by cyleodonnellDecember 16, 2013 Update
Hey Travel Geekers,
Next week I’ll be back in Malaysia for the umpteenth time for a short weekend doing visa paperwork. But while I’m there, I’ll more than likely run into something cool to film. So maybe I’ll do an update from the road. Those of you who caught the documentary that I filmed in Penang might enjoy seeing more of it from a different angle.
In other news, for those who have been following my video and Facebook updates on my recent filming junkets in Northern Thailand and Laos, I’ll start editing the footage from the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and northern hill tribes of Laos and Thailand after I return.
It will be fun finally getting these out since, all told, I’ve been back and forth filming in this area since the end of 2009.
These won’t start releasing until after the New Year 2014, and will only be about half of what I have planned for my docs in Laos and Cambodia.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3vFnpxoIPw&w=560&h=315]
Then, hopefully around March, I’ll finally complete filming down the Mekong, through the Ho Chi Minh Trail (and other war-torn areas that I talked about in my latest Laos update) and down into Cambodia where I’ll be completing a focus piece on the freshwater Irrawaddy Dolphins living just south of the border.
Their numbers are in huge decline. So this will be a bittersweet trip, encompassing not just the awe of seeing freshwater dolphins for the first time (not to mention a rare opportunity), but also to film these creatures in what may well be their remaining years in existence. Hopefully I will be able to add my footage to the pool of collective media behind this wholly necessary movement to save them from extinction.
It will be as important as anything I’ve ever done. And so when that time comes, I’ll hope to call on my 35,000 readers and friends and social networks and contacts and those who have enjoyed my efforts in documenting international cultures and causes these last ten years.
Help me get the word out and maybe we can help the impoverished people of Cambodia and these amazing creatures in one fell swoop, by increasing the eco-tourism to the area and decreasing the need for net fishing along this fragile strip of waters.
More to come on that. It’s going to be an exciting year!
Thanks for spending it with me!
Journal 54: Back from Macau
So I just returned from the Macau and Hong Kong trip and I feel like I have been walking through the desert for weeks. I can’t believe how exhausted I am. I don’t know if it’s because I am getting older or because the area is so small that visitors feel they can walk the entire thing and not be completely wasted afterward.
But I can assure you, I am completely wasted.
Having said that, though, I can also say that I have seen the entirety of what Macau has to offer and, as always, I enjoyed my time in Hong Kong.
I only spent one day in Hong Kong this time, but it was great to get out and do a photo-walk of my favorite places thereabouts.
I visited an old friend in the market north on Nathan Road and I got to do one of my favorite things on Hong Kong Island, which was to ride the double-decker buses and shoot the views from above. And I even ate at one of my coveted places – Agave.
I haven’t eaten good Mexican food in a long time. So it was a welcomed visit to the restaurant.
As always, it was very expensive. But I think that I came away with some great experiences. And the film that is currently in post-production will be released soon – hopefully by Sunday.
Well, this is just a short journal to highlight the upcoming media from the trip. And I also wanted to make the point of apologizing that I have not been able to release my book as planned.
I guess I just bit off more than I could chew with everything going on and also trying to stay on top of the release. I will hopefully be able to squeeze it in there with all my edits (photo and film) for the upcoming documentary.
And then, of course, there’s the long-awaited Taiwan Documentary that I have been filming for and working on since January this year (2012).
So there’s lots happening. And I hop that this weekend greets you all well and that I can get this film out, get the book released, give away my free copies to all promised recipients and then get on to finishing the Taiwan documentary.
Until then, I will be steadily and dedicatedly working!
Headed for Macau
Greetings all.
As the journals from the Philippines unfold, I will be headed to yet another filming trip in the Chinese Special Administration Region (SAR) of Macau. I hope to be taking a chopper over to Hong Kong. But that might not be in the cards. But that might pale in comparison to the plans I have for diving off the tallest bungee experience in the world — the Macau Tower.
The video below details the gear that I will be bringing along for the ride and using for filming, blogging and hopefully releasing a video while I’m there.
The journals from the Philippines will still be released. In fact, the last journal is slated for April 4 at 1pm EST. So at that point I should be prepped to announce the book release and be finished with all the journals from the Southeast Asia portion of the blog.
