Storm Clouds

Click HERE to view large (:

Still need to figure out how to get a certain size uploaded for my shots ):

Anyway! This landscape was taken in Jasper National Park (if my memory doesn't fail me), Canada. It was a very beautiful place; I was on a bridge over this fast-moving icy river. The gorgeous blue-green colour of the water is due to glacier silt. Just a short distance away, there was a huge black bear ambling on the road, and I was rather apprehensive of getting out of the car to take this shot. He soon disappeared into the woods though (: Beautiful beautiful place. If only the weather was better during my trip.

Finally, a Photo Update!

I realised this blog has had neither prose nor pictures (: for a long long long long LONG time.

So here's a small dose.

Taken at Jasper National Park, British Columbia, Canada, if my memory does not fail me.




Nikon D80 / Tokina 12-24 / B+W Slim KSM CPL



Despite the lousy exposure, I kinda like this photo, a lot (:

Some points to note for future reference:

Do not hurry while freezing
Take some time to use the tripod you lugged around no matter how cold you are
Let you family continue shivering in the car for you prolly won't be taking this photo ever again
Travel with fellow photography nuts

Anyway, due to some requests, I shall allow comments... and since I have forgotten how to put in comments ): I've put in a cbox under links. Please feel free to post any questions that burn in your throat.

Peyto Lake

Nikon D80 / Tokina 12-24mm / Singh-Ray soft-grad ND filter.

One of the most beautiful lakes in the Rockies (to me), besides Medicine Lake, Moraine Lake, and Waterton Lake.

We drove past (yes, without stopping) Peyto Lake on the way to town of Banff. All the way straight from Jasper, which was quite a few hours drive. Needless to say, the Nanny was tired and required neck massages along the way, and our fuel tank was going low.

When we reached Banff and started our plans to visit the nearby scenics, I was like, hey, Peyto Lake is nearby! (which the map claimed it was) so we set out all the way to Peyto, only to find out that after about 40 minutes we were STILL driving there. Nanny went mad, cos it was on Icefields Parkway, the way that we had gone to Banff by. Kept telling him to turn back to Banff, but he was as stubborn as a mule and drove all the way to Peyto while complaining non-stop. "It better be good!"

At the Peyto turnoff, we realised there was a steep climb to the lake lookout, also known as Bow Summit. More complaining, by the sister too (: unfit people! haha (:

THEN we reached the top! And gosh, it was such a beautiful view, a turquoise lake shaped like a fox, surrounded by majestic mountains and verdant forest.

Haha, then, Nanny stopped complaining (:

TLR and bears

I enjoyed myself immensely today, shooting with Shawn's seagull.

We went to the Kranji War Memorial, which is a short walk from Kranji MRT. Although the skies and its light drizzle was not on our side, the rain fortunately stopped before we reached the memorial's gates.

The TLR was very interesting, albeit being very frustrating to use. One's hands had to be steady and straight. Mind had to get used to the mirror-view (moving right becomes left in the viewfinder). Had to pop up the magnifier, and meter, and cock the shutter, and wind... It sounds like a pain in the ass, which it is. And the click at the end. Not really a click even. Very strange and muffled compared to the satisfying 'CLACK' of my FE2. However, still a great experience - which will be confirmed when I develop the film.

However... it is extremely unconducive for action shots, or even those with people moving at a slow pace. If you are anal that is, and I am quite (:

Certainly, you will not be able to get shots such as these:





Cubs climbing up a tree for safety, and their mother frightened, huddled, and ready to protect her babies at the base of the tree.

This mother was the exact same one that chased me and my own mother (who I can't help but recall, pushed me towards the bear while trying to save her skin) but she was really helpless in this photo as there were about 20 people crowding her in. I cannot imagine how scary it was for her, being such a young mother.

I am sad because I know I didn't complete the 8 runs. Just like Inspector Clousseau said to 006, I'm one short of the big time.

Okay, not the big time, but the teeny goal I set (: I will endeavour to run though. Just that when I go shooting, my legs can't seem to take much more. Haha!



This here's a big horn sheep. When I was in Jasper, a woman told me she'd love to see one. The day before taking this, I caught a glimpse of one bounding high up in a mountain meadow, just a tiny dot to my eye.

We were pretty lucky to catch a bunch of them sunning themselves in the afternoon. I still am disappointed that we didn't see a moose in daylight though.

Granville

Nikon D80 / 24mm / f8 / 1/250 seconds / Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue Polariser

Taken at the little jetty, where you can take a little boat to Granville Island. The boat is very cute, like a little soap dish! I'll have to find a photo of it soon.

This shows how extreme the polariser can go (:

Vancouver, Canada.

Flowerball

Nikon D80 / 50mm / f1.4 / 1/800 seconds

Taken in Vancouver, Canada, at a small park nearby Granville Island.

