Asuka Visions: Relocated to Australia

Hello my dear Asuka Vision supporters!

For those who have not yet heard, here is my life update: Asuka Visions has moved to Australia.

At the end of last year I finally got to make the grand move to the opposite side of the world: Australia.
Although not too public about it, I have been waiting for Australia to open up since early 2021. At the end of the year, the country decided to open their border. Upon notice I gathered my belongings once again, similarly to when I moved from Oregon to New York, and took a 40 hours trip to land in Melbourne, Australia.

Writing this

today, it would be almost a month since arriving. How fast time flies. During the first week, it felt unreal. To think that at the opposite side of the world from where I grew up, there is land. Clean air, beautiful trees, majestic creatures. Life has existed my entire life, and I never knew of it. It is humbling. It is awe-inspiring.

Luckily, within the first few weeks upon arrival I made a new friend who enjoys adventures. Early New Years, she took me on a road trip along the Great Ocean Road. There she and I saw many wonderful creatures and landscapes. Of course, I photographed them on film. What a treat to have made such a sweet friend so quickly. She calls me crazy asian. She is pretty dang correct. Currently I am awaiting to receive the images back from my local film lab. Stay tuned :)

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In regards to bookings,

the change in locations would evidently lead to having a new client base down here. That said for my friends up in the northern hemisphere, I am still available for travel shoots for a few months of 2022.

Asuka Visions is available for travel bookings June, July, August & December 2022.

Oregon Respite

It was nice to be back.

Last month I got the privilege to return to Oregon. It had been 2.5 years, and many parts of me missed it. For those who know, I came out here to New York from Portland Oregon, the closest place where I felt like was home. It felt that it was time to go, to finally venture off to new lands, as I have always wanted to, as I have always feared to do.

People always told me, “West coast, best coast.” I don’t like to believe people’s strong opinions until experiencing it myself, so I told myself that I’ll try living out in the east coast. Little did I know that I had two full years of immense growth ahead of me that were gained through many struggles, tears and laughter. During my time in New York, I often missed the relaxed, accepting and gentle vibe of the PNW. There are few places throughout my travels that I have felt that I want to return to. Portland is one of the very few places that I have and will continue to desire visiting again.

Interestingly, while being back in Portland I noticed how much I have changed - how much I have grown. The gentleness of Portland, the loving, genuine vibes were still there - the same kind I reminisced about often on the east coast. One observation I made was that, although it was lovely being back, I missed the hustle energy, the diversity, the drive of New York. I realized I have west coast vibes with an east coast drive. It was wonderful being back to and seeing old friends. This trip to me was a symbol of the growth made internally - I am a far stronger individual now. I know myself more than ever and hope to continue discovering more.

In this blog I share with you some of my memories of my trip - hope you enjoy.

PNW, I will return to you again someday. Hopefully next time, I’ll have a bit more time to spend with you.

Model: Huijun Tan.

Portra 800, 120mm.

Cheers,
Asuka Visions

From One to Two

After visiting Rottnest Island I headed over to the other side of Australia: Sydney. I want to share with you a sweet incident that occurred while I was heading over to a dessert shop there. Having exited the train station, I was in the middle of walking down the path that directed me toward my destination but while walking I saw something that caught my eye. A small shop that seemed to sell an item that my husband told me to make sure to eat in Sydney: the Chico Roll. 

So I headed straight to the shop, allowing my prior plan to postpone for a bit. After a short talk with the man in the front of the shop I opted to try the chicken roll due to not eating beef. It was clear to him that I was a visitor, because I asked what was in a Chico roll, a big giveaway to a Sydney native huh?. We started talking about where I was from, and he got excited when I told him that I'm from Portland. His brother went there for a while!  

He shared with me a little about his brother & his venture to my land of pretty trees & food carts. He also wanted to tell me about the kindest lady he has ever met, the employee who was a lady standing behind him. Want to see the face of the kindest lady ever? She let me take a photo ^^. The one to the right! After maybe a good ten minutes of talking, he asked me if I wanted "tomato sauce" with my chicken roll. I wasn't sure whether to try it with the tomato sauce, and so he took out another chicken roll & put the tomato sauce on. "On the house." It was good.

One day I'll find this Chico roll shop again & tell him that I've never forgotten our fun encounter. That it made my day. Also, that I felt too full to eat my expensive dessert from trying to eat two chicken rolls. 

Singapore: City View

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Happy Monday everyone :)

Many of you may already know, but for 2017 I received the privilege of pursuing a dream that I've had for many years. That dream is to see the world. For far too long I've denied myself the opportunity to do so mainly for financial reasons, but to be completely honest the real reason behind not leaving can be pointed to guilt. Guilt to leave my family as a youth, and as a married woman now, guilt to leave my husband behind. I felt that I was being selfish by going somewhere by myself. We love spending time together and we rarely are separated for more than a day or two at most. Maybe shame also. Who am I to be seeing the world when I "ought to be doing something else"?

Through several years of personal growth I've come to learn a few important life lessons that got me to this point:

• My dream is just as valid as anyone else's.
• Without loving myself I cannot better love others.
• By accepting myself for who I am I can better accept others for who they are. 

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So, I began my traveling dream with my now travel buddy Joanne. :) Our first stop was Singapore. 

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Next week: Singapore: Nature view
Next stop: London

M Kat

The Start of my Traveling Journey

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After years and years of wishing and dreaming, my wait to travel the world will come to an end, and my journey of world venture will begin at the beginning of next year. With a humble heart I want to express how excited I am to say that I can start living my dream of traveling the world. Camera in hand, I hope to capture even a portion of the moments that my eyes will captivate and see as living beauty.

Throughout the years growing up there have been so many discouraging thoughts run through my head in regards to going around the world but thanks to such a supportive husband and my dear friend who I couldn't do this without I'm finally beginning my journey of seeing the world. It will all begin starting in January. :) Unlike taking months-long backpacking journeys that many take these days, my trips will be visits to various places around the world. I've always been an odd-ball so I'm going with what floats my boat :).

I will definitely be blogging and possibly vlogging about it. The images that I take will be shown in full and even available for purchase here for those who feel the desire to enhance their life with a beauty they may one day see themselves. :)

https://mkatphotography.instaproofs.com/gallery/#events/1446580

This is not a post to brag and make you hate your life. For years as I've seen people post traveling photos I felt happy for them, yet also honestly I also felt jealous and sad because I wished so badly to be in their shoes. Really sad. If you are like me and wish for your dreams to come true but are feeling discouraged, let me be a testament that your dreams can indeed come true. Perhaps it will require the test of time to see if that dream is truly bright, but it will come to be lived if we have our heart set to it. During these years of dreaming, I learned over and over that we can't wait for happiness, we have to get it ourselves. I can't finish this post without thanking my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the people my life to make this all happen, because without them I won't be taking this journey. :) Love you Chadsen Kat and Joanne Huang.

Take the journey with me. My first stop is Singapore.

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M Kat

The Seven Magic Mountains

Last weekend I took a small trip down to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding. On the morning of the flight I got to visit this wonderful art exhibit that was about 20 miles west of the Strip. These boulders were humongous and were literally as vibrant and bright as shown in the photos. This exhibit was such a nice pop of color on the desert road that they stood on. A huge thank you to my friend Venessa for telling me about it.

Visiting the Seven Magic Mountains was unexpectedly the highlight of the trip... get it? Highlight? Neon boulders? ;D

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Peace to y'all.

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M Kat