved, and gave awkward looks to foreigners. The evening was about to hit and I really wanted to get out of there. When I reached the train terminal, I noticed how crammed and busy it was. Lines to each booth were 20-30 minute wait to say the least, and not only that, but people figured budging in front of the foreigner was acceptable. To add to the problem, people stood so damn close to each other. Give me some damn room, I’ve got a camera bag on my back, I’m carrying a tripod and pulling a suite case with a laptop bag strapped on top. I gave everyone a mean look, hoping that I’d scare them into thinking twice about robbing me. I couldn’t wait to get out of there!

This image shows what happens when windows crashes at the train terminal. Good old windows!
I finally got to the booth, politely said hello, and asked for a Guangzhou train ticket. I got the look I was dreading, the look of confusion. I repeated the name of the station again, “Guangzhou,” and raised one finger in the air symbolizing one ticket. Mandarin words were spoken to me this time, which didn’t help me out. Another girl came by to help, but I got the same silent look. I looked above me, and everything on the panel display was written in Chinese letters, which didn’t help either. I decided to whip out my notebook and start drawing. I draw a train, below that I write Nanning and an arrow pointing to Guangzhou. On the side I add a plus sign and draw a bed and somehow illustrate it looking soft, as I read on the Internet you can purchase a sitting car or a sleeper car. As I showed them what I drew, they had a problem deciphering my English characters. I was in real trouble now, it was getting dark and I wasn’t looking to get a hotel here! They called over a 3rd person, who didn’t speak English, but slightly understood the characters.

He finally spoke out to them in Mandarin, they all shook their heads and laughter was spread around. Cheers, I was relived; I smiled and joined in the giggles. Now I only hope they understood I was looking for a soft bed, I don’t want to sleep in a chair for 12 hours!

My boarding time was 6pm, departure time was at 8pm, and I’d arrive in Guangzhou at 7am. So I scored myself the bed, but why was there no door? Great, looked like I’d be sleeping with my camera bag under my wing and the laptop under the pillow. I slid the suitcase under the bed, jumped on my bunk and started eating away at the apple I bought while waiting to board the train. Before hitting the bed, I went to brush my teeth and at that instant my stomach started to react. Nature was calling, but when I went to open the bathroom door, there was a hole in the ground! I’d never used that type of bathroom before, but I had no other option. I couldn’t go to bed with an upset stomach. Not being used to squatting in mid-air doing number two, it’s just as bad as when you do it in the wilderness. I was going to appreciate those warm washlets in Japan after doing this.

Went I came back to my sleeping quarters; I noticed two new neighbors who found their beds for the night. I gave them both a subtle hello nod and jumped onto my bed. As the train started moving and the cabin got quiet, the guy whose bunk was below me decided it should be otherwise. As he was going through his bag, he whipped out his cell phone. The size of it was unreal, the screen must have been at least 4-inches and the thing lit up our quarter as it repeatedly cycled through all the colours of the rainbow. The damn thing gave me an instant seizure; now if only the guy across from us pulled out a compact fog machine we could’ve had ourselves a real disco party. So guess what the guy below me did? The cell started blaring loud Oriental music, the type you hear at the end of a Jackie Chan Hong Kong action movie. The damn thing played as good as a boom box would, clean and accurate treble and base levels without distortion. I just shifted an eyebrow and thought this wasn’t really happening. I knew I should have brought the fog machine; what was I thinking of leaving it at home! Just when I was about to just jump out of my bed and start dancing, the train staff asked him to turn it off. And just like that it was all over; my chances of breaking it down to Oriental music on a Chinese train heading towards Guangzhou had faded away. Darn!

The story of my train trip to Guangzhou doesn’t end here quite yet. Yes, there is more! There is something about sleeping on trains which makes it so relaxing. As I looked out the window, everything in the foreground passed my field of view so swiftly, while the background stood motionless as though it was a painting, and I heard the rhythmic thump as it traveled like a wake across all the carts. With absolute quietness within the cabin, the train put me to sleep. Then, in the middle of the night, my body jumped out of the bed as I hear someone puking. It sounded so clear, as though it came from just beside me; I quickly looked down to see if my baggage was okay. Was it just my imagination? Nothing had happened in or around my area. Moments later, I heard it again! I’d never heard anything so disgusting before. Someone was in the restroom down the hallway clearing their throat in the washroom. The noise echoed within the hall of the cart. As much as it disgusted me, I was happy it wasn’t puke all over my baggage instead!

