Highlife: The power of brands

As I walk by Hard Rock Cafe and Hotel in Kuta Bali and see the masses flock outside I'm reminded again of the strong brand focus Asia has. I mean if you want to be somebody you need to look like somebody and to look like somebody you need to wear a brand. Why? well obviously the only way to be some one is to be wear what people things some one should wear.
In the ghetto west and later in street sub cultures like hip hop and such sneakers and shoes became the status symbol. For the rich maybe cars or yachts. Here it's definitively all about clothing and bags but the brand focus and the desire to consume all the is something is just so extremely powerful here. It's ofc better to wear a Burberry jacket in 30+ degrees heat and feed your kids nasi lemak and water every day as you ride around on your bad ass scooter. And then defining a bad ass scooter as one with a few LEDs on. Where did that desire to be unique go? and Why is it better to life in a dump and pay up your butt for a brand on top of the same cotton shirt as your neighbor wears. Yeah the poor one that put his kids to school...

Same same but different

Walking up and down the allies of Kuta in Bali is like walking up and down the posh streets of Sweden, in a way.  At lest in the way of everything being the same. Same same but different as they say in this region. A friend of mine a young britt once found it to be such an amusing and endearing saying when his Thai "girlfriend" said it. He quickly realized that it was not something unique but something wide spread in the region. And it's all very true. Every shop, every business is same same, and not so different.
I recently had a conversation with Mark, the traveling film maker. As he was asked to do a piece on this guy who wanted to start a business in Ubud the natural question was what see him apart from everyone else. Why was his business special. There was no clear answer..

And this is the spirit of this same same mentality. There is nothing wrong about copying a successful concept but then again it won't be "successful" if you can't offer anything unique. Well unless you are the low cost (read lowest cost) provider. Every day I see so many things that could be improved, so many business ideas that will never see the day of light because of more same same businesses and Ideas here.

Then again. Checking out the concept of the tweet sized travel video I'd love to do a version of my own. With a twist ofc, but still. Maybe I'm just another same same...

The Jackson syndrome

It's a well known fact that some black artist are obsessed with becoming as white as possible. As crazy as this might sound it's not something new or rare. It's something widespread and commonly sought after, in Asia. In fact one could intemperate Mr.Jacksons pioneering efforts as a attempt to unite cultures and extend a reaching hand to east and south east Asia. Here in the lands where all women and children strive to become whiter, it's easy to see how that might be a factor bringing people closer together. Now another attempt is made to exploit this well knows pioneering ability of black american soul artist to become white...?
Why not use the NIVEA whitening lotion and You could become as White as RIHANNA!

Well someone made a bobo. That or I've completely missed the up to date announcements of popular american culture. This being a completly plausible explenation to my ignorance.

But when is enough enough. On plenty an occasion I've spotted Asians usually Korean or Chinese so white that I'd think I was seeing ghosts if it wasn't for the fact that I'm not a superstitious fool or that they usually wear Louis Vuitton or Gucci.

Cultural Overload

Spending some time in magical and mystical Ubud one might say that one really felt the mystical energy vortex that is supposed to be there. That the energies inspired and replenished. For me, this was not the case. Although I did enjoy my time in Ubud, it was riddled with a bounty supply of visits to the bathroom.

It's during these time when the doctor procures you a diets of overcooked rice that one says; enough. Enough, of everything that is supposed to be culturally enlightening.

I've been stuffing my face with western food, bad movies, ice cream and chocolate for the last few days after this. The binge is however over and I've returned to a more balanced diet of all kinds of stuff. I've come to the conclusion that the idea of only indulging in local food soon becomes too much. After all I spend less time at "home" than away. I now dream the sweet, sweet dreams of mackerel on crisp bread, herring and "kaviar" (swedish food).

