tyler duncan bowa

A little taste of the Expo

2009-11-12T13:36:00.004+08:00

Yep, just a sneak peak . . Don't want to get in trouble or anything !

The Dragon

2009-11-12T10:43:00.004+08:00

Just South of Shanghai they are building a project that everyone keeps calling, ' The Dragon ' . It's a new " super-green-indoor-motivational-community-city " . . or something like that. Point being : it looks amazing, and is really pushing the boundaries of new architectural motives in China. Check it out !

Chinese Materials Factory

2009-11-12T09:52:00.005+08:00

Last week I had the privelage of visiting the E Grow factory, just south of Shanghai. They are responsible for producing all those fancy panels that make Frank Ghery and Hadid look like Gods. Their factory is small, but the production line is smooth. They've got robots for everything : and by robots, I mean people . . literally. The guys working in the factory, and on the computers were so fast, I couldn't catch them with my camera even if I tried.

my apartment !

2009-10-26T09:45:00.004+08:00

I moved into this apartment almost 5 months ago . . Upon arrival I couldn't event tell that the floors were made of wood ! All the walls were pink, the bed was just a mattress on the ground, and there wasn't even a spot for me to sit and work at my computer . . But I managed to swing an amazing deal with my landlord, with the promise that I would ' fix up ' the apartment and make it liveable. 5 months later I've managed to build a bed, acquire new furniture, paint the apartment, clean everything (I mean REALLLLY clean), and am slowly adding my personal decorating touch. It's starting to feel like home in this Shanghainese apartment . . and the best part ? It's in one of the oldest buildings in Shanghai !

A little more of Ningbo !

2009-10-25T10:11:00.004+08:00

A little more from Ningbo ! I've got to go back, this city was beautiful !!

Ningbo and the Oldest Library in China !

2009-10-25T10:00:00.007+08:00

Yesterday I took off on a small adventure with my class from HKU. Now, typically I hate travelling in groups this size . . But luckily for me once we reached Ningbo we were free to do whatever we wanted !

If you scroll down through the photos, you can see the longest oceanic bridge in the world (the Hangzhou Bay Bridge), the oldest library in China (in Ningo), and some incredbile Chinese detailing !

Shanghai Alleycat T-Shirts

2009-10-21T23:18:00.002+08:00

This is what they're going to look like ! Want one ? E-mail me and I'll save you one :)

Hero ? Just Maybe . .

2009-10-21T23:13:00.002+08:00

Rather than re-type out the story, check it out HERE

JZ Festival, 2009

2009-10-19T23:05:00.004+08:00

The JZ Music Festival was pretty damn sweet this year. I managed to make it out for a full day of music on Saturday, but only had time to take a few photos . . The rest of my time was spent listening to some great artists ! Enjoy :

Shanghai Alleycat 2009

2009-10-14T20:07:00.006+08:00

after months of hard work, it is finally here.

http://www.shanghaialleycat.com/

check it out ! maybe fly all the way over to shanghai to compete ? yeah !

People's Bike !

2009-10-14T20:02:00.004+08:00

updates, updates, updates.

check out the website HERE

chop stick structures !

2009-10-13T11:05:00.004+08:00

just a few selected photos from the Chop-Stick project we had to do . . there were some pretty crazy structures, and they were all super strong !

Happy Birthday China !

2009-10-12T16:15:00.002+08:00

So I know I'm a little late on posting this . .

But Happy Birthday China !!! You turned 60 on October 1st, 2009 - Congrats !

This photo pretty much sums up the atmosphere here in Shanghai :)

We Work Like Lab-Rats : Parametric Design Finals

2009-10-12T15:55:00.005+08:00

2 weeks ago we presented our two-weeks worth of work on parametric design . . The studio looked like a sweat-shop, with everyone working 24 hours a day to finish their physical models, renders, and drawings. Luckily, I managed to finish all of my work ! My final presentation was an attempt to demonstrate how interactions between thresholds, resources, and social densities can create a more interesting and unique living environment. Rather than explain more, just look at the pretty pictures :)

The studio.

My presentation !

My models !

TERROR

2009-10-12T15:53:00.002+08:00

At the end of September L.A.'s hardcore band TERROR rolled into Shanghai . . Needless to say I was able to snag just one photo, because the rest of the time I was stage diving into the packed crowd at Yuyintang.

It was an amazing night, and I walked away with a pretty badass t-shirt. Yeah !

we built this city : shanghai international marina

2009-09-25T16:43:00.004+08:00

On Thursday my class at HKU took a trip to the new Shanghai International Marina : an insanely huge space that has been designed to be the new ' Bund ' area. We had a private tour with the structural engineering team, as they showed us their inovations in steel structure and glass design : some of the techniques they were using are being done for the first time in the world ! I also got to head up the halfway-finished building that is going to be the new tallest building in Puxi; it provides one of the craziest views I have ever seen ! I only wish I had my fish-eye lens with me . .

The Forbidden City !

2009-09-22T15:09:00.004+08:00

When I visited the Forbidden City in Beijing with Jon, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day . . At times the sky was so blue, and at other times there were just enough clouds to shade my face and my camera lens. Needless to say, I got some pretty cool photos ! Way to many to choose from, so here are a few for now.

Xi'an !

2009-09-22T14:56:00.003+08:00

I made it down to Xi'an for a day, but soon after realized that if I truly want to explore this city I'll need at least another week . . This is one of the first cities in the world I have seen that has so many historical elements running through the city, but yet somehow EVERYTHING is under construction. When I go back I'll be sure to spend more time at the silk market !

The Great Wall of China !

