My first house guest!
Ken was in town to take care of activities at the hand-built bike show over in Sacramento, and managed to set aside some good time to hang out at the house, and with the Sitzer clan. Good times.
Tag: Shopping
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Ken in San Francisco
Hannah and Mia fully mature in the back of the car. 
Ken's ride; the ridiculous Dodge Charger / cop car. It made satisfying 'whaaarrrrr' sounds while pretending to accelerate. 
Classic Alameda Flea Market Chaos … I came away with a couple of lamp bases, a vase, some egg cups (thanks to Hannah), and basically none of the stuff that I originally went to purchase. 
Flea market purgatory (these are Ken's pics, by the way … I rather like this one) 
Instagram – "Feets" 
Adjusting the stereo? 
Feeling a little more energetic on the way home. -
Noe Night Vision
It’s odd, for the last few months in the USA I have not felt the urge to grab my SLR to take photos. But, last night I suddenly felt the urge to use a real camera, so on the way to dinner with a friend I grabbed my 5D and rattled off a few shots. More to come.
Looking through the door of the local laundromat – they always feel like such lonely places. 
The star of the local community – the corner shop. 
Piled high with great fruit, veg, and other delicate comestibles. -
Shopping Taipei
I really enjoy walking the back-streets of Taipei, away slightly from the main thoroughfares that sport Starbucks and MacDonalds and the rest. In the back streets, you’ll find ‘single serving shops’, privately run and often staffed with the elder family members, seemingly set back about twenty years and invariably overstocked and focusing on one type of product. Here, you’ll find a total blur between private and personal life, the spaces serving as both their work space and their living room. This is a little project that I might continue. ‘On my block’, perhaps?
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The Bright Lights of Taipei
This week I have made a concerted effort to get back into exercise – it is too easy on this island to slip into a routine of staying until ever more impossible hours at the office.
Tonight, while riding on my way home from the gym at work I spotted an old man selling disco lights by the side of the freeway. I had to stop, and to make it extra-Taiwanese the Lau Ban got on the phone as soon as I turned up.
Disco FeverIt also reminds me of a couple of other recent photos, or at least June! These are from near my house where a guy was selling lamps on the street.
‘Ave you got a light, boy?And finally, a rather nice effect outide on of my local bars along Jhongshan N Road (Bat 75).
Happy trees
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Taipei 101
Since I was still under the impression on Monday that I had an apartment at this point I decided to do some tourist things and go off and see Taipei 101 – the tallest building in the world. Sadly it was not open yet. However the mall next to it is and is more like a cathederal of shopping. EVERY brand you can think of, from UK highstreet to Italian catwalk is represented. People are crawling over themselves to get a slice of the increasingly affluent Taiwanese pie.
Taipei 101, as you can see is pretty.. tall. Very ornate. Not my taste – give me the Gherkin any day.
At this point I got the call that my flat was not available, so I went to the tech district and checked out the products on show. My word, it is like Tottenham Court Road on steroids and speed. I saw the smallest cameras, biggest TVs and more hifi’s than I have ever seen combined in my life. A very different shopping experience to the restrained european model.
