Sky above Mygardenhaven

Sunrise from my bedroom window.


I love the silhouette of the coconut trees. This typically tropical look is fast disappearing and being replaced with steel and concrete buildings. I tell myself to enjoy the view each day before all the trees are no longer there. Taking photographs like these is one way of treasuring them, and documenting the scene in an image for posterity.







Moonlit night from my study window.


I was entranced by the visibility of sweeping cloud formations even in this light, and clicked away without noticing that I had captured with my camera the source of this light, the benevolent moon high up above the trees, lending me her soft light in lieu of my camera flash light.

I would like to thank Skywatch Friday for making me more aware of the beauty in the skies above me than I had ever been.

On an Evening in Roma

The perfect song to sing along to as I watch this video I made of my day in Rome.

Hope you enjoy seeing the sights as much as I did!

Don't know what the country's coming to
But in Rome do as the Romans do
Will you on an evening in Roma

Thursday Theme Song

Nostalgia...Memories of A Wonderful Watercolour Lake

LAKE WANAKA, NEW ZEALAND

Yearning to return
to where the memory of halcyon days
by the lake named Wanaka
can only be revisited in the recesses of a worn camera,
I pen these thoughts...

A work of art is Nature

like a wonderful watercolour

animated with the wave of a wand

as if the hidden hand

from way up yonder

created this lake to waken our wonder

at a  work of art beyond the artistry of Man!
                                                                   Rosie Gan

This post is for Poetry Potluck and Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday.

     

The French Connection

The main advantage of exploring the streets of a  city you are visiting for the first time on foot is that you get to see what you would have missed if you were on a double-decker hop-on hop-off  tourist bus. You'd miss the intricate details of doorways, the semi-hidden side gardens, and you'd miss signs like these two I saw while exploring Paris:

This sign was posted outside what I presume to be a travelers' lodging house. I like the 'language' they speak as listed in the second and fourth line. There won't be much of a problem communicating here!

How thoughtful of the proprietors to put up this sign.


As I cannot read French, the two signs in English which I came across were what I could understand...and they tell me so much about the nature of the people who put up these signs. They must be delightfully humorous and considerate people.


The last sign does not need interpretation...there it was, right in the middle of Avenue des Champs-Elysees, a sentiment I personally share:




For more signs, visit Lesley at Signs Signs.

A Taste of the Orient...

Don't they look inviting? These were available as we climbed the foothill of Changshan Mountain in Dali, China. The baskets were beautifully adorned with melons, bananas, sea-coconut, oranges and many unfamiliar varieties of local fruit. We bought some on the way down, of course!

        These kumquat on the plant are from my own garden haven. 

Drop in at Lisa's for more macro shots and visit  Mary to see more mosaic pictures.   

Macro Monday                                                               

                                                       

             

   Mosaic Monday

Hush...

In ancient temples a hush descends

we hide

turmoil, bedlam desist

Gunung Agung, a sacred volcano in Bali. Last erupted in 1963

A 'pura' or hindu temple shaped like a pagoda.

Pavilions richly-adorned with gold trimmings.

Bali is known as the Island of a Thousand Puras.

A shadow shot in the evening light.

haiku my heart       Haiku Heights           

                  

                        Shadow Shot Sunday

                             

Siberian Seagulls

The  proudest moment in my newly acquired interest in bird photography occurred when I was at Green Lake in Kunming, China. I had always admired my blogger friends who photographed birds apparently with ease, and obviously with great success, judging from the fantastic close-ups of all kinds of birds in their blogs. In my own garden I could only watch as some mynahs hopped on the ground. Each time I moved in to attempt to point and shoot some photos, they would have flown off at the slightest hint of movement.


I resorted to photographing birds that do not fly...I do not mean roosters and such, I mean yard art birds. However my big break came when I heard about the thousands of migratory seagulls which would be at Green Lake after flying over oceans, land and lakes from Siberia. I am of course referring to the birds; I'm not from Siberia. Surely out of the thousands of birds there, I would be able to capture one or two decent images of birds in flight. There were throngs of  photographers by the lake using the best in bird photography equipment no less. I wasn't the least daunted. Using my Sony Cyber-shot, I clicked deliriously away. Here are some of my favourite captures.

What a delightful day at Green Lake, the day I became a bird photographer.

This post is specially for Weekend Reflection, Straight Out Of The Camera, Camera Critters, Scenic Sunday.
Do go over and watch the action there.

A Forest Green Dawn

It is time I woke up early to capture a sunrise in my own backyard! My camera seems to be pointed skywards only when I am on vacation, and I have been busy capturing New Zealand skies, Bali skies, Monaco skies...any sky but the sky above my own roof!