Athabasca Falls

Nikon D80 / 12mm / f22 / 0.5 seconds hand-held
/ Singh-Ray Gold and Blue Polariser

This is Athabasca falls, in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. I love this photo (:

Sometimes, I forget what I have uploaded. It seems my memory loss has gone beyond short-term.

Since I have decided to forgo uploading day by day on the Canada trip, there will be photos from the trip on-and-off on my blog.

Day 1, continued

After lunch, we headed to the old Chinatown (the new one being Richmond).



On the way there, the streets we walked past were lined with dilapidated buildings, many not in use. There were few walking on the streets too. It is one of the few unpleasant streets in Vancouver.

Anyway, it was bright daylight, so we hurried on.

When we reached, it was clear that Chinatown was something of the past. Shops were empty and streets were lacking visitors. Only restaurants and shops selling fresh or dried goods were still in the business.

One of Vancouver's attractions, the Sun Yat Sen park, was in Chinatown.



It was, surprisingly, filled with visitors. Crowded to the point that it was hard to take a photo without a visitor in the frame. The park did not seem interesting though, and was rather bare.





The pavilion was surrounded by a pool of lily pads... of which few were in bloom.



The entrance





The adjoining park which required an entry fee (the reason it was not bustling like the free one)



I would not recommend walking to the old Chinatown, there was nothing there worth visiting.

Sadly.

Day 1 continued.

Here's an advance apology for the ugly photo:


This is where we stayed at in Vancouver, the St. Clair Hotel, a backpackers' lodging in a heritage building a few hundred years old. Fortunately, no few hundreds years old ghosts haunting it.

St. Clair really changed my impression of lodging for backpackers, which I somehow imagined as hole-in-the-walls, dirty with rodents scurrying around and grime in a dormitory-style toilet (euuuugh!). The location was excellent - near Granville station - and thankfully it was very clean.The shower also had nice hot water with a very strong spray. The main difference from that of a real hotel was that the shower and toilet bowl was shared, and that the room was very small with bunk beds and no TV. However, the other places I read about had lots of complaints about dirt and pests, so perhaps my family was lucky.

Although my first time doing it backpackers' style was rather decent - perhaps due to my extremely low expectations - I highly doubt that I'd stay in at such a lodging again (:

Just around the corner was a small unauthentic japanese cafe and a few other cheap eats, prolly due to it being a location where students eat.



The cafe had a set that came with an appetiser, "main" and dessert or drink of your choice. I can't remember the price now, but it was affordable.

Sunomono (prawn / kani)




Sunomono is a type of "salad", vermicelli in rice vinegar with some vegetables and meat. Sounds really strange, but interestingly flavoured - imagine noodles in cold sour sauce. An acquired taste (:

Mains were basically a side of sushi served with rice. Not value for money unless you choose the right combination.







The best was probably mine, as pictured right above. It came with sashimi in spicy marinade and tuna something which I can't recall.

We all chose drinks except Mom, who had "puffs" which turned out to be icecream puffs (:



I'm sleepy so I'll continue in the next post.

Canada, Transit and Flight

On the way to Canada, our flight transited at Shanghai, where we spent the better of eight hours (cheaper flight = longer transit) sleeping on benches. I felt too tired to care about looking homeless. Hey, homeless people can't afford trips to Canada anyway.

After a not very restful sleep due to Chinese children (I think I'm a racist oh goodness!) shrieking and jumping on seats like monkeys, we shook our tired selves awake and started searching for food.

And guess what we found!



Ken te ji, otherwise known as ken tuc ky. We also spotted...



which reminds me of Japan (for no particular reason) so I suppose I saw it there. (: Hail the shop which sells chewing gum!

Now, say hello to our meal at ken te ji.



They have the weirdest offerings I've seen at KFCs all over the world! For example, a set does not come with whipped potato or coleslaw, it comes with a chicken wing and corn/mixed veggies in a cup! So, I ordered a burger which came with the above. And was thankful for the chicken wing cos the burger turned out to be a vegetable-flour patty (all together, UGH!). Luckily they actually ran out of the weird vegetable mix thing cos I got fries in exchange! (: yay.

Here's their menu.



And here's sis, trying to take a photo of all of us. Sometimes my camera can't flatter people's looks.



Here she is again.



Here's a shot I really like, with all the lines and everything. Which somehow managed to get my sis and dad to try and imitate it.



A strange plant seen at the airport. Must have took lots of work to make it look that way. While I was engrossed with photographing the plant, a Chinaman started examining the plant too, although he's probably seen tons of it. (:



Some shots of the Shanghai airport.





Interesting architecture, huh?

Then, finally, it was boarding time! Couldn't wait.

Took this onboard the plane... I like the composition (:



This wing with the sky reminds me of an advertisement. Fly China Eastern!



Plane started playing this movie on rollerskate disco and a cute little girl started standing up and dancing! (:



And that concludes the transit and flight to Canada.

Keep a look out for more updates to come!