Guangzhou Photo Walk

Guangzhou is under siege right now as people are pouring into the city from all over China and the rest of Asia, to watch the Asian Games 2010. I watched the opening ceremony the other night and it was as over the top as the Beijing Olympics. Nationalistic pride and fireworkes are all I can smell in the air these days, while I duck and dive through narrow streets, avoiding the overwhelming crowds and relentless immigration police. I did take some time over the weekend though to walk about with my camera and capture some of the local sights and sounds.

One Week in China

I have not been around here in a while. Apart from being really busy at work since the Chinese New Year, I have also been spending a lot of time playing with art. I started stenciling a year ago and now I actually feel comfortable doing some bigger pieces. I stiched together some clips from the XYGZ factory and my last week trotting around China. 7 nights in 6 cities, Shanghai, Ningbo, Beijing, and I dont know what else. China is an awesome country in terms of infrastructure. Unfortunatly I only get to see most of it from the inside of a car or at night. I cant complain about the latter. I am hoping to be stationary for a while, so hopefully more blogging. Check out the newXYGZ blog as well. They are posting up cool shit faster than you can read it!!!

ONE WEEK IN CHINA - CLICK HERE!! 

*you tube is down in china so this is hosted on vimeo... 

Bali CNY 2009

Better late than never I guess. It has been over a month since I went back to Indonesia for the Chinese New Year vacation. I had an awesome time spending time with friends at home in Jakarta and then hanging in out in Bali and fixing up my new office. It was quite an adventure...

I got in to Jakarta and could not make it home that night because Kelapa Gading was flooded from the rain. Maybe if I had gone straight home instead of the bar with my mates I could have made it home before the water rose.


I managed to get away to Bandung for a couple of nights. The art scene there is WAY better than JKT and they got some great graffiti on the streets there. Definitely need to spend more time there.


My parents were in Bali too celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with Friends. They stayed at Villa Mandalay near Tanah Lot. 6 master bedrooms and a putting green. It was off the hook. I got to spend some quality time with my nephews here as well.




My company has had an office in Bali for a little over a year now but although it was my idea to set it up, I never have found the time to hang out there. They have set up the offices on the 2nd floor and have been kind enough to make a small cabin for me right under the stairs. It has a window looking out into the gudang (warehouse) and a small access door to the bush outback. Its nice to walk out every so often for a bit of fresh air. Some kids had been spraying shitty graffiti on my walls so I left a stencil for them to look at. Maybe next year Ill get a massive mural made out there. I spent most of my time here getting the indodreamin label off the ground. There is still a long way to go but the ball is now in motion. And I have a creative workspace that is only 5 minutes drive from the ocean. Livin the dream baby.





I got loads of paintings commissioned and I had an awesome time just being productive. I have a lot of plans down the road for my operation in Bali but that is going to have to wait till next CNY when I have saved up a bit more capital and I am ready to take some irrational action. For now, keeping busy in the GZ.

Emirates Terminal 3 - Dubai

It's 6am and I am kicking back in the business lounge at the new Emirates Terminal in the Dubai Airport. I always thought the Dubai airport was kind of shitty, considering how modern and blinged out other structures in the city are. And I was expecting this new terminal to be off the chain, but sadly its just biasa. They have a few more branded stores here but overall, its just the same. The architecture is nothing to write home about, in fact its not even worth taking out my camera for. But the business class lounge is massive. I cant get a straight answer out of anybody regarding how big this place is but there are tables, couches, and lounge chairs all over the place. And this area is open to Silver Skywards members too. There is no way in hell I would ever pay for a business or first class ticket. I would rather spend $10 on a packet of Tramal than $1000 on an upgrade. I just spent 9 hours on a plane coming here and it was a breeze thanks to the meds. Now I am sitting here sipping chilled champagne convincing myself not to buy myself a pair of aviators. I got another 9 hour leg ahead of me and I am looking forward to being back on a plane. 

The floor plan of this new terminal has not strayed far from the others. The building is still just a long strip with shops on either side. Every now and then you walk past some flashy car that's part of a lottery draw. There is a new lottery on offer though for $5,000,000. That's right. and they are only selling 5,000 tickets. How much does each one of those suckers cost? $1,300. I would rather drop that on a roulette table. At least that way I get an hour of entertainment and some free drinks. I have spent thousands of dollars on these Dubai Airport lotteries over the years and I have never won shit. I think its about time I throw the towel in on this one. 

