Clarzzique.com [ the BLOG ]

Happy New Years’ Eve!

While I sit here and grumble about not able to recover resolutions for this year (long story short: i posted it up on my previous blog, that was hosted by someone who vanished with it)… and it’s a headache to try piece it back together.

So instead, I should simply sum up what I have accomplished (which might make me feel better! hah)

- Family… That makes 3 sisters under one roof – I have to say, things have gotten better in the household, make it easier playing ‘mother’, less hard times, more fun times. A pity that, I couldn’t spend as much time with the family as my social life expands – or is it just because its a year of ’21st’s’ ?

NY`10… there’s going to be 4 of us in the coming year! Happy, that there will be more interaction in the house, Sad, that my parents will be by themselves in Vanuatu, and not to mention less visits (since no one’s doing the HSC next year) – I want momma’s cooking!

- Friends… Glad to say, 3 years on we’re still as tight as the day we graduated from highschool, even if we’re not meeting up as much at times, the communication is still there! I’m so happy to have spent a blast of a last few months of 2009 with them though! Have gotten to meet new people, whether through social networking sites, uni, or through friends – and making good friends on the way in many aspects

NY`10… Looking forward to the last of 21’sts parties, and the highlight of the coming year by far – is going to Japan for 2 weeks with them! And the possibility of an Asia Trip at the end of the year (dependable on whether I can save up for it!). Cook together more, Eat out more, gain kilos together, oh and go broke together! Most of all, I hope our friendship will remain and that it will only get better from here!

- Love… 2.5 years later and still feeling luckier than ever to have met my man <3 Ups and Downs are common in a relationship, but there isn’t anything bad enough to bring us down We drove to Melbourne together, first overseas trip to Vanuatu, road tripped to a few places (increasing my aussie-ness – i haven’t been to alot of the places before!), worked together (photography), and many, many other fun times.

NY`10… Hoping to go Melbourne with the loved one again, or somewhere interstate at least! And roadtrip more! I would say its our favourite together-thing. So far, we haven’t got much planned for 2010 actually, however on my side I have V’day figured out and hoping he’ll love it . Looking forward to reaching our 3 years in October`10;)

- Health… Since being in a relationship (yes change to blame the bf ), I have snacked more, on junk food and all… bad! Hence gaining just a kilo or 2 over the year, which isn’t much, but the down side is that, it is some visible weight gain . Sorry, what’s exercise again? … I have learned to cook more dishes/understand food more though

NY`10… Get an exercise routine going, is a must! I’m dreading the love handles ;( Learn to cook more recipes, healthier food (It’s a must, since I have an extra sister in the house)

- Design/Education… has been good, enjoying my course so far – (I’m not fond of video projects still!), learned how to use AS3, Flash, Final Cut Pro etc. Private practice wise, I have had a few paid design jobs, a few design volunteer jobs once in a while, but it hasn’t truly began until now that I’m on holidays, i’ve gone all out! Thanks to all who have given me the opportunity to expand my portfolio!

NY`10… As it is my final year of uni (unless I’m game enough to take on Honours!), I do intend to focus more on the design side of things, and put together a presentable portfolio. Develop personal projects etc. And perhaps try graduate with straight distinctions? haha or a distinction average…

- Photography… has been great, had opportunities to extend my network, fun projects, paid jobs, got published… and not to mention spending grands on the gear! (not so much an accomplishment that, it won’t pay itself off for some time!)

NY`10… as mentioned earlier – intending to focus on design more, I suppose sacrifices must be made hence I’ll prolly spend less time on Photography – unless I can balance out my time nicely. I hope that it can become a part-time/weekend job though, not only to repay my debts, but for the experience as well.

- Career… what Career? So far, I worked for 2-3 months in Pumpkin Patch until mid January 09 (earned enough to get me through the year), and haven’t gotten a stable paid job since. Have applied for some retail jobs, but have given up – I blame the GFC hah. Had a few good market times with Aishii (my bag design line), until it quietened down, and other commitments outweigh-ed it. Instead, I’d like to say.. I’ve been freelancing part time design/photos etc. I call it the last year to ‘enjoy myself’… heh.

NY`10… Photography job is a side thing, however I aim to get an internship in 2010 in the industry, and hopefully a part time job to get me going! I hope i’ll earn more this year for my own sake! I’d love to expand into my own line of creativity though (for online sales/market etc), whether it be crafts or design… to be discovered.

Last but not least…

- Self…

I have grown more, matured more, learned to love more, care more and most importantly see things differently, even without the camera lenses. I’ve had years of bad times, but this year has been a good one (despite the monthly occurrences-ahem-), trying to make less of a deal of situations and learn to see it in a different light. It simply makes life alot more enjoyable to live in .. haha

NY`10… Continue to be the best person I can be – Live Life, Laugh and LOVE! That’s the easier said resolution for the new year haha…

Many thanks to you all who have spent the decade, the year with me – it probably wouldn’t be the same with you all! All the best for the coming new year, and looking forward to a fun-filled 2010 together!