Far East Asia is being filmed and documented now and I hope to have much more of that by the end of the year. But until then, enjoy the rest of the SEA journals and I will see you stateside!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRBpoW4R-cU&w=1280&h=720]
New Photos from the Philippines, 2nd album
Okay, so here is the second album of recently edited photos. This is the rough draft editing stage of the photos. The final drafts will be edited all together in a batch process and then uploaded to the commercial website. So you’re getting the sneak preview before the photography page gets updated.
In this album, the elderly people taken in HDR are from the hill tribes living in the mountains. The beautiful lady trying to hide her face from the camera was so shy that her friends made her take the photograph. She very reluctantly and uncomfortably sat as I snapped these shots of her. I gave her a warm thanks and a fist full of cash afterward. And they wounldn’t let me leave without getting a shot of the tattoos that she acquired in her time in the hills. The tribes people decorated themselves back then and are strangely embarrassed of it now. The older gentleman sat proudly and let me take this shot even though the youngsters around him were laughing and pointing. He seemed not to mind.
Be sure to click the images and make them larger. The detail that comes out in HDR when you’re looking at the larger image reveals much more detail than a thumbnail. Tremendous range is exposed in this technique of photography — which is responsible for giving the photos that “dreamy” feel to them. The mountain shots have so much old-worldy feel to them in these shots. There are many more that will make it to the commercial site, but these will have to do to start.
Take a look and be sure to leave me comments on what you think!
The Many Masks of the Travel Geek
In this short film I discuss the mask collection that I have been putting together throughout my travels around the world. Most of the masks that I currently have, came from countries within Southeast Asia. However, a mask I bought in Hong Kong, was actually made and brought there for sale by a very nice lady from Kathmandu, Nepal. Hopefully I will continue to collect these masks as they do a great job of speaking to the history and culture from which they came. In a manner of speaking, they put a face to their cultural meaning.
Travel Geek Short: Speaking with Ben: An Interview in the Philippines
During my trip to the Philippines, I created a feature length film, Travel Geek: Documentary Philippines. While I had to keep the interviews to a brief, few minutes on the film, the actual footage of the interviews were much longer. And because of their telling and impactful insights they offer into the Filipino culture and daily life, I wanted to also release this footage.
Thanks, Ben for your informative and candid conversation.
documentary philippines: interview with bert
During my trip to the Philippines, I created a feature length film, Travel Geek: Documentary Philippines. While I had to keep the interviews to a brief, few minutes on the film, the actual footage of the interviews were much longer. And because of their telling and impactful insights they offer into the Filipino culture and daily life, I wanted to also release this footage.
Thanks, Bert, for your informative and candid conversation.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzz167TT_O4]
Documentary Philippines: Interview with Joe
During my trip to the Philippines, I created a feature length film, Travel Geek: Documentary Philippines. While I had to keep the interviews to a brief, few minutes on the film, the actual footage of the interviews were much longer. And because of their telling and impactful insights they offer into the Filipino culture and daily life, I wanted to also release this footage.
Thanks, Joe for your informative and candid conversation.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h95SBjQ0-D8]
Travel Geek: Documentary Philippines Out Now
Greetings all,
For about a month now, I have been working on my latest film, Travel Geek: Documentary Philippines. And after releasing it in six parts, getting feedback, critiques and comments, I have done the final edits and produced the final draft. But the story doesn’t end there.
Recently after I released it on Youtube, I got an email from a TV station in Los Angeles indicating that they wanted to pick it up for a spot on their new FIL/AM TV Channel 31 in their San Bernadino and L.A. viewership areas. FIL/AM Channel 31 is a Filipino-American TV entertainment channel providing 24-7 coverage of news and entertainment from and for Filipinos living in California.
I was honored to accept their offer and I will be sure to make updates as they come in. Hopefully I will be able to get a schedule of times it will be aired, and I will post that here and on my social networks.
Please enjoy this film as it has meant a lot to me.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSn9e6xz4Xo]
Operation Mayhem
http://youtu.be/bUl4CQ7o8Ks
Imagine that all that is taught to you is wrong. Now imagine that all you learn for yourself must be the truth. No one guides you to yourself. Why should anyone guide you to a god? To a political party? To the right to be happy? To be free? These are intrinsic to us. It’s the leaders that tell us we should seek these out under their terms. Expose the lies. ALL the lies. And support others who do as well.