So I am going to be in West Africa for the next couple of weeks. Although I will be pinned down with work, I am positive the weekends will be fun. It's been so fucking long since I have seen the ocean. 

Deep Sea Fishing in Mombassa

We ventured out to the Tamarind dock at 6am; the sun had only just risen on the horizon. I would like to say that I felt fresh and rejuvenated from a good night’s rest, but the fact of the matter is that I had only gotten to sleep an hour ago, after a heavy session at the bars. But even in that fatigued state, my enthusiasm for what I hoped to be an epic fishing trip was not curbed. Like Hemingway and HST, I too was eager to experience the thrill of a Great Hunt. And as we walked down the steps of the Tamarind and hopped into a small red dingy, I saw the fishing boat we would be boarding in the distance. She was a beauty. Outfitted with 1 seasoned captain and 2 experienced deckhands, I knew we were on the right track. She was sleek, a good 24 feet I think. On either side she had long masts reaching out, each cautiously gripping 4 separate fishing lines. There were at least 10 rods carefully positioned cradles in the back deck. As the captain steered us out of the river neck and into the ocean, his deckhands baited and drew the lines. They moved swiftly, like well oiled machinery, each knew his place and what was required of him.

Mombasa is a small but exotic town located on the East coast of Africa. Geographically, the main city which is a quaint trading town, is located on an island in a river delta that separates the North Coast of Mombasa from the South Coast of Mombasa. There are bridges you can drive over to get to the town center from the North Coast, but the only way to get to the South Coast is by using the ferry which shuttles over every 15 minutes or so (map). Being on the coast and having access to pristine beaches, Mombasa continues to develop as one of Kenya’s most popular tourist destinations. Both coasts are studded with hotels, resorts, villas, restaurants, and bars that cater to visitors from all over the world. Historically Mombasa was a Portuguese colony so some of the architecture is clearly representative of that culture; however the most prominent foreign influences would have to be Indian. I am guessing the Indians came here when the East Africa Company was building its railways and many of them stayed back. In fact Indian culture and people are so tightly woven into the Mombasa culture and landscape that you could hardly call them foreign. You can not drive down a street without being confronted by a mosque or a temple in the town of Mombasa. Local food is masala chai, chapatti, and biryani! Further up the northern coast is the town of Malindi with strong Italian influence. It is reputed that the town of Malindi was started by old Sicilian Mafioso’s making a run from the law. Malindi boasts some of the finest Italian restaurants in Africa, and all over the coast wood oven pizzas are staple food. As we sailed out of the delta, the landscape on either bank is studded by old deserted Portuguese forts, decrepit homes, and luxury apartments, each exhibiting its own flavor of the local cultures and the traces they have left behind.

It took us a little over an hour to get the land out of sight. The sea was pretty choppy and I was afraid I might find evidence of the previous nights debauchery make its way up my trachea. But my iron stomach held out and I felt no sea sickness at all. I actually managed to catch up on quite a bit of sleep as we trolled the water looking for a bite. I dreamt that we hooked a massive blue marlin and it took the efforts of all 4 of us to bring the magnificent bastard in after an 8 hour battle. When I woke up we were in the blue open water with nothing in sight as far as the eye could see in any direction. I love that feeling of absolute space. My mind is forced to see things from an entirely different perspective, where issues that seem so relevant up close suddenly seem less significant. The captain scoured waves and currents. We switched rods and bait, but there were no bites. We all sat in anticipation waiting to hear the snap of a rod or the click of a reel, but there was nothing. I slipped in and out of sleep laying in the shade as the boat made her way back to the jetty. No one spoke as our dreams of ‘catching the big one’ faded into oblivion. Once land came back into sight I felt dejected and let down. I felt out of tune with the universe like nature felt us unworthy of her bounty. Then just as the boat was creeping back into the delta, I heard my cousin call out from the pilot deck to check the lines. There we had it, a bite, finally. But the little fogger did not put up much of a fight. My buddy JL jumped for the line and reeled in the catch in under 2 minutes. The locals called it a kingfish.

