okinawa / ii

our second day in okinawa was spent in naha, the capital city. one of the really special things about naha is that unlike many other capital cities in many other countries, this capital city is probably one of the least busy and least populated i have ever been to. i took so many photos of streets + alleys and i didn't have to duck left and right and wait impatiently for people to pass by so i could take just one decent picture without seven heads being in the photo as well. i'm not the biggest fan of huge crowds and human beings in general, so the virtual lack of people in naha makes me one very happy tourist.

after shopping along this really, really long street, we went to junkudo, this bookstore nearby, and it was heavenly. there was an entire shelf dedicated to batman comics, but they were all in japanese, and i was rather disappointed that they didn't have any in english.

BUT i bought stuff nevertheless; two notebooks (the paper feels like the wings of an angel. japanese stationery was - i'm not joking - the main thing i looked forward to prior to this trip), the colour purple by alice walker, inferno by dante, gone girl by gillian flynn, and i am a cat (吾輩は猫である) by soseki natsume.

till next time,

alexius.

okinawa / i

first day here and i'm already in love with okinawa. i love the food, the people (or lack thereof), the weather, the language.

but mostly i love the cars (more on that later).

having arrived last night, we set out today to ryukyu mura, a "must-see destination for all tourists in okinawa", according to my parents. it was beautiful, and oddly enough, there were particular parts that reminded me of malaysia, of home. i think perhaps it's the abundance of greenery. lord knows i don't get much of that living in suzhou, so even the slightest green makes me homesick.

anyways, i ramble.

here are some photos from ryukyu mura:

i'm definitely moving to okinawa when i retire.

till next time,

alexius.

photography withdrawal symptoms

it's pretty cool how absence really does make the heart fonder.

i lost my canon eos 550d about a month ago on a school trip to new york. i left it in the hotel lobby and, 10 minutes later, realised it was not in my hands and frantically ran back. of course, new york being new york, my camera was gone, and all my 20 gb's worth of footage gone with it.

i've been without a camera for exactly 48 days now, and with a broken camera on my ipod touch and a rubbish camera on my sony xperia, i haven't taken any photographs at all during these 48 days.

and i miss taking photographs.

prior to that new york trip i kept telling myself that i should update this blog because the lack of posts make it look really sad, but i couldn't get myself to physically step outside the house to take photographs because a) i am a lazy bum and b) it's not very pretty, where i live.

now i have no way to take photographs, and i feel weirdly isolated from the things that happen around me. it's beginning to physically hurt when i see beautiful things and i'm not able to take photos of it. recently, there have been beautiful sunsets (which is a real rarity here), and i instinctively reach for my camera but grasp air because i don't have a camera anymore. i saw a man walk by me yesterday wearing a red plaid polo shirt with blue-and-white striped pyjama pants and i wanted to take a photograph of him but i couldn't, because i don't have a camera anymore.

doesn't it suck, how you only miss things when they're gone?

midnight burst of artistry

i've been thinking too much lately.

longboarding on a sunday

usually, on a hot summer day i just stay indoors, where the ac is always on and episodes of the mentalist are always playing on my laptop. but my longboard has been sitting in my wardrobe for more than 6 months, and i thought it was about time i took it out. i went skating with a friend, and this is what came out of it.

till next time,

alexius.

moodboard + other obsessions / i

well, it's pretty darn obvious; winter really is gone, which means no more bus rides spent looking out the window at grey skies and pretending i'm in an indie music video. no more oversized sweaters and warm, cozy rooms.

needless to say, i'm pretty sad about that.

so in a meagre attempt to make myself less sad, i created this moodboard, inspired by the colours and images i associate with winter.

clockwise from top left: i / ii / iii / iv / v / vi / vii

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recently, i've become quite infatuated with a number of things:

music / video -

there's not much to say about this. if you haven't watched it, watch it. but basically, the moral of the story is that matt healy should not be allowed to be this perfect.

photography -

i discovered carissa gallo's tumblr a few days ago and was absolutely mesmerised by her photography. i'd seen some of her work in kinfolk before, but had never known her actual name (i know, i know). she is one half of seachant & co., and together with andrew gallo, she has created some of the most beautiful films i have ever seen.

go check out her portfolio if you like pretty pictures.

other -

i have been staring at this picture for an unhealthily long amount of time because leonardo dicaprio.

till next time,

alexius.

calendar photoshoot shenanigans

the photoshoot we had yesterday for our calendar turned out to be more fun than was expected. despite the blistering hot weather and my incessant sweating, it was probably the most fun i've had in a long, long time. (i think part of the reason why was also because EXAMS ARE OVER).

'twas an extremely productive day.

till next time,

alexius.

the journey

having spent nine years away from malaysia, and spending only an approximate two months every year for the holidays, i don't get many opportunities to feel very malaysian. oftentimes, when i return home, events are happening that i'm not aware of, people are speaking in dialects i am slowly starting to forget, and that in itself makes me really sad, because malaysia is supposed to be my home, yet it is growing into something so different from what it previously was before i left. it's growing into something i am unfamiliar with.

which is why watching the film 'the journey', directed by a local Chiu Keng Guan, made me so extremely and irrevocably happy. every single thing, from the malaysian lingo (pancit tyres, yes) to the little details (how we buy clothes at street markets), had me feeling so much at home.

every time, after a line is uttered by someone onscreen that perfectly portrays the Malaysian society and lifestyle, there would be roaring laughter from the audience, with people repeating that particular line to a friend, a lover, a relative, or even a stranger sitting beside them, as if by repeating it, they could embed it into their brains to remember for a future conversation. it felt amazing, sitting there in this big and dark cinema, bonding unconsciously with people i've never met and might never meet again after we leave that place, and in those two fleeting hours, i felt more at home than i have felt in a long, long time.

this film is a local film, and it's only showing in local cinemas. a part of me wishes that everybody else outside of malaysia could watch it, but they would never understand it, due to the multiplicity of languages and dialects spoken (dialogues are often said with one speaking cantonese and the other speaking chinese). places where us locals laugh would probably be greeted by silence if viewed by somebody who wasn't malaysian. i just wish they could see how amazingly diverse my country is. even so, i guess the fact that this film might never be watched (or understood) by non-malaysians can be a good thing, because this is something that only we will ever appreciate. a sort of inside joke, if you will.

i've spent half of this post praising this film, but that's not to say that there weren't flaws. there certainly was, from the occasional cheesy lines delivered by the lead caucasian male to the fairly predictable plot line, but it was all in the tiny details, as well as the fact that it resonated so well with the people in that cinema and beyond that makes it, in my opinion, one of the best films i've seen in years.

till next time,

alexius.

first post

first blog post ever. i actually have no idea what to write. perhaps i should introduce myself? that would probably be best.

i am not very extraordinary. at aged sixteen, i am an avid film watcher, music listener, water drinker, and book collector. i sometimes (okay, maybe more than sometimes) talk to myself, and i fangirl over many a thing.

i am (currently) obsessed with...

- television: game of thrones, sherlock, the mentalist, teen wolf, and so much more.

- films: catching fire, love actually, warm bodies, never let me go, and so much more.

- music: one direction, daughter, the 1975, beach house, one night only, the neighbourhood, and so, so much more.

oh, and i also swear too much. i probably shouldn't, but i do.

xx alexius.