So this is a tribute to a sunrise sky above Forest Green, where we are to be found once a week. Despite the name, Forest Green is not a woodland and is actually nowhere near a forest. There's a bit of greenery surrounding the area, though, so the name is justified. It is a condominium near the city and it is easy enough to capture the panoramic scene from the balcony of our twelfth  floor apartment. I like looking out in the early hours of the morning when everything is shadowy, still and mysterious.



















Feels good to have documented this scene. Next assignment - document the sunrise over my garden haven.


Co to Skywatch Friday for more fabulous skies.

An Amazingly Lovely Lake

The most enchanting lake I've ever laid eyes on is this lake that I have chosen as my header for my travel-i-tales blog.


The approach road to the town of Tekapo holds the best surprise at the end...suddenly, catching you totally unaware, is the panorama of this unbelievably blue lake right in front of your eyes! You find yourself gasping in wonder at this jaw-dropping scene. Then the pure joy of being so fortunate as to share in the privilege of witnessing the natural beauty of this expanse of lake takes over...you feel like clapping your hands, and you do, giving the scene before you the most sincere applause you have ever given any performer at a concert.


Is the blue for real, you ask? Next you debate over how the lake gets this blue. Someone says it is the depth of the lake, another swears it must be the reflection of the azure sky. The next debate is what kind of blue is this astounding colour...is this what they term ultramarine? Or is it cerulean, maybe a tinge of turquoise? Whatever the name is, it is certainly a startling, stunning blue.


This is how it actually looks. These photographs of Lake Tekapo have not been retouched or edited in any way whatsoever. The air is fresh, the glacial lake water pristine. Apparently the electrifying blue comes from the colour of the silt that flows down from the glaciers. These finely ground particles are called rock flour, and they are suspended in the water, giving it that distinctive Tekapo hue of blue.

A picture-postcard view of the lake from inside the Church of The  Good Shepherd.

I have let these images speak for themselves.  I left my heart there and one of these days, I shall have to return to reclaim my heart.


For all of you lovers of Watery Wednesday, and Outdoor Wednesday, this post is dedicated to you.

My World Is...where I find wondrous beginnings.

My world is a wide, wide world

wherever I go, whatever I behold

there's where my world is

calling to me

belonging to me

enriching me beyond treasures!

My neighbours are all one

sharing this village

we call our world

sharing that one thread 

that links all minds

a universal consciousness...

Shakespeare knew what I mean.

We may be from all over the world, but our love for nature brings us together.

And we may roam the world, looking for differences in our culture, in our customs, in our way of life...and what do we find? That we are similar in everything that counts...in our humanity, our joys and sorrows, our love for family and friends, our moral values and even our vices!

This is a Buddhist Temple in Auckland! I like the sentiments expressed in the exhibit. Do read it.

We go in search of fascination

of the beauty of mountains and rivers and springs

we find instead, with fascination,

in the people we meet-the beauty within...

                                                                    Rosie

This poem is dedicated to My World Tuesday and Signs

Mediterranean Mellow

What colour do you associate with the Mediterranean? Earthy Tuscan terracotta colours? Tawny russet hues?


This is what mellow Mediterranean tones mean to me...it is reflected in the colours of the food and the thematic interpretation of the decor in the restaurants and cafes.


My first Mediterranean meal was in Barcelona. When in Spain...have a paella! Don't you just love the colours here? The cafe in the photograph is in a different part of Barcelona...it is near the Sagrada Familia. I love the mural of the harlequin and his mandolin.






When in Paris...you just have to drink cafe au lait at the side-walk cafes.

Of course you might also want to try typical French food, like we did at this chic restaurant.

In Italy, the tourist spots are always crowded...look at the hungry people at this side-walk cafe in Rome. My advice is, in this situation, when in Rome, do as the Romans do...grab a panini and gelato as you go.







When in Capri, dine in style. This  restaurant on the road to Anacapri has a rustic charm...the thatched roof, the dine-in-the-garden-overlooking-the-cliff concept, the lemon-laden lemon trees surrounding the dining area, all these contributed to an ambience that is unforgettable. Of course the food was also fabulous.







If you notice,  yellow seems to be the predominant colour in all these photographs. Hence this post is dedicated to Mellow Yellow Monday. Of course all the collages are dedicated to Mosaic Monday. And for Macro Monday, here's my favourite close-up of yellow jugs from the shelf of my favourite ceramic-ware shop in Anacapri.