Lots of Love,

Clarissa

2009

Have gotten around to completing some design work while on vacation, which is a good thing – i’d love to get back to Sydney, debt-free and start fresh for work in 2010~!

Allworth Group; a construction consultancy firm.Yellow/’gold’, ’silver’, maroon-red were amongst the colours requested. Symbols: house. The first logo has been a popular choice, it is also my personal favourite, as well as #3.

John Lum & Associates – I’ve been intending to design a logo (business cards/letter heads etc), for my parent’s business here on the islands. The business specializes in electronical appliances etc. So other than the modern approach i tried to give subtle hints of electronics, such as the ‘power switch’ in the right column. So far the first and second of the right column are popular favourites.

Cupcakes by M; this was done ‘for fun’, my friend has asked me to take photos of her cupcakes, and due to the ‘commercial’ feel of these photos, i decided to add some colour/design.. hence a logo! Love the colour choice and the ‘character’ . I have yet to hear from my friend what she thinks though!

Currently working on a logo for UNSWPhoto club and possibly a t-shirt design along with it, next: web layout for Sina Travels stay tuned!

Champagne Beach

Port Olry

Christmas in Vanuatu, isn’t so much about turkey & big feast – rather is more going out on day trip, to beaches or similar ~ for us this year, Dad took us to the popular lagoon on the island, called ‘Blue Hole’ , and that’s literally what it is, roughly 30mins drive from town (that is considered somewhat far on a small island).

The last time I went there is atleast 10 years ago; and it was alot nicer the last time I went, but regardless its still beautiful.. the water is seriously clear + blue (fresh water)… and really deep, i didn’t go in. The cost? Other than $12 entrance fee/per truck, i became mozzie bait the whole time we were there. It was a lovely photo backdrop though, as you could probably tell.

Overall, not as festive as it could be like in Sydney – but it was still a lovely family day out, and hoping you all had the best time!

Better late than never

Have been quite a festive few days leading up to xmas + after xmas, hence my online presence has decreased also (and not to mention that my sisters and alf + i have started playing gunbound – again, after so many years )

so to back blog -

On Xmas Eve, we were offered a drive down to Champagne beach – the most beautiful beach in Vanuatu I reckon (I don’t think I’ve heard of anything like it in the other islands in Vanuatu), with soft white sand, clear blue waters… i’m serious… even if you row out 10-20m atleast, its still clear blue <3

So it was fortunate that it was a beautiful day, so we got to see the true colours of Champagne Beach. The unfortunate part is, it was the day when the tourist cruise liner came in, and parked some kilometres away from shore… hence a crowd of tourists.

But, we got to feel like ‘tourists’ that day, because of the many little stalls selling souvenirs and specialties – I got tempted to buy -of course- and instead of being a tourist, I took it to my advantage as a local, to haggle yes they really put up the prices for tourists! a sarong costed around $15, and I got it for like…. $7… go me … though I heard they sell it even less back in town … aye i did pretty good.

and as usual, it was a bumpy 1hr drive around in our hilux, luckily we were seating inside and not in the tray *nightmare* oh and the occasional cows on the roads

That night, we celebrated our family xmas eve with an outdoor bbq in the space of our new bedroom -that’s in the process of being built-. it was lovely, with our DIY dinner table -2 tv boxes + 2 planks of wood on top-

It has been atleast 2 years since we last celebrated xmas together, as a family.

Merry Xmas Eve

Its been almost a week by now, since arriving in the Islands, and it hasn’t been the best week prior to Christmas. Weather can be a little unpredictable at times, but it is nothing compared to the craziness of Sydney weather. It often consists of sunny mornings and rainy afternoons, for the past few days anyways. I suppose mother nature has gotten kinder to let us have a sunny, tropical Christmas.

We haven’t done much, other than helping out in my parents shop, since it is the week leading up the Christmas, it can get quite busy. We’ve been running around town, time to time – for one, the town itself is quite small, it is probably like a 5min drive to reach the other end of town – just to put it in perspective.

But yes, it has been rainy so we didn’t get much chances to hit the beach.

(yes it was a lil gloomy in the beginning)

We have, managed to go to Aore Resort – an island resort which is around 15-20min via boat. One of my fave places to go, probably the only place that is easy to get to if you want nice beach/water, as alot of the once open-to-public beaches have become locked up for private use. Pity.

Aore- a great place for relaxation, you get food/drinks attended to, pool, beach (of course), and other water sports.. such as Kayaking – which i LOVE.

They have a pool of tropical fishes just by their jetty, which is always a great sight, and a snorkel.

Local beer– Tusker

Just 4 hours till the last boat, leaves us satisfied with a fun, beach experience.

