City Tour

Surprise May Day post! My apologies for the long radio silence. Real life has been taking up all my time lately, now that I'm Gainfully Employed.

These photos are from my last day in Ho Chi Minh City. The architecture in the city is so diverse that it's possible to see grand, French-style buildings, shiny new skyscrapers and lively shop-houses all on one street. Many of the historical buildings are in District 1, within walking distance of one another, so we managed to visit them all in just half a day.

City Hall / Saigon Opera House / Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica /
a photogenic building / phone-booths














My favourite building: the Central Post Office. I couldn't stop admiring its interior decor!










The Reunification Palace: This place is stuffed FULL of history. Every tile, every curtain, every speck of dust has a story to tell. Okay, maybe not, but there's really so much to see in this building, with its underground war rooms, secret lift and rooftop helipad (and old-school typewriters!).

Why I shoot film

A big THANK YOU to the lovely Astrid for inviting me to be a part of her series that revolves around the question "Why do you shoot film?", which I love. Check out my answer here!

Fun with lino-cut

My first lino-cut attempt! I chose a design that was loosely inspired by peonies and it ended up being a bit too small and plain to stand alone, so I used it to make a repeated pattern.

I wish I could say that the disorderly positioning of the flowers was intentional, but that's just what happens when you try to align multiple prints (with the lino block under the paper) without using any guides. I've got to find out how the pros do it!







These purple prints were made using a tiny ink pad meant for rubber stamps, because I was getting tired of black. I had to stop after three prints though, because the ink was starting to ooze out of the pad. Oops.





I think lino-cut is great way to get started with print-making, because the materials and tools don't cost a lot (I paid less than S$40 for everything), it involves just two steps: carving and printing, and you can find plenty of great lino-cut tutorials online. Give it a go!