Weekly Photo Challenge: Winter

Winter to me, is about snow, the awesome blue sky, Christmas, family gatherings, and about peace, love and joy.  Where I come from, there is no such thing as winter, only sunny and rainy days.  Fortunately, I happen to be vacationing at the moment, experiencing winter in the Northern Hemisphere.  And I’m loving every moment of it!

This was an ‘accidental’ shot.  We missed the train back to Munchen (because the bus driver took his own sweet time and that caused us that precious 5 minutes to get on the train) and had to wait at Oberammergau for an hour before the next train would arrive.  As a result, I was given the green light by the hubby to explore the surroundings.  And saw how lonely this bench by the stream looked.  But, if the bench is empty, it bodes well – that during the joyous season of loving and giving, no one will be left out.

Have a great year ahead, folks!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Self Portrait

Self Portrait.  I took this shot at one of the Christmas shops in Rothenburg ob der Tauber just hours before I checked the internet and learnt that the photo challenge for this week is ‘Self Portrait’.  I was inspired at the right moment!

I like this shot a lot because it encompasses a couple of my favourite things in life – one, I don’t take self portraits and this is a rather creative take; two, it’s the Christmas season and three, I was travelling during my favourite season – winter.

I might just crop this picture a little tighter and use it for my FB avatar.  But that has to wait till I get home and have access to Photoshop.  Whatever stock programme on my Macbook isn’t really sophisticated enough for me to play around with.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Celebration

This week’s photo challenge is Celebration.  The biggest celebratory festival for Chinese must be the Lunar New Year, and we Chinese celebrate it in a big way.  It starts on the eve of Lunar New Year where families gather for the Reunion Dinner.

And the Reunion Dinner is all about food.  My family usually has steamboat for the Reunion Dinner because it’s the easiest to fix.  It’s nothing fancy, but there is something very ‘family’ and cosy about having a steamboat feast.

This year on the eve, my cousin moved house and the tables in the house couldn’t accommodate the whole family hence the kids (not so young ‘kids’ because I’m referring to my generation) were relegated to a second table while our parents sat at the main table.  I wish I had a photo of the family tucking in for dinner to share, but nothing, I mean nothing, comes between my Aunt’s steamboat and I.  And as always, my closest cousin and I were the last ones to leave the table.

Yup, this is my interpretation of celebration – bonding with my family, over food.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Waiting

Waiting for this week.  I’m sure nobody likes to wait, no matter how patient one could be.  I, for one, loathe to wait, and depending who I’m going to meet, I actually choose to be late for some appointments because I know the person I’m meeting will be late.  I’m usually not wrong.

What if your job is all about waiting for something to happen, like the guards at the Ataturk Museum in Ankara, capital city of Turkey?  I don’t know how it’s like to be say, a fireman at the airport, for example.  While controlling aircraft at the control tower, I have a good vantage view of the people working at the airport emergency services and more than 3/4 of their time is either spent on ensuring they are fit enough for any emergencies, or practising fire drills to ensure their preparedness.

I say it’s a tough job knowing that people would rather they’d never use your services.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Family

This week’s challenge – Family.  I knew the exact picture I wanted to find to represent ‘Family’ but I just couldn’t locate it.  Might have lost it when my PC last crashed in 2008.

Found the next best picture.  Some explanation is in order – this was taken in Jan 2006 when Sugar was 1.5 years old and Paris was barely 3 months old.  The moment Paris came home with us, she identified Sugar as her mother figure – she followed her surrogate mummy everywhere and mimicked everything she did.  What happened here was, Sugar had been naughty, so she was being punished to ‘Down’ and ‘Stay’.  The puppy Paris was free to roam the house yet she chose to lie down beside Sugar.  And being a puppy, she couldn’t keep her eyes open for long.  This shot was taken when she fell asleep while accompanying Sugar in her punishment.

It was a super cute moment.  Hilariously funny too.  But I chose this picture because it sufficiently embodies the essence of a family, that is, going through thick and thin together.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder

The topic for this week – Wonder.

I’m particularly fascinated with the most basic wonders of nature, including sunrises, sunsets, tides and the ocean.  I’m acutely aware that I have not exactly been exemplary in my conduct as a Christian, but I believe firmly that there is a God.  And if anyone needs evidence, just look at how intricately the universe was created.  He thought of everything.

And here’s my interpretation.

This full moon was taken some moons ago at the window of my bedroom.  It was a beautiful night, and the moon shone so brightly it could even be mistakenly as the sun.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows

Windows is this week’s challenge.  Another tough one for me.  And so I decided on this photography of a setting sun through the window grilles.

The Venetian sunset was beautiful…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hidden

I have to confess, I have a very bad and unoriginal intepretation of this week’s topic – Hidden.  Totally unoriginal, and boring, I know. Please pardon me, for I have a lot on my mind. Apart from wringing my brain of its last juice to conjure the 10,000 steps per day, there has also been a health issue of a family member on the homefront.

Suffice it to say that I have not been myself too, of late.

So anyway, tadah… the castle at Tokyo Disneyland, taken from behind some bushes.  I have not been to many Disney resorts – just the one in California when I was 11, and the ones in Tokyo for several times the past few years.  Disneyland is my happy place; I just become so happy when I see everyone around me so happy, especially the children.

Today’s Halloween.  Are you going out partying?  I’m not.  But if time permits, I might attend the sunset mass for All Saints’ Day (which is on 1 Nov).  Otherwise I’ll attend the mass on the actual day.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity

Opportunity. I was stumped for a while by this topic, and brainstormed with the hubby for some ideas during dinner a couple of days ago.  It was I who thought of taking pictures of some local betting station.  Gambling, to some people, is an opportunity to strike a fortune.

However, it was the hubby that reminded that I don’t have to make a special trip out just to take some pictures because I have some ready ones in my archives.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present… Casino de Monte-Carlo.  The exterior building.  Yup, most if not all casinos disallow photography indoors.

I’m not a gambler; my only indulgence is the occasional mahjong session with close friends.  Personally I don’t see gambling or betting as an opportunity at all, because the odds are so stacked against you.  Nevertheless, many many people continue with their gambling habits, hoping to find their pot of gold before they go bankrupt or kick the bucket, whichever occurs first.

If you have a gambling problem, please seek help.  Only one in a million* becomes rich through gambling.  And the harsh reality is, you may not be the one millionth.

*  This is just an arbitrary statistic to illustrate my point.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Possibility

To many, doors, windows, roads and pathways represent ‘possibility‘.  I view it a little differently; to me, a new day in itself opens up new possibilities.  The fact that I am alive and living each new day brings on more ‘possibility’, so to speak.

And nothing better represents a new day than sunrise.  Staying true to my habitual quirk, I took a picture of the aircraft’s wing span enroute to Tokyo on this latest trip.  The sun was just barely rising, and with it brought hope for a new day.