As everyone was woken by the cabin crew an hour before arrival, we all made our way to getting ready to depart. That morning I felt very well rested. The sleep was one of the best I’d had on the trip so far. I guess my body desired something more than the 6-7 hours I was giving it. The time was 7am, and I now had to find a connecting train to Shenzhen where I could walk across to Hong Kong. To catch the Shenzhen train, you do need to walk out of the station, do a quick u-turn on the left and walk back into the same building just next where you came out. A little confusing at first, but the language barrier was a lot easier than Nanning’s. The rest was just following signs leading to Hong Kong, where you check out of China and check into Hong Kong customs. As I arrived in Hong Kong I quickly found a place to exchange some money, buy an Octopus Card and find my way to the airport first to reunite with my long lost luggage. When I picked up the luggage I soon found out it had flown business class to Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. I was jealous!

So I was then stuck dragging around two rolling suitcases behind me up and down stairs, in and out of subway cars with the laptop bag strapped to one of them, holding my tripod and carrying the camera backpack to my hotel in Mong Kok. I toughed it out!

The rest of my stay in Hong Kong was going to be a relaxing one. I’d try to visit a couple of key places, but other than that, no rushing anywhere, just sleep in and relax. I found out that a high school friend of mine was also staying in Hong Kong for New Year’s. I ended the night hanging out with him and his friends, stuffing our faces with what Hong Kong is most known for, food!

Sorry for the lack of photos. In some parts of China I didn’t feel conferable taking out the camera.

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The morning started with another fantastic meal; plates of omelets, apples, and bread with butter and jam were served. The food served on board was very impressive! The fog was thick and heavy during the morning, but eventually rose off the bay in the afternoon. The limestone karsts were finally clear and visible considering how thick the fog was the night before. We happened to also drift by a couple floating fishing villages. These are communities of around 1600 people who live on floating houses and are sustained by capturing fishing and marine aquaculture. Originally there was only one fishing village, now there are ten. Apparently, as I was told by my guide, some of the people never really touch dry land, and that they fish and live on the floating islands most of their lives. Occasionally we got vendors rowing towards our boat selling anything from candy to hard alcohol. The hardest vendors to resist were the ones with their kids on board. I took a couple photos of them, so it was only nice enough to give them some money.

As a group of eager kayakers paddled around the bay, another tourist named Manik from India and I contemplated whether or not to jump into the bay. Our tour guide proceeded to tell us the bay is always warm, even during the winter season! I wasn’t going to believe him, but there was no way to test the water’s temperature from the junk, except by jumping in. At first glance the water looked relatively good, nothing unsafe like sharks or giant squid, so technically there wasn’t anything holding me back from jumping overboard. BUT, if you recall reading my Day 1-3 flight agenda, all of my luggage was lost! If I was to dive in, my only means of clothing was that tight underwear I mistakenly purchased in Singapore! I stripped into my bare underwear, jumped up onto the side of the junk and was ready to launch myself in. My dive wasn’t of an utmost professional pose, so please let’s not critique or post judging scores. As I hit the water and came back up to breathe, the water felt cold, but it wasn’t anywhere close to the Pacific Ocean back home. It was bearable! Just soon after, Manik jumped in. We tread water for a bit before deciding to dock back up on the junk. Our only means of return was the anchor rope at the front of the boat. I didn’t have much of a problem my first time, but Manik needed a helping hand. The rope was slippery, and because it wasn’t taut, balance was also a problem. I added a couple more jumps under my belt, but it wasn’t until the third jump I started to smell diesel around me. My eyes started to burn, and that’s when I quickly ran back to my quarters to rinse myself down. At the end, I was feeling ok, and I wasn’t exhibiting any mutant-like features.

During lunch, we started sailing back towards shore for the journey back Hanoi. I hate when you’re getting all settled in, that you find out its all coming to an end soon. The drive back wasn’t anything interesting; it was pretty uncomfortable for the most part. Traffic started to back up before the city, and we were told there was a football match between Vietnam and Thailand for the AFF cup. This was the final game, and it would determine who would walk away victorious. The streets were packed with Vietnam flags, shirts, stickers, and headbands. Looks like they love their football here!