2009-09-22T14:34:00.006+08:00

I'd like to think that these photos speak for themselves . . They are just a few of the many favourites I had from when Jon and I hiked the Great Wall of China for 2 days !! Eventually I plan on making a series out of a lot of these, I think in total I have about 500 of them ? :)

modelling movement with a laser cutter : round 2

2009-09-22T14:02:00.007+08:00

Here is another attempt to create a 3D spatial model that represents movement within a space . . Specifically how heightened movement occurs at points of central density, in relation to their distances between a threshold and a resource . . !!

modelling movement with a laser cutter

2009-09-22T10:20:00.010+08:00

After scripting how movement travels through space based on 3 parameters (threshold, amenity, and density), I came up with a series of pieces that I could play with to try and recreate what I had done on the computer . . Check it out !

URBN hotel : China's first 'carbon-neutral' building

2009-09-20T10:33:00.010+08:00

On Friday I had a field trip with my class to go visit URBN, China's first carbon-neutral anything. Funny thing is that it was designed by Raefer and A00, who I just spend 8 months working for . . So it was nice to finally see the project with my own eyes after hearing about it for so long. It is truly impressive, check out the photos !

getting 'punked' at HKU !

2009-09-17T14:32:00.003+08:00

This morning I rolled into the Architecture studio at HKU-SH, to find that my desktop photo had been changed . . As soon as it appeared on my monitor there was an outburst of laughter from all of the other students here. Apparently ' Keira L ' is the English name for one of the girls here in my class . . So what does that mean exactly ? Maybe one of two things : I've got a potential girl who wants to marry me, or I was punked . . !!

scripting in 3D

2009-09-16T17:57:00.002+08:00

My attempt to script the 'fluid movement of water' in 3D caused my computer to crash . . but at least I got a screenshot of all that hard work ! check it out :

scripting fluid movement

2009-09-16T17:39:00.015+08:00

This was my first attempt at ' parametric modeling ' using the Grasshopper plugin for Rhino 3D modeling . . The idea was to find a pattern on texture, document it, and then recreate it through the use of ' scripting ' - which is basically math based modeling. Have a look ! I will update my progress as I try to translate this into a 3D model instead of a 2D pattern.

' Best University in all of ASIA '

2009-09-16T14:49:00.011+08:00

For those of you that don't know, I was accepted to study at the Hong Kong University School of Architecture this term instead of continuing on with my class while they head to Rome. Luckily for me, HKU has a satellite campus for architecture right here in Shanghai ! Check out the photos of the school - it's a renovation project that took place inside Shanghai's old post office, located just north of the Bund, on the north side of the Suzhou river. And yeah, HKU is ' the best University in all of ASIA '. win !

my studio space !

Terracotta Warriors

2009-09-14T20:02:00.010+08:00

' The 8th Wonders of the World ! ' - They couldn't be more right. Just seeing the army in person blew my mind . . the photos really can't do it justice, but enjoy them just the same !

High Fives ! WIN

2009-09-14T12:13:00.014+08:00

My best buddy Jonathan Laurencic flew all the way from Toronto, Canada to come visit me in China . . And, well, I'd like to think of our adventures as a series of high fives. We managed to hit up Beijing and everything around it, Xi'an and the terracotta warriors, Shanghai and the city I have come to love, and Jon even managed to get himself over to Putuoshan.

Below is a series of high fives that can pretty much sum up most of our adventures . . More normal photos later !

High Fives ! FAIL

2009-09-14T12:05:00.010+08:00

To go along with all of the High Five WINS, there were definitely some fails . . check em out !

The Bowas come to CHINA !

2009-09-14T11:27:00.008+08:00

My mom, dad, and sister rolled into Shanghai at the end of July just in time for my birthday !

Let me tell you, it was amazing :) Although a little bit of a culture shock for them, we had a great time ! I took them around Shanghai to see all of the nice touristy things, up to Beijing to go and visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, and we even managed to squeeze in some time to have a birthday celebration with over 50 of my friends here.

I miss them already, but here are a few quick photos of us ! My sister took most of the photos, I only had my camera on me for part of the time.

CHustomake

2009-09-14T11:12:00.003+08:00

My old roomate and awesome friend Ella Chau has started this super cool clothing line here in Shanghai . . the clothes are kind of a mash between traditional Shanghainese clothes, and new urban streetwear. Anyways, I was one of her first models and as a result I am plastered all over her new website (which is still under construction). But hey, go check it out ! There are some pretty hilarious photos up there . .

Check it out here : http://www.chustomake.com/

let's start with bikes !

2009-09-14T10:19:00.011+08:00

So rather than spend about 100 posts on bike-related adventures and news, I'm going to try and cram everything in here into one post . . Now, where the hell do I start . .

BEIJING ALLEYCAT !

So way back in June I made my way from Shanghai to Beijing to compete in China's first ever alleycat race. Four of us were sponsored by Airwalk Fixed Gear to go represent Shanghai in the race and the bike polo competition. My riding partner, Rich, and I came 1st and 2nd in our division of the alleycat race : those competing not from Beijing. Not too bad !! My bike polo team, consisting of me, Rich, and Ed, came 1st place. In the end we walked away with a bunch of shoes that were too small for us, some free shirts, bags, and some other nice stuff too. I met some incredible people from all over China, and I can't wait to go visit most of them soon ! Since it was my first time in Beijing I basically rode around the entire city, but skipped on all of the tourist stuff knowing that I would return when my family came to visit . .

PEOPLE'S BIKE !

Most of my time has gone into a new website that I got up and running : http://www.peoplesbike.com/ - China's first official website related to fixed gear culture, bike culture, and bike polo - totally in English ! Rather than rant about all of the nice features the site has, just go check it out for yourself. The site is growing extremely fast as the number of daily visitors is rising everyday. I've got big plans for the site, and soon it will include an interactive map, more shop reviews, and a section to run Shanghai Messenger : a project I have been working on with my friend Mike. So go check it out !

