Another Reflection

 

A favourite shot of mine during my trip to Tibet recently.

All my favourite reflection shots can be found here

Close Up

What do you do if you have too much time in a place where there's nothing much you can do?

This is what I did while we were in NewTingri, Tibet.

Close up shots of flowers at the hotel.

We were 'stranded' in our hotel for the next leg to Everest Base Camp. We practically count down for dinner right after lunch!

Jiu Fen 九份, Taiwan (25 March 2011)

the crowd


narrow streets of Jiu Fen

Jiu Fen is located about an hour away from Taipei. Jiu Fen used to be a mining town back in the 1950s but today it was considered one of the hot tourist spost in Taipei.

Hence, we decided to join the crowd and went to JiuFen for a day trip from Taipei. To get to Jiu Fen, we took the MRT to Songsan station and took a bus (Keelung bus). Look out for bus going towards JinGuaShi 金瓜石

The winding and narrow streets of JiuFen is full of shops and restaurants catered for the tourists. Some of the famous food here are the taro balls, ice cream popiah and lots of shops selling mochi. JiuFen is also a perfect place for photographers as the town is picturesqure in every corner. It's a pity that we didnt stay on for the night view as it started raining in the afternoon.

To get out of JiuFen, walk towards the 7-11 store and wait for the bus going towards Taipei.

view from the top

a woman selling fried mushroom


the place we had Taro balls


delicious 'kuih'


the famous teahouse in Jiu Fen




every street is a postcard view!

Qomolangma

Qomolangma, the left peak

Qomolangma or Sagarmatha or better known as Everest is the tallest mountain in the world standing at more than 8000m above sea level. One of the highlights of our Tibet trip is to see Everest from the base camp but we didnt get to see in the end. Instead, we took the mountain flight from Kathmandu which enable us to see Everest and the Himalayans range from above the clouds. The flight cost us around USD 130 for an hour. Worth every dollar paid!

Some pictures for the feast of your eyes. Enjoy!

More mountain range

Himalayan range

The leng chai pilot on the right

Inside the plane with the mountain map

Gai Jatra (Cow Festival) @ Kathmandu, Nepal

locals enjoying a view of the festival

We were indeed very lucky to be in Kathmandu during one of the important festivals of Nepal.

Gai Jatra or Cow Festival is normally celebrated in Nepal during the month of August or September. The festival itself is full of humor, mockery, satire but not without sadness at the same time. Gai Jatra is a festival whereby the family 'celebrate' the passing of their loved ones during the year. During this day, those who had lost someone close during the year will come out to the streets to take part in a procession which lead by a cow or someone dress like a cow. For Hindus, the cow is a holy animal which they believe will help their loved ones to cross over to heaven. It was said the festival is the idea of the Nepal king, King Pratap after seeing his wife sadden over the death of their son.

Since we were scheduled to go to Bhaktapur on the day of the festival, we decided to leave early to join the crowd. It was a feast of colours and culture during the parade with lots of tourists and locals coming out together to celebrate the day. We saw lots of dance, locals donned in masks and colourful dresses as well as young children participating.

boy and girl goddess dressup

photographers in action

a girl enjoying the sights and sound

the locals enjoying the festival

A woman's prayer

Faces of Kathmandu

The whole month of August had been a really busy month for me as I went for a trip around Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. Had been planning for the trip for some time since middle of last year and it's like a dream come true especially travelling with two of my besties from high school and university.

We flew in to Kathmandu via Nepal Airlines and spend 3 days before flying to Lhasa and lastly to Bhutan. We actually went in and out of Kathmandu for several times. Visa can be applied on arrival but prepared with 1 passport size photo and the visa fee. For us, we paid USD 40 for a 30 days multiple entry. Since I am still sorting out the photos, just want to share a few of my favourite shots of the people in Kathmandu.

We were lucky to be there during the 'Cow Festival' whereby the Nepalese celebrate the death of their families and relatives for the past one year. Yup, instead of mourning and sad over the passing of their loved ones, they went all out to celebrate as death signifies another beginning of another life. Coincidentally, the festival is the same day as the Hungry Ghost festival celebrated by the Chinese in Malaysia.

little boy praying

little girl praying 

family of five

heavy on her back