We returned to Singapore, and the agency was now really disorganized. There were some great talents there, some great drinkers too. The talented art director who had done such beautiful work for the original Singapore Girl had become disenchanted with the direction, or misdirection, the agency was taking and decided to take a job offered to her in Hong Kong.
The phone again. She was ringing from Hong Kong, was I interested in working with her again?
I flew to Hong Kong to meet the Agencies Creative Director who assured me that although we would be working on a major 'fast moving consumer goods' account notorious for it's adherence to their 'Bible/rule book' this was to be the beginning of a new era, and we could be part of the restructuring with few creative limits. I swallowed the old carrot of 'it's going to be good here'.
Leaving a beautiful colonial-style apartment in Singapore, it was off to another new horizon, this one partly obscured by high-rise buildings and smog.
A nice house on Stanley beach was our new base, literally on the beach, which had no surf, so I had to wait for the occasional cyclone winds which would whip up a swell and small waves on another close-by beach.
To be honest, I made the first decision not governed by intuition, I proposed.
We decided to get married in Sydney, rather than asking friends and family to come to Hong Kong. Her father hired a cruiser, one that Tom Cruise had used in Sydney, and we were married on Sydney Harbor. It was a bit of a mini social event as the family was once well-known features in the Sydney fashion scene. We were even mentioned in the social pages of some Sydney papers.
I was finding that the clients 'Bible's commandments were carved in stone, and it was not the style I enjoyed writing and creating.
I did manage to get a commercial approved for a hair product and went to Bangkok, which was famous for its hair stylists, to produce it. Another took me to Shanghai.
I was to return to both Thailand and Shanghai.
Chinese gardens are much more than artistic expressions of glittering pools and pavilions pines. They are urban forests for self-cultivation, which is the lifelong pursuit of Chinese scholars. Accompanied by Chinese garden experts, “See” Yu Garden’s (or the Garden of Youth according to “I Ching”) design principles of “Harmony”, which are the hallmarks for spirituality and moral perfectibility. Meander via the lush greenery and intricate pathways, and explore the cultural symbolism, sayings and historical annals behind Yu Garden’s architectural layout, artistic decoration and plants configuration in 28 spaces across 6 scenic sports.
After a year, the agency and I both decided that I did not resonate particularly well with their client's Bible, I always wanting to 'zig 'when' they just wanted 'zag'' so we didn't renew my contract.
In the meantime I had also returned to Sydney to catch up with my friends . It was winter and the water freezing, as I got a wave I felt my wedding ring slip into the water as my fingers had shrunk a size or two. My stomach shrunk as I realized what had happened. Despite numerous desperate attempts diving to the bottom hoping to see it reflecting in the sun I couldn't find it.
I tried to explain to Vicky and was met with disbelief "I know you took it off when you were with another girl and left it behind".
Was this an insight that this union wasn't blessed?
We decided to we'd return to Australia, call into Bali on the way back and visit some old friends who were now living there.