INTERVIEWS !

Thanks to the launch of the new people's bike website, I've had the privelage of having a TON of interviews in magazines and online weblogs about what I'm up to in Shanghai . . Rather than post all of the links here, you can go find them on the people's bike website HERE. go now !

SHAVED BIKES !

Another project I have been working on with my friends Sebastian, Rich, and Chris is the launch of our very own fixed gear bikes : Shaved Bikes. We're still working on the website, and finalizing a bunch of things before we launch our little project to the world, but check out this quick little sample photo for now . .

I THINK THAT'S MOST OF IT ?

Yeah, I think so. Been pretty active lately with two night rides a week and one night of bike polo. As the weather slowly cools down we are having more and more people show up again to play bike polo, which is amazing ! Just stay tuned, I have big plans coming up for Shanghai's first ever Alley Cat race, along with the launch of my bike company.

it's been too long . .

2009-09-14T10:09:00.003+08:00

So I don't even know where to begin . . It's been almost 4 months since I last posted on here.

THANKS CHINA !

But seriously, my facebook, hotmail, blogspot, and all things internet-socializing related were blocked and it was out of my control.

I've got so many things to write about, so many photos to share, so stay tuned and keep checking back !

beijing alleycat race !!

2009-05-14T14:55:00.003+08:00

that's right : i'll be competing in beijing's first ever alleycat race next month, as part of the Airwalk Shanghai team.

all details can be found here : alleycat race

wish me luck !!

my favourites from suzhou !

2009-05-12T11:50:00.002+08:00

after posting the story about my trip to suzhou i remembered that i totally forgot to post my top favourite 4 photos !! the first 3 photos summarize suzhou in a nutshell for me, and the last summarizes the trip. enjoy!

suzhou : blood, sweat, but luckily no tears.

2009-05-12T10:31:00.008+08:00

on saturday, may 9th, 2009 i set out on a bike trip from shanghai to suzhou, china. my travel buddy and good friend chris came with me, as we endured the 45 degree celsius weather and pushed our pedals for over 300 KM . . enjoy the story !!

here is chris on saturday morning quickly looking over the map that was of absolutely no use to us . . instead we used our sense of direction to guide us across the open lands - we just knew that we had to head east, and a little bit to the north. we later found out that there is a direct highway called 'G312' that heads straight from shanghai to suzhou :)
taking our first break from the heat, we managed to find the smallest patch of shade in all of china. but hey, at least we got a little break ! refreshed with some water, and then we were back on the road.
this gem is an old golf course converted to family picnic park, about 2 hours outside of shanghai. my lungs could feel the difference in air quality that somewhat 'fresh' water and trees were producing. we plan on coming back here with some friends one weekend for a nice break from city life. i highly recommend!
so after just over 5 hours of biking at an average rate of 35 km/h, we made it to suzhou. we happened to find this great hotel that cost us pretty much nothing : about 15 canadian each for the night. it was located right downtown suzhou, and was pretty much brand new !! a steal and a half if you ask me :)

i was covered in sweat, a little burnt, and exhausted. can you tell ?

a demonstration of how dirty china is . . those legs aren't burnt, that's dirt.

after cleaning ourselves up and ditching our bikes in the hotel, we decided to take a walk through downtown suzhou. to our surprise, it was totally different than shanghai! there were no high-rise buildings, very little traffic, and everything was CLEAN. not to mention the multiple gardens and patches of trees everywhere !! truly a beautiful city.

naturally we couldn't just leave our bikes inside all day . .

we had to take them for a spin through suzhou!

this is one of the many stray dogs that kept following me in suzhou. for some reason, stray animals in china just seem to gravitate towards me . . cute though, right?
and at last, a photo of one of the many beautiful rivers / streams found in suzhou. this place really is the venice of china !
after a good nights rest, we woke up pretty early on sunday morning to bike through 'old suzhou'. this is the non-tourist part of suzhou, and probably the most worthwhile to check out. here is chris just taking a break on one of the ancient stone bridges.

chris' gorgeous bike.

sniped this guys from across the river. it seems that he too was suffering from the heat and humidity.

a local suzhou boy, carrying something that was clearly not tide.

my latest bike !! i'd like to take this chance to plug Airwalk fixed gear bikes. they hooked me up with this free bike just over a week ago, and i love it !! you can check out all their stuff here.
thanks to chris for this great photo - check out how white those legs are !! . . and yes, one footed skit with one leg over the TT bars, while in old suzhou . . classic.

one last shot of suzhou before heading back to shanghai !

on the bike back chris burst his rear tube after riding through glass . . luckily we were prepared and he had all the right tools and a spare tube to fix the problem!
biking through the sunset, back into shanghai. looking back it was an amazing trip! though short, i saw a lot of amazing stuff, and was able to make a few new friends along the way. if you are wondering why the title reads "blood, sweat, but luckily no tears" i think it's pretty self-explanatory . . i was obviously sweating, i obviously never cried, and yes - i crashed into a bus while in suzhou. BUT, i wasn't hurt, so it's not really worth writing about. thanks for reading!

let's do this !

2009-05-08T14:59:00.002+08:00

enlarge the map i pasted together from screenshots on google maps to see the route i will be taking !! wish me luck !!

