Farang Diaries

progress?

2006-03-06T15:45:00.000+08:00

old-town-dhaka
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

crusing on monday here in sing, not much going on, but hey the weather is nice n breezy; sunny too!..change of seasons is on the way in both hemisperes. should hear about my next gig here in a couple days..;)

movement

2006-03-05T23:44:00.000+08:00

alleyway-at-night-suzhou
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

breezy sunny day today here in Singapore, giving way to a relaxing evening, had a nice sushi dinner near my house, copious amounts of Spicy Tuna Handrolls..yum!

downloaded this tool from Flickr that makes it easy for me to upload pics, and put them on my blog, kinda a nice little tool; kinda quiet here in the work front in Singapore, hopefully it wil pick up, still waiting to hear on a job in Brunei..
gnight..;)..

move

2006-01-25T17:13:00.000+08:00

move
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

get called to a meeting on the other side of town, not so excited about it; get there, sit down with the client, and in the middle of the conversation, i hear someone say, "David"...look up and see this very beautiful girl, who I dont immediately recognize...scary stuff...continue the meeting..and after she appears again...i play stupid, she then mentions a friend of mine...then i kinda know who she is..but not...

proceeds to give me her number..i take it..she says meet me at this bar at 630pm..
stupified; i say yes....
very pretty girl. thanks for listening.

Developing

2006-01-25T00:31:00.000+08:00

Developing
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

just back from a one week job in Vietnam, very interesting, and of course Vietnam is always pretty cool. Happy New Year to all! lets hope this year is as good as the last. Minus all the natural disasters.

implosion

2005-09-26T09:53:00.000+08:00

womanatchurch
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

monday morning here in bangkok, awoke very early today thinking I had lots to do, but in reality, it's looking to be a quiet week so far. I really feel for the people in New Orleans, LA, and Texas, what a mess; is it just me or does it seem like most of the earth seems to be angry at something every few months?

jeez

2005-09-21T00:15:00.000+08:00

java
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

another day in paradise, sorry for the delay in writing on this blog, i can never figure out who in the hell has so much time to update these things all the time..anyways, just finished a bird flu story here in thailand, off to manila tomorrow..lets hope this hurricane in florida doesnt hit Tampa. keeping my fingers crossed.

patience

2005-06-27T22:51:00.000+08:00

patience
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

Mae Sot, Northern Thailand, near the Burmese border.
june 25th, 2005

its very hilly country here, with cool weather, nice breezes, very green hills at 4000 feet, a welcome relief from Bangkok. What brings us here is UNICEF, or United Nations Children Fund, where we are shooting video for 7 days on the Karen Refugees. The Karen are a group of people who have lived in the mountainous areas of Burma for hundreds of years. they are tribal, and move from place to place, depending on food, etc. For the last 20 years or so however, the regime in Myanmar(Burma) has been killing the Karen, forcing them to work in Labor camps, and torturing those who don't. This activity has forced the Karen out of Myanmar, and into Thailand, where as many as 60000 Karen live in UN/Thai supported refugee camps. Some of the children we met in these camps dont know anything else, they have never left.

This Situation doesn't seem like it will end soon either, more and more Karen are making the ardouous trek across the mountains and into Thailand, where many are simply turned back, as the camps cant cope with any more refugees.

Our task was to film these camps, which was very difficult, to arrange, even with the UN (the Thai government is very sensitive about the Karen), and document the UN census of the camps, a very interesting thing indeed, with many diffferent Karen tribes living in the same area.

Not much work for the adults in the camps either, which makes for lots of kids running around...

i guess one of the main reasons the Karen has been pretty much forgotten by many except social worker types, is the fact that there isnt much oil or natural resources in Myanmar or Thailand....

sad but most likely true....

Where, What, When.

2005-06-19T23:07:00.000+08:00

its been a while since ive last posted on Farang Diaries, due to the simple fact I have just been too busy. Why, you may ask; well, ive spent most of the last month since the last post, where I then went to Thailand for the Ms Universe Show (very fun:), then South Korea for another film (more later on that) and a couple of very short stints at my base in Singapore.

