Perth was our last stop in Australia before making our way back into South-East Asia. We were feeling ready for a cultural change having been spoilt with the Western world for so long. For our last week in OZ we stayed with Dave’s sister Louise and her other half Jason. They are really well located to the city with only a 10 minute walk to quirky William Street lined with boutiques, vintage clothing stores and Vietnamese Restaurants. That first night we went to What the Pho along this street after having a good snoop around the city.

On the Saturday morning we went to the local Chinese market, which infused Asian charm and food goods. It was a real bargain to buy fresh fruit and veggies for the week. The market is on William Street and opens Friday and Saturdays. Later in the day we went to Kings Park, probably THE place to get panoramic views of Perth City and suburbs. We enjoyed a nice little picnic and were introduced to some Aussie Rules Football action. Kings Park also hosts a big Botanical Garden but we didn’t quite have enough time to get around it all, instead heading out to see the plot of land that will form Jason and Louise’s new home, exciting times for those two! That night Rod Stewart was playing at the Perth Oval so from our balcony we could hear Rod belting out the hits whilst enjoying a barbecue.

On the 6th we took a drive out to Swan Valley and participated in some Supa Golf at one of the resorts. It was pretty tricky for Helen and Louise getting used to the golf clubs and just having the patience to concentrate on hitting the ball not too hard. After a spot of expert teaching from Dave both Ladies improved their game! Jason enjoyed fetching out his ball from the shallow lake whilst a few of us got stuck in the bunkers. Dave came out top after 9 holes with Jason 2nd, Helen 3rd and Louise a humble 4th. So if we’re talking couples teaming up together…we won! he he! Sorry guys!

After leaving Supa Golf we enjoyed some wine tasting at Little River Vineyard and The Ugly Duckling down the road as well as a few others. We bought a bottle of Ugly Duckling Rose which was very nice indeed. We also went to a chocolate tasting factory and to the Yahava coffee shop which offers tasting sessions too. So we had enriched palettes by the end of it all! Later on Helen managed to skype home and had a lovely sing along with her beautiful niece Sukie over breakfast, a real taste of home!

Back in the city the next day we explored the city some more and took in the Perth Museum of Contemporary Art which was a nice breather from the increasing outdoor temperatures. The Fringe Festival which was now in full swing were hosting events throughout the city and every so often we would come across one of their quirky caravans, performances were going on all the time and it looked like a good thing to be involved in. Skyscrapers, buildings, skylines and sculptures caught our eye as we strolled the streets of Perth.

The next day we didn’t do too much because we were busy sorting and planning for our next journey but we did do something that made us feel very good at the end of the day. Helen’s best friend Lois had asked us to do a favour when she’d heard we were coming to Perth to see if we would visit her Nana and Gramps who’ve been living in Perth for 30 years.This was no biggie for us and we were very happy to see them with flowers, chocolates and Pink Lady Apples. We really enjoyed spending time with them and wish them all the best for 2012.

They also gave us some vouchers to eat at their favourite restaurant in the city, Miss Maudes, a Swedish inspired eatery offering a huge smorgasbord of goodies. We couldn’t quite stretch to the buffet but instead enjoyed burgers and sandwiches and even had enough left over for a tart from the nearby bakery. Something else we’d been wanting to do whilst travelling in Australia was to visit one of their open-air cinemas. They have them in nearly every city an we’d been looking at going to one in Melbourne so when we found out what was screening in Perth the 4 of us went to The Moonlight Open Air Cinema in Kings Park and enjoyed the novelty of sitting on our picnic blanket watching the humorous and slightly awkward ‘Carnage’. How luck they are to have the opportunity to sit on beanbags, bring their own food and enjoy a movie in the outdoors. It was great.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Quiet times being back in La Canada (LA) especially after an 8 hour journey in the Chinook (Jill and Joe’s RV) but we pretty much caught up on the blog and packing. We did some exercise and cooked some lovely food for us all 2 nights in a row. On the 2nd November Dave and I ended up leaving the lovely home from home we have adopted and ventured down town LA from Pasadena on the Gold Line Metro to Union Station.