HAVE HEART : boston hardcore

2009-05-08T10:41:00.005+08:00

last night i made it over to 'yu yun tang' for the first time. what a great venue !! my co-workers tell me that before being a live music club it used to be an orphanage. how sweet is that !! it's located near the corner of yan'an lu and zhongshan lu . . not that you really care, though :)

one of my favourite bands, have heart, happened to be playing : i found out the good news just over a week ago, and MAN was i ever pumped! all in all it was a great show, with a small friendly crowd and great opening acts. the guys in have heart were nice enough to let me take their photo afterwards, and they signed one of the tour posters for me to throw up in my apartment . . whenever i get one. they were such nice guys, and after talking for just a short amount of time i am happy to call them new friends. enjoy the photos! these are just a few from the many i took that night :)

'yu yin tang' - live music club !

this would be the tour poster that i had the band sign afterwards !

the walls of the club are littered with band flyers and posters . . just the way it should be.

catching the opening chord for have heart . . just amazing.

pat really tears up the stage, it's really enjoyable to watch.

an attempted stage dive into a crowd of 15 . . it worked to some degree !

shaking hands after an amazing set.

www.myspace.com/haveheart

good guys, great music, gorgeous faces . . yeah. check em out!

preparing for the weekend . .

2009-05-07T15:34:00.004+08:00

. . just under 200 KM, approximately 5 hours by bike, and i will be in another city by 2pm on saturday. yep, i plan on biking from shanghai to suzhou this saturday. i will be leaving at 7:00am in hopes of arriving in the city by 2pm at the latest . . i mean, somewhere along the way i will have to stop and drink some pocari sweat, right? :)

below are a series of photos that describe the finer details of the trip. enjoy !

this is chris. new friend, rad dude, and bike enthusiast. he will be my travel buddy for this trip. i sniped this photo of him at the x-games last weekend!
this is suzhou, china : the water city of china. i'm expecting to see a lot of streams, rivers, moats, and bridges. and according to the weather network, it should be close to 40 degrees celsius . . yessss time to burn! note : this is not my photo, but i plan on having a few hundred that turn out better than this one :)
naturally i'm going to need some tunes for the road. every time i die will be at the top, middle, and bottom of the playlist. the ipod has been fixed : let's do this!
fixed gear bike. i just got my new bike on friday, courtesy of airwalk custom fixed gear bikes. the one featured in the photo above is not mine, since i haven't had time to photograph my own yet. but mine is much nicer, i can assure you of that. regardless, you get the picture.
finally, and maybe most importantly the BAG. i finally managed to pick myself up a nice messenger style carrying bag : what a life-saver when it comes to riding !! i'll have it packed full of fresh t-shirts, socks, boxers, some camera gear, sunscreen, and a few bottles of pocari sweat . . did i mention how much i love that stuff yet? we're working on getting them to sponsor our bike polo league and fixed gear crew :)

wish me luck! i''ll be sure to take too many photos that it takes me a week to get around to uploading a few. cheers!

it's been 4 months . .

2009-05-07T11:52:00.003+08:00

crazy, right ?? it's 4 months to the day that i landed in shanghai, china . . .

i never thought i would have been able to experience so much and do so many things in such a short amount of time. especially in a foreign city !

at first i found it impossible to learn chinese, but now i'm doing alright ! in fact, i think i'm doing pretty well for myself :) i can give directions, order food, make comments, and hold down a quick 2 minute conversation ! not too bad, not too bad.

the photo above is from the top of the pearl tower in pudong : you see that sea of buildings and smog? yep, it's where i think i will be spending the next year of my life . . if things go according to plan, i will be here for longer than expected. more work, more school, more work. but i love it !

big thanks to everyone that has helped me since i arrived : rdd, raefer, sacha, minnie, felicia, cindy, jim, ella, max, alex, ryan, ed, chris, ken, mace, rich, linda, alex, vic, haze, karl, gen, jerrica, everyone over at speedcat, david from airwalk bicycles, morgan, ineka, lili, all the sponsors for bike polo, andy, dom, mike, gary, ashley, simon, dan, bob, michelle, everyone who comes out to support shanghai bike polo, all media sources, . . i think you get the idea. without the people i have met here i don't think i could have done half the things i have been able to do !! so thank you everyone, and thanks to all of you that keep sending me thoughtful e-mails :) they make my day !!

i'm hoping as of tomorrow to start doing at least 1, if not 2 posts a day. i get a lot of feedback about my blog, and a lot of interest . . so why not post more ?? :)

anyways, thanks again to everyone i have met here : you are all truly amazing people and have taught me so much. and most importantly, thanks to my loving family : mom, dad, and bailey for all of the loving support.

stay tuned! more adventures coming soon :)

pocari sweat . . WIN.

2009-05-06T15:15:00.003+08:00

seriously, this stuff is saving my life. it hit above 30 degrees celsius today in the office, with 90% humidity and no air conditioning . . i managed to find these 3 massive bottles at the local 'kedi' and had finished 2 of them before i was out the door. big thanks to otsuka pharmaceutical for producing this life-saving drink.

x-games photos : round 2 !

2009-05-06T14:03:00.002+08:00

ok! so after countless e-mails since the first batch of photos were put up, here are a few more :) enjoy !!

KIA x-games, china, 2009 !

2009-05-06T10:30:00.004+08:00

so! i managed to make it out to the 2009 KIA x-games here in shanghai this past saturday. it was actually a 4-day event, starting thursday and finishing on sunday. we managed to score some free passes to check out the events on saturday, which included : vert skate, blade, and motocross jump. not too bad !! these are just some of the many photos i took, but unfortunately i wasn't able to score myself a photography pass - all photos were taken from the spectator area. if you look at the two photos of us (me, chris, marco, ed, frederico) hanging out, you might be able to notice that the official food sponsors were burger king and doritos . . with the only beverage option being mountain dew . . citrus . . needless to say the humidity was at 100%, and we were stuck waiting between events under the sea of golf umbrellas. good times!

playing for change !