All work and no play...I did spend the weekend in Jakarta and put my phone on voicemail which was nice, saw a few colleagues and pretty much relaxed.

Singapore now, on a Sunday evening, just checked my email and a friend says that a story I worked on last year in Bangladesh is airing now on NBC Dateline http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/ ;

time for bed, more later...

13deg N. 144 deg. W

2005-05-08T16:29:00.000+08:00

guam
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

whole day of flying yesterday, now sitting at the Westin in Guam, Micronesia, waiting for the rest of the CBS crew to arrive. We will start shooting tomorrow. Its my first time here, pretty interesting place Guam. Its sort of like a mini Hawaii of sorts; loads of Japanese Tourists, nice weather, and friendly people. Oh yeah, Happy Mothers Day!

northeast of southwest

2005-04-28T09:35:00.000+08:00

java
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

apologize for the long delay in a recent posting...more than swamped jetting between indonesia, thailand, etc...currently in Manila, where i arrived last night on SQ76....just here for an interview with Fidel Ramos, former Philippine President. Will most likely leave here tomorrow to head back to Singapore. more later...;)

forward thinking...

2005-03-02T09:30:00.000+08:00

leave the ground
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

they are at it again, around the world in an aircraft, non stop...nice to know that people are still doing some cool stuff like this, a bit out of my budget, but the idea of adventure is what keeps alot of people going, including me...Good Luck Steve!

verdict

2005-03-01T15:30:00.000+08:00

verdict
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

yup, its another trip to jakarta, this time to shoot the verdict of abu bakr bashir, who some say is a terrorist. well the jakarta court will tell us all thursday whether he will get prison time or not...

unpacked

2005-02-27T21:33:00.000+08:00

the new moken generation
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

finally getting back to somewhat normal scenario, where i dont have to trav el to a different country every 5 days. I did have the pleasure to work on a CBS 60minutes story on the Moken People of the Andaman Sea, which was excellent, very remote, and the Moken are certainly nomads of the sea, i hope they keep thier culture intact, especially with all this globalization stuff..i spent a day in jakarta this weekend and went out, there on saturday evening, good fun, im a bit tired today though, should be recovered fully tomorrow, when Pajee comes down to help me out with my office books. My accountant had a baby just when the tsunami happened, so i was out shooting, and she was nursing the newborn...hence pajees visit to singapore tomorrow..;)

onthemend

2005-01-24T18:51:00.000+08:00

buddah-house
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

it will be one month as of tomorrow, when the tsunami hit, and killed thousands of people. dont forget to take a moment of silence to remember all the innocent lives lost one month ago this coming wednesday. Im back from a 3 day trip to Sri Lanka, where we shot some video for Habitat for Humanity, cool stuff, there are some pics here.

waiting-for-aid

2005-01-18T19:13:00.000+08:00

waiting-for-aid
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

after 3 plus weeks of long hours I am finally back in Singapore; and I must say, it's pretty nice to settle into the somewhat regular routine again. Had a corporate shoot today, which seemed odd after covering the Tsunami for so many weeks..so, just wanted to say its good to be back, and Im pretty sure Ill be off again soon...

agony

2005-01-11T12:38:00.000+08:00

agony
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

finally back from banda aceh. one thing is for sure, of all the events I have covered this one is certainly the most sad and surreal of them all, no enemy, just mother nature doing its thing...its so hard to put this event into perspective, words and pictures just cant describe what you actually see and feel when on the ground there

organic matter

2005-01-11T12:36:00.000+08:00

death
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

sitting in bangkok now, got a flight out of the packed banda aceh airport with the help of the Australian Airforce, they have a base in Butterworth, Malaysia...ive also put a few pics on my mac page, if you wanna check them out...

paradiseruined

2004-12-31T15:49:00.000+08:00

stench
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

its been a long week, and doesnt seem like new years eve. Ive been working in Phuket, Thailand, covering the Tsunami that has destroyed many lives and property. Truly devastating. even as a journalist i am so saddened by some of what i have seen over the past week. Im now off to Banda Aceh, Indonesia, which has been hit the worst, maybe 80000 dead...;((
im depressed....
more from aceh..developing...

