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  • #31
    Originally posted by Paint Horse View Post
    Did I miss something? What is this new endeavor?
    After spending the last 41 months in the south part of South Korea, I am now moving to northern Europe. Next Monday I am flying on OK to my new assignment location, which in theory will be my new 'hometown' for the next 36 months.

    You'll get a thorough TR from there as well, naturally. I actually plan to go round a bit in the next couple of years (well, that's not a surprise any more, is it?) visiting Stockholm, Hamburg, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, etc.

    The time I spent in South Korea was absolutely appalling with respect to the life there (and not with work). Work is work wherever you go, and as far as shipbuilding is concerned, South Korea is at the moment the 'Premier League' of the industry. It is just that there was no life there. I was approx 4 hrs away from Seoul by car, right on the south coastline. I have thought about writing a 'South Korea impressions of an expat' TR, as I have a pretty extensive set of pictures from all those years, but I haven't got down starting that yet...


    One of the largest container ships in the world, delivered to her owners few months ago. South Korea, 2009.

    What I found out is that no matter how much money you may be making, some things just cannot be replaced, like normal social life and inner balance (yes, God damn normal social life, being able to go out and see and really talk to a few people, meet with friends that you don't have a huge cultural difference with, etc.) After a point onwards I was there but simply not really living there at all. As the months were going by, the feeling of suffocation was increasing. My health was affected, and I was pretty lucky that a spot opened up in Europe, a spot that career-wise was the right step up as well. So I went for it and got it.


    No matter how technologically advanced your nation's industries may be, if you do not offer the chance of people living well freely and enjoying the fruits of their efforts, all that is worthless.
    World's second largest shipyard, South Korea, 2009.


    Europe of course comes with a paycut, as the 'expat' status of Asia in most cases does not apply in the E.U.-member countries, but if you're one of those that follow the 'mobility is promotion' concept, then you know that after northern Europe it'll almost certainly be Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, the U.S. or something like that anyway. Personal life, of course, in the midst of all these is another story. But I've promised myself not to neglect that so much any more. Fortunately for me the place I'm heading to now reportedly has the best or second best beautiful women in Europe; almost everyone (when I tell them where I'm going) says I'll return back home married pretty soon. I don't know about that, and I'm not thinking of it either. If and when it comes, it comes. You can't plan these things. There are more important things at the moment, like establishing a solid foundation with staff and clients at my new working location and having the ability to fly at an instant anywhere in the world for fun (can't stop that addiction at the moment).

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    • #32
      Originally posted by N_Architect View Post


      One of the largest container ships in the world, delivered to her owners few months ago. South Korea, 2009.
      ... and about five times as long as an A380.

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      • #33
        Well good. I suspect your health problems will soon be gone.

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        • #34
          I love your hotel! Living or staying next to Central Park is quite expensive in New York.

          Great pictures!! I love New York~!

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          • #35
            Very very nice pictures indeed.

            My pictures never captured the atmosphere of New York.

            Never occurred to me to stand in the middle of the road to get the shots!!

            Upper West Side is our favourite part of New York ..

            Wellington Hotel, near Carnegie Hall, was where I stayed on my first trip in 1969!

            Some more comments on your pictures..

            Taxi Ride from Airport:
            I smiled to myself when I saw your pictures.
            Beautiful skyline approaching Manhatten...
            ...Camera comes out..
            All views blocked by billboards!
            Welcome to the home of capitalism..

            Taxi:
            You capture the claustrophobia inside NYC taxi.
            Hate that bullet proof cabin for cab driver.
            And you're right, big car but small boot
            Last edited by 9V-SIA; 29 August 2009, 07:12 AM.

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            • #36
              In the summer of 2007 I met an American in a Greek island I was visiting for holidays. His name was Jim. He's in his 50s now, and he hangs around in the same island (having bought a piece of land and building a summer house there) but during the early 80s he was at the peak of his career (at least from what he told me) working in New York as a photographer.

              One day back in that summer of 2007 when I was planning to take my gear and go round the 'chora' of the island taking pictures, I asked Jim where to go and take some really nice shots. Although I was more familiar with the island than he was, I thought about asking as he was a pro and he could possibly provide me with some 'pro advice' (technical, compositional), which he actually never did by the way.

              Only thing he told me, however, was this: "Just take your camera, switch the motor drive on, and start taking the camera round having the shutter button pressed..." (meaning the photo possibilities and opportunities in such an island are simply limitless). Something which is 100% true.


              He's totally true. Patmos island, Greece. July 2007.

              What I felt in New York was even 'worse' than that, photographically speaking. Wherever you turn, anytime, there's a chance to capture a special moment. I believe it is impossible for a person who likes photography to visit New York and don't feel this. This is why I will go back there whenever possible, and try to capture much more of the place.
              Last edited by N_Architect; 30 August 2009, 01:37 AM.

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              • #37
                Originally posted by 9V-SIA View Post

                Taxi:
                You capture the claustrophobia inside NYC taxi.
                Hate that bullet proof cabin for cab driver.
                And you're right, big car but small boot
                Is that bullet proof? I thought it was just a plastic shield/ barrier to help stop drivers getting bashed/ robbed. Many taxis here have these as well.

