[LONG- READ] 

I went on a trip to Nepal during March as some sort of solace from the hectic city I call home.

Unlike my previous trips, which were with my parents. This time I ventured off to the country my family calls home; alone.

I think the concept of ‘home’ has always been confusing for me, I didn’t know whether home was my mother country; a place where my grandparents were born, the city I was born and raised in or the country in which I'm currently residing.

And with many 'third culture kids' like myself, it's hard to find a sense of belonging. I'm mentioning this because although, I've had zero-to little emotional connection with Nepal, divulging back into my roots was therapeutic for me. Amidst the culture shocks were tingles of recognition and innate understanding, I can't really put it into words but, I get it. I don't have to be the most culturally aware person to admit how beautiful my mother country is, and even if I don't regard the country as 'my home' , it will always be a sentiment I carry around in my heart.

My trip started out with a flight from Hong Kong to Kathmandu, leaving my ever-so worried parents behind with doubts of whether allowing me on this trip was a good idea.. oh well?

The first stop was Pokhara; where majority of my family were from. During the long, six hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara, I found myself constantly looking out the window; seeing glimpses of Nepal in which my parents had described some of their fondest memories of. One scene that struck out to me in particular was of the many young girls walking around in their blue uniforms and blue-ribboned pigtails, it reminded me of my mum; a picture of her and in a very similar uniform back when she was in her 10's. Pokhara My overall stay in Pokhara was short but sweet. My paternal grandparents were luckily visiting Nepal at that time, making them my tour guides.

Weirdly enough, I managed to visit both of my grandparents' villages on this trip. The visits were very brief but rather interesting. During a trip to my grandmothers village, my uncles (who had all decided to visit Nepal at that time as well) showed me around and even took me up a hiking trial they used to walk when they were kids. I remember seeing the excitement on my dad's face, when I FaceTimed that night telling him about the intense hike up the village, reminiscent of my dad and my uncles' childhoods.


Thanks for reading this awkwardly long post, I hope anyone who stumbles upon this, enjoys the images~

{I've also curated a youtube video on my trip - the link is somewhere on my blog}

two ladies doing their early washing

                                                       view of mt.anurpurna from the balcony

the flag, on our balcony 

Kathmandhu

My time in the capital was mainly spent doing the utmost touristy activities. I spent whatever time I had visiting temples and shopping for little trinkets.

It was surreal seeing the remnants of the 2015 earthquake, historical monuments and road paths still in it's rubble state.

in the streets of patan

 

                                                       exploring pashupatinath temple

this temple was full of monkeys!
more than any of the other        temples around ktm. 

                                                          exploring swayambhunath temple

                                                                 boudhanath temple

the streets of kathmandhu 

                                                       
                                                              the remainder of the dharahara tower 

                                                                                                   

       

                                                    'the garden of dreams'

                                                 

taken on a pentax espio 120mi + canon ae-1 // afgha 200, porta 400 , fuji c200      

Hiiiiiii.

I decided to film some moments in my life during February and curate a mini vlog. Here it is.

p.s. 
new film images coming soon from my recent trip to Nepal. 

I went ahead and got my film developed and scanned recently and I wanted to share quite a few of the images I took whilst I was out in London (separate times). I was quite gobsmacked at how much HKD I had to spend in order to develop three rolls of film in this particular store in Central so I guess I'll have to start looking around for a few cheaper alternatives. A lot of the images didn't come out as clean as I wanted it to and well, I hope to bring out better pictures soon. Till then, this is what I've got.. :)

Also, can you tell I've been inspired by Mura Masa quite abit ? My Soundcloud has been regurgitating his tracks for the past few weeks and I can't seem to get it out of my head.




Camden 
I popped into London during early June for a concert and decided to head into Camden right afterwards, although it isn't my favourite place to visit whilst I'm out in Central London, it's definitely a lovely tourist location and hang out spot for those enjoy the markets and street food thats scattered throughout the area.

Japan Centre // Shoreditch 

Despite our initial plan to head to the Saatchi Gallery which mainly failed due to poor time management and train delays, we made it into Japan Centre right in the heart of Piccadilly Circus to ease our Japanese infatuated hearts. We got to munch on some Japanese curry and took a peak at a few magazines like Nylon Japan which always seem to be so visually pleasing.

Afterwards, we headed to my favourite area; Shoreditch. Quite known for it's colourful hipster atmosphere, the area is scattered with vintage stores and tiny little quirky boutiques that always seem to tickle my fancy.