When I arrived back at the hotel, my stay wasn’t very long. The second I came in, I dropped everything, grabbed some money, picked up the film camera and left in a hurry hoping to finish off my souvenir shopping and grab some food along the way. As I was walking, the fans were getting ready and there were flags and t-shirts lining the streets at every corner and sidewalk. I happened to walk by a well-situated restaurant on the corner of one of the more popular streets in Hanoi. The joint was packed with victory-hungry individuals, with a beer in one hand and their chopsticks digging into their bowl of beef noodles in the other. I walked in wearing my Vietnam hat and a sticker plastered on my right cheek, nothing out of the ordinary of course. With their eyes glazed on the TV, it didn’t even phase them.

Beer was served on the house as the first couple minutes of play were underway. Vietnam missed with a couple of shots just shy of the net; people were out of their seats, hands on their heads, and long groans of disappointment echoed the streets as neighboring restaurants bore the same pain. Thailand was the first to score, leading the game 1-0. The goal didn’t go over well with home crowd. I only stayed for the first quarter of the game; I still had some presents to pick up before the night ended. As I was scanning through a couple of nice vases, the streets awoke in an uproar – a goal! Vietnam fans’ longtime dreams came true as their talented striker Le Cong Vinh scored in the last extra-time minute of the match. The 1-1 tie was enough to beat Thailand 3-2 in standings to win the AFF Cup. Many smiles, shouts, tears, and screams were seen and heard on the streets of Hanoi as Vietnam won the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time in history. Within minutes the streets were flooded with motorcyclist holding flags and screaming through intersections. With a population of 3.5 million in Hanoi, and 80% of them owning bikes, the streets turned into absolute madness!! I only had my film camera on me which I managed to go through within the first 10 minutes. I should have held off because the party had only just started. I tucked my camera to the side and decided to join the party. I ran out to the center of the street and started handing out high fives to speeding motorists. The rest of my night was the most memorable experience anyone can ever live through while in another country. Usually I would just be a tourist/foreigner in their eyes, but for one night I was one of them, a Viet football fan! What separated them from me was just the colour of my skin, but when they saw a foreigner celebrating their country’s pride, I was instantly the center of attention.

As I stood in the middle of the street handing out high-fives to all oncoming motorbikes, people slowed down to give me hugs, offer me beer, and kisses on the cheek. I must admit, there were a couple times I was pinched in the butt, and I was sure they were all from men! It got hectic at times – two Vietnamese guys climbed my back so they could get higher, and two bikes sort of clipped me, tearing my favorite jeans. I didn’t mind, I was having too much fun, and at times sort of wished I had brought the digital along with me, but keeping it safe would have been a concern I didn’t want to deal with at the time. I was out there for at least three hours and it never stopped; it got so congested the bikes just stopped moving. As I started heading back to the hotel, it didn’t seem like the party was going to end anytime soon. The hotel was located in the Old Quarter, next to Hoan Kiem Lake, and if you had any energy left you’d be there, because that was the core of it all.

Vietnam’s warmth will definitely bring me back here again in the future. If I had it do it differently, I would rent a motorbike in the South and ride the coast all the way up to the North.

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Complimentary breakfast was supplied by the Ritz Hotel, followed by a 8am pick up for Halong bay!! I’d like to thank David for supplying me the referral for South Pacific Travel. Even with the rain coming down hard, bikers were able to properly prepare and get around without a problem. The ride took three hours to get out to Halong Bay from Hanoi, including the small rest stop at a marketplace. I don’t know if it’s the Commie in me, but I’m utterly attracted to the red and yellow colours! I stumbled across these awesome army-coloured Vietnamese hats that came in all sorts of styles; vietnam flag with “Vietnam” written below, just a single red star, or a star with “Vietnam” written below. I bought all 3, I just had to have them.

I’m going to hold one for you Graham!