addict

2004-12-20T20:49:00.000+08:00

mrvicodin
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

hey, its a week before Christmas, all good here in steamy Singapore, after much procrastination, I finally got the last of my expenses finished, and lo and behold, i was owed money.....nice...

looks like ill be spending my Christmas in Cimaja, Java, surfing like no other, in a small town, in West Java, with good surf, small crowds, and hopefully good fun. Ill be headed down tomorrow on the PM Lufthansa flight from Singapore.

In other news, (there is lots), looks like one can get in trouble for telling the truth wow, this man should be banned anyways, like Bill O' Reilly from Fox, but then again, its a free country, or is it.....

Happy Holidays,
;)

waitinggame

2004-12-17T14:34:00.000+08:00

waitinggame
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

singapore, just wrapping up a bit of paperwork in the office, and plan on relaxing this weekend here, and may either go to bangkok or jakarta to see friends for the holidays, i would normally head home to the states, but since my parents are coming out in march, and i was just there, i may as well stay put...

indonesia is bracing for a possible terrorist attack which obviously puts me on standby to cover anything major...the Hilton Hotel in Jakarta has been named a target by JI...hopefully nothing will happen...why does life have to be so complicated!...

make sure you don't attempt to take a Coke from your local Mc Donalds..you may get tazered

Happy Holidays!...

spent...

2004-12-15T19:17:00.000+08:00

garuda from yogya to jakarta..
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

finally back in singapore, its kinda funny to step back into a country that is so materialistic, i actually live here, but am not from here, its fast paced, pretty shallow and very airconditioned....good clubs, and great to get new gadgets and stuff, but all in all kinda boring, good thing i travel alot, otherwise id go nuts, just not enough matter here, way too shallow...and lots of racism on the underside here...

this is kinda funny, it seems the movie companies are at it again trying to stop illegal downloading of thier films; ok, fair enough, but what a waste of time, here in asia, most everything is copied, in indonesia and malaysia for example, one can get dvd9 quality movies, that have just been released for 3 usd....get realistic...you cannot stop this activity...duh...

2004-12-13T23:15:00.000+08:00

its jakarta this evening, and was yogyakarta this afternoon filming the new hobbit human remains that were found in Flores, Eastern Indonesia for Nat Geo, good shoot, and pretty neat to see the difference in the size of skull from that of us and the little people who roamed the island of flores 18,000 years ago; and according to Dr. Jaocob, who is doing research on the remains at The University of Yogyakarta, says they hunted giant rats...wow, pretty freaky, giant rats...must not have been to much nutrition in them, cause the skull size of these Hobbits is a little larger than a softball....go figure...

had to mention this blog, by a guy named ryan, great sense of humor, and i must say i kinda agreee with him on certain issues, especially this one...

in other news, i think im getting a cold, have a sore throat, dont feel 100%..could be the 14 plus days ive worked in a row so far...i wish i wasnt a workoholic, life would be easier...or would it...;)

afterlife

2004-12-11T07:39:00.000+08:00

afterlife
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

coffee, omlette...sun, calm seas, its my last day here in timor, sad to leave, gotta move on, not so bad though, i will be back in jakarta this evening.

jeez, it only gets worse...as if Italy wasnt corrupt enough, Berlusconi is cleared of corruption charges....

its a sad world sometimes.

play

2004-12-09T23:16:00.000+08:00

play
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

enjoying my last couple days here in timor, and i must say, i'm kinda bummed to be leaving, but more work is on the horizion, so...gonna have to have the memories..

last day of filming tomorrow, nice day today, and the sunset was even better...this may be my last post from timor, i head back to indonesia saturday, and have another shoot in Yogjakarta, Java, monday..

more on that soon..

