July 31, 2008
The Serenity of Borobudur Buddha Statue
Location: Borobudur, Central Java, Indonesia (7° 36′ 28.8″ S, 110° 12′ 0″ E)
Date: 22 December 1995; 10.15am
Camera: (analogue) Canon EOS 500N on negatives and scanned
I revisited Borobudur again a couple of weeks ago and still enjoy the place's spirituality (not that I am religious at all).
There were three of us and we wanted to stay at the Manohara Hotel which is within the grounds of the park; however we could not get a room. The advantage of staying at the hotel is unlimited free entry to Borobudur during the 2 days and at discounted rate for the Sunrise Entry. This is actually a very good deal especially if there are two persons since the deal includes free (apparently pretty good) breakfast and reasonably good accommodation.
Technorati Tags: Borobudur Magelang
July 30, 2008
David of Michelangelo- a feminine touch of the perfect man
Location: Singapore National Museum (1° 17′ 48.2″ N, 103° 50′ 55.1″ E)
Date: 21 March 2008; 12.45pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5
A different perspective of the famous David statute of Michelangelo; this one is covered by a flowery layer of textile, reminiscent of traditional handmade brocade, commonly used for the baju kebaya, a customary women’s blouse. In this novel garb, Indonesian artist Titarubi uses David to explicitly express attributes of femininity.
July 26, 2008
Fujian Hakka Tulou, China's new entry to the UNESCO Heritage List
Location: Hakka Tulou, Yongding, Fujian, China (24°38'14.18"N 116°54'27.63"E)
Date: 11 December 2007, 3.20pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5
Hakka客家 (in Cantonese) or Kejia (in Putonghua) is a subgroup of the Chinese Han. They are found mainly in the southern provinces of Guangdong, Fujian Jiangxi and Guangxi. Many of them still lives in traditional communal buildings known as Tulou土楼, literally meaning “earthen buildings”. Tulou’s come in various shapes and sizes but the most unique and well-known are the circular ones as seen in this photo. Tulou’s are mainly enclosed circular or rectangular, designed in such a way mainly as a defensive construction. There are still quite a few tulou’s in these parts of China but their number is dwindling due to neglect and residents choosing to stay in modern concrete buildings. A good article on the tulou can be found here.
The Fujian Tulou had just been inscribed as a UNESCO Heritage Site this month (China has the third largest number of UNESCO Sites at 37 after Italy, 43 and Spain, 40). It is hoped that such a recognition will ensure that they will be properly maintained, now with access to international protection and funds. However I cannot be optimistic looking at the record of tourism developments in China over the last few years. Whenever a destination became a UNESCO Site, it attracts hordes of Chinese tourists despite local authorities invariably jacking up the prices of visiting such destinations when they became a UNESCO Site, adding immense pressure to the site maintenance. Moreover, local authorities had in many occasions forcibly expelled residents in and around such sites in the name of preservation; in the process uprooting traditions and culture related to a site that dates back centuries- ironically these are itself part of the reasons why a site was listed as the UNESCO site in the first place.
July 24, 2008
Ice block on the road between Manali and Leh, India
Location: Road between Manali and Leh, Ladakh, India (32°22'60 N 77°15'0 E)
Date: 21 August 1998; 11.20am
Camera: (analogue) Canon 500N with negatives and scanned
This is only one of two roads that leads to Leh in the district of Jammu and Kashmir. It crosses some of the highest mountain passes in the world, including Lachulung La (5,059 m) and Taglang La (5,325 m). It is open only between June and mid-September when snow is cleared from the road by the Border Roads Organisation. This include cutting through gigantic blocks of ice that tumbles down from mountainsides onto the road such as the above. The journey between these two towns normally takes two days but can be longer depending on road conditions.
Technorati Tags: Manali-Leh Highway,Leh
July 21, 2008
The Incredible Hulk, Universal City, Los Angeles
Location: Universal City, Los Angeles, California, USA (34° 8′ 20″ N, 118° 21′ 9″ W)
Date: 4 September 2006; 11.45am
Camera: Canon EOS 300D with kit lens
The new movie version of "The Incredible Hulk" had just been r4leased worldwide. I believed this is the second movie version. I have not seen it but I hope it is better than the disaster previous version done by director Ang Lee. I also wonder if the current version of The Hulk is anything like the look of Lee's version which is conspicuously displayed at the Universal City.
July 18, 2008
The summit of K2, world's 2nd highest mountain, Pakistan
Location: K2 summit from Concordia, Pakistan (35° 44′ 0″ N, 76° 31′ 0″ E)
Date: 9 July 2007; 5.45pm
Camera: Canon 400D with EF 70-200/f4 IS L
This is the summit of K2, the second highest mountain in the world,. This was taken from Concordia, the confluence of the Baltoro Glacier and the Godwin-Austen Glacier, in the heart of the Karakoram range of Pakistan. This photo is the result of post-processing; there was no perfect reflection of the sun at the summit at that moment. But it definitely look dramatic.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