I did miss most of the kings cremation as a result. Apparently this is an event that people gather for, from near and far. I did catch two glimpses of it over the heads of the crowd which is satisfactory to me at this time. Yeah not the big cultural consumer right now. I just hope this is not the start of a transformation into a Aussie Balinese... The Horror

Bad Luck Batch

Things seem to come in batches. Weather it's fixes and updates for games, cheeses, or paintings. My batch of deliveries was in terms of bad luck. For those of you who has been wondering why my stream of writings seemed to have dried up (possibly only my mom) here is the explanation. After Jungle trecking in Sumatra and thanks to the impecable cleanliness of the pople I cough Typhoid and other viruses and bacterial infections. Adimebly some might have cought on later in Bali while trying to recover. Pile two small motorcycle accidents on top of that and there we go. But at least I've had Typhoid before so I knew what to expect. And not all of the other shit is incurable.
Almost all better now though and ready to write more about my love hate relationship of Bali, Australia. Which is now disputable. it might now be partly under french control, "ils sont partou!"

A river in Bali where the locals swim, fish, poop and get funked. The ability to do this comes from  training numerous times in the gutters and eating the clinically clean food served in street corners. A westerner like me would get massively sick by following their example. believe me I've tried, and failed. And since I believe in statistical backing I've done it more than once. Failed that it.

cyborgs

In the future, the distant future. Robots have, oh no wait. It should be cybernetic beings have evolved and taken over. Hmm maybe that's not right either.

The year is 2011 and I come from a strange and upcoming breed of people. Cyborgs, or close. Constantly connected to the hive and approaching a singular consciousness duing the lifespan of our culture? Maybe. Dependent to a large degree on machines at least. Specially those enabling us and me to connect to the world wide web. I realize how handicapped I am as I try to maintain a gprs connection despite a power outage and almost no telecom coverage. The goal. To upload a picture. The goal isn't that important to me any more. Its just me fixating really. But since I'm at it, I WILL prevail. As power is running out of my phone which I'm using to access the gprs provider simpati telkomsel I'm trying to charge it from my dead computer battery.

Cyborgs are displayed as powerful beings in movies, a bit retarded in ways but still adaptable. However the early cyborg sucks big time. Filled with bugs and childhood diseases he goes through withrawl after only hours of disconnection from the hive. Many a time have I though of back home and rejoicing in the fact that infrastructure and communications are actually working. Maybe I should instead fear the fact that our dependencies make us so weak and unable to function in environments without these?

Maybe it's time for me to go to a deserted island and pull a Robinson out of my arse. I heard that a couple of fellow swedes did just this not long ago. I'd really like to give it a go. But knowing me maybe I'd get too bored and rebuild technology. In fact it'd be a blast going to a desert island and see how much one could create with a minimum amount of tools in one or a couple of months.

For now though I'll rejouce in the fact that I beat the power outage on this island.

for the sake of having one

I've recently spent a few days with my friends at a nicer resort at the Genting Highlands. We've been chilling out and taking it easy. But once in a "nicer" place it's become so obvious. I've been noticing quite a lot and now that I think about it it's really so prevalent in many aspects of South East Asian life. Maintenance, details, and thinking things through. These are qualities that they lack in a large degree here. What struck me was the big, little things or the many little things. One thing is the lack of wifi at a resort suite. Seriously what resorts/hotel only has that in the lobby. I also found the following.

• Ants
• Gecko poo
• Leaking toilet
• Broken mosquito net at the balcony doors (I have to admit ther are no mossies here)

Otherwise the room is nice and even has a Jacuzzi. But going around the resort one sees degradation, piles of rubble and toilets that have obviously been raped by an dirty elephant. I'ts like whoever is planning the maintenance routine wants to make damn sure there is always repair work to be done. Since it's obviously better to repair broken things than maintenance things for an extended lifespan, visual look and feel.

It's not only here though. It's just that at the other places I've stayed one might expect these things. Well that's not quite true either. I did stay at the Berjaya times square for a while. A luxury place in most standards but with broken lights, small cracks in the wall plaster, a water heating system one has to turn on 10 minutes before hot water, unusable wall plugs and interior that might fall apart upon touch.

This symptom is also true for many a bungalow I've stayed at at island resorts and hostels. Somehow it feels more acceptable for a island bungalow to be falling a part a bit. I guess it's the island maintenance problem. An logical defect in thinking although not as much as this.

This issue is also prevalent in Indonesia and other countries in the area. Not only in buildings but also in all aspects of life. Many a time I've seen some nice handicraft or thing I've thought was interesting on first glance only to have my impression spoiled by some small defect they but there afterwords for some reason. One example is some wooden sculptures in which they drill a crude hole and puts a plastic string through.