looklistenlearn

2004-12-09T08:21:00.000+08:00

looklistenlearn
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

Dili, East Timor, December 9

hey, finally got an internet connection, so ive uploaded a few pics HERE, a bit of a break this morning, producer is looking at archive video...
more pics later; lovely place east timor....;)

orphan

2004-12-09T07:29:00.000+08:00

orphan
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

bacau, december 5

early morning here, im thinking that the flamboyant hotel is a perfect place to write a book....quiet streets, the ocassional sound of kids yelling below, no wind, calm ocean, and bright sunlight piercing the coconut palms...

last night the orphans sang for us...very nice, and you cant help but feel sad for them, timor is such a poor country, that sometimes, families give up thier kids, because they cant feed them....such a hard life...and they were so happy to see us..but of course we had to leave...life goes on here, at least they have a place to sleep..and the nuns to care for them...

today we are headed back to see the italian priest who has spent 40 years here, helping orphans...
im incredibly tanned now, so much sunlight..all day every day...;)

DarkDarkHappy Timor

2004-12-09T07:17:00.000+08:00

timorsfuture
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

December 3rd, Bacau, East Timor
Flamboyant Hotel

what can one say about East Timor, besides it being the worlds newest country.

for one, we arrived yesterday around noon via Bali, and were greeted at the very small airport with a view of dusty hills, blue ocean, and a group of Helicopters with very large UN logos painted on the sides.

its quite a bit different than indonesia, and i could immediately see why the Timorese didnt want to be part of indonesia. first, they are predominantely christian, indonesia is mostly muslim...the people dont look indonesian, they are a mix of paupan, portugese and indonesian...

as ive now spent a couple nights here, i must say that timor is a special place, the geography is amazing, not rainforest, but dry barren hills, and some very large mountains (3000m), which dominate the landscape, dont forget the blue water and curving roads which give you a great view of the ocean at just about every turn.

there are also lots of small villages, with thatched huts nestled in the hills amongst the coconut palms, rugged and beautiful at the same time. but its the villages where you will find people; and not all of the inhabitants have good stories to tell.

the focus of our documentary is to show how timor is doing since independence from indonesia, and talk to some of the inhabitants, so they can tell thier story. this is when you kick yourself for being a whiner.

many peopled died here, by either gunshot, hanging, torture, beheading.
this story has long been forgotten by most of the media, and it was only 4 to 7 years ago. 200,000 timorese died here. and timor only has 800,000 residents. most of them were killed by squads who roamed the towns and either put in prison, killed, or tortured anyone who was christian.
developing...

sarsawati bali

2004-12-01T21:10:00.000+08:00

its sticky humid, an ocean that is as smooth as a porcelain bowl, streaks of clouds hovering at the tops of active volcanoes; im not talking about jurassic park either..

yeah, as many times as i've been here now, Bali is still a chill place...

late departure from jakarta cause we had to wait for some paper form for like 45 minutes; I suggested they fax it to Bali; this is the 21st century right? nope still had to wait for it..thats Indo for you..

easy flight, then settled into the hotel this afternoon, had a good swim at the pool...the relaxing isnt gonna last long though, have an early flight tomorrow on Merpati Airlines (merpati means pigeon in Indonesian!; great!)to Dili, East Timor; which will be home for the next 11 days..
thats all for now...

my dad just phoned to see if i was ok..he heard about that plane crash yesterday in Surakarta, Central Java...that was nice of him...;)

next post from the world's newest country...

jakartabynight

2004-12-01T01:35:00.000+08:00

jakartabynight
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

sitting in the mandarin oriental now, for some reason, rain most likely the case, it took 2 hours to drive from the jakarta airport to the center of town. usually takes 45 minutes, so in short, it took longer to drive to my hotel in jakarta than it took to fly from singapore!

had a good eve having a quick dinner with friends, and it was good to see Tim as usual, he runs our office down here, great guy who by the way is about to be a proud father; his wife Aji is due any minute now.

around 8pm tonight a plane crashed in central java, skidded off the runway and killed 31 people. you just never know.

thats all for now, good night...off to Denpasar, Bali tomorrow..;)