2009-05-05T14:15:00.001+08:00

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

this truly made my day today . . had me in tears near the end, had me thinking about my entire life, it pretty much punched right through my soul !! enjoy :)

a thousand splendid suns

2009-05-04T16:31:00.003+08:00

so i picked this up at a small bookstore here in shanghai yesterday morning. i have to say, that so far it is AMAZING. i am about a third of the way through the book, and it is truly incredible. get your hands on a copy - you won't be disappointed !!

my baby !

2009-04-27T11:32:00.003+08:00

i just realized i haven't posted any photos of my polo fixie yet . .

here is a quick snap of it, more to come later!

i made the front page of the most popular site in shanghai !!!

2009-04-24T13:53:00.002+08:00

that's right . . somehow i squeezed in an interview with morgan short from smartshanghai.com about the shanghai bike polo league.

you can read the whole thing here : sweeeeeet interview

thanks to everyone that supports the league !! hope to see some of you out on saturday :)

i have made history in shanghai !!

2009-04-23T09:47:00.001+08:00

check out the video !!!

Making history in Shanghai - 1st SH bike polo game from CHistyle on Vimeo.

more info up on the blogspot here : shanghaibikepolo.blogspot.com

thanks for all the support !!

bike polo was a success !!

2009-04-22T14:35:00.001+08:00

thanks to everyone who came out and made this event possible !! i am happy to announce that we will be hosting our second event THIS saturday !!

the sun will be shining, so get those mallets swinging !!

earth day shanghai !!

2009-04-21T11:44:00.004+08:00

if you happen to be in shanghai, come celebrate earth day with us !!

i'll be doing a little drumming up on the rooftop, so i KNOW you want to come support :)

here is the link to the details : EARTH DAY SHANGHAI

hope to see some of you there !! it's going to be a great event !!

my work has been published !

2009-04-19T20:25:00.001+08:00

that's right! check it out here !! pages 14, 15 and 16 !!

the magazine is a great read - so spend some time and check out the entire thing !

will upload photos of the hard copy when i have them :)

meat and a dance off

2009-04-16T09:47:00.002+08:00

so last friday we went to this pretty incredible restaurant called '1001 nights'. the food was amazing, there was so much of it, and generally everyone had a good time all around. after all was said and done, we naturally made our way over to the local hangout - CS. for some reason, my dance skills always seem to impress wherever i go, and that night was no exception ! i ended up having a dance battle with that asian guy in the photo, and somehow was able to lean back far enough to put my head on the ground. win.

pollution.

2009-04-15T23:10:00.003+08:00

i always wondered how shanghai became so dirty and so polluted. then one day i looked up.

my new apartment in shanghai !!

2009-04-15T22:51:00.006+08:00

so i just finished shaving off (or rather trimming) my month long beard, and at the same time decided to cut myself a nice wide mohawk - with plans of growing it into a mullet at the back. pretty rad!

that's right ! this is my place :)

ella and i are currently on the hunt for a new roomate, after asking our other one to leave. we had some differences, but things are ok now : so if you like what you see, drop me a line ! the rent is cheap, and the place is awesome. enjoy the tour via photographs :

the entrance to our place is guarded with a steel door. bombs couldn't even penetrate this bad boy.

can you believe it ?? check out that class : one nice great room, totally decked out!

looking back towards the front door, you can see the beautiful shelving unit i put together, along with a sample shot of my new fixed gear bike, and the totally rad art piece i made out of old cd booklets!

notice the massive 3 person desk we made out of glass and a few legs from ikea. i then found the bricks and extra glass at a construction site, and made shelves! o, our couches are camo as well . . i bet that's something you have NEVER seen . . yeah, me either. also, theres a massive outdoor patio behind that wall to wall curtain, that covers the wall to wall door + window combo.

again, look at those amazing couches :)

the door to ella's room . . she has her own private bathroom, naturally.

ella's room !

this is the little entry space that has the door to my room, the door to our shared bathroom, and the door to simons room . . it's classy.

straight up, this is my room. i bet you like that pink silk comforter, don't you? well, it was the cheapest at the market i went to, and it's pretty manly. so is the tiger tapestry i have on my wall :)

this is simon's room, or rather the room that's up for grabs. 1900 kuai a month - do it up!

the entry shot to our kitchen - notice the patio off the back? pretty sick.

kitchen veiw number two.

this is my cat, her name is king. she's the best.

the blue chair

2009-04-15T22:30:00.003+08:00

this restaurant is slowly becoming one of my favourites here in shanghai. they serve amazing coffee, delicious sandwiches, and have a sweet outdoor patio right on xiangyang lu !!

this photo was taken on saturday afternoon when i met up with ryan from detroit (on the left), ed from new zealand (one in the middle) and ken from singapore (far right). we are the founders of the shanghai fixed gear crew, and this was our first legitimate meeting . . man, were the sandwiches and beer good :)

crowd surfing anyone?

2009-04-15T22:25:00.003+08:00

so saturday morning i went for a quick ride around my neighbourhood in Xu Ja Hui . . i decided to get off of my bike to check out a few stores, then suddenly i roll around the corner into THIS. needless to say i wish i had a friend there with me to boost me up so i could crowd surf my way down the street . . that would have been truly bad ass !

shredding tires

2009-04-15T22:19:00.002+08:00

so it finally happened . . i tore through my first rear tire here in shanghai. i somehow managed to burst the air tube as well . . ugh, o well !! good thing i wasn't hurt :)

shanghai bike polo : launch party!

