Flying high now

Current location: Manila, Philippines until 03/21/10

Shirock at the Roxy

I always love a good rock show – they’re intense and a lot of fun to shoot. Shirock, a new band from the Midwest, did not disappoint at their recent performance at the Roxy on Sunset.

Upcoming Travel Photography Workshops

For those of you who are interested in learning more about photography in general, and the stories and concepts behind some of my photographs, I will be holding two upcoming travel photography workshops in March: a FREE 2-hour workshop in Los Angeles and an extended 6-hour workshop in Manila. Information below:

The Big Trip:

Fundamentals of a Successful Photo Excursion

Los Angeles:

Sunday, March 7, 12:00-2:00 PM

Location: USC Campus, TBA

Free Workshop

Manila:

Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Manila Polo Club Saddle Room

Workshop Fee: PHP 3,000

Join travel photographer Joshua Sy as he shares his insights on travel photography, acquired from 4 years of photography experience across 5 continents. This workshop will teach intermediate-level photographers the key elements to making your next “Big Trip” – the long excursions into distant lands that yield amazing photographic opportunities – a success. We will discuss everything from pre-planning to on-the-ground shooting to post processing.

About the Instructor

Joshua Sy is a Los Angeles-based freelance photographer. Since getting his start in photography at age 18, he has photographed scenes of life in over a dozen countries in Southeast Asia, the United States, Europe and northern Africa. His coverage of natural disasters and rallies in the Philippines placed him in the finals for the SportsShooter Student Photographer of the Year for 2008; his portrait work placed in the Top 20 at the 2008 Hearst Photojournalism Awards.

For more information, contact Joshua at joshuaphilippesy@gmail.com

For reservations (Manila workshop), contact Ms. Jo De Leon at 0917-537-4359

The Manila workshop includes free lunch and “merienda” (snacks)

Back in LA

I’m finally getting the hang of being in LA again after 4 months abroad. Way, way behind on posting photos on this blog.

I’ve been spending a couple of weekends getting up to speed with shooting in LA again. It’s quite possible that this city has more interesting people per square mile than any other.

Above, the Sandgelopes beach bike ride, where LA bikers rode from Venice to Santa Monica over sand and through surf

I’m graduating this semester. It’s a world of opportunity out there, I’ve just got to figure out which ones to go for.

London Town

The moment I got off the train in London, I knew that I was going to love it – and I did!

Coming in on the Eurostar high speed rail from Paris was amazing – it really is the fastest way to get between the two cities, faster than flying. It crosses the strait at its narrowest point, in Calais, through an underground tunnel, and drops you right in the middle of London. No nasty airline check-ins, baggage claims or shuttle buses, you’re right where you need to be. It’s a lot roomier than any plane, too.

London has all the historical stuff that most European cities do – it’s been around since 1066 – but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most modern, most hyperactive cities in the world.

London’s office district is much quieter than it was even a few years ago – it was hit even harder by the financial crisis than the United States was.

There is a great love of tradition here. Above, the changing of the guard at the Tower of London

Mind the gap, indeed – London’s tube (metro) is not the best, possibly because it’s so old (it was the first metro system in the world)

The London Eye (above) is the city’s newest landmark. The thing itself is gorgeous, the views from it somewhat less so.

Chinese food – possibly the best in Europe given Britain’s colonial legacy in Asia

Nightlife in London is quite good, and one of the main reasons to go. It’s one of those things that’s great for visitors, but even better for those who live there.

More than any other European city I’ve been to, London struck me as a place I could see myself living in. Some of this I can attribute to it being the least culturally distant from the places I enjoy – Hong Kong, LA and NY – but much of it comes from this lived-in quality it has. Between British English, the sights and sounds of London’s various boroughs and the huge amount of diversity, I felt that this wasn’t just a “checklist” city of tourist sights, but so much more.

Belgium

When I imagined myself traveling around Europe, I didn’t think that I would be in cars as much as I have been over the past couple of weeks. On another whim, another group of friends and I rented a car to drive to Belgium, which is a little more distance- and time-wise as driving from LA to San Diego.

After some kayaking in Dinant (above) we hit up Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union and home to some of the top culinary delights in Europe

Above, the European Commission, one of the high offices of the European Union. Unlike the ornate houses of government in many of the EU’s member states, the EC’s offices are exactly that – towering skyscrapers that exude bureaucracy.

