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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!

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Author Spotlight: On Gordon Mathews

Today’s Author Spotlight from the Travel Geek, is Gordon Mathews.  He wrote a book called Ghetto at the Center of the World.  This book really appealed to me since I bought it while I was staying at the Chunking Mansion — the location the book discusses.  It’s an odd place, that’s for sure.  But nowhere near as odd as it becomes in Mathew’s world.

He’s a professor at Hong Kong University and has studied the place by staying at a room there (I think I read) at least once a week for three years preceding the book’s release — and presumably even longer.  And while I don’t want to spoil it for you, I also don’t want you not knowing what an amazingly telling non-fiction this book really is.

From interviews with sex workers to anonymous inspirations from heroine traffickers, Mathews really digs in deep — almost as would an investigative journalist with a penchant for the underworld.  And in that, he brings to the surface all the gritty details of the amazing goings-on with the big, white elephant stationed at the heart of the world’s foremost megatropolis.

Be sure to visit my photography website for HDR photos of Hong Kong.  And support the blog and buy a print!

Here’s my video review of Mathews and his 2011 book, Ghetto at the Center of the World.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgcIljo_ptQ]
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