Halong Bay aka “Decending Dragon Bay” was more of a rest stop for me, a time to relax and enjoy what Vietnam has to offer in terms of food. The tour did just that, with full courses consisting of 4-5 entrees per meal. What I like most about warmer countries is the variety of fruit with every meal. Instead of ice cream, they finished off with fresh apples or Watermelon! Breakfast came with fruit as well! As we had our first lunch on the junk, I couldn’t help but overhear how rowdy one of the tables was. The noisy table was occupied by a Russian family of 6 (subtle hints gave their nationality away, like the their flag hanging from a stand and the large vodka they somehow managed to smuggle aboard).

Before the sun settled, we did a side trip to see Sung Sot Cave, one of the largest caves in Halong Bay. The immense cave contained large numerous of stalactites and stalagmites which aren’t active anymore. I don’t remember the specific process of how stalactites work anymore, but there wasn’t any water dripping within the cave to form any new or continue building old ones. There wasn’t much else to say about the cave, I’ll let one of the pictures judge the size of it though.

On the boat, the dinner meal only got better. It was a great night to just eat good food and relax in the cabin, where I plugged in my headphones and tried to catch up with the blog posts.

This day’s itinerary was to visit some temples outside the Ankgor Wat region, and board Vietnam Airlines for Hanoi. Slept in that morning because I’ve been getting up before sunrise for the past couple days. The temple I was visiting was situated roughly two hours out from Siem Reap by tuk-tuk. In my opinion this was the best choice of transportation because it gave me more of an opportunity to interact with the rural part of Cambodia. The trip was long but enjoyable nonetheless. I was able to hang out the side to smile and wave to the locals and the response was always positive, although there were a couple of strange looks and odd faces. I passed by so many schools and orphanages, but had no time to visit them because I was running late already. Travel time, breaks, and temple viewing had already consumed 5 hours of the day.

Beng Mealea, meaning “flower in water,” meant exactly that when referencing its design. The temple was constructed over a bed of water, and was one of the first structures built for the sovereign about a century before Angkor Wat. A lot of structures within resemble the early evolution of Angkor art and etching designs. The temple felt a little like Ta Prohm, with the forest was fusing with the temple and trees pushing out the stones and vines, engulfing any bit of sun the structure had left. Projects to restore the structure were not as in full swing as they were at Angkor Wat. It was situated too far away for tourists and just 10 years ago, the Cambodian government was able to drive off the Khmer Rouge from the temple. The Khmer Rouge was a gang in Cambodia that tortured and killed anyone who opposed or disagreed with their actions. The temple at the time was their home, but by 1998 they were driven off by the government and the area was cleared of all land mines. It was nice to see a temple which had not undergone a full salon treatment yet. One of the photos was taken in a dark cave and I got my guide to stand in the light.

It was back to the Siem Reap Airport at which point I also had say my goodbyes to Sokea. The sun was setting over the horizon as the plane was calling for boarding passes to Hanoi, Vietnam. Not a long flight at all, but the weather dramatically changed from warm and sunny in Siem Reap to cold and rainy in Hanoi. On arrival, the dark and quiet airport was a little out of the norm for me. I’d never seen an empty airport before. As I walked out onto the arrival strip, I scanned the scene for my name. A crowd of old taxi drivers lined up with all sorts of names written on paper. From the distance I saw a head bobbing in and out of sight and dashing ever so closer. From beyond the crowd a cheerful young fellow jumped into view with blue jeans, a grey shirt and some new bright white Adidas sneakers. I smiled back, we exchanged nods, and I followed him out.

As I was waiting for him to get his car, a girl beside me was sitting on a luggage cart and across from her was a huge stuffed bear! I was waiting for her to face the bear, but just before I took the picture she turned towards me, saw that I took a photo and let out a blushing smile. In the meantime, the driver pulled up in a Toyota Echo absolutely pounding some sort of Vietnamese house pop! As I stepped in and we drove off I couldn’t help but tap my foot to the beat. He lifted his hand to adjust the rear view mirror. His eyes focused on me, at which point he asked me a question in his broken English: “Where are you from?”. I didn’t understand him at first, but thought he asked me where I was from. “Canada,” I answered back. There was a nod, followed by a quick rummage through his CD collection. He inserted one, and I anticipated something awesome! The song started playing, and I got this blank stare in my face. Great, so for the rest of my 30 minute ride I’m stuck listening to classic adult contemporary. Can I please have the Vietnamese pop back? I posted a photo of our driver, it was shot on film and it turned out a little blurry.