The Atomium was built for the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. The structure is in the shape of an iron molecule and about 10 stories tall – pretty impressive for the fifties

Beer and chocolate abound in Belgium  – you can even get chocolate beer, which is a little like mixing pizza and ice cream. Skip those and buy peach beers instead – the best alcoholic drink ever.

Above, the Manneken-Pis, probably the most over-hyped tourist attraction in existence. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a statue of a peeing boy. My main problem with it is that it’s life-size i.e. it’s too bloody small! If you’re going to have a big tourist attraction in your city, make sure it’s BIG!

Bruges (Brugge) was our final stop on the trip, and possibly one of the most underrated attractions in Belgium. Pretty much nobody out of Europe’s heard of the place, but it still has its fair share of tourists from around the EU and elsewhere.

It’s a nice little town with lots of great architecture, an interesting canal network and…

…surprisingly good nightlife. Above, Willy sings along in his private bar, a beautifully decorated, if cramped, masterpiece built underneath his house and only open on Saturday nights.

Pommes frites (french fries) taste great when you’re drunk!

Overall, Belgium was worth the visit, but I have to say that it’s a little too touristy for my taste, and probably can’t compare to some of the other things I’ve seen in Paris and Munich. A weekend was enough for us to see most of the things in the country. The food, though, definitely makes up for the sometimes underwhelming sights.

Oktoberfest Adventures

I’d like to say that I planned far, far in advance for this trip, reserving plane tickets and beer tent seats months in advance, but that would be a huge whopper of a lie. Truth is, I found out I was going to Oktoberfest maybe 10 hours before I actually left for it, driving with some college buddies in a rental car across France and Germany to get there, sleeping 4 hours a night with 7 other people in one hotel room, and getting back to school maybe an hour before my first class of the week.

It was so worth it.

As you might imagine, there’s a LOT of beer at Oktoberfest. The plan of the day is to show up before the crack of dawn (I broke my lifetime record for number of sunrises seen in a row on this trip) to try and get a seat in one of several beer tents at the festival.

Once you get inside (no small feat – if you come after 7:30AM, you’re SOL), the fun starts. You order your bier and snacks (beer is served one liter at a time – about 3 regular beer bottles – and it’s THE strongest beer you’ve ever had, I promise), get sloshed, sober up and do it again.

You NEVER leave the tent – once you leave, you can’t get back in, such is the tenacity of the crowd outside that’s dying to get in

Between the alcohol freeing up everyone’s inhibitions, the low-cut women’s outfits and the amazingly catchy music, everyone’s out having the time of their lives

For those who didn’t manage to land one of the 80,000 or so seats at the tents fest-wide (yes, that many, and YES, they fill up THAT fast), Oktoberfest has all the attractions of a big carnival fair, with the added bonus of tourists from all around the world and massive numbers of drunk people trying to sober up

Gingerbread hearts, the latest fashion statement in Munich at the moment!

Below, the famous toboggan ride, one of the oldest at Oktoberfest, with a conveyor belt that’s tricky to get up on even if you’re sober. One can imagine the hilarity that ensues when drunk people try to ride it!

This is one of those events most people only do once, and I was really glad to be able to have done it. I’m not much of a drinker (as my traveling companions are able to attest to), but the sheer spectacle of the thing is just something you’ve got to see if you get the chance.

Bonjour, France!

After over 6 months of planning and waiting, I’m finally here in Paris! I got in on Thursday but I’ve been busy moving in, getting my affairs in order and being a stupid American tourist. I’m out here through USC’s exchange program with HEC, one of the top business schools in Europe. I’m about 1-2 hours (depending on the train schedule) away from Paris, and I’ve been day-tripping as often as I can to take all the sights in.

The Eiffel Tower, like the rest of this city, looks about 20 times as awesome in real life as it does in photos.

Mon ami Alex (above) has been living here for over a month now, and clued me and some of the other exchange students in on the Journee du Patromoine, the EU-wide national heritage weekend where virtually all government-owned museums, offices and landmarks are opened to the public for free, including many with sections that are normally closed off. We naturally took advantage to do a lot of sightseeing, which included…

…the Arc de Triomphe, which commemorates France’s war victories…

…St. Eustache church, which is so awe-inspiring that you might swear in shock as you walk into it – how’s that for blasphemy?