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                • #38
                  Ah superb superb With great pics as usual

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                  • #39
                    Awesome TR N_Architect! With the usual high quality photography. We really must organise another of your photography lessons one of these days. With my humble point&shoot.
                    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by 9V-SIA View Post
                      Very very nice pictures indeed.

                      My pictures never captured the atmosphere of New York.
                      Indeed. And the verbal description nicely captured the energy that endears NYC to me.
                      Originally posted by 9V-SIA View Post
                      Taxi:
                      Hate that bullet proof cabin for cab driver.
                      The cabbies don't hate it when they pick up passengers late at night.
                      ‘Lean into the sharp points’

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                      • #41
                        Thank you all for your kind words.

                        Talking about photography in NYC, and as I had only the Canon G10 with me, I found the 28mm wide end a bit restricting, missed the 24mm perspective my Ricoh or the even wider angles a dSLR can provide. Next time I'll head over with different gear (provided I can carry it...)

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                        • #42
                          The ‘gf’ story (or else where the term ‘gf’ that I’ve used here in this TR comes from)

                          So I have this guy, assigned to me, right?. We’re turning the clock back now, some months. South Korea, 2008. He’s Indian, late 40s, used to work in the Indian Navy in the beginning and then in various projects in the M. East, S’pore, etc. Company recruits him in mid-2008 and he is assigned under my command. He arrives in Korea with the wife. Wife leaves (naturally) after 3 months, as they were in S’pore for two years before coming here (or ‘there’, should I say). She must have suffered the usual cultural shock everybody goes through upon arrival on the south part of South Korea, hence as any reasonable person she wants to pack up and go home immediately thereafter (especially as they were leaving in Singapore before.)

                          Problem is she can go back at an instant, but he cannot (like all of us who chose to work there). He’s on a three-yr contract. So she goes back to their village in India (an hour plus on the north of Delhi). What does he do? Become sad? Well, not really. Cause the man has kept his options open. [Time for the ‘gf’s to appear…] He takes the wife back home (on SQ Y), and on the way back he makes a stopover in SIN to start seeing the first ‘gf’.

                          Few weeks down the line, day in, day out, I am at the office working. I had to print some stuff, so I go back and forth to the network printer. He’s sitting behind me and I can see what he’s working on at any moment in time. Appears he’s constantly on the net visiting Tagged.com and having live streaming of Thai/Philippino girls on his monitor (probably chatting with them). Needless to say if the management gets to know about this they won’t like it at all. I keep silent, as usual, and wait to see if the trend continues. Days and weeks follow, the guy constantly doing the same when he’s in the office and shutting his IE when he hears I’m turning round and heading off my seat. Furthermore, another trend surfaces. His phone starts ringing at or around lunchtime. It’s always a young female voice but not his wife from India… Hmmm, I wonder, what may be going on here.


                          I don't blame him, really. In that place, finding girls from tagged.com was you only option, really...

                          Long story short, he ‘confesses’ the whole story to one of my other reports and of course I get to know everything via ‘an airport connection’ (instead of ‘taking a direct flight’ as we say in our travel language, right?) and turns out the guy has a permanent ‘gf’ in S’pore who is invited and stays with him here (or ‘there’ fortunately now for me), but also keeps contact, dating and whatever else with a series of Thai/Philippino girls (the other ‘gf’s who are acquainted to him through Tagged.com) living locally in his working area when the ‘gf’ goes back to S’pore…

                          Now, last question, why did he use the term ‘gf’. Seems from his days in the M. East and S’pore, whenever he wanted to refer to these ‘gf’s without giving much of a further hint to anyone else (with or without success is another story of course), he referred to them with these two letters, denoting he was supposedly talking about the ‘General Foreman’ of the yard he was work at during that time…

                          Mystery solved, at last.
                          Last edited by N_Architect; 30 August 2009, 01:35 AM.

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                          • #43
                            Fantastic TR as usual, N_Architect!

                            Really enjoyed the photography and also the side-track into some interesting insights into who you are, amongst other things. Also, very glad to hear that you had an equally excellent experience on the SQ 747 F as I did back in April.

                            Still trying to get used to the unbridled criticism of South Korea - but I'll get there eventually! If you thought you had it bad, wait till you hear what's in store for me - I'll be entering the Korean army for national service in October. Everything you don't like about Korea, multiplied by 100...

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                            • #44
                              It is easy to understand stargold. It is not his home, but it is yours. It is not South Korea I suspect as it is the fact that it is not what N_Architect grew up with. New York City is a perfect example of this for me. You could not pay me enough to live in New York City. Although interesting to visit, it is exactly the opposite of what I seek in a place to live. I suspect South Korea turned out to be the same thing for N_Architect. Yet New Yorkers obviously disagree with me as you do with N_Architect.

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                              • #45
                                To be honest I know I have been very rough on S. Korea and its people in general; I guess most of it comes from the fact that (a) I was unfortunately living in a remote and fairly isolated place, and (b) I happened to have been assigned in a worplace that treats its people, clients and guests in quite a militaristic manner, which in no case I can assume it necessarily happens anywhere else in South Korea.

                                These two things increased my 'prejudice', if you like, a lot. I will write something up for the four years I spent in South Korea, and the more time I leave to go by before I put pen to paper is good, as it will probably take all these small prejudices away.

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