2009-04-14T14:37:00.003+08:00

that's right : i finally got around to setting everything up for our launch debut here in china.

i guess all i can say is . . wish me luck? i'll report back on how things go :)

but for now, check out my other two latest blogspots : shanghaifixedgear and shanghaibikepolo

thanks!

a new gear

2009-04-10T10:56:00.003+08:00

so as most of you know, i purchased a fixed gear bike here in shanghai . .

i am slowly finishing the bike myself, and upgrading it at the same time.

here is my first purchase for the bike : a new gear! made custom by the boys at speedcat.

shanghai bike polo

2009-04-08T00:13:00.000+08:00

that's right, i finally got around to starting up a page for bike polo in shanghai.

i'm going to use it to try and gain interest, and slowly develop some sort of league over here in china! from what i know so far, it would be the first bike polo league EVER in china . . could this be the making of history? who knows . .

but head on over to the page i created to read more : shanghaibikepolo.blogspot.com

thanks so much!

Timothy James Morrow

2009-04-03T16:53:00.003+08:00

so i just finished a new myspace design for my friend Timothy James Morrow.

using a photo he had of himself, combined with my superb photoshop skills and some of my own photos, i was able to throw together a pretty nice design for him!

you can check out his music here : Timothy James Morrow and you can also buy his album through itunes !!

cheers.

' A Classic Piece of ART '

2009-04-03T13:07:00.004+08:00

ok so this is pretty damn awesome. just about half an hour ago i went out to lunch with my co-workers and we decided to hit up McDonalds . . it was a first time for a few of them :)

while i'm sitting enjoying my tasty big mac, i see this homeless man across the room - he won't stop staring at me . . i kind of brush it off, i'm used to it by now here in china. about 5 minutes later he comes hobbling over to my table, and shows me a sketch that he had drawn of me. in chinese he asks if he can finish it by sitting a little closer, so i say no problem! he finishes the sketch, then tells me he wants 50kuai for it (about 8 bucks canadian) . . i tell him it's too much, and all i have is 10 kuai . . he then proceeds to tell me in english, that this is ' a classic piece of ART ' and actually spells "A R T " on a piece of paper to show me :)

after another minute of bargaining, he realizes i won't pay more than 10 kuai (about 1.75 canadian) . . so he settles for that.

in all, i was able to support the homeless in shanghai while snagging myself a classic piece of art !!

brighter brightest !

2009-04-02T10:53:00.003+08:00

ok so as most of you know music is a big part of my life. i listen to it all day at work, on my rides to and from work, and usually when i am in my apartment . . yep, pretty much never a quiet moment for me!

anyways, i've been really fond of Brighter Brightest lately - a new powerpop band out of aurora. i figure that if you don't know them by now, you probably should take a listen here Brighter Brightest. listen and love the songs! they are great guys, and i wish them all the best!

CONTRASTS 2009 : vip fashion show!

2009-04-01T17:52:00.005+08:00

Ok, so this is pretty awesome. I managed to score tickets from my boss's wife to go check out what I thought was just a student exhibition here in Shanghai. I invited Max to come along with me, it happened last Friday night.

We arrive in Pudong at the Raffles Design Institute, only to walk into a GIANT industrial size space with exhibitions everywhere. Little did we know we had VIP passes . . . We were given small gift bags each, and had reserved seats 3 rows back from the edge of the runway !! Best seats in the house !! Before the fashion show we were just wandering around, looking at all the work : which ranged from architecture, to interior design, to industrial design, to fashion. Because we are both so tall and dashingly good looking, everyone wanted photos with us in front of various displays and on the red carpet . . good thing we dressed for the occasion !! It was pretty funny actually, and a little overwhelming.

Anyways, check out these photos. Unfortunately they are not mine . . I HAD videos on my phone, which if you read the post below this one, it was stolen the next day and I hadn't uploaded the videos yet. o well !! Also, check out how awesome our seats were : I managed to find Max and I in a photo !! :)

my first bike trip in china !!

2009-04-01T16:58:00.004+08:00

Alright ! so for starters, if you are going to follow this post, you should probably open the image above in a new link so you can see the map of shanghai in a little more detail . .

So this past weekend I managed to take my bike for a nice little ride on Saturday . . I woke up around 8 am, and hit the road. The RED dot on the map is where I live : right near the indoor stadium in Xu Ja Hui. From the RED dot I headed east towards the river, where I got a little lost around the Lupu Bridge - which is the GREEN dot. I happened to spot a sign that looked like it was a ferry boat, and after a little searching and some incredibly good chinese dialect skills I was on board a small ferry packed with just pedestrians and guys on motorcycles / scooters.

Having no idea where the ferry was headed (and it only costing one kuai, 50 mau - the equivalent of 30 cents canadian) I was pretty surprised when it moved up river and dropped me off at the Nanpu Bridge, in Pudong - which is the BLUE dot.

From there I biked through the slums of Pudong towards the PURPLE dot, which is Century Square. Let me tell you, the slums were pretty depressing . . For the most part I can honestly say that one out of every five children was missing at least one limb, or had severe skin infections that mutilated their bodies . . but somehow, every child still managed to be full of life and never stopped smiling! Truly an amazing experience. From the slums I continued north as mentioned towards the PURPLE dot, which also happens to be the site for many of the projects being built for the world expo in 2010. Yep, I pretty much checked out all of the buildings in their entirety, pretty awesome!

From there I headed towards the YELLOW dot, where I caught a subway in Pudong before heading back over to Puxi. Somewhere along the ride, in between the masses of people, my fake iphone was stolen out of my bag. *note, I did not realize until a little later*. That is why I have no videos to attach with this post . . They were all on my phone! Along with the photos from the VIP fashion show I went to on Friday . . More on that later . . Anyways :

From the YELLOW dot I headed towards People's Square, and then back towards the RED dot (home base). In all I think the entire trip took me just about 6 hours, including stops to grab a few drinks and to grab some lunch. Not too bad!