The Great Hunts don’t come easy. Some people chase the sun their entire lives looking for one big catch or trying to witness one big kill. And I guess if I had hooked a great white, blue marlin, or yellow tuna on my first day out I would have felt like one lucky son of a bitch. But the fact that I did not has just made me hungrier for the experience. I want to sit on that chair strapped to a 12 foot long fishing rod going head to head against a creature double my size. I believe an experience like that would reveal things about myself to myself that I would never know otherwise and which I really need to find out…

123 Inn - Ningbo

When I am not writing about shit I see, do, or eat, and when I am not making coming up with new projects like movies or stencils, I am usually on the road trying to money to pay alimony for all those seeds I have been spreading over the years. No one has caught up with me yet but I know it’s only a matter of time before I get sandbagged by a herd of little Indo Dreamers looking for their fair share of the game. The last week has been a bit crazy but now I am in Ningbo with an evening to kill, which is one of my most favorite places in China. I have written numerous posts about this city. This time I am staying at a new establishment called the 123 Inn. It is not in the heart of the city or anything, in fact the location is quite crappy, but for $20 US it is quite a good deal. Plus I am not really here on a leisure trip. So this place was completed sometime earlier this year. The design is quit modern minimalist. I can appreciate some of the elements like this lighting in front of the elevator.

The unique style of this Inn carries from the lobby right through to the corridors on the residential floors. And because the structure is still new, it is also still quite clean. But as will most cheap hotels anywhere in the world, the smell of funk wastes no time to settle in.

The room is small. Actually it’s fucking tiny. I almost walked into the bed when I opened the door. And when I stepped back I accidently ended up in the shower stall. As I pulled a 180 to get out of there I found myself knee to face with the commode. It took some minor acrobatic skills on my part to reach the desk and plug in my laptop to the free internet port. You see, no matter how small a hotel is in china, they hook you up with free internet. It’s the large hotels that are ripping us off.

The sink, toilet, and shower are all part of this one room. It reminds me of a really strange plastic hotel I once spent a night in when I was in Paris. Very futuristic at the time. This set up is a lot better than a lot of the places I have stayed in China so I am not complaining, but if I was sharing this room with any colleagues we would be very intimate before the trip was over. Especially taking into account the horribly spicy food we ate last night. None the less, even on my own I am aiming not to take a shit until I am ready to leave the room in the morning.

Surfing in Ghana?!

My cousin just forwarded me the link for Black Star Surf Shop today, a small surf shop located on Busua Beach in Ghana, West Africa. Having spent most of my childhood in Ghana and a lot of my weekends on the beach, I think I can safely say I have seen approximately ZERO people surfing there. Later on when I moved back home after college I did go out body boarding a few times to Krokobite, but the currents were evil. Driving along Cape Coast I did notice areas where the break looked pretty decent, but not being a surfer myself, I would never dare to venture out there on my own. And more recently I drove from Accra across Togo and into Benin along miles and miles of untouched coast line. Beaches where there was not a single person anywhere in sight, but again I did not venture out. I do not attribute my hesitation to fear, but rather a healthy respect for the Ocean and Mother Nature. So as you can imagine, I am stoked to find out a couple of lads have taken the initiative to explore the Ghanaian breaks and create an opportunity for other travelers to do the same. Now I don’t think that wave junkies looking for massive rides should grab their boards and head down to Ghana, but if you are a person who loves to travel and experience new locations, here is one more reason to add Ghana to your list. In my opinion it is already one of the safest places in Africa you could travel to. As for my friends still in Ghana, go down there this weekend and let me know what the story is. Apparently the Black Star Surf Shop is not just a surf school. They organize camps and other activities to locals and tourists alike, and they organize some amusing after dark events as well. Busua is a small town but great for a weekend getaway where you can spend a hot night out in a bar sipping cold beer and listening to highlife music. Damn I wanna come home!!!

The Wynn Hotel - Macau

Macau has been a legal gambling spot for many years now. But it was only recently that they opened their doors to Internation investors. Prior to this the only person who held the license to own and operate casinos in Macau was Mr. Stanley Ho. In the first year that the international companies ran operations in Macau they reported a collective annual turnover that surpassed that of Las Vegas… Think about it. I have not got the patience to draw it out for you, but that is fucking insane. So it is no surprise that all the big casinos are scrambling to get in on the game, currently the Venetian in the front line who has built the world’s largest casino in Macau. But before the MGB, the Venetian, or the Sands showed up in the Macau, the Wynn was the first to land on the scene. But I guess Steve was lacked the foresight because he built a scaled down version of the Las Vegas Wynn in Macau. Had he known how lucrative the Asian market was, I am sure he would have gone bigger. Nonetheless, during my most recent venture to Macau to celebrate my cuzins bachelor party, we elected to stay at the Wynn.

