ZippyTurtle

my cutting room floor

I carry my faithful Canon IXUS 75 with me wherever I go.  Some days, I'm quite the Japanese and all snaphappy. It's all about the "Cheese, Smile, Peace" - the whole bit or capturing random shots. I enjoy taking blind shots most. Flip the camera over my head, Click. Stick it out of a moving taxi, Click. Other times, I find capturing 'kodak moments' quite tedious and focus on savoring everything with my own eyes, and not through an LCD screen.  Some pictures are better captured in your heart and in your memory; my penchant is for collecting sunsets from wherever I go; I close my eyes and there they are.  Instant replay.

Obviously trekking across the globe and settling into a new country means I've accumulated hundreds of pictures in the past six weeks. I use a basic Picasa based archiving system -  but, like all you bloggers,  it is the truly select and annointed few snapshots, whether they be deliberate or fleeting moments, which make it to our final posts to share with friends and family. 

Here are some that didn't quite make the final cut, the American Idol of pics in the Zippyturtle blog  - but wanted to shine a little limelight less they will forever be doomed to linger in the darkness of my Den of Archives (aka My Pictures folder).  I flipped through the hundreds really quick and picked those which still evoke a tingled memory of my short time in HK, whether it be a sigh of reflection, or a little giggle with a curl of my lips.

Day in Lantau Island:  must-see Big Budda picture not included (it was just, eh) 

Offerings to Budda: quite chilly in the morning mist. 

 

A Couple in Prayer & Blessing:  very sweet and touching.

The Offering of the Mighty Banana :) Love it !

another one from Macau:

a la Nuit (a view from the new mini-Wynn hotel looking at the Old Lisboa hotel)

Sailing around HK: second day of my birthday wknd.

Downpour at the Reach-by-Boat only seafood restaurant

View from Sailboat beyond Stanley, southside of HK:  very Namaste.

Sail-loving colleague in red & new friends:

Blindshot, over my head.  You like?

Mini-Birthday Escape

Flying back from a quick b-trip to Singapore (sans tasting their chili crabs - boo hoo, Jen! You owe Me!!), a few friends invited me to a late night escape to Macau for an extended daytrip on my birthday.  I do not gamble, since I prefer to waste money on other silly things, and pre-feedback of this city/state/country was less than stellar, but I was lured by promises of delicio Portugese egg tarts - and so I scrambled onto a jetboat from Causeway Bay, and emerged safely an hour later... 

The din of the Casinos bored me (they have mini-Sands, mini-Wynn), the clamorous clanking of construction noises bewildered me - but we managed our way through narrow streets to find old remnants of Portugal 400+ years ago, juxtaposed Chinese style: Senado Square

We meandered through the alleys - full of non-inspiring trinkets and distractions - but once I allowed myself to stop, take a yogi breath, and disband myself from my usual cynicsm and sarcasm (very very bad habit from NY) - I enjoyed the day more freely.

Here are my highlights, albeit a little blurry at times (because it was so blessedly hot today! See? I'm really trying to to be positive & uplifting!)

DimSum breakfast at The Crown hotel:

standard fare:  panfried pork buns

Chinese veggies, simmered in tofu wrapper:

and a little whimsical dimsum dessert: Sago in Strawberry Creme - with Pomelo (mMM, mMM, mMM - that's me making little yummy crescendo noises!)

'Tis a little awkward me, at the reception area of the Crown hotel - the backdrop I believe Macau proper - where all the casinos lie, although I do love my Tiger t-shirt.

Anyway, back to the Sino-Portguese element:

View from the top:  Mount Fortress

Here's me trying to shoot down the ugly Stanley Ho' Grand Lisboa, a casino-in-monstrosity-to-be, with a fossilized canon; I mean, it just looks like a deranged gilded tulip!!

Remains of Sao Paolo Church:

Local buskers:

And my eggy prize: a very blurry, but yummy Portugese Egg Tart.

The pie skin was light, buttery, cripsy - offset by a creamy but sweetness-subdued egg custard, carmelized to heavenly perfection.  I could not keep my hands steady taking this picture, my senses were twitching in decadent delight ;)

 

Happy Birthday to Me ! The End.