This upcoming weekend I happen to not have plans for Saturday or Sunday, so I have decided to bike all the way to Suzhou - the neighboring province to Shanghai. If you are familiar with China, this is the 'water' city - kind of the Venice of China. Google maps tells me that it takes 1 and a half hours to get there by car, or 23 hours walking . . so I figure I can make the trip in about 5-6 hours on my bike : spend the night : and then bike back the next day. This time I will be sure to have my camera with me !! :)

a birthday celebration!

2009-03-30T11:06:00.004+08:00

so alex had a birthday on the weekend . . we all went out for dinner and drinks, and celebrated with a little cake and live music in the streets!

we totally forgot that alex was lactose intolerant . . we bought him a cheesecake.

my first apartment in shanghai!

2009-03-30T10:53:00.003+08:00

so i finally managed to dig up these photos . .

i stayed in this apartment for the first month that i was in shanghai.

will post photos of my new place when i get a chance!

(note the amazing tiger tapestry on the wall - one of my favourite purchases in china to date!)

benny benassi!

2009-03-16T11:55:00.003+08:00

so i managed to make my way over to bar rouge on friday the 13th to see the legendary benny benassi . .

his set was amazing!! these are just a few quick photos for now, will post a few more once i get my hands on them. enjoy!

blast from the past : the grand canyon

2009-03-15T22:40:00.003+08:00

so tonight i was cleaning up my external hard-drives and came across the photos from my trip to the grand canyon . . what an AMAZING trip that was :)

if you haven't seen the photo from my site alreay, here it is : my favourite one from the entire trip . .

and of course, because i know both erik and tyler read this blog, one of the three of us :)

Greennovate shoot !

2009-03-14T23:20:00.007+08:00

so this is just a SMALL sample from the 'greennovate' office shoot i did today . . just a teaser until i have time to post more photos :)

the office is great, and really cool! check out greennovate here : http://www.greennovate.org/

the photos from the shoot will be featured in the next issue of china's eco-magazine. more details later! enjoy these three photos for now :

the platinum blonde

2009-03-10T22:10:00.004+08:00

you know how it goes . .

when in china, do as the chinese !! and that means cheap hair cuts and dye jobs :)

figured blonde would be a fun change for now, next month : blue ?

enjoy !

brick laying? or brick painting . .

2009-03-08T18:38:00.003+08:00

so i discovered china's little trick . . instead of actually laying bricks, just paint walls to make it look like bricks!! . . this guy did an entire street - pretty impressive.

a shout-out to moneen

2009-03-06T11:06:00.004+08:00

so i'm sitting here in my office in shanghai, and i get this e-mail from one of my good friends in new zealnd : danny. here is what he has to say :

' hey booooy!!!

had a great time in melbourne at that soundwave music festival i told you about, and just a general good time.

wanted to tell you about moneen.

so fuck all people at moneen stage, maybe 100 and i thought it would suck cause they would be gutted that nobody was there to watch. they just went mental and played their hearts out and got the crowd going, took some floor toms into the crowd for people to use to try and keep the beat in 'passing of america' honestly the best performance i have ever seen. smashed up stuff at the end too, guitars and drums going everywhere. said genuine things to the crowd and stuff. they probably had the smallest crowd of the day and put the most into it.

it was such a massive inspiration to see how much they love it, not for the money or fame or anything, just because they enjoy it.

i will never forget it, and thats why i love canadians!!! "

figured some people reading my blog would appreciate that :)

The Bricklayers : tbe best basketball team EVER.

2009-03-04T15:33:00.003+08:00

so here is a photo of my basketball team in Shanghai, minus max (he was away in hong kong). from left to right we have : me, alex, tristan, ryan, kris, sylus, mike, victor, and cole. will keep updates on our season here, but we lost our home opener (also our first game playing together).

a long lost video from chinese new year

2009-02-28T16:11:00.003+08:00

so i found this video on my phone the other day . . turns out it was from when kris and i went to pearl village to see all of the lanterns. keep in mind the video was recorded at my eye level - so you can experience what it feels like for me to walk through a crowd in china ! enjoy :

IKEA : china style

2009-02-28T16:05:00.003+08:00

so the other day i went to IKEA to pick up some things for my apartment . . NEVER EVER DO THIS - especially on a saturday . . i waited in line for almost 3 hours in the masses of easily over a thousand people . . check out the quick little video (terrible quality) to see what i mean !

a house-warming party !

2009-02-23T10:06:00.000+08:00

so on saturday my house-mates and i had a little party to break in the new place. in all, i think there were about 15 of us enjoying some delicious home-cooked meals, playing a casual game of kings, and then we all went out to the bars. good times all around, will post more pictures once i find them !

everyone waiting for taxis !

from left to right : ryan, myself, max and alex !

from left to right : kora, gen, jerri, ella (one in white, roomate #1) and myself !

twenty - six : a sample 2

2009-02-22T17:07:00.000+08:00

. . so this is being posted because jon thought that i wasn't showing the world enough of the photos that i have been taking . . this is just one more sample for the book 'twenty-six' . . again, more details on that later - so for now, jon, enjoy the photo ! and please grow one of these :

twenty - six : a sample

2009-02-22T14:54:00.000+08:00

as i mentioned in an earlier post, i plan on publishing a book while i am over here . .

the pending title is ' twenty - six ' . .

more details on the book itself, and the working title later :)

for now, here is a sample photo to give you an idea !!

video time !!

2009-02-22T14:22:00.001+08:00

here is a video from the 'bowling cupids' ordeal . .

this was right after leaving the bowling lanes, before going to the club :)

watch the video here

bikes

2009-02-20T14:42:00.000+08:00

as soon as i save up the money, i'll be buying a fixed gear bicycle to get myself around town. bikes are the most popular form of transportation here in shanghai !

bowling cupids 2 !!

