Today was another day that will make me miss Taiwan. It started off with the trouble I had finding the address I was given of the photographer’s studio. I got off the bus near the correct street, which I walked up, attempting to find the lane number written on my sheet. It seemed like the numbers would sometimes go up, or down, and it would skip a whole bunch which included the one I was looking for. Now, you might think that my initial remark was sarcastic, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.. read on.

I eventually got on another bus, which was driving down that same street and showed the address to the driver. He nodded and drove as he looked around.. but he was confused. He was even asking passengers inside, and ones getting on board. This was a bad sign. He then let me off, back on the same street, and wouldn’t accept payment. Well, since there was a police station close by, I thought what better place to get directions. I made the right choice. The officer at the desk consulted his colleagues and finally told me that that lane number didn’t exist. He then noticed phone numbers on my voucher, called my agent and got the right address. They didn’t seem too busy at that time and really made an effort to help me out!

After that I couldn’t believe what they were doing.. because it looked like he was getting another officer to drive me there! Well that’s exactly what happened. The other officer not only drove me to the location, but escorted me inside, and helped me find the studio. Wow, they did all this with nothing to gain.. helping a foreigner (and a male one.. point being I wasn’t a good looking girl or anything like that) by driving him and walking him to his destination. They really went above and beyond. I felt like some sort of VIP.. and was smiling as I wondered what the guys at the studio thought when they noticed my “police escort”.

Since I had been some fifteen minutes late, they right away sent me to get prepped and changed. Another model was working on the set, so when I got started we alternated and had a few shots together. The clothes was by Kinloch Anderson from Scotland and was composed mostly of business casual wear. At lunch the other guy was finished but I continued after, doing more shots and ending with traditional Scottish attire (as seen in the picture on the right). Everyone was so nice and friendly while Vincent the photographer was great as well as very easy to work with. He gave me his card and, since I’m leaving Taiwan soon, asked me to contact him when/if I come back. The whole thing actually went by pretty quickly. I then bussed back with no problems, but on the contrary, with the same great hospitality and kindness of the Taiwan people. Yep.. I will definitely miss this country.

This morning, was a very special one. No, not because I had some catalogue work (although I’m always happy to have work) but for another reason all together. Today was the day the roommate from Hell, who I`ve been stuck with for almost three months, went back to where he came from (I mean Ottawa, Canada.. not Hell). I’ve been pretty quiet about that one, especially considering how horrible it was having him live here. Honestly, you wouldn`t believe how bad it was.. so I couldn’t be happier.. and my other roommate Marko would second that.. in a second.

Concerning work, the catalogue was for Liukoo, a local Taiwan clothing label. I worked with one of the new, recently flown in female models from PT, Lindsay. For most of the shoot, it was one after the other. While one of us was shooting, the other was changing. Some we had some together, usually with golfing equipment. The half day job went by pretty quickly and we were offered lunch at the end. Another good photoshoot spent working with some great people!

As I got back to the apartment, Marko had already begun cleaning our ex roommate’s aftermath. I joined in and then the cleaning lady got in and took care of the rest. It was quite the job but now, everything’s finally clean and organized. I’m excited about my last days here, finally living in comfort and ease.

Today I had a great time shooting for Sable‘s water goggles print campaign. It started off with me arriving early, and chatting with the hair and makeup lady’s assistant who was waiting there as well. As it came closer to the start time, people started arriving and we all went inside the studio together.

They put a lot of work into my hair because it had to look like I was underwater. The whole concept behind the shoot was (as you can see in the picture above) trying to thread a needle underwater, using the goggles, and with a lot of effort. The reason why the goggles are off in that shot is because the photographer wanted to get a clear picture of my eyes to then superimpose into the pictures with the spectacles. That’s because you barely see my eyes behind the goggles.. and a lot of emotion comes from the eyes.