I have never been to Las Vegas myself, but my friends who have told me that the Wyn n Macau is an exact replica of the one ion Las Vegas, down to layout and fittings, just on a smaller scale. I have stayed at some pretty luxurious hotels and villas in South East Asia, so for the amount we were forking out per room, I was not too impressed. I mean they were spacious and all but nothing extraordinary.

The bathrooms were also quite large but nothing that made me step back and say DAMN!!! What was a notably cool feature in the WC was the fact that there were no taps on the tub. There are just some obscure knobs covertly tucked away and hidden spouts that fill the deep rectangular tub.

The TV set up was also very normal, as was the work desk, cupboards and beds. But next to the bed they had a cool ipod deck. I think any hotel that does not make provisions for guests to play their own music is just plain stupid. Also we had to pay for internet service in 24 hour segments. Even the cheap ass motels I frequent in China provide free internet. This is a major turnoff and totally distasteful of the Wynn.

The in room bar is also very basic with the usual amenities. But the snack selection in the room is all custom Wynn gear. And it does not come cheap. And for some reason the snacks are protected with some serious high tech gadgetry. I saw some wires coming out of the deck that holds the in room snacks. At first I thought it was some sort of new age device to keep the Fiji water cool. My friend Manna and I even spent a few good minutes passing the bottle back and forth while we discussed the function of these strange new electronic devices.

We later figured out that these black discs are actually super sensitive weighing scales, each set to balance the particular brand of snack placed on them. If the programmed weight is displaced for more than 60 seconds, you will be billed for the said item. And you got to check the really small print on the card in front of the snacks to figure this out. It is an extremely stoopid system in my opinion.

So over all, on my scale of 1 to 10, as compared with all the other hotels I have stayed in, the Wynn Macau only gets a 7… And that’s being generous! I think the service was shit, the hotel amenities were shit, the staff was not friendly, and the pool was tiny. But in their defense, they are a casino, catering to foggers who want to spend most of their time at the tables. But I still think they should have a tourism desk in case the families of the gamblers want to go out and see the city. Also logistically, they do not have a very impressive location. If the Wynn is planning on running against the new and younger hotel casinos in the market, I think they are going to have to turn things up a notch, starting with entertainment. Build a nightclub in your complex for fucks sakes!!

Back on Da Island

Om Swastiyastu! I have been in about 5 cities over the last 3 days and now I am finally back on Bali. I shoud be back for about a week or 2. I am spending a few days in house near all the madness the city has to offer. But it is a totally Balinese spot with the open air living room and everything. It felt so good to see the stars in the sky tonight. I forget they were actually there.


And how awesome is it when you run into frogs in your bathroom instead of cocroaches? This little fogger was only about as small as my largest toe. Got a crazy family reunion comming up around the corner. Its gonna be fucking awesome. Oh yeah, and a wedding. Its all about dodging bullets now while my aunts try to sell my soul. Let the games begin!

Fisherman’s Wharf – Macau

The Fisherman’s Wharf is a newly developed landmark on Macau tourist map. In fact when I was there a little over a year ago they had free taxi’s moving around the city to encourage visitors to come down to the wharf. At the time it seemed like a real mission to get there, but spending time in Macau last week I realized it is only a stone’s throw away from the Wynn hotel. The Fisherman’s Wharf is located on a sort of pier right by the ocean, in front of the sands hotel. The retreat boasts various fine restaurants, some KTV Bars, and the illustrious Babylon Casino.

The complex features massive structures resembling world famous Landmarks. There is one building constructed to look like the roman aqueducts that is actually a shopping center. Another structure molded to represent a volcano is in fact an amusement center with a huge laser tag arena inside, which I never got to play in. This Roman Amphitheatre features the occasional concert.

Beyond the large structures there is a sort of cityscape where each block of this long street is designed to reflect the ambiance of a famous city. The edifice of these buildings is New Orleanais, Dutch, Italian, French, etc… And as cheesy as this may sound, the designers have actually done a pretty cool job of realizing their vision. It is extremely soothing to walk through the area and the take in the atmosphere while shopping for gifts or bar hopping.

