Saturday, August 8, 2015

Last and the Least

Day 1 House 4 - If the others were a beauty, 11 Richmond Hill Rd is a beast.

I hate being mean, but really this looked and smelt more like a hoarder's abode...


Always encouraging

Paedophile's dream

That in the background, I find out later is what the NZ ARMY used for live military target practise...

This oven is so old... it was the same model as the one our family owned in the 1970's..

I see why the three children left now 

Little ol' Sofie Graf-Russell - She's in the same year as me and after some research I think she now works at a pub in Queenstown and is anorexicly skinny if you're looking for other differences!

Let's go catch some nightmares!

Day 1 House 3 Sumner (okay it's actually the same house as 2 but it's so insane it deserves two posts)


DANGER: LIVE WIRES... Now that's what I call a warm welcome!



Oh the irony. I'll get a dreamcatcher if I ever want to grow a pot plant in my room.

dreamcatcher
ˈdriːmkatʃə(r)/
noun
  1. a small hoop containing a horsehair mesh decorated with feathers and beads, believed by American Indians to give its owner good dreams.



"Whaddyu mean stone? Stop disturbin' my foosball championship game momma!"



"Good Afternoon, uhhm I'm just calling in to ask if the Pink Batts lifetime warranty applies for cases of giant boulders ripping a hole in the roof in the event of an earthquake?"


Time flies when you're enjoying it - These babies are now all in high school/university...

Friday, August 7, 2015

Party Rock Anthem.. No Joke.

Day 1 House 2 Sumner 


I wasn't actually joking - LMFAO you must be proud of that party rock


Party Rock is in the House Tonight - no wait, in the Kitchen Today 

The Ghetto of India

Day 1 House 1 Sumner


face it, this is probably the closest i'll get to a real indian ghetto. reality: Somewhere on Wakefield Ave but i'll still treasure this place as the first discovery Aaron and I made in the suburb of the quake damaged Sumner. Ghetto really means a condemned house filled with junk that no one is legally able to go in a retrieve. India is really this girl called Indy Kraal. She went to St Andrews College, a private college in CHCH and just graduated from physiotherapy at AUT. She is a year older than me and loves competing in triathlons. Funny if I meet her one day at work... 


These pink stickers decorating front doors of million dollar houses in Sumner are usually what people dread. But to our eyes it means we've struck gold! Aaron says when he goes on shopping sprees in peoples condemned houses he doesn't want to know a thing about who they were. But I guess I don't take a thing (apart from all the dust and mould I inhale) so that's why I make it my purpose to find out as much as I can about some random family while I trespass. 


Owner of the house and India's mother is Helen Kraal. She works for Deloitte and her ex-husband Philip Kraal owns an Italian restaurant somewhere in CHCH.


Oh my! Then who is Craig Prior? He is the golf obsessed partner of Helen who works for the Police - note the police dog plush.. Yes golf obsessed as in the garage looked like a golf shop, with myriads of golf bags, golf hats, golf shoes etc. 


I was a tad hungry - but after I realised how everything in the pantry expired in 2011, I lost all my appetite. The only thing that wasn't expired was the Chambord, which Aaron took no surprise..


Such a pity I was covered in dust but the water was cut off in such a flash showerbox.. 


Saad looking Saab.  

Friday, June 19, 2015

杏(仁森)林 Almond Forest Hospital Part 4 - Enigma

The last resident of the Presidential Suite. Offering a million bucks to whoever finds her.


Humble childhood - Sepia Sixties/Seventies


Into the Eighties with this even more enigmatic colour picture


Oh wow, wooden high heeled clogs. What a fashionista!


Does anyone still use Lanvin in the 21st Century?


I wonder if she ever lay like a Greek Goddess on this Chaise Longue in her own private lounge adjoined to her bedroom.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

杏(仁森)林 Almond Forest Hospital Part 3 - A rich man's room

If you wanted to pay triple, you could have your own en suite and other amenities.

The world will never change.. Some are born rich, some are born poor. And we'll probably stay this way for the rest of our lives truth be told. 

NOTE: Click on each photo to enlarge :)


monster in the wardrobe


who doesn't want a motley mosaic bathtube?


such a hi tech flash TV ... for the 80's


this 1992 newspaper cutting translates "appreciate your other half" 


hungry for some Neo Neo?


i think i just walked into a paedophile's room.... time to run...


 Aw shoot, there's no where to hide in the lounge


Look out for Part 4 - Who is the mysterious girl...

Monday, February 16, 2015

Not so Hollywood: Shaw Brothers Studio (邵氏兄弟)

Shaw Brothers Studio - used to be the biggest TV studio and film set in Asia, 20 years ago.

Best part? Walking into a zombie mannequin in a pitch black film set and letting out the biggest scream that the whole Hong Kong heard.

Didn't have a flash light or a tripod. Just me, my guts and my camera.


step 1: roll through the overgrown jungle


step 2: climb over the fence


step 3: I insist you make this your wallpaper


i wonder whose famous buttocks sat on this couch once upon a time


i wonder when was the last time this light shone - <my HK auntie said 2003> 


for those who don't believe I actually set foot inside the heavily guarded facility


couldn't find bloody mary, despite being surrounded by 4 walls of mirrors


never guna be a movie star, but at least i've been on a 80's film set


abandoned corridor 101 - please make this your wallpaper if you didn't follow step 3


looking at this desk gave me tetanus


Lo Lan is now an old grandma - shows how ancient these polaroids are


bye bye

Sunday, February 8, 2015

杏(仁森)林 Almond Forest Hospital Part 2 - A poor man's room

Patients were evacuated immediately hence many patient's memories and possessions still remain scattered in each room. I was walking into a time capsule suspended from a time before I was born (1993 when this place was abandoned permanently.) Again I'll let all the pictures do the talking.

NOTE: Click on each photo to enlarge :)


each basic room had a small bed and some drawers


and a couch 


Time Capsule: September 1989


Era of wooden clogs - before the plastic industry explosion


Retro Darlie toothpaste: 黑人牙膏


80's pornography is nothing compared to... now


PENIC panic - I don't even want to know where it goes. 


This translates to "Wishful Toothache Water" 


Zyloric tabs  - for gouty arthritis, still used now


Someone has been naughty... Nah it's actually just some old fashioned Taiwanese energy drink!