Then other shots were taken with different props as well as simpler shots for other purposes. Before I knew it, we were done, not to mention early. The whole thing only took about 3 hours, including all prep time. It was bittersweet because I was really having a good time and we were all getting along and working well as a team. It was almost like we had this chemistry going on. I think they would agree, because they happily gave me the main pair of goggles I used, as well as a swimming cap and this unique pair of Swimming Webs (cut off gloves with webbing between the fingers). They even gave me a second pair of goggles when I mentioned that I quite often went swimming in a nearby indoor pool with my roommate Marko. I was also asked when I was leaving and if I was coming back to Taiwan. Well.. days like these make me want to!

In the end, the female model that was about to start getting photographed agreed to take a group picture for me, with everyone involved with the shoot (myself included). I was grateful to people at Sable as well as the photographer and his team for a great shoot along with their gifts, and thanked them one more time as I said goodbye.

Today, since it was such a beautiful day, I went for a walk around Taipei on my own. I visited Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall which was awesome. I plan to return and take pictures. Then I checked out the surrounding parks nearby where I did some exercises, relaxed and had a really good morning/afternoon. Now I’m back home and decided I’m due for an update!

As I mentioned when I talked about my job last Sunday, the photographer wanted to work with me again. Well, I had a half day job with him Tuesday, and two half day jobs Wednesday!

Tuesday’s job was for Grouse Collection. I got picked up nearby the apartment/agency and got to the location in the afternoon. We shot outdoors which I loved because it was a nice sunny day. However, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. I didn’t say anything at first but they noticed I was cold due to the raising hairs on my arms. To make it worse I was changing outside in public, shirt and pants. Doesn’t really bother me though, it’s just the cold that gets to me.

I was glad when we finished, because we went for dinner. Had some good beef noodle soup. It was so much bigger and better than what I’ve had in Canada.. not to mention cheaper. Afterwards, Marc had to drive his assistant home so he could shower. So he took me to a nearby cafe and insisted on buying me cake and tea. After that, they drove me back home. I was grateful to Marc for everything, including the fact that he lent me his sweater for the evening!

Wednesday was a full day, with two half day jobs. Unfortunately, I barely got any sleep (maybe 2 hours) the previous night because of a certain roommate which I will not name (not Marko, he’s great). Regardless, I had a great morning. I took a cab to where I was supposed to meet with the clients and found out I was early. My agent told me 6:00am when I really had to be there at 6:30am. However, there was a man there, who despite not speaking English, explained that the place wasn’t open. He offered me his jacket (I showed up with a short sleeve t-shirt but had an extra shirt in my bag), even opened his car door, adjusted the seat so I could sit and wait. I was so grateful but declined his offers, explaining I wasn’t cold, that I came from Canada and I would just wait around.

Later the client got there, and packed up all of what they needed and together we all drove to the shooting location. There, Marc and his assistant were waiting and we started shooting almost right away. This morning’s job was for Hardy Aimes, while the shooting location started as the side of the road, with these nice restaurants nearby. We shot in other areas nearby, around these nice buildings near the beach. The wind really picked up and they offered me a jacket in between some of the pictures. However, there wasn’t much break time because, as usual, there was a lot of clothes to go through and once again I was changing outside. Then we headed to beach itself and took more shots there. I enjoyed it despite the cold (and the cold water which my feet were in for a few shots). I mean back home in Canada, it’s really cold and they’re having so much snow. So I consider myself lucky. I’ll take changing outside on a day comparable to a windy Canadian fall over living in the winter they’re having. After we were done with those shots, we drove to another location. It was like a park and harbour with boats docked, restaurants, etc. We wrapped up the shoot there and then went for some food. I then got a ride with Marc to his studio, where we would start the other job.