Unfortunately the trend does not seem to have really kicked off yet so there were only a few tourists lingering around. There were also still quite a few store spaces open for rent, but the ones already opened are all top notch. I noticed this LUSH soap store that I had to stop and take a picture of for Shan. She is a real fan of their products. I would have bought a bar of soap but the store was closed at the time.

Of the few restaurants and cafes we walked past on this strip this particularly lazy and rainy afternoon, we decided to stop at a little Thai place right on the water’s edge called Talay Thai. The service was superb, the food excellent, and the deal they had on booze was insane. US$50 for 2 full bottles of any standard spirit, including Chivas and Jack Daniels. As you can imagine we planted our asses there for a good 4 hours. And we even made it back again with the entire group in tow for a grade A meal.

Booze is sooo titillating…

A Little Recap

The weekend was fucking legendary, even though my cousin could not make it for his own bachelor party. We had an awesome time on his behalf. Is it evident that I have been watching way too much ‘How I Met Your Mother’? So we stayed at the Wynn. Not the best hotel I have ever stayed at but the rooms were massive. Service was actually substandard compared to Thailand and Bali, but in all fairness, this is a casino catering to a completely different dynamic than I am used to.

Food… We hit 2 recommended restaurants in the city and all of them; I mean all of them were fucking fabulous. The last place we landed at totally by chance plus it was a score and a half as well. Look forward to detailed reviews of Thai food, Macanese food, and above and beyond all mentioned foods I have ever tasted, the one and only Morton’s Steak House. I am a born again devout non-Hindu or follower of any other doctrine that forbids the killing or consumption of cows.

We hit the club scene with a vengeance. At first it was impossible to find a place that was not Karaoke or massage related, or stripper and hooker affiliated, but when we hit that groove, everything just fell into place. I know I have said this a million times before, and knock on wood again; I have the best luck when it comes to meeting awesome people in random situations. Mahalo to all of you that made this trip even more fantastic than we hoped it could be. Loads more pictures and coverage of the Macau night life after the jump.

Where luck shines on me in some fields, it abandons me in others. To no real surprise I had ZERO fortune on the tables. I lost my entire gambling budget (and more) in less than 30 minutes on the tables. But my man RicheREEE was not so ill-fated. We all suspected he had lost his shorts and left him with only a few hundred Macau Dollars on the tables at 7am on the last morning, and then we were stunned to see him walk back into the room at 1pm having quadrupled his money over 100 times!!! In case you lost count, he pretty much covered his entire trip…. 5 times!!! For as long as I have known this man I have regarded him as one of the most passive fellows on earth. I have never seen the brother loose his cool. But once this fogger hit the table it was as though the planet spun off its axis and he slipped straight across the river Styx and into Lucifer’s lap. The man became a foul mouthed beast, the likes of which I have never seen in my 31 years of existence on this planet. The scene which came to my mind as I saw him furiously ridicule the timid dealer when she flopped a picture over her drawn 14 was that from the movie Snatch, of Frankie 4 Fingers losing scope of reality to the tune of ‘Viva Las Vegas’.

I got back to the GZ late Sunday night and ran to the airport at some ungodly hour in the morning to catch a flight for some work related shit. Work hard, play harder that is still the motto. But I tell you, the last 3 days have been rough. I finally feel like I am getting my legs back. After spending 3 nights at a luxurious room in the Wynn I checked into a the decrepit room in (undisclosed location) with its peeling walls, air conditioner breaking down at 4 am, no hot water in the morning, and freaky people trying to get into my room at midnight. I love the twists and turns life takes, where every day is an adventure so far drawn from the one before, except when I got served this plate of Bees for lunch. Yes, you hear me, bees. You can only imagine how I felt when this dish hit the table while I was nursing a 4 day hangover.

But I am fuckin souljah and I put a few of these puppies down with a smile on my face. At dinner the gracious host consecrated me with the large gooey eye ball of a fish and a fin lager than any fin I have seen on a fish 2 feet long. Plus the fogger had a strange rubbery texture. The eye of the fish was to insure I have good foresight into the future, and the fin symbolized the wings I would need to take me where I need to go. How could I turn that down?