Flower at the Duck
There is a duck restaurant in Ubud that has some great food. The name of the restaurant is “The Dirty Duck” in English, but the food is delicious, despite the name. I had some great sauces with my duck – I was the only person at my table to order duck at a duck resto – and my wife had a trio of sates that came with a small pot full of coals to keep her dish hot. It was an amazing experience.
The flowers above are growing in and around the resto. Like many things in Bali, the resto is an inside-outside dining experience. Very cool.
Monkey! MONKEY!
When we visited Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, we had the chance to go into the Monkey Forest. It is a reserve set aside especially for the local monkeys. It was…uh…interesting. Just when I thought the monkeys were kind of fun, one of them would freak out and then the whole group would go nuts.
Also, if you buy a bunch of bananas, the monkeys see you as vulnerable and easy to harm. Most people buy them thinking of some romantic notion of feeding the monkeys like they’re in a National Geographic film, but it always turns out looking like an Abbott and Costello sketch. Monkeys sprinting at the unsuspecting victim, and then the victim turning and running while throwing bananas at the monkeys, hoping to keep them from attacking. As long as it’s not happening to you, it’s really funny.
This guy just wanted to hang out. His eyes are what drew me to photograph him.
Good night. Sleep well.
Ooh…so tired. Parent-teacher conferences tomorrow. A two-day school week with students. Some kind of Indonesian religious observance this weekend. It’s only Tuesday night, but I’m tired like it’s Friday.
Good night. Sleep well.
Sunrise…again
I’m just heading for a workout, but I wanted to post this. It is another angle of the beach at Taman Sari Bali on the north side of the island. I am hopeful that I can get out and take some new photos soon.
Tanah Lot Water Temple
As you can see, there is no temple in this photo. The people standing knee-deep in water are carrying offerings from the mainland of Bali (Bali is an island…does it have a “mainland”?) to the Tanah Lot temple, which is located on a small, but considerable, rock just slightly offshore.
Their numbers are due in large part to the full moon that was occurring that night…and being a religious people who put great stock in the lunar cycle, there were many, many people all around Bali bringing offerings to their temples at this time.
WordPress Photo Challenge: Beyond
The lotus flower was thought to show a level of detachment beyond that of regular people. The Bhagavad Gita says that the lotus symbolizes one whose actions are untouched by sin and who performs his duties with no attachment. At the same time, the lotus had significance in Greek mythology; the lotus, when eaten, could induce a incomparable apathy. It would take one far beyond the reality of daily routine.
This week’s Photo Challenge is “Beyond”, and this lotus flower was shot at the Pura Taman Sari in Bali.
Photographer
I love seeing other people taking photographs. I don’t know what I look like when I take photos, but I hope I look sophisticated, elegant even. I’m sure I don’t, but I like to think that I look like I know what I’m doing.
WordPress Photo Challenge: Illumination
I took this shot at the Taman Sari Bali resort in North-western Bali. I got up hoping for a beautiful sunrise. What I got was this…not what I was looking for, but still kind of pretty. A little illumination from the sliver of sunlight.
Photo Friday: Pattern
I love the temples in Bali. There are hundreds (thousands?) of mosques here in Jakarta, but in Bali, over 90% of the population identifies itself with Hinduism. Hindu temples all have such interesting repetition, interesting patterns in their construction. This temple, the Pura Ulun Danu Bratan water temple, shows a great example of the repetition in construction.
Yes, I’ve posted a photo of this temple before, but this was shot with my DSLR – the other was shot with my iPad. I like this one better.
A Bali sunset…
…for the end of the first day back to school after the Christmas holiday.
That’s all. Just a sunset.
G’night.
Seafood anyone?
Our friends took us to this great beach-side fish restaurant in Bali. We ate on the Jimbaran beach as the sun set. It was beautiful. What was really cool was that, as a patron of the restaurant, I got to pick out the fish that we ate. I walked to the front resto, talk to the fish…uh…guy…and pick out which fish, which shrimp, which squid that we wanted grilled for dinner.
I come from Vancouver, BC, Canada, and we have a lot of fresh fish that I’ve eaten. There was something indescribable about this experience, however. Maybe it was the beach. Maybe it was the warmth. Maybe it was Christmas Day and I was experiencing something I’d never experienced before.