I had always knew my grandfather was a photographer, but it wasn’t only until recently had I appreciated the fact when I got into film cameras. I’ve been looking forward to finding my grandpa’s collection of cameras in Santo (the island where we reside in, in Vanuatu). I’m amazed at how much he has! It’s a pity though that not everything works… some lenses are molded… and would cost a fortune to clean out, and takes a risk as well.. it may damage the top coating of the glass… so this is what we found (apparently he has more in Sydney, which my uncle had chucked out )

Olympus OM-2

(from wikipedia)

The Olympus OM-2 was an aperture priority automatic camera (with full manual operation selected via switch), based on the earlier, successful OM-1 body. The OM-2 was introduced in 1975, and combined the light, sturdy camera body style of the manual-only OM-1 with a new automatic exposure system.

One of the main selling points of the OM-2 was that all of the OM-1 accessories and lenses would fit without modification, offering a complete photographic system which could be carried easily, and allowing OM-1 owners an easy upgrade path.

The condition of this camera, is still good – except the lenses it came with had mold in it; 35-70mm, 70-200mm (i think), but the 50mm 1.4 is still good to use… phew! What I find funny is it’s sensor, which at first glance looks a lil gross (I have this thing with dotty patterns, looks gross to me… i thought it was like fungi or someting) ..The unique OTF (off-the-film) metering system of the Olympus OM cameras. Two Cds meters on the lower left and right sides of the lens mount capture the light that’s actually projected on the film, a pattern on the shutter (first curtain) reflects an estimated amount of light for exposure times of less than 1/45s, when the time that the shutter (partly) covers the film becomes significant.

Pentax Auto110

This lil guy is absolutely CUTE, for its size.. being ‘the smallest miniature slr system’ at its time (in 1978 i think) ..comes with a small lense (28mm) too.. BUT it doesn’t work! because the catch of the back is broken ;( such a pity… as I would’ve loved to carry this baby around, despite the rarity of 110 film.

Olympus Ecru ~ Limited Edition

This one is absolutely sexy! Released in 1991, as a collector’s item, 10,000 was released in Japan and 10,000 overseas – and the one my grandfather bought is 13,000 (something) of 20,000 cameras available. It was very stylish at the time, and even now! It’s surely a one of a kind film camera (other than lomo’s). its shape, and design…. i love it! Soo me! I haven’t gotten around to using it yet (I have a few film cameras now and it doesn’t seem like a good idea to have film in the cameras… would take forever to finish!)

But I have looked it up and reviews say that is has incredible sharpness and contrasted photos and a really strong flash as well — overall good feedback cept the lens cap itself is a pain to put around, because its ‘chrome’, and yeh its tricky to put back on. Nevertheless I’m so eager to try it out! If I knew my grandfather had this, I wouldn’t have spent $60 on getting a Holga 135BC Lomo…

But I guess the Lomo has its own special effects..

I have recently acquired a few cameras within the month – can you tell? My boyfriend has given me a vintage set of the Canon AE-1 film camera + 3-4 lenses (50mm 1.8, 35-70mm, 28mm 1.8, and the first 35-70mm first ever autofocus) for Christmas! as I’ve always wanted one.. and now I have alot more haha

Also, I have purchased a ‘digital lomo’ or rather its just a cheap toy camera (for its quality) for fun… and ‘on-the-go’ purpose.

Every 2 years or so, my sisters and I go back to our island home, in Vanuatu for about a month or so, just to visit a parents and simply a get away from city life.

This year’s trip was different, instead of just ‘us’ sisters, my boyfriend had decided to come along as well. I’ve been looking forward to him traveling with us, its our first time traveling overseas together, and mostly, he gets to see where I grew up in, the conditions, and way of life around here – not necessarily a bad thing.

He’s lucky though, that alot of things have improved over time, such as traveling here by plane, we used to have to take a boeing 737 from Sydney to the Capital city and change to like a 14 seater plane… or rather jet. And it was PAINFUL. Imagine the noise… and the ear-aches. Funny: my dad just told me, once they had difficulty lifting off …because of the heavy load of passengers… fail!

But yes, now its pretty much a straight 737 trip there!

Usually when I get back here, there is always a sense of… ‘foreign-ness’, like experiencing change… but this year, I didn’t experience that (haven’t been back for 2 years)… whereas my younger sister felt a little strange coming back here… and it took time to ’settle’ and it was fine again. I think its because she’s growing, we’re no longer little kids anymore, everything is smaller now.

But anyways, we took Alfred for a drive around town in the little manual car, which he very much enjoyed – he’s into his cars, and always eager to learn manual.. so fortunately my dad was able to give him some tips here and there.

So great to be home, and I hope Alfred enjoys his stay here, will get around to taking him to beaches every now and then, and see more of the island. We have a month so its a long time! (though we don’t necessarily need that much time)

Despite the 256kbps internet, and lack of shopping facilities (only general stores around here)… i love everything about Vanuatu, lovely sunsets, small town, peaceful, getaway from the real world, I won’t be spending for a month oh and yes the beaches, soak up the sun, get a tan (loose some weight – haha). It’s all good.

So yes, I shall update the blog every now and then… add a few pics where possible.. so stay tuned

V for Vanuatu