I had a bit of a break and so I just lied down on a couch. I didn’t really have the chance to fall asleep when I was called to start shooting. The clothing company was Sina Cova and some from N,Centro (yes the name has a comma in it). By the way if you’ve never heard of these, and actually many of the clothes I’ve done photoshoots for, don’t worry, I hadn’t either. So we started off with basic shots with a big bunch of the clothes, with only a white backdrop. And once again, there was a of clothes to get through. These were all catalogue jobs, like most of the work in Taiwan. Anyway, Marko (the good roommate) made a short appearance as they hired him to do some shots for a couple of hours.

He did the same simple shots as I did, then we used another part of the studio with some different backgrounds and props as we posed for some shots together. We did a few of those and then Marko left. I continued to shoot with more clothes, then finished with more of those simple shots. When I say simple, basically we took two shots, changed shirt (and sometime pants), and continued with racks full of clothes. When we were done, I thanked Marc once again and went home via walking and bus.

Funny enough, the bridge of my nose was red from all the changes over the past few days. But I’m still having a good time doing all this, getting a lot of experience and learning so much. That night I fell asleep in no time. And now, I’ve just got news that I’ve got a confirmed job on Saturday. More on that after the shoot!

Yesterday I had a half day shoot for Passage Oceanaut. It was mostly casual wear for the mature gentleman. After getting to the studio and trying to style my hair in a way to make me seem like more grown up, we started shooting. Marc the photographer was very nice, friendly and we worked well together. After a few hours we took a break for lunch and then continued the shots. Eventually they asked me to smile more.. and started calling me the “Smiling Master” once they saw how naturally it came to me. Never got that one before.

I had to do a lot of changes, probably more than any other job despite it being a half day. When I felt that it went on for longer than expected, I was right. We went overtime.. and this is the first time it happened since I started working here in Taiwan. Regardless, I made the best out of it and worked with a good photographer who expressed interest in working again before my return to Canada.

The end of last week was a busy one! It started with a job on Wednesday. It was for the Action Sport Market here in Taiwan. I had to hold a push up using these handles (as seen on the right), with elbows at approximately at a 90 degree angle, palms in, arms close to the body. They wanted the same shot in different shirts as well as topless. It was a pretty relaxed job in a way, except for the actual posing. Holding the position was getting harder and harder, and the slight body adjustments which made it even more physically difficult.. but we got through it. They wanted the perfect shot, perfect posture, and on top of that I personally want to get the best out of anything I do, so I was all for it. In the end, everyone was happy, I had a great time, worked with some great people and especially got a workout out of it!

Thursday, I had a photoshoot for Traveler’s new catalogue and in-store pictures. They had mostly hiking and casual clothing, and wanted to have a warm happy feel to the shots. That meant a lot of smiling! I was happy about that, because smiling is something that comes very easily and naturally to me. Also, the girls I worked with, Zoe (from PT as well) and Evelyn, also smiled easily. This made the job even more fun! It was also a relaxed job, working with nice people.

Lastly, Friday, we had a shoot for Sogo (a big mall here in Taiwan). I believe the shots will be used in a catalogue and possibly in/around the mall. I say we because I worked with my favourite roommate Marko. Things went smoothly and we were working at a really good pace, without it feeling rushed. Even though we were scheduled for only a half day (four hours), they gave us a lunch break (while providing the food of course) AND we finished early. This concluded my work for the week. I was blessed to have worked with such great people and had so much fun!

Today, despite being a Saturday, I had to get up early for a casting. As I was about to eat breakfast, I got news that I had another photoshoot for the Peirre Balmain clothing line at noon! Talk about last minute.. but I didn’t mind the short notice so much and was more so grateful for the work. Besides, it was the first day Taipei had a decent amount of sunshine in over three weeks and I think that’s why the decision was made to shoot today. Also, it was nice to start working again, now that the Chinese New Year holidays were over. So as soon as I got back from the casting, I rushed to get ready and walked (maybe jogged a bit too) over to the photographer’s studio. From there, we drove to another photographer’s place. There, we shot in his back yard (for the lack of a better word). He had a beautiful home in a very nice area.