This is something new for us, public transport in LA! It’s such a big city to navigate but there is a good metro system if the destinations suit you! It’s $1.50 for one ticket which is valid for 2 hours of travel and took around half an hour to reach Union Station. We were confused when we arrived, but eventually picked up an area map from the information desk at the main entrance and managed to head in the correct direction towards Pueblo de Los Angeles; a very traditionally Mexican area. We hadn’t quite anticipated so many tourists and school groups to be around and realised The festival of the Dead was also taking place. There is a mini Mexican market and lot’s of authentic Mexican restaurants.

Walking down Main Street we stumbled upon Occupy LA at The City Hall. The Mayor has said they can camp there for as long as they want but we’ve since heard that they’re now trying to think of ways to move them on as the area around the City Hall isn’t holding up so well. Aside from this though there is a very strong presence at Occupy LA and we were invited in by a 19 day occupy resident to take a look around. It’s hard not to and it’s an interesting topic to photograph and observe.

So from the 99% to the 1% we ended up making our way to The Disney Concert Hall of which Frank Gehry who’s exhibition we followed in Beijing was the architect. The Concert Hall offers a bizarre versus beauty in its shape, reflections and form, standing out from any building that surround it. We were pleased to be able to explore the building for free and  enjoy both inside and out without any tours or lots of people around. The garden on the 3rd floor is open for people to use in their lunch break and offers a little abyss away from the city blocks of downtown behind. It’s a pretty cool building to explore if those of you out there venture to downtown LA.

On our way to Little Tokyo we wandered further through Occupy LA before enjoying some sushi on 1st Street opposite the Japanese Plaza. $20 between us in a very authentic Japanese style eatery.

We took the Gold Line back to Pasadena, and later that evening we all enjoyed another lovely family dinner! That night we would move closer to the sea as we were to be reunited with Sarah from Helen’s yoga course. We would be exploring a little more over the next few days!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We said goodbye to our time in Venice with one last stroll along the beach, packed up and thanks to Helen’s cousin; John we had a lift over to La Canada where her Aunt lives with husband Joe. So far it’s been a pretty easy ride for us so-called backpackers, but we’re pretty sure we’ll make up for this later on!

Jill and Joe live on the edge of the LA Forest, it’s a world apart from the metropolis that makes up downtown LA, Venice, Hollywood and so on. I think that’s partly why we’ve enjoyed staying here as much as we have because we’re not normally doing the tourist thing. So for the afternoon we just chilled out, got our bags sorted for the next trip ahead and did a little bit of planning. It’s around 10-15 degrees hotter where they live too so we were appreciative of the aircon and a nice cooling dip in the pool. We also had fun with our underwater Sony camera purchased in Thailand. We do feel like we’re on holiday right now! ha!

Later on we enjoyed a drive out to Pasadena via some rich homes and gardens, and a few scenic spots along the hill tops for good views over LA. We strolled around the streets of Pasadena which was built up just after the war and has since been modernised, it seems pretty upmarket with a more boutique-like feel to the place. We did enjoy a great Mexican meal at Mijares along with our first Margarita before heading back for an early night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 processed in Lightroom 3)

We stayed at a great hostel in Bangkok called Hostelling International Bangkok, it’s around half and hour from Khao San road heading up river. It’s a little tricky to find, especially at 5 in the morning but once we got our bearings we thought the location was pretty good. We didn’t want to be in the hustle and bustle of Khao San and we had a ferry stop nearby at Thawet in the Dusit district.

We couldn’t check in until after midday so we decided to take the ferry south and head towards China town so we could get absorbed in some street photography. We always like getting to a big city after ambling through rural areas as there is an energy and buzz that definitely inspires us photographically. Bangkok did just this for us, we weren’t particularly interested in doing too many touristy things as per usual but we were quite happy to get lost in the streets and photograph people, places, food of course!

China town is busy at any time of day with no exception at 10am in the morning, we found alleyways with beautiful light, bizarre funeral gifts, food stalls and bizarre crafts. It’s dirty, hectic and a little tacky but all the while we took it in and enjoyed being flies on the wall. We spent a good few hours making our way through the Lonely Planet walking tour before hopping on the ferry back to our stop so we could check in.