I heard India has the worst driving habits, but I’m pretty sure Vietnam finishes as a close second. The driver practically had his right hand on the wheel and left on the horn. He’d drive right up to a car, flash his lights and honk his horn. At one point of another during the ride, we were able to fit two cars and a bike on the shoulder next to each other in the same lane. I have a photograph of our driver, but it was taken with my film camera. I’ll have to post it later when I get back, unless I find a development lab in Hong Kong. The hotel I was staying at was situated right next to a club, and seeing as it was Friday night, they were pounding some heavy house music. Who needs an iPod when your floors are shaking with Paul Van Dyk and other assorted tracks. The gentle pounding of bass running up the wall was enough to put me asleep.

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Big day, Ankgor Wat was on the menu, the biggest attraction in Cambodia. 4:30 was my wake up call, but the early bedtime last night combined with the excitement to visit the temple had me awake in no time. The morning was dark and very cold. With the temple situated in the jungle, only the half moon lit the way. Before sunrise, the main temple was filled with eager individuals all awaiting the first morning light of Christmas at Angkor Wat.

Clouds filled the sky above, and only parts of the horizon were clear enough for the sun to peek through. Despite all the wait and anticipation, within minutes the sun had disappeared into the clouds just overlooking the horizon. Angkor was built in the early 11th century, discovered in the 17th century, founded as a Archaeological Park in 1925, and finally made part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992. Angkor Wat is now made of up 52 Temples within the 2,500 sq/km region. So getting around by foot is out of the question. For this reason, the park offers 1-day, 3-day, and 1-week admissions. With only a 1-day admission pass, I had to choose the nicest and most popular temples.

Angkor Wat was the most famous monument of Angkor. Built by Suryarman II from 1113 to 1150 and known as Vrah Vishnuloka, the “Sacred Abode of Vishnu” was dedicated to the second deity of the Trimurti. The present name means, “Royal city [that is] a monestery,” and in the 13th century was transformed from the Vishnuite sanctuary into a Buddhist wat – a word of Thai origin that means monastery. Angkor Wat was by far my favorite Temple. Many of the etchings in stone haven’t faded and much of the architecture stood stood intact.

The heart of Angkor was the Great Capital which the Buddhists called Angkor Thom. The capital housed one million, including courts, priests, high officials, and bureaucrats, while some of the common people lived outside the fortifications. Angkor Thom is enclosed by massive literate walls that delimit a square area of 3km per side. The wall stood 8m high, boarded by a 6m deep moat.

Bayon was the second stop. Considered to be a Hindu sanctuary, only in 1925 was it recognized as Buddhist. No one knows when it was built because it was altered so many times. Many things are said about this temple, but I won’t bore you with them. How about pictures instead!

Baphuon was situated 200m away from Bayon and was built in 1060. This structure was an exceptionally large temple mountain that eventually collaped because of poor engineering that didn’t match their architectural aspirations. A long bridge leading up to the temple was placed near four pools.

It was time for lunch and some quick shopping at the market. I found two amazing Cambodian paintings I just had to have. If you’re ever in Cambodia, and you appreciate their art, I recommend purchasing some.

Banteay Srei was situated 20km away from Angkor Thom. In 967, the small and extremely elegant temple was not built by a sovereign but by two Brahmans, Yagnnavarah and his younger brother Vishnukumara, who were wealthy landowners in the area. Later rebuilt in 1931, it was one of the first Angkor monuments to be rebuilt and is one of the best preserved. I found this temple to have the best preserved stone etchings out of all the temples I’ve visited so far. The temple is small but fascinating, but if you’re visiting for only a day, I wouldn’t recommend seeing this temple.

Ta Prohm was my last stop of the day. It was also close to sunset, so I had a very limited amount of time to go through the park. The temple was first consecrated in 1186, and occupies 2.47 acres of the land on its own. What makes this temple so interesting is the abundance of trees which are choking and overrunning the structures within. “Hi, i’m Ta Prohm! You may remember me in such movies as Tomb Raider and …” (speaking like Troy McClure from the Simpsons).

The Siem Reap Night Market was the last stop of the day. I was exhausted by the end of the night, and my feet just wouldn’t listen either. The local food just outside the market was very cheap. For a dollar I was able to score some Chicken fried rice. I had already done my shopping, so for the rest of the evening I just enjoyed walking around the market during my last night in Cambodia.