Rice Krispies

2004-11-30T08:13:00.000+08:00

buenos dias, amigos!
so news of note today is that Mr. Bush has chosen a new Commerce Secretary.
some of you may know mr. gutierrez was previously the ceo of kellog corporation, the maker of our favorite junk cereals, like rice krispies, special k and my fav frosted flakes.

fair enough, because anyone who can get most of the american public and the world to pay 8 dollars for a box of crap cereal is a hero in my mind. good luck mr. gutierrez!

im off to jakarta today,
hasta luego..:)

cholon

2004-11-29T20:24:00.000+08:00

cholon
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

finally picked up my camping gear, just a sleeping bag and mosquito net for East Timor which will begin tomorrow with a flight to jakarta. then continuing to the lovely island of bali with another flight to East Timor.

im looking forward to the gig, since i like the adventure type of activities.

sure is funny to see the crazy weather in the states that is disrupting so many peoples rush to get back home after the holidays, just goes to show no matter how much technology somehow benefits our lives, mother nature still reigns.

Racist Whiners

2004-11-29T09:13:00.000+08:00

good day all, just getting up here, have a pretty busy day here.

so im going through the wires this morning, and lo and behold, another boring story about how the french are french, and they have the power to deem something french or not french enough, sadly enough this isnt french enough either.

want some whine with that cheese?

end of nov

2004-11-28T11:48:00.000+08:00

supplyndemand
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

my main chore for today is to go out and get a sleeping bag and mosquito net today, for my trip to East Timor (More on that soon) and im slowly learning about blogging, which, isn't so difficult really.

of course i wont have time everyday to post stuff, but I figure since im going on trips fairly often, good stories usually develop, and a blog is a good place get them out.

I have several older blogs which i used to email out to friends; some of these will be reposted here, Including trips to Afghanistan, Laos, Cambodia.

All photos posted on my blog are taken by me, unless of course you see me in the pic..duh..

this pic taken last month in Vietnam on our search for the John Kerry Village.

concrete jungle

2004-11-28T01:05:00.000+08:00

moi et fiza
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

end of the day at Sentosa, thats Fiza my friend, on the right side of the frame, she's a cool girl, who is kinda quiet like me, a good person to hang at the beach with, we don't converse much, but thats ok, cause we somehow communicate with each other without saying anything sometimes.

manmade

2004-11-28T00:58:00.000+08:00

manmade
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

a sunny saturday in singapore; so Fiza and I decided to head out to Sentosa Island, this manmade island just west of the skyscrapers of Singapore, and totally out of place amongst the busiest shipping lane in the world to get some sun and look at the surf coming in which is generated from the very large ships passing by 2km offshore..its not paradise, but a welcome break from the concrete jungle only a 10 minute drive away..

the afghan experience

2002-10-02T13:26:00.000+08:00

shot down in kabul
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

Kabul, Afghanistan 2 Oct 02 0800am

Intercontinental Hotel Kabul

"You are most welcome in my country, Mr. David", the
bellman of the Intercontinental Hotel Kabul told me as
he pointed out the numerous bullet holes around the
entrance of the hotel, including the concrete
roundabout where cars pull in to unload pasengers.
He said that Ahmed Shah Massood was here and the
Taliban tried to assasinate him; hence the bullet
holes. This hotel is old; but the best one in
town..even the curtains in my room have bullet holes
in them! No joke..

Yesterday we filmed an orphanage in Kabul; very
sad..but there is hope..

Kabul is just in ruins..whole sections of town are
just destroyed from decades of war..and there seem to
be millions of bullet holes in the buildings;
everywhere. Through all this though..people do
smile...and gather around us at every opportunity..

Everyone we have met are very happy to have The
Taliban gone..there are a few TV's here now...the
Taliban banned them completely before...

Afghanistan is the only place I have ever been where
the traffic cops have AK-47s and rocket launchers!! No
kidding..

Its a beautiful city..just ancient..

There are lots of International Security forces here
armed and ready..Belgian, French, German, Dutch,
Italian, and I saw some American soldiers yesterday..

We even came across a downed aircraft yesterday that
the Taliban had shot down..in the middle of the
city..I have never seen a city that is just in ruins
like this; it will take billions of dollars to get it
back to normal..if there is such a thing..