Whatever it was, it was definitely an experience that I’ll not forget.
Temple…
This is one of the many temples we saw while vacationing in Bali for Christmas. It’s quite beautiful in real life…I hope that this photo captures its beauty.
2012 has set…2013 is just beginning!
The sun set on 2012, and another one rose this morning on the first day of January, 2013.
My friends are just going to bed back home in BC, Canada, and wishing each other a “Happy New Year”, while I’m just getting the kids ready for bed at the end of the first day of 2013. Weird.
Happy new year, to all my friends and family. I pray that this is a great year for you.
The photo above is of the sunset at Jimbaran Beach. We ate freshly caught and cooked fish on that beach on Christmas Day last week.
WordPress Photo Challenge: 2012 (in hindsight)
This year has been momentous. I have watched as my family and I have adapted to our move from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, to Jakarta, Indonesia. I moved from teaching in a public school to an international, private school. I moved from one of the most beautiful places in the world (nah…it is the most beautiful) to a place I haven’t figured out yet. I moved from mountains and rivers to busy streets and overpopulation. I moved from ease and comfort (with a bit of financial challenge) to a place of challenge.
2012…the year of the move.
Bali flower
We’ve been in Bali for a week now, and it’s been a beautiful Christmas holiday. We stayed in a number of places, but our friend who did much of our bookings knew we wanted to stay in places that captured what Bali used to be like. We’ve stayed in two different Taman Sari villas, one near to Ubud called Puri Taman Sari, and another along the north coast called Taman Sari Bali. The owner of these resorts has worked hard, and succeeded, at making them resemble a Bali that doesn’t really exist anymore. He is working at recreating the Bali village community. Check them out, if you’re in Bali.
This flower was growing in the water at Puri Taman Sari. Does anyone know what kind it is?
Surfers…arise
Actually, I was told by one of the surfers/workers on the beach that this beach, Seminyak Beach, is a great place for beginners. It is not, however, where they like to surf. They like bigger waves. They all thought that this would be a good place for me to start surfing…if only I would pay them to teach me.
Still, the waves were pretty impressive.
Old school
This photo was taken at Simon Fraser University. I’ve had little time to take many photos lately, and I found this and felt a little pang of homesickness. I’m not homesick; I’m really happy here, but this photo is one of my all-time favorites. Those vine maples are so pretty.
More Jakarta tomorrow, okay?
WordPress Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons
There are two seasons in Jakarta, maybe in all of Indonesia: hot and sunny(ish – it’s not always easy to tell with the smog), and hot and rainy. The rainy season is a bit of a debate – most people have their own definition of the rainy season: oh, it’s from November to January…no, it’s from October to December…no, wait, it’s from December to March. Then, wait, it’s from March to April. No one seems to know. The consensus right now is that we’re in the rainy season. This is what the sky looks like after it rains.
Yes,it’s full colour. Yes, it looks like it’s been shoved through a filter. Not, it hasn’t been.
Life in sepia tones
It rained last night. Then, God turned on Photoshop and switched the world to the sepia filter. My wife called to me to come look outside. The whole world was bathed in a brown-orange-golden glow. It was like stepping out of my apartment into an aging photograph.
The only thing I adjusted was curves and levels, for better contrast.
Hey! Chloe! Look!
It’s the cat.
A few days ago…maybe a week?…I posted a photo of an alleyway leading to a vanishing point, and my photog friend Chloe asked if there was a cat at the end. I asked, ‘Why?’ She replied, ‘I don’t know. It just seems like there should be a cat down at the end.’
Well, there are two cats that hang out at the end of the alley, and today, on my way home, one of them was lying in the drainage ditch catching some zzz’s. I stopped and snapped this photo, Chloe, so you could see one of the two little furry friends that I have in that alley.
Mmm…sunrise-y
I had a lovely date with my wife tonight. We went Christmas shopping. That has nothing to do with the photo. I’m just happy and felt like sharing.
I hope you like the photo.
Kemang alleys
The most fun way to get around on foot is to take these back alleys. I often am not sure where I’m going to end up, but that’s the adventure of wandering through back lanes.
It should be said that most of these alleys are, in fact, full roads that are used by motorcycles and cars. And no, they’re not really big enough for that, but that’s how they’re used.