There are so many cases where actions seem to be determined by decisions of for the sake of having it. Why would someone have a pool you can't use, or plenty of faulty things and none of good quality? Or having people doing paperwork five times over instead of making a digital copy saving energy and money. Or using a wind power plant that's already there to get power instead of shipping gasoline out to an island to power generators.

I guess they might be doing it to create jobs. Maybe one should tell them that creating jobs that have no better solutions than manual labor could be better. Fuck hire a bunch of carpenters and maintenance people to fix all the half broken things with a fifth of the lifespan of a taken care for one.

I guess it's really a culture that likes to do things for the sake of it. I think I'd fail here.

Rama, damn at Pulau Weh

I came to Pulau Weh for one reason and one reason only, To dive. Turns our that it's also the only reason one would want to go here for, at least during Ramadan. I find this religious anomaly quite annoying here. Oh fill where is your sense of tolerance and cultural acceptance? Well I have plenty of that. I just believe that they are crazy, and not just for believing in make belief stories and such. As one secludes oneself in thought and resists temptation during the Islamic lent, the goal for me is to prove ones resolve and come closer to whatever idea one have chosen. For me removing all temptation is not the same as showing resolve. In fact it's the opposite. Its proving and showcasing ones weakness in resisting temptation. If one had real resolve life would go on as usual. Except that one would would restrain from the actions preventing one from though of a deity. So the less problem one would have in connecting to the unproven powers the less it would effect normal life.

This would lead to shops and such being open. Food served to those who wants it and no judgement being made. For making judgement on others would definitively restrain one from the self connecting to the object of prayers.

Anyway I's just me wanting to have food, drinks and thing readily available during normal hours. I would't care too much if it wasen't recommended and imposed on people by the local government and the Imams.

If you go during Ramadan, dive. Dive like crazy cause it's the only thing to do. It's also one of the greatest places to dive in the world.

Diving is a tad expensive though and single dives start around 25 EUR but discounts are give for more dives. I tried out Rubiah divers and Lumba lumba divers during my time here and I prefer to dive with Lumba lumb. The diving and guiding skills are good at both places but it's the atmosphere at Lumba lumba I like more. The availability of food, drinks and beer makes it the obvious chose for me.

Getting to Iboih from the Banda Aceh terminal will cost a bit with a taxi but is the only way to get there. The price varies a bit abut it's a bout 150.000 for a car, which is split-able. Some tourists will stay at "sumor tiga" but all the divers stay at Iboih which I recommend.

Prices for food and things are remarkably more expensive than other places in Indonesia and also compared to Malaysia. 35K for a chicken curry is what you will have to pay in the touristy areas and it's not much cheaper in the city of Sabang. What is really expensive are drinks, specially when it comes to drink other than water. If you can, do your shopping in town and stock up.

Suns

It's not the size of the boat it's the motion of the ocean. In photography it's using the right boat at the right time. Sometimes it's big and sometimes it's small. We recently did some sunset and sunrise shots at Indonesia's most western tip, Pulau Weh.

Shooting the sun ins inherently quite hard. Despite it's large size it's so far away from earth that even with what is shout to be a clean shot one might miss. After all there are subspace anomalies, solar winds, orbiting bodies and the bending nature of light to consider. However taking a picture of it as it has in fact already long ago passed the tangent of earths horizon and our actual vision, timing it with a delay that coincides with it's light reaching us is not as hard. It's still a bit of a pickle though.

Sunset at Pulau Weh, Indonesia. Photo: Filip Marzuki

As the sun is quite the light source it naturally put us in a bit of a color and contrast problem shooting it. One way of combat this is using long exposure pictures. This is however a tad difficult with all the light. So bring those filters of yours. Also as it's fairly divided into a light upper part and a dark lower part, using a gradient filter helps too.

There are some differences between sunrises and sunsets. One is the color that one gets. As sunsets generally goes from a natural to a orangey color the sunrises goes from a orangey towards a bluish tint before flooding everything with massive light. Both phenomenons have a short window of time when it comes to getting those wanted shots.