…the inside of a church organ, while it was being played…

…and the famous Notre Dame

Above, the Shakespeare Bookstore, possibly the only place in Paris where EVERYONE is guaranteed to speak English. In typically French fashion, over half the books are on the second floor, the “not for sale” section.

I’m exhausted from the weekend, but extremely excited to be here. I’m hoping the enthusiasm won’t fade when my classes begin!

Thoughts on Japan, Part 2

To visualize Tokyo, imagine the biggest, most bustling metropolis you’ve ever lived in.

Now, imagine it on steroids.

The lights are brighter. The people walk faster. And both are in plentiful supply.

It was much less challenging to get around here than I thought it would be – though there are more rail lines and train companies in Tokyo alone than in many countries and the route map resembles a Gordian knot, a guidebook , help from the incredibly hospitable station staff and some planning got us to where we needed to be surprisingly quickly.

Of Tokyo’s many districts, Akihabara (above) was probably the one that made the deepest impression on me. A haven for Japan’s otaku (nerds, for lack of a better term), it is Japan at its best and very worst. You can see the admirable obsession and drive that pulled Japan out of the ashes of World War II and turned it into the second richest nation on the planet (and purchase its end result, in the form of the most advanced consumer electronics available), while at the same time gawking at the childishness of the area’s maid-cafes and the disturbing number of hentai (animated porn) shops

Lonely Planet guide entry on the Tokyo Tower (above):”Truth be told, Tokyo Tower is something of a shameless tourist trap, though it’s good fun if you go with the right attitude”.

Agreed.

Inspired by the Eiffel Tower (but, as the free guide points out, much improved in many ways), one might mistake it for the original were it not painted bright orange.

A traditional Shinto wedding at the Meiji-Jingu shrine in Harajuku, one of about 5 that were going on at the grounds at the same hour.

And, of course, Tsukiji, easily the best place to buy fish in the world. To call this place a “fish market” would be the understatement of the century.

At 5 AM, this place is busier than many cities at rush hour.

And yes, the fish tasted excellent.

My last shot on my Japan trip, at Shin-Osaka station, before I hopped on a train to the Osaka airport.

Overall, the trip left me in awe at the society, but also left me with a tinge of disappointment, not in anything I saw, but in the things I saw but couldn’t capture with my camera. I think I’ll be coming back again sometime, to try and rectify that.

Thoughts on Japan, Part 1

I had the pleasure of spending a week in Japan, possibly the most amazing country I’ve been to in a very long time.

I saw an amazing amount in just a week, so much that it took me till now just to sort through all the photos and the thoughts running through my head. I shot a lot too – which is why this is first in a series of 2 posts about the country

I won’t pretend to be an expert on Japanese culture – but I will say that one of the many things that endeared the country to me during my brief time there was the way modern Japanese handle being a part of what is simultaneously one of the most rigid, but also most technologically advanced, societies on Earth.

The first leg of my trip was spent in the Kyoto-Osaka area, taking advantage of the unlimited-access, foreigners-only JR Pass (Japan Rail Pass) to bounce from high-tech Osaka to the historic (and much more scenic) Kyoto.

My mom and I found a walking tour guide, Johnny Hillwalker, who took us through the side streets of Kyoto, pointing out temples and traditional workshops along the way while dispensing thoughts on Japan’s dual-religion system (“The country is 99% Buddhist… and 99% Shinto!”) and on Article 9, Japan’s renunciation of war as a tool of diplomacy.

Kyoto was the setting for the well-known and controversial Memoirs of a Geisha. A stroll through the town, including the old geisha district of Gion, turned up no “real” geisha, but many, many people faking it for a day.

We also hiked through Fushimi-Inari, a temple built on a hill with thousands of orange torii (gates) that made for amazing visuals.

Next on the itinerary was Hakone, a vacation town a stone’s throw from Tokyo with soothing onsen (hot spring baths) and “amazing views of Mt. Fuji”.

That’s about as good of a view as I got of Mt. Fuji – the weather refused to cooperate!

I’m not sure who came up with the idea to float pirate ships on Lake Ashi (a vacation spot dotted with tourist-trap towns, temples and the aforementioned, nonexistent view of Mt. Fuji).