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Phnom Penh wasn’t a travel stop for me whatsoever. I had no choice, as the price of airline tickets were a bit steep to fly straight to Siem Reap from Singapore, so I figured six hours on a bus wouldn’t be so bad. To get a good whiff of my first Cambodian experience, on arrival I decided to board a tuk-tuk from the airport and asked to be taken to the nearst bus depot. The culture shock wasn’t too overwhelming, considering I was in Guatemala and Belize last year. I found Cambodians to be a lot more interactive and a lot warmer. I saw plenty of tuk-tuks I saw, and there were just as many smiles to match them.

I arrived at the bus depot pretty early, so I was able to buy my ticket early. Now I’m pretty sure the bible states, “thou first cometh, thou first served”. Perfect — then I should have been seated somewhere in the front, and if not I’d wait first in line to pounce inside. It wasn’t until I got on the bus that I found out we were all assigned specific seats. I couldn’t believe they sat me at the back of the bus, without asking if I’d like it. If I had known where I’d be sitting from the beginning, I would have taken the cargo room under the bus. There was no way to sleep because there was no seperation between the seats, the chairs didn’t recline, there was nowhere to put your feet up, and no view whatsoever because I was in the middle. This was the beginning of a painful 6 hour ride!

So first impressions of Siem Reap weren’t all that great. Rundown roads, cute but hungry and deprived children begging for food or money, and a disorganized arrival. The one person who stood out from the madness was a charming young man who was holding up a sign with my name on it. My tuk-tuk driver went by the name Sokea. He’d be my chauffeur for the extent of my stay in Siem Reap at the Bou Savy Guesthouse. The place was nothing spectacular, but very accommodating for the price. Small perks were internet and free breakfast. Without a moment to settle in, I was out on the town looking for some short-sleeve shirts and shorts for my big Angkor Wat trip the following day. I wasn’t looking forward to the 28C temperature in jeans! Later, back at the hotel, I got ready for the next day while watching The Simpsons Movie on the telly. Once I was done, I lay on the bed and instantly dozed off.

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Most of my Vacation time gets accumulated in the month of December, unlike most people, I love spending time in Vancouver during the summer. It’s not that I don’t want to be home for Christmas, it’s just that I can’t stand the cold sometimes (and the rain, but that’s all year around). So, being away for the winter lets me escape to a warmer climate and let’s me start off the New Year in another country.

This year unfortunately my departure was later then expected. I had a Christmas photography gig scheduled the night before which I couldn’t pass up. Three nights before, the weather network was predicting a huge winter storm to hit the major Pacific North West. I was optimistic, it hadn’t snowed for in days, Vancouver barely gets any snow, the weather network hasn’t always been on the ball with our conditions.

The night of my flight, mother earth brought down a winter Vancouver wasn’t see in years and getting flights in and out of Vancouver was going to be a challenge. By 2pm it was snowing so hard they had to close down the runway in 30 minute internals just to plow it. Local flights were being diverted to other cities, and after about 5 excruciating hours sitting and waiting to leave the bay, they canceled all flights and shut down the airport all together. My flight was reschedule to the following day at 8am, but this didn’t leave me with enough time to connect to Cambodia. After some persuading, I was able to transfer airlines to leave at a earlier convince of 2am on Cathay Pacific. A much needed upgrade from Air Canada!

The airport was packed with frustrated and stranded travels trying to find their way back onto an airplane, odds of even flying were slim. The 2am departure was delayed, boarding didn’t start until 3, detaching from bay wasn’t until 4, defrosting at 6:30, and final lift wasn’t off until 7:30. Standard airport procedure was arrivals/departures 30 minutes, then back to plowing runways for another 30 minutes. With all the delays, I was 24hours behind my original itinerary. Cathay Pacific was a much needed change, bigger seats, better food, more entertainment and better service. The Hollywood movie selection was nice, from titles like Dark Knight, Elf, Hancock and more. If you were into the Asian Cinema, “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” in Korean or “Mere Daap Pehle Aap” a Hindi Comedy which starts a Indian Jessica Alba look alike. If you must know, I watched it! Beautiful movie! Not your typical love, marriage, and down right brilliantly choreographed dancing spectacle. Doesn’t mean they had to leave it out though!