Sunrise at Pulau Weh. Photo: Filip Marzuki

I wind the process of taking these pictures quite entertaining. For me it's more about what happens around and the human and natures interaction at these moments that amuses me more. Observing tourists going to and from the looking point to see or miss the sunset and sometimes even take some pictures of it. Even more interesting are the creatures reveling themselves during these hours. This time around I almost crashed into wild pigs twice and a bore once. The monkeys aren't so bad as they have the intellect to kindly step out of the way and not run in the direction of your bike, sometimes deciding to abruptly cross the rode while frightened. Other creatures one might crash into here on Pulau Weh are cows. Specially the ones that decide that the road is a good place to live and want to make sure you know it will defend it. It's all good and fine as long as you are in a big truck but on a scooter the cow could just as well a brick wall for all practical purposes of serious injury. Goats, birds, snakes, small children, and old ladies should also be added as random obstacles on the road. Naturally the accompanied hazard of various poo should also be included in this flora of animal dangers(and human too).

I Almost Forgot

Sometimes I forget. A lot of things in fact. I also remember, sometimes. Though it's usually the quirkier things like what a plate is called in french due to a obscure side note in a move 15 years ago or the likes of that. My junior high school teacher and supervisor ones told me that I would forget my pants one day for sure. He also said my provocative mouth and fists where too fast for my own good. So far my pants are still on.. I think. Although my dad sometimes walks around in his undies a little too much for my liking. If you've seen the series fringe, that's how I feel sometimes with my dad. Brilliance and folly all in one little package. Well not as much of course but still. The fists are tucked away along with the early teens, after all boys being boys..
Only troublesome thing being my tendency to real life troll, sometimes. (For those who did not get it, it has to do with sharp and manipulative comments). Almost forgot what I was supposed to write.
Sometimes I forget the progress this country (Malaysia) has made over the last 30 years. I tend to comment on the little things that I feel are strange and illogical but when you put it into perspective Malaysia has really come a long way in not such a long time. in the 80s they where sending over as much of their population as possible to Indonesia to get educated and now they have a far stronger economy and more importantly a far better infrastructure. What I should be feeling is the amazement of how we can sit and dine in clean safe places and enjoy the grandeur of which is Kuala Lumpur. After all it is a damn fun city with fairly working public transportation and what nots. We where even able to get around town fairly easily hunting some daylight shots today. I have to say that these shots are the ones I like the least. they are just not as fun as when the light gives that special feeling to it all. Also, the hot and humid weather makes walking around all day fairly sticky.

The Blue Hour, A swift beast

A mist the hordes of tourist, why not try something different.

Here we are shooting the reflection of the twin towers.

Today we where hunting the "Blue Hour". An event that takes place unusually late in Kuala Lumpur. in fact it took place between 20:30 and 20:50 or so. Not so much of an hour but still, it's the name for it. It got it's name from when the sky get that unnatural blue color on pictures that seem too good to be true. In fact this is kind of the case. I'll try to explain. Right after sunset there is still enough light in the sky but not too much. This is due to the blue wavelengths penetrating further in the atmosphere than other light (also in water but I'll leave under water photography to another time). During this hour, or minutes one might get a very colorful blue sky with longer exposure shots. This is in fact what you where observing in the previous post. My daa and I trying to time the perfect light at the petronas towers, Malaysia. Here is one example of the blue sky.

The reason this phenomenon takes place so late in Kuala Lumpur can be blamed on Singapore. Yes just like most things this too can be blamed on Singapore. After all they are most certainly yo blame for the much lesser success of Malay economy, Islamic degradation and hay why not world hunger to boot. Well actually they do pack a little guild in their golden vault for this one. Due to or at least party because of Singaporean business hours Malaysia has adopted their and Jakarta's time zone despite clearly being way ahead. This means that not only does the sun set really late here but ones could get a head ache trying to figure out daylight savings our when traveling around in the region if not aware. Either way, aim for sunset and right after if you wanna give it a go.

Optical Howitzer: A father son experience

Displayed here is an Optical Howitzer.

Maneuvered by none other than my dad.

This machine will effectively use the fact

that light flows, yes just like really thick

water. Thus shooting in extremely high

parables one can get those otherwise

impossible "from space" shots by aiming

really really high. Or at least if one

mounted a "TwoFlower" on it.

And so it begins. That thing most people do, bond. I haven't really tried it too much in a while but it seems time and place decided for me.

