BW Film: Edinburgh & Dublin

After a few years, I have finally invested in a decent 35mm negative scanner. It is actually amazing, although it did cost me over $300. Yikes. When I went for my 2 month Grad trip in 2014/2015, I took my Canon Rebel Ti (300V) and a few rolls of film. When I was in Berlin, I got 3/6 rolls developed and nearly 10 months later I have scanned those ones in!

These are all shot with my Canon Rebel Ti with Kodak Tri-X 400.















One of the many reasons why I love this camera, it allows me to easily take multiple exposures.

From this first batch, it is quite evident to me that there will be a learning curve for me. Firstly, I need to figure out my ideal settings for the scanner (what resolution do I really need). Secondly, I need to think about my shots a little more carefully with special emphasis on what it will look like in black and white. A few of my shots are quite flat (not pictured), a consequence of being black and white, but I am super eager to have more of a play with my camera.

I was a little hesitant to take my film overseas as I had to go through a lot of bag scanners and it was a little nerve wrecking knowing that each pass could/would subject my film to damage. Luckily, I don't see any damage to the rolls developed (although I still have 3 yet to be developed which was subjected to even more X-rays) however it does appear my negatives are quite scratched. I'm not sure if it happened in the manner it is currently stored or during development.

I really do love film.

Kit Kat, Japanese & Choux

For the past three weeks it has been quite hectic at work. It has been a little hard to keep up with my blog which has bothered me a little. But I think I will be back in the swing of things soon.

This is a compilation of a variety of notable food that I have consumed within that period.






1 // Customised Kit Kat from the Kit Kat Studio @ Westfield
I honestly can't quite remember what my combination was; dark chocolate with dried mango, salted caramel popcorn and maybe .. honey comb? Like the Magnum popup a few years ago it is more for the novelty factor.




2 // Yayoi
My go-to place for dinner is The Galeries, notably Ichi-ba Boshi. There are two new Japanese restaurants there now which seems slightly excessive. I have now been to both - Lotus and Yayoi  (pictured above) - and nothing to really write home about though.





3 // Choux
I have been seeing these from I Miss Choux for the past few weeks and was intrigued. I actually had no idea what choux was and assumed that the 'choux' was a profterole. Not quite. Choux pastry is the type of pastry used for profiteroles. Mmm I liked the green tea & black seasame one better than the Gaytime which was slightly too sweet, which is surprising since I'm not a fan of green tea/matcha items.

I have also been back into the swing of film photography, in particular black and white. I'm trying to shoot mainly with film which is a little challenging. It requires a lot of commitment on my part as I don't have the ability to see the photos that I take instantly. I know that I will have more of a delay between when I take photos of my outings and when I write about it which is also a personal challenge. But it is all good!

Melbourne

My second work trip was to Melbourne! Luckily, the hotel was in the CBD area which meant that I was able to do things at night after work. However, the work office is in Port Melbourne which is an industrial area. The area is the offspring of Alexandria and Port Botany. In fact, 500m down the road, there was a depot which filled cement mixers with .. well cement.

A random collection of photos.

1) Dinner by myself at an amazing Italian place, Il Solito Posto. I ordered a risotto and it was so incredible filling and delicious.





2) T by Luxbite was 50m away from my hotel and I bought the Emoji tart. It wasn't very nice. But I did also buy 8 macarons which I carefully took back to Sydney for my mate. The salted caramel was to die for.





3) Bagel from Five & Dime Bagel Co was also 50m away from my hotel. This was the bagel w/ pastrami for $11. Yikes






I also visited Little Africa which served Ethiopian food (not pictured). This was my first time having any sort of African cuisine and it was amazing. I would highly recommend the restaurant. Even thinking about it makes me happy.

This was my third visit to Melbourne (I visited last year) and this time round, I could see why a lot of people love Melbourne. But I'm still not convinced it is that amazing. I still love Adelaide.

Adventures in Sydney: Auburn Cherry Blossom Festival

It is now officially Spring in Sydney which is crazy! I can't believe that there are only 4 months left in 2015. I remember when I was a kid and a year felt like a really long time. And I didn't believe it when the grown ups would say, "oh this year is flying by". Aside from the fact that I can't believe that I am a grown up now, I completely understand the sentiment.

I visited Auburn Botanical Gardens 4 weeks ago and last weekend, I went for the Cherry Blossom Festival. My mate is from Auburn and as a resident he gets free entry (non residents pay $5) so I was his +1/ they let me go in with him. It was a little underwhelming but it was very cute seeing the little kids dressed up. In fact, quite a few people were dressed up for the day which I didn't expect.









I still largely believe that Sydney is quite boring. But for 2015 I have been on a mission to see as much of Sydney as I can. My next outing will be to Cabramatta Moon Festival. I haven't been to Cabra for well over a decade and I am not a fan of moon cake either so this may seem a little odd. But like I always say: why not.