Pool

Pool Rona Chang

I've been working on my freestyle with a coach for over two months now. I can finally, finally do some laps without looking like I'm having a heart attack. Yay!

Base

Base Rona Chang

The New Yorker story, Late Bloomers, reflects some of what I and several of my friends have been thinking about at this junction in our lives. It's much of the same sentiment I felt when I read Murakami's memoir, What I talk About When I Talk About Running.

Water Lines

Water Lines Rona Chang

My old moccasins from Taiwan have been wearing thin for some time and I noticed a big gaping hole in the seam of the sole. I have been on the prowl for comfortable walking shoes for some time now so I decided to put my money in a pair of well crafted shoes. I put an order in for some Arrow Mocs, handmade leather moccasins. A friend had them and I always admired the worn leather on his and even put my feet in them once so it's not a completely blind faith order. I have high hopes for them. I just have to be very patient because it will take six weeks to get them!

Rock Formation

Rock Formation Rona Chang

Hmmm, I realized after yesterday's post that Suzanne Revy has a series titled Small Wonders. So the search is on for a new title for this series. I'm open to suggestions as the project develops. I'm currently floating "Breathing In" on my brain.

I'm in the Typologies Group Show, which is in the current issue of Fraction Magazine. There is a solo show with Suzanne's series, Small Wonders. (Yes, this is where it clicked in my brain.)

Small Wonders- Me and Dad (with his girlfriend)

I started a new photo project, tentatively called Small Wonders. It's actually not so new, it's something I've been working on in different forms. The inspiration is my Dad, who I only got to see about once a year growing up. When he died a couple of years ago, it was hard. But the experience wasn't so immediate even though I was there the day he passed away and participated in the two week-long funeral rites. For some time afterwards, I would forget and think that I could still call him. I often still speak about him in the present tense. I have dreams with him in them. Not being with him throughout the whole of his sickness removed the tangibility of it. I have decided to post a picture a day from the project as I sort through it, with tentative titles, just to get it going. Some of the photos are old, and some are new. Here's one from our trip to Hualien.


Me and Dad (with his girlfriend) Rona Chang

Betel nut girls

I saw these images of betel nut girls from Taiwan in the back gallery of Yancey Richardson and found out that they were done by Masato Seto. He was born in Udon Thani, Thailand (a place I've actually passed through), to a Vietnamese mother and Japanese father. Interesting. He grew up in Japan and studied with Daido Moriyama. Betel nut girls are a bit of a specialty and weird tourist attraction from Taiwan. They even have a wiki entry. These girls sit in a small booth, with lots of mirrors, glass and flashing neon lights. They sell their looks along with a box of betel nuts, a stimulant that many truckers chomp on. Anyhow Reagan Louie also did a series with betel nut girls . I thought about photographing them until my cousins told me about their ties with the mob and how my camera would be stolen and I would be damaged.





(images from Yancey Richardson)

Dedicated to feasting

I spoke to some relatives in Taiwan last week and it definitely sparked a glimmer of desire to see everyone and spend time with them. While that's not entirely possible, this article from the NYTimes, Feasting at the Table of Taipei, made me really happy and satisfied some of that desire. Matt Gross does an excellent job of describing the food of Taiwan. Unfortunately he doesn't venture outside of Taipei where most of my favorite stalls and restaurants lie.

Hakka heritage

In the travel section of the NYTimes, I found this article on The Earthen Homes of Yongding County, in Fujian, China. I had seen a miniature version of this type of structure at "Windows on the World" in Taiwan. The Hakkas (I am ethnically Hakka on my father's side) have built these interesting earthen structures and they are now being considered for UNESCO heritage site designation.

On another Hakka note, I was sorting through a box of my dad's stuff last night and found our family genealogy handbook. I brought it to my mom, who helped me sort out how I should decipher the charts. Hakkas tend to favour male decendents and no where is it more obvious than in the family charts where only male decendents are listed. For example, our family tree shows my grandfather and my grandmother's name, below them, only their four sons names are listed, none of my five aunts are included. On the page where my family is listed, my father does not have any children listed under him (I have one other sibling, a sister) and my uncles who have sons have their names listed, but not their daughters. My mom commented that this was a heavy bias, maybe I should consider getting rid of the book!

(Photo by Barbara Koh from the NYTimes.)

Bridging the Gulf

The BBC reports on the China-Taiwan meeting that recently took place in Southern China. If the gulf is indeed bridged, travel restrictions will be the first indicators of this, allowing Mainlanders more access to the Island. Personally, direct flights between China and Taiwan would simplify and shorten travel for me when I visit family in both places.

Happy Father's Day!

It's Father's Day in Taiwan (and maybe other Chinese speaking countries). August 8, sounds like the word for Dad in Chinese (ba ba). It was always hard for me to pick out a present for my Dad. I only lived with him during my summer breaks, I didn't really know what he needed or wanted. I've bought him several lighters, pipes, tobacco (he was a smoker- and I'm actually quite against it), flowers once, and other not-so-great gifts. What made it harder was that he had a summer birthday. What do you give a Dad you don't really know? But I did know him well, he's a huge part of my personality. Now that he's no longer around, I still hear his voice inside my head. Thanks Dad, your booming voice is still carrying on. I miss you.

(above image taken from our family's roof in Taiwan, my fourth Aunt is walking by the bottom of the frame.)

Craving Asia

It's been more than two years since I've been back to Taiwan, where I spent my childhood years. I got an email from my cousin this morning with photos of his one year old boy that I have yet to meet. The images made me feel the need to go back and share in their lives. Thinking about Taiwan made me think of all the places in Asia that I love and all the foods I miss. The above photo was the last bowl of beef noodles I had from my home town in Taiwan. It's always the first thing I eat when I get off the plane, after an 18 hour flight. It's home.

Here are some articles from the NYtimes that I've been hoarding about Asia, ready to inspire:
Shopping, dim sum, and a must see- the mid-levels escalator system in Hong Kong. Eating dumplings in Beijing. Street food in Bangkok.