2009-02-19T17:25:00.001+08:00

as promised, here are some more photos - courtesy of alex !! enjoy :

so many people.

suspenders.

rudtastic.

takin care of business.

dogger dan.

it's all about the leggings.

glasses !

2009-02-19T09:51:00.000+08:00

as most of you know, i finally got myself some glasses to use while i am on the computer.

photo credit to joe liao ! thanks dude !

bowling cupids

2009-02-16T14:21:00.000+08:00

valentines day !

what a great idea : round up all the singles you know, suit up, and head to the bowling lanes . . and of course finish the night off at club muse !!

more photos coming soon (once i get my hands on them).

all in all, i think we had about 50 people at the bowling lanes . . AWESOME.

penetration.

2009-02-12T13:48:00.000+08:00

western culture has a deep influence on the chinese : example.

chinese lanterns

2009-02-12T10:07:00.000+08:00

these just litter the streets of shanghai around this time of year. enjoy !

sorry i haven't been updating!!

2009-02-09T16:30:00.001+08:00

so as some of you know, i was pretty sick for the last week and a bit . .

unfortunately i didn't get around to making updates, but i SHOULD be back on top of things now :)

starting tomorrow i'll try again for about one post a day.

for now, here is a photo of myself, kris, sara and max on chinese new years!!

M2 : ringing in the new year !

2009-01-26T11:34:00.000+08:00

this club is insane. that's all you need to know. watch the videos!

this is the team huddle . . we ordered 24 shots, and it cost us about 35 bucks canadian :)

wait until about halfway through the video, then you can actually see human figures.

again, wait until the end of the video - you can see what could quite possibly be the worlds largest disco ball.

fireworks + new years : you 'aint seen nothin yet

2009-01-26T11:16:00.000+08:00

nothing can describe the chinese new years celebration. let's have fireworks 24 hours a day, for a month straight! . . terrible idea . . and we're not talking about small fireworks here . . there might as well be world war three going on right now. BUT, it is a ton of fun :) my friends and i managed to go to the craziest club in all of shanghai before the new year (the next post will contain the videos from said club), and we had one of the best pre-parties you could imagine. here are a few photos :

you're looking at 23 massive beers, and one bottle of 'goju' - which has 52% alcohol in it, and really should be used for cleaning windows. grand total ? 16 bucks canadian :)

our first few attempts to light fireworks off of my roof were flawed .. but we slowly got better.
o, and see that handsome dude on the right? yep, that's kris kenney, all the way from korea. from left to right we've got sarah, linda (my roomate), max, and kris !

this is what i like to call teamwork.

the fire dance.

so we bought this ring of 10,000 firecrackers . . bad idea.

i'm fairly certain that by this point all 5 of us had blood running from our ears.

costumes

2009-01-23T12:06:00.000+08:00

surprisingly, this is quite normal.

especially for little kids - they love dressing up!

old chinese men

2009-01-22T15:15:00.000+08:00

i love these guys.

the book i'm putting together is going to feature photos of both 'the young and the old'.

this is just a quick sample, but i plan on touching it up and throwing it up on my site! also, i plan on having my new website up soon : with retouched material, and lots of new stuff!

dancing in shanghai!

2009-01-20T12:05:00.000+08:00

even late at night, people are still dancing in the streets . .

King for a Day

2009-01-20T11:58:00.001+08:00

literally . .

so i travelled to this small town about 3 hours away from shanghai called "tongxiang". i would say about 90% of the people living there had never seen a white person in their entire lives! we went there to check out some new developments that are going on, and as the title of this entry states i was treated like a king.

the central business building (and only one for that matter) had some o

f the most beautiful women working there. from the moment i stepped inside, they couldn't take their eyes off of me, and i couldn't stop laughing. the whole time they were trying to secretly take photos with their phones, until finally my translator (they don't speak mandarin there) introduced me to all of them. it was great. we took photos, exchanged e-mails, numbers, and then they all left their jobs to take me out to dinner.

everywhere we went in town, it was stare after stare haha. but

everyone was so nice! i would flash a smile, and get about 50 in return. i also met this 80 year old man working construction there that had never met a white person, so i talked with him for a while and it made his day. photos of him will be up soon. for now, here are a few of the women i met :

Shanghai by Night - 001

2009-01-20T11:33:00.000+08:00

i figure that i should be posting images of what shanghai looks like at night . . so here is the first of MANY that will appear on my blog. this one is from an elevated subway platform!

Roast Duck and Pig Feet

2009-01-20T10:43:00.000+08:00

so my co-workers took me out for a very traditional dinner : roast duck and pig feet.

the duck was AMAZING. it will probably end up being one of my favourite dishes to eat. pig feet was ok, basically like a chicken wing but way bigger :) again, i apologize for the low video quality.

Roast Duck

Pig Feet

KTV - saturday at it's best

2009-01-17T21:16:00.000+08:00

so this is asian karaoke !! you rent out a room with your friends, its a full-on buffet, and you can do whatever you want . . literally! haha. i figure that i should take advantage of the video recorder on my phone, so i'm going to start doing video blogs everyday too. i apologize in advance for the first few videos because it wasn't until i got home tonight that i figured out how to make the video high quality instead of super low . . so the rest will be better! enjoy!

KTV - part 1

KTV - part 2

KTV - part 3

The Shelter

2009-01-16T11:42:00.000+08:00

this place is becoming my home away from home . . my "phils" so to say . .

pigs head

2009-01-15T13:58:00.001+08:00

- saw this bad boy at the local market . . a pigs head cut in half! -

FC Five

2009-01-15T10:32:00.000+08:00

these guys are coming to shanghai . . im pumped !

cats

2009-01-14T11:43:00.000+08:00

been thinking of adopting one from a shelter . . thoughts?

they are just too cute :)