May 29, 2012

Back from New York

I am back from New York after two weeks holiday in the city and Puerto Rico for our pre-honeymoon holiday. Tired but happy to see him graduating from his PhD after such grueling 4 years in Columbia Uni.

Super pk with shopping with coach bags (I have extra bags and wristlets from the trip, anyone interested to buy can contact me as I am selling them way below the price in Malaysia), manage to find my ROM dress from BCBG Maxazaria for a bargain and cheap branded clothes. Seriously clothes in Malaysia especially those from Gap, Banana Republic, Guess, Levis, Calvin Klein and many more are so darn expensive. Most of the clothes I gotten from these brands cost less than USD 10 or the most USD 15 for a working shirt. Even Padini during the 50% discount is more expensive than that!



May 9, 2012

Top Destinations for Photography

I was reading about this top 5 destinations for photography in Lonely Planet website the other day. The article mentioned that Rajasthan, India, Yellowstone National Park, USA, Venice, Italy, Hong Kong and Ladakh, India as the top 5. It's amazing that India has two destinations in the top 5 and it's a country that I always wanted to travel to, for her amazing colourful culture and of course Taj Mahal.

After reading that, I decided to name my very own top 5 destinations for photography. Photography here does not only reflect landscape photography but street and portrait photography. I find that getting a good shot at people is tougher than taking a shot of the non moving subject such as buildings and landscape.

My lists would be as follows:

The crowd during Gai Jatra festival in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, Nepal
I was lucky to be in Kathmandu during the Gai Jatra festival, which I had so much fun taking many shots of the people in colourful costume and unique culture. Do not be fooled by the chaotic and dusty environment as beneath all those, lies a very vibrant and friendly city.



One of the market streets in Hong Kong during a rainy day
Hong Kong
I agree with the list by Lonely Planet that Hong Kong indeed is suited for street photography especially when she is lit up at night with colouful neon lights. Visits to the Peak, Victoria Harbour and the famous streets in Mongkok during the night are a must.




Made in Peru stuff against the snow capped mountain
Basically anywhere in Peru
Haha, I am tempted to write Lake Titicaca as one destination but after that I realized the whole of Peru is very 'photogenic' and plus it's unfair not to include Machu Picchu as one of the destinations for photography.



Another side of Potala Palace, once a home to the Dalai Lama
 Lhasa, Tibet
When I first arrived in this city, my guide told me that we can't take photos around Lhasa especially those with army personnel in them. So I kept my camera in my bag until I climbed the Potala Palace. I watched 7 Years in Tibet acted by Brad Pitt recently, a real story based on the life of Dalai Lama and his friendship with this Austrian hiker/mountain climber and many of the scenes reminded me of Tibet. Tibetans are generally very religious people and you can see many of them circling 3 rounds around the Potala Palace for blessing. Oh, and it got to be in clockwise.



Looks like something out from the fairy tale books
The Highlands, Scotland
Just for the landscape, this got to be the most photogenic. You are basically transported back to Highlander movies, Lord of the Rings, Stardust (the real filming locations are in Scottish highlands) and any movies with witches, lords, knights, kings in them. And not forgetting men in skirts..ops..kilts. They are very accommodating for photos, haha.

May 1, 2012

Macau

So romantic
A long overdue travelogue on Macau. It's a family trip back in 2010 and it's a day trip from Hong Kong. I booked the ferry tickets from this website and it's advisable to do so as it was quite difficult to buy tickets on the same day.

The turbojet ferry can be taken from Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, 3/F Shun Tak Centre at Sheung Wan. We then took a taxi from the ferry terminal in Macau to the Senado Square where the famous ruins of the cathedral remains. It was my second time here but I still enjoy the heavily Portuguese influenced country where colourful buildings and Portuguese on the signboards here. Although my grandma was seasick from the ferry ride, she was excited to be here for the famous egg tarts, pork burger and the cookies. We did not spend much time in Macau as it started to rain and we managed to line up for an earlier ferry ride back to Hong Kong.


signboards in Portuguese

with my grandma

a famous church in the square

window




Na Zha temple





Portuguese egg tarts