Comments (0)

By Brian, May 24, 2008 10:46 pm

Monastery at Jiaoshan (Fujifilm GA645i, Kodak 400NC)

This next destination is a place famous for its vinegar, which goes damn well with boiled dumplings. Doesn’t look like there is anything else of note other than this but no matter, wikipedia listed a couple of attractions, and as usual once you take out pagodas and temples its just barren. But that has never stopped me before. I’m going to see for myself.

View from the top of Jiaoshan island (Ricoh GR Digital)

Just in case you are a little lost, here is where Zhenjiang is on the map:

Zhenjiang, Jiangsu

Not expecting too much, I will be moving quicker this time. At least relatively. I should have about 10 hours there. Small think tank bag contains just a Ricoh GR Digital and the 21mm adapter. For the first time, I will be packing along the external viewfinder. Rangefinding this weekend will be via a Leica M2 and just 35mm Summicron ASPH lens mated to it for the whole trip. Garmin eTrex Vista GPS is here, as well as the 32gb iPod Touch. Some websites are printed out in A4 to save weight, including a google maps satellite printout of the area in question. Blogging from the Nokia E61 as usual. Since it gets rather warm nowadays, its t-shirt and shorts day with a boonie for spare protection. Weather forecast today says 50% chance of rain. Do I trust them? Not too much. Thought about bringing an umbrella but decided otherwise in the last minute. Oh, across my left shoulder is the medium format Fuji GA645i with rolls of 400NC, Fortia and Neopan Acros. With 2 small bags slung across my chest, should let me move quick as I plan to walk the whole of downtown Zhenjiang today.

Lone boat on Yangtze River (Fujifilm GA645i, Kodak 400NC)

0845hrs: just got onto the train. Lets see, this is the 0853hr train called D408 bound for Nanjing, and they should drop me off in Zhenjiang as the stop right before Nanjing. Bet I’m the only one getting off there. Anyway, in the first class cabin, and seriouly speaking, or writing, I can’t feel a lot of difference compared to canned cattle class. Except the waiting lounge has a grand piano which I guess is what the ticket premium is supposed to reimburse over the years. Let me twitter my seat number to see if any of my 0 followers will come look for me on the same train. Worth a try!

Continue reading 'Travels: Zhenjiang in Jiangsu Province'»

Comments (0)

By Brian, May 18, 2008 2:45 pm

Based on recommendations from colleagues, went to check out a shopping centre near Shanghai’s main railway station that has only mobile phone shops. Its located at the junction of Meiyuan rd and tianmu rd. Just across the road from Pacific Dept Store and Xinmei East Hotel. The place has a name but too bad its in Chinese so it is as good as ‘the building’ to me.

Prices here are cheaper than elsewhere in Shanghai where I have compared, using Nokia N82 as my control phone. Its May 2008 and cheapest for the new Black version is 3050 rmb and I’m fairly confident to hit 3000 rmb cash price. This place is an insane 5-6 floors of identical phone shops. And I think 10% of all prepaid cards are here too, judging from the stock each shop holds.

Comments (0)

By Brian, May 17, 2008 9:22 pm

The season for daytripping is opened today with a mini invasion of the town  of Yangzhou by a Malaysian and an Oz in tow. Town by chinese standards.  Yangzhou probably has a population of ONLY a couple of million souls. Small  city maybe.

I confess… The reason its Yangzhou this time has to do with the idea of  spending up to 8 hours in a crickety bus to be able to say I have had fried  rice in Yangzhou. But like the mythical Singaporean fried bee hoon, or  vermicilli for you nonm asians, what makes a town famous may not be its  core competency, to paraphrase boring powerpoint space fillers. How to know  for sure? Yup. 8 hours of bus ride would settle it. Though to be sure I  might a few of those.

Continue reading 'Travels: To Yangzhou not just for the fried rice…'»

Comments (0)

By Brian, May 12, 2008 3:38 pm

I didn’t feel anything, but colleagues mentioned that the office building was swaying. Thought it was nothing big compared to what I feel in Taipei and Tokyo, but now I’ve heard there’s a 7.5 earthquake in Szechuan Province, which is far far away from here. Will have to listen to the news to see how devastating it was…

Comments (0)

By Brian, May 9, 2008 5:33 pm

Was wondering… since tri-x in rodinal looks so good and imparts that atmosphere of the photojournalists in the 60s, why would anyone be so lazy to use a DSLR in a wedding. Of course, most couples probably can’t tell the difference between digital and film, as long as you crank up the saturation a couple of notches and scale down the 12mpix image into a 640×480 web JPEG. And in terms of convenience, an auto everything DSLR with whatever lens and flash on bounce and diffusing dome would do the trick.

But what the hell, all talk and no action, so for my own sister’s wedding, I thought since she already has a professional photographer, why not go back in time. Brought a Nikon S2 paired with a Voigtlander 21mm Skopar lens, Leica M6 with 50mm summicron, and a third rangefinder, an Leica M2 with 35mm summicron ASPH to the wedding. The rule was, Tri-X for all shots, except for dinner when its my favourite Neopan 1600. All black and white. For safety measures, I brought a Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 Nokton ASPH. And for portraits, why not Fuji’s GA645i. 4 cameras with me. Swapping from one to another…

I have with me right now 6 rolls of 135 film and 2 rolls of 120. Will be processing them in my darkroom in Shanghai and the labs recommended by a fellow photographer. Here are some of the results…