Ahmed Shah Masood's picture is everywhere...he was the
Northern Alliance leader.. he is a martyr now..

Were off to the Panjshir Valley now....a 3 hour
drive..good thing weve got a toyota landcruiser!

for more pics of this story, go to:

http://homepage.mac.com/davidlom/Menu18.html

a pakistan international airlines experience

2002-09-28T13:35:00.000+08:00

pakistan international airlines
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

all the gear was checked.. and we boarded the pia
flight to pakistan. right...

if you take a look at the map, its pretty direct;
fly across burma, india, and into pakistan..an easy 4
hour flight.

our flight was not so simple, especially on pia! the
flight was at midnight,and i was very tired..so as
soon as i got to my seat; i immediately passed out and
barely remember taking off..i was dreaming that in a
few hours we would be landing in islambad, which would
be like 4 am local time..great.

not so easy, when i awoke 6 hours later, after an
amazing nap; unusual for me on a plane; i noticed the
map on the screen in front of me which pinpointed our
position on the earth..

why in the hell were we flying in china, just north
of tibet!

we were way off course...

turns out that instead of taking the direct route
across india..our friendly pia pilots took us on a 4
hour detour across laos, vietnam, central china, over
the himalayas..and through a thin sliver of pakistan
occupied land called kashmir..and down to
islamabad...why you might ask?? pakistan is not
allowed to fly over indian airspace...at least for
now...so in short...4 hours turned into 8 hours..

while one is enjoying the view of the himalayan
range..feel free to grab a cigarette from a
passenger...they all smoke and of course the whole
plane was a smoking section..without adequate
ventilation..the flight attendant was making me
cappucinos...from scratch..and for me that was the
best part..a cappucino.and a view of k2..the 2nd
highest mountain in the world..from 35000 feet...

the crew is together now..and we start shooting
tomorrow; at a refugee camp in peshawar.

famous darjeeling tea

2002-04-19T13:54:00.000+08:00

darjeeling life
Originally uploaded by plus8gmt.

Darjeeling,India

So here I sit, after a 12 hour train ride and a 4 hour
ride in a Jeep with 5 Indians who could not keep from
throwing-up as we wound our way from sea level to 7000
feet..

Dodging the barf was tough; because you never knew
which direction it was gonna come from next; the girl
next to me..the man on the other side of me..or the
lady sitting 2 over from me..Ya just couldnt tell! I
escaped unharmed, but what a mess..it was..the kid
hanging on the back of the jeep had his feet on the
spare tire. My job was to inform him as best I could
if there was any incoming barf; because that was the
only place they could heave to! I think this is a
common thing because the driver and the kid hanging on
the back of the jeep for 5 hours..didnt even flinch;
or care for that matter. We just pummeled on hanging
on for dear life as our jeep dodged oncoming buses,
jeeps, and hairpin turns, with no guardrail in sight.

So anyways, I'm Enjoying a cup of that famous
Darjeeling tea, sitting on the rooftop cafe of my
hotel looking at 5 of the highest mountains in the
world.

Nestled between Bhutan, China and Nepal is
Darjeeling, India. It sits at 7000 feet on a ridge
with an awesome climate (68 to 74 degrees right now)
and commands an awesome view of some of the highest
mountains in the world, including Mt. Everest. The
nearest mountain is Kanchenjunga; which is 8598m or
25794 feet! Just huge....Making Mammoth or any
mountain for that matter..small...

Mt. Everest is 90 miles or so away as the crow
flies..

Ill be heading closer tomorrow; through the hilly
winding roads to Sikkim, which just opened up to
tourism recently. "The last Shangri-la" according to
some; so we shall see!

Already the people are looking much different than
Indians; lots of Nepali people here, Bhutanese too; so
they look Asian; almost a mix between Chinese and all
other asian cultures..interesting.

Tenzing Norgay is from Darjeeling; you may know him as
the first Nonwesterner to climb Mt. Everest with Sir
Edmund Hillary.