I have a dad, like most people. And like most people there are similarities between father and son. For the last few months my dad has been traveling the world, taking pictures. For the last few months I've been traveling the world, taking not so many pictures. Today we met in Kuala Lumpur and so, it begins. 10 days of joint travel with my dad. about 15 years ago after our last road trip to somewhere I swore never to to that again. I must say I've been, not too bad at keeping my oaths. But I don't come unprepared. This time I have earplugs to combat snoring and a bag full of patience. After all, I'm going to Bali after this for continued ordinary days of awesomeness, which is my life. Narcissistic, no way! :p

We do share a few hobbies me and the old guy. One of those being Photography. Hes way more into it with a capital W, A and Y and I'm looking forward to getting a few good shots and a bunch of pointers. After all it would be a waste if I let this nicely compiled pack knowledge go to waste when it's so readily available.

Over the next week and a half there will most certainly be waiting, walking and changing of more lenses, filters, batteries and random trinkets than I will be able to count. Yes it's officially a photo trip and I have the honorary designation of Awesomest photographer #2 or pack mule as some refined scholar refer to, when wanting to be precise. It will be fun though. and who knows maybe I'll get some funny shots of my dad, Mowhahaha (evil laugh) to be posted on Facebook. A series of post touching photography will be following during the next few days. So stay tuned or stay away, depending on your interest in photography. Also if someone told you that you really need some pointers, stay tuned anyway. It's for your own good. I promise, no offence.

And a little night shot to start the photo posts

Being a Repair Guy is Obviously Cooler.

I've recently spent a few days with my friends at a nicer resort at the Genting highlands. We've been chilling out and taking it easy. But once in a "nicer" place it's become so obvious. I've been noticing quite a lot and now that I think about it it's really so prevalent in many aspects of south east Asian life. Maintenance, details, and thinking things through. These are qualities that the general populous lack in a large degree here. What struck me was the big, little things or the many little things. One thing is the lack of wifi at a resort suite. Seriously what resorts/hotel only has that in the lobby. I also found the following.

• Ants
• Gecko poo
• Leaking toilet
• Broken mosquito net at the balcony doors (I have to admit there are no mossies here)

Otherwise the room is nice and even has a Jacuzzi. But going around the resort one sees degradation, piles of rubble and toilets that have obviously been raped by an dirty elephant. It's like whoever is planning the maintenance routine wants to make damn sure there is always repair work to be done. Since it's obviously better to repair broken things than maintenance things for an extended lifespan, visual look and feel.

It's not only here though. It's just that at the other places I've stayed one might expect these things. Well that's not quite true either. I did stay at the berjaya times square for a while. A luxury place in most standards but with broken lights, small cracks in the wall plaster, a water heating system one has to turn on 10 minutes before hot water, unusable wall plugs and interior that might fall apart upon touch.

This symptom is also true for many a bungalow I've stayed at at island resorts and hostels. Somehow it feels more acceptable for a island bungalow to be falling a part a bit. I guess it's the island maintenance problem. An logical defect in thinking although not as much as this.

This issue is also prevalent in Indonesia and other countries in the area. Not only in buildings but also in all aspects of life. Many a time I've seen some nice handy craft or thing I've thought was interesting on first glance only to have my impression spoiled by some small defect they but there afterwords for some reason. One example is some wooden sculptures in which they drill a crude hole and puts a plastic string through.

There are so many cases where actions seem to be determined by decisions of "for the sake of having it". Why would someone have a pool you can't use, or plenty of faulty things and none of good quality? Or having people doing paperwork five times over instead of making a digital copy saving energy and money. Or using a wind power plant that's already there to get power instead of shipping gasoline out to an island to power generators.

I guess they might be doing it to create jobs. Maybe one should tell them that creating jobs that have no better solutions than manual labour could be better. Fuck! Hire a bunch of carpenters and maintenance people to fix all the half broken things with a fifth of the lifespan of a taken care for one. Maybe even do some road maintenance. But hay it's way cooler to be  repair guy than a maintenance dude. Maybe that's what it's all  about?

I guess it's really a culture that likes to do things for the sake of it. I think I'd fail here. I wonder what all my local friends here do about it.