The hostel houses some very nice retro 70′s wooden furniture and the retro theme runs throughout. Our room was very Germanesque in style with a nice hint of art deco in the decor, we loved it and thought it would definitely be a good place to hide away from the busy streets of Bangkok. We made a few plans for the next few days and caught up on some sleep before heading out to catch up with some friends on Khao San road. Nicola was Helen’s old neighbour in Leicester so it was lovely to finally catch up with her and Matt on their travels across the globe. We were relieved not to be staying in this area as the streets were packed and it’s really hit and miss for the accommodation around there. However we do know there are some good options if you don’t want to travel too far away from the backpackers hub of Bangkok.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 processed in Lightroom 3)

Today we gave up on the idea of yet more bike riding misfortune and decided to use our legs. After an early morning run around Battambang and some breakfast we headed out to look at the french influenced buildings around the town and stop by at more temples. In the afternoon we headed out to the train tracks once more but this time to the abandoned railway tracks. Children playing in the wasteland that was once a French operated train yard, which is now home to people living on the perimeter of the town and is a dumping ground for their rubbish. We headed back towards the hotel with cameras poised. Toyota must have a huge market share in Cambodia, almost every car you see is a Toyota Camry, they love the Camry! More work time on the roof and a few drinks before heading off to the White Rose again for some cheap food, one vegetable and one fish Khmer curry.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We arranged to meet Jen who we’d met on the hike at the weekend at midday outside the ticket office area of the Aquatics centre in the Olympic park. It was a really foggy/polluted day so we didn’t have great weather for photographing the Birds Nest and the Water cube, but it’s still a worth while thing to do if you have time in the city. The Birds Nest is an amazing structure and certainly draws in the sightseers for a spot of photo time. We spent around half an hour or so walking around the site before making our way to the ticket area for the Water Cube. We had planned to do a swim with Jen in the Olympic pool but when you start enquiring about tickets it goes a little like this: Entrance only: 50 RMB. Swim in training pool: 70 RMB. Water park: 200 RMB.

So if you want to swim it’s for 2.5 hours only, and it’s not the Olympic pool itself it is the warm up pool. The water park is unlimited in one entry so you can spend the whole day there but you can’t use the same ticket if you want to swim. So our dilemma was should we swim…in a cold pool, buy goggles (which takes it up to around 200RMB) and only have two hours or so? Or should we have a really good laugh, go on the slides, wavepool, yes it’s over our budget but we thought we would have loads of fun! So what did we do? Well of course we wanted to have fun, and we managed to persuade Jen to do the same. It’s an interesting experience being in the water park area, it’s not quite warm enough for you to feel fully comfortable in your swim suit and many of the locals don’t really like swimming, so you tend to see people in lifejackets a lot. The slides weren’t being used so we soon started getting ourselves onto the slides and Dave went for the scariest looking one first. A slide that both Helen and Jen thought they wouldn’t end up doing!

It has a vertical drop of around 40 foot, loops around and then splashes you out at the bottom. A capsule at the top of the slide holds you in place and a countdown begins. “3, 2, 1″ and the trap door opens and away you go. Pretty scary stuff but a real thrill. Helen and Jen were unsure and took some gentle persuading but eventually they climbed the stairs and took the plunge. Both loving it, Jen even went twice! Another favourite was The Tornado which places you in a large rubber ring two persons at a time and sends you thundering into a big bowl, lots and lots of screams and laughs by everyone.

After spending a good few hours inside the water park we headed off for some food before our Tai-Chi beginners class. We stopped by at Grandma’s Kitchen and to our dismay we realised that it was Western/American food, ooops, although Jen felt very at home and we enjoyed some American grub. After a meander through the local Hutong we headed to “The Hutong” cultural centre and began our lesson in the art of Tai-Chi. This was with Eric who was very keen to educate us about the history and tradition of Tai-Chi and what benefits it can bring to your life. We only practised for around 30 minutes out of the whole hour dedicated to the class so we left feeling a little disappointed and cold. We did go away with a better understanding of the martial art though and all of us are keen to explore it further.

It was time to say goodbye to Jen but we did have plans to meet again for some bargain shopping the following week. We’d had a really fun day and would like to thank Jen for hanging out with us, I think we all felt a little younger and satisfied with our brave efforts of going down the deadly red slide!

The following day we were leaving on an overnight train to Xian so we had planned to catch up on washing, buying some food for our trip and packing.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)