Incheon Landings

Being back-logged could have potentially disastrous effects. The accumulation of unfinished work means spending more time at the office. Fortunately, I enjoy spending time there. & though I'd rather be outside riding my bike, walking around, or taking more photographs, seeing the sets come together here is just as delightful.

A few months ago, Kelly, James, and I tried to bike from Songpa all the way to Incheon. Maybe 40-50 kilometers. The distance wasn't the problem. We ran out of bike lanes. As we tried to maneuver between eighteen wheelers on the highway, without a gps device, nor a map, we collectively decided that it might behoove us to either abandon our plans, or wait for other cyclists that might be making a similar trek that morning. Eventually, I spotted two cyclists heading in our direction and we just followed them to the nearest subway station. From there we made our way to Incheon.

Moral of the story?
Unless you want to get run over, know your route!

Roll: Kodak Ektar 100

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James and Kelly

feels soooo good posting a film set again



pax

Europa '11: 5. République Française - Les Voyages Forment la Jeunesse

Les voyages forment la jeunesse // Travel broadens the mind.

A French quote I found fitting to this last part of our tour de France, if you will.
There's a chunk of photos and verbiage in this post. If you got the time, please indulge.

Having spent 3-4 exhausting hours in the crowded Louvre, we tried to check out the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, but it was closed. Fortunately, we met Laura, a curator for the MEP, as she was leaving. Though Henri Cartier-Bresson's work was not being showcased, I was particularly excited that the MEP was exhibiting Jane Evelyn Atwood's deeply humanistic and raw street photography. Regardless, the museum had just closed up shot, so Laura told us to come back "tomorrow," and directed us to the Pompidou Museum. When we got there, we found out that it had also just closed! Determined not to let these early-closing-museums get the best of us, we decided that we were going to drink our way to oblivion, whilst listening to French house music at the original Social Club...

But something else was in store for us that night...





Do you see what I see?



Love the film grain.


Laura, on the left. When I asked why she didn't smile. She replied, "It's a French thing."




The all-seeing-blood-shot-eye-of-riot-v.





Which way?


Haha clever.


As we were walking back to the direction of our hotel, I spotted some street art next to a building where some people were hanging outside a bar drinking mojitos. After the shot, I kept walking down the street until Mathieu, shouted out, "Hey, did you take a picture?" "Yes," I replied. "Can I see it?" "Uhm.. sure." I proceeded to show him the photograph, and then we decided to chill with him, and two amazingly fun dames françaises, Aurelie and Giulia. As the night progressed, we met Justin (a graffiti artist, aka "El Socier," spraying sauces all over Paris one can at a time), Thomas (the owner of the bar), and Jacque (a really cool guy who later hooked us up). We must have had around 10 drinks that night, from Mojitos to shots of vodka. I've got a funny video of Keny hammered, but I'm not sure what to do with it yet. Anyways, it was a really fun night, where our conversations were charged about our respective jobs, our differing cultures (from the European, to the American, and the Asian), the radical paths of our lives take us, our pasts, our futures, false stereotypes, art, graffiti, the Parisian lifestyle, California, Ireland?, Korean movies, Jewish jokes, places to see in Barcelona, what French food we should try, being abroad, traveling!, learning from others, being cultured, ex's and love, how to cheers in French (2 ways: Santé, and Chin-Chin), staying young, believing in something, being content with what we have, and just enjoying our short lives. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would meet such cool Parisian French people and I'm glad I took that photograph. Thanks for the great time, Giulia, Aurelie, Justin, Jacque, and Thomas!



The shot.








Random old German elderly man making to make some conversation.


I'm not sure how we made it back that night, but somehow we did. The following morning we decided to check out the MEP, and some other modern art museums. But, we got off to a late start having nearly blacked out the night before. Eventually we made our way to the MEP, where Jane Evelyn Atwood's photographic series of the prostitutes, the blind, women in prison, Jean-Louis/Vivre (who later died of AIDS), landmine victims, and those affected by the earthquake in Haiti just last year, were being shown. We weren't allowed to take any photos inside, so I don't have any from her exhibition, but I managed to take one from inside the building looking out. That night we made it back to the Face Bar, partied, and went back pretty early because we wanted to check out the Dali Museum before we left Paris.

Here are the last few bits.
Have fun!



The Essentials.


From the MEP.


Dude was high on something. He kept asking me why I took the shot. It was fired at the hip too with the Superheadz. Didn't think he'd notice.


Mini.


My fingers kept getting in the way of the lens on the Superheadz.






Begin Dali.
























Thanks for the great memories, til next time Paris~

Previous: Europa '11: 4. République Française - La Tour Eiffel + Palais du Louvre
Now: Europa '11: 5. République Française - Les Voyages Forment la Jeunesse
Next: Europa '11: 6. Kingdom of Belgium - Best Waffles in the House


pax

Europa '11: 4. République Française - La Tour Eiffel + Palais du Louvre

Welcome back.

I'm still enamored by the Parisian architecture and landmarks - with everything seemingly that much more mind-boggling in real life - especially the Eiffel Tower. TIL, the Eiffel Tower held the title as the tallest freestanding structure on land from 1889 to 1930 before getting overtaken by the Chrysler and Empire State Building in subsequent years (1930, 1931). I mean I've seen the Empire State building before, but being surrounded by other semi-tall buildings doesn't have that much of an impact as the Eiffel Tower, which is standing there in it's own historical might surrounded by tiny trees. Really though, it's better just to see it with your own eyes.

enjoi :p


Trying to get to the Eiffel Tower. Mission complete.






Baroque architecture?


Bottoms up, pimp.


In all her magnificence.




Once again, our Earth spins eastward.




My favorite shot of the Eiffel Tower.


Grab a Big Mac and Mcflurry before heading to the CineX...


Walking back to our hotel.


Plush.

Day 2

We decided to actually check out the artwork inside the Louvre, since we were told we would need at least one full day to see one miniscule section of the museum. However, we were running out of clean clothes, so we had to make a pit stop at the Lavatorie first to machine wash AND dry our clothes. I can't remember the last time I had access to a drying machine.



Cool mural.




Delicious smoothies and the best-tasting sandwiches I had in Europe!







An hour and a half later, a delicious sandwich, and smoothie later we made our way to the Louvre, albeit a few hours later than we had planned to. When we got there, not even the masses of people could have stopped us from seeing the entire museum. It would have been impossible to walk through all those exhibitions in a single day. So we decided to stick with the Sully. You'll be seeing a lot of Greco-Roman statues, a few Renaissance paintings, and the Mona Lisa. Just a fair warning, I think I took too many photos inside.

These are the ones that made the cut.
Have a look.



Finding the Louvre


Viola!




The Sully




And so it begins.






That's dope armor he's got there.






Alexander the Great.




Gold coated ceilings.




Not enough bokeh.


Venus.






There she is.




Had to get through that first.




David and Goliath, and Keny slitting throats.








Got scolded for taking this shot.


We've had enough of the Louvre, and enough of your pics for one day!

Previous: Europa '11: 3. République Française - Paris, tu es Magnifique!
Now: Europa '11: 4. République Française - La Tour Eiffel + Palais du Louvre
Next: Europa '11: 5. République Française - Les Voyages Forment la Jeunesse


pax