Arrival time is 12:30, outside Temperature is -50C and I’m flying over Hakodate, Japan as we speak. Connection to Singapore needs to be re-booked because the flight’s late, but flights should be going out bi hourly, no worries there. One thing I’m worried about is my baggage being successfully transferred over from my Air Canada’s to Cathay Pacific’s! I can’t have my luggage be a day behind me.

I hope good fortune finds me along the rest of my trip! *looks around for wood*

So last night I decided to shoot a collage of my business cards. I figured they needed their own photo taken because ever since the day I got them, they’ve been flying out of my case like hot cakes. People who aren’t even interested in any of my services just love pick out their favourite photo from the deck.

Just for kicks, here’s Team America’s Montage

I don’t usually review equipment, or anything for that matter. But seeing as there wasn’t a single review on the Tenba sling bag anywhere on the Internet, I was still compelled on getting one. There was something about the Tenba bag that stood out for me from the Lowepro’s 300AW boring bulky look and Kata 3N1-20′s cheap and confusing interior design.

Please visit Tenba to read more about the bags features. If you find their sales gimmick a little weird, I’m with you on that one!!
My review doesn’t cover what Tenba has already featured in their video. What I’ll be focusing on is what most of you want to hear about; how’s the quality? Can it hold “these” lenses? How comfortable is it? The short review will also only cover Medium size, not the Small.

Quality: The material used to make these bags is superb, the second you touch you want to learn more about it. The YKK zippers are a little hard to use, but their worth the extra protection from water or snow. There is also plenty of back padding support if you need it.

Design: Very ergonomic, not a lot of zippers or pockets to confuse you. The sling fits really well, only thing it lacks is some padding around the shoulder. Guessing Tenba didn’t add it because I’d constantly get in the way when you swing it back and forth. If your not going to haul as much equipment as me, then I think most people would do just fine.
The depth is just right when you have a medium zoom lens. If won’t fit if you try to drop a Canon 70-200 2.8 with a body attached, but you can settle by laying the camera across or just leaving the lenses down on it’s own. In the main compartment I was able to arrange it so my 5D + Contax 35-70, 17-40, 50 1.4, 70-200 2.8, 580EX, and two pocket wizards fit pretty comfortably. The lens hood of the 70-200 was the most troublesome! I think they only imperfection about the bag is the tripod holder. It swings around to much, maybe adding another brace at the would have helped. I was using the Manffrotto 725B as a test.

Pros:

• Material
• Design
• Weather cover
• Zippers
• Clean Interior

Cons:

• Tripod swings
• Lack of padding around the shoulder

Highly Recommended
Tomasz Approved!

It was finally time to take my old school Contax RTS out from the storage and put it though it’s pace again. Every year I go through this phase where I have to go back to the roots of photography. Last year I used a Canon EOS3, where as this year I went even further into the past.

Reason why I bought this type of camera was because of it’s heritage. It was highly regarded for it’s time, with the exquisite build quality and it’s compatibility with Zeiss lenses. If you lust for Zeiss’ superb lenses then a Contax is the best place to start. Zeiss were considered the best (along side with Leica), their lens optics are still regarded as the best to this day.

Alright, so where was I…
What makes me go back to film is how it behaves. Film has this texture, you can see it popping out of the page when printed, even more so when a method called cross processing is used to mix colours with a colour space. Film has this look we grew up seeing, but with digital everything changed that. Film wasn’t perfect, but that’s what distinguished it from digital. We can sort of fake the film grain, but what about that dirty bleach look that came with every exposure like red and green broke out into a fight. I LOVE that fight!

Another unique things about film is that it’s not forgiving either. Not only does it cost 0.20 to 0.40 cents per exposure, but you need to shoot off the rest of the role, and pay to get it developed before you even get a chance to see it. With digital, the average person (even myself) have gotten lazy, not to mention everyone including your 82 year old grandma calls herself a “photographer”

For the next 17 days the camera and myself will be inseparable. As they say, joined to the hip; Hip to camera body *nudge nudge* *wink wink* …. forget it! The goal is to target the shooting in a editorial, urban and the homeless type fashion. Just to test the camera out my roommate delightfully volunteered to pose like a moron, thanks Ethan!