After we were done with that spot, we shot in surrounding areas. I had a lot of fun and kept a high level of energy despite the cold weather.  Maybe despite is not the best word. I think the cold is what motivated me to be so energetic in an effort to keep warm. I was changing so fast.. not only because we were shooting outdoors where it was cold and windy, but I also wanted to try and finish as soon as possible.

Well I got my wish because we finished early. Even the others were cold and they were much better dressed for the weather than I was. Really though.. it wasn’t that bad. We went back to the second photographer’s house and his wife served us some great tasting and more importantly, hot tea. It had this nice subtle aftertaste which I really enjoyed. Then she brought out these big slices of fresh juicy pears. Mmmm..  I loved and appreciated their hospitality! It was a pleasure to work with these people and I felt that we all worked well together.

On January 29th, I headed to a production house, where I met the production manager of the Pierre Balmain photoshoot. Together, we went over to the Taiwan High Speed Rail station in Taipei. This a very fast (up to 300km/h) way to travel from the capital, which is in northern Taiwan, to the southern part of the country. After reaching the end, we got on a bus to travel the rest of the way to our hotel. The bus had a much shorter distance to travel but we spent more time on it than the THSR!

The next morning, we woke up to a beautiful day. The place we stayed at wasn’t a traditional hotel. More like a villa/resort. After breakfast, we started shooting at the hotel. Once we finished, we all hoped into the bus and got to a small dock where we took more shots. After that, we headed for lunch. Once again, I ate to my heart’s content.. and let me tell you that’s a lot! This, as it usually is, was pleasant experience, working with friendly people! Actually, the photographer was the same I had worked with on my first job.

In other news, I had been informed that some people attempted to contact me via my website’s email, with no success. Well, I looked into it and resolved the problem. You should now be able to use the address written on the Contacts page to get in touch with me.

Finally, I’d like to bring your attention to the Comments feature. At the end of every one of these posts, is a link which allows you to write comments as well as view the ones other people wrote. The link should be displayed as “No Comments” or “# Comment(s)” where # is there number of comments already written. Feel free to leave one as all feedback is appreciated!

Today I checked my email and found out that I’m now all over the Bolandi Classics website. The pictures are from a photoshoot we did back in June 2007, shot by the one and only, and very talented Jef Harris. I did this pro bono, since they are a relatively small and new company in Ottawa. Check out the website for the pictures! In addition, if you happen to be interested in their services, make sure you tell them I sent you. And hey.. by all means, follow that up with an attempt to get a discount!

As for work in Taiwan, I booked another job. This one was for a beach and swim wear catalogue. The garments were from a local Taiwanese clothing line called Honor. Some of the stuff I wore for the shoot was a bit small for my taste.. but to each his (or her) own! I had fun on this one, as always. Lastly, I’m being considered to for a rather important role in a commercial. More on that if I get the role!

Yesterday morning, two of my roommates and fellow “PT” models and I took a cab to a studio in Taipei. We had a catalogue shoot for Charles River which was outdoors and outside of Taipei. So, we all hopped into a small bus together, models, photographer and crew, to a city three hours south of the capital. It was so warm, and such a beautiful day. Quite the contrast from a chilly and raining Taipei morning. The weather greatly contributed in making the shoot a very pleasant experience. Then, after we were finished, we were treated to a traditional Chinese lunch. Let me say I ate more than my share. The chef seemed quite pleased to see foreigners enjoy the food as much as we did. A great experience overall!

As for today, I finished shooting my first TV commercial in Taiwan! It was for a company called Chi Guan, advertising new residential buildings. My role consisted of being a business man, walking down the street and noticing the buildings. Pretty simple job! Got a close up and everything. I also had a chance to have some interesting conversations with the other actors as well, espesially from an older guy from Holland and a fellow Canadian, both now making their lives in Taiwan. I can see why they would, it really is nice over here!