After the rain

This butterfly was flitting about and when it finally settled, I took this shot. No adjustment of any kind. The lighting came out perfectly. I don't think I can duplicate this

These pictures were taken in my garden back home in Malaysia. As usual, it was raining heavily the past few days and when it stopped, I thought why not go out and take pictures in the garden? God knows what my neighbours must have thought when they saw me crouching there with my camera and tripod. And at one point, I even had an umbrella sheltering me as I adjusted the camera on the tripod! But well, I thought the pictures were worth it. The pictures of the roosters were taken at my backyard. There were three of them and apparently, there was a hen with the group but she was nowhere to be seen. I will let you decide what you think happened to the hen.


My mum grew this flowering plant with vivid orange flowers, new addition to the garden. Saw this insect crawling about


This was taken with a flash. Did not use a tripod, so I needed a flash to get a clearer picture of the water droplets. That thing on the upper left side is dust inside my camera lense


Same leafy plant as the butterfly and the one above. I love the pink


One droplet in focus


Relfection of another leaf on the last droplet.Brightness and contrast adjusted


What is in your backyard? Apparently, in my case, roosters with a missing hen


The proud rooster

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Megamall Shopping Center, Kuala Lumpur

Wishing everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Below are more pictures of Christmas decorations in the popular shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


Megamall


Sunway Pyramid Shopping Center


Suria KLCC Shopping Center


Suria KLCC


Suria KLCC

Kocatepe Camii, Ankara, Turkey

Okay, back to the Turkey posts. One of the landmarks of Ankara is the Kocatepe Camii, which is the largest and newest mosque in Ankara. It is situated on the Kocatepe Hill and the admission is free.



It is built after the traditional Ottoman style and was completed in 1987. The interior was similar in style to the Blue Mosque...as far as I can tell. It has a huge globe chandelier hanging in the middle of the hall.



It is a functioning mosque, like the Blue Mosque. When we went there, a few tourists were about and some of the locals were praying. I prefer this atmosphere, where you are not suffocated by the crowd. The place feels peaceful.



A close up of the globe chandelier and the ornamented ceiling. Besides the huge chandelier, the mosque is decorated with marble, gold leaves, glass stained windows and decorative tiles.



But the best part about the Kocatepe Camii is that underneath the mosque, in the huge basement, there is this superstore or supermarket! Cool or what?



We explored the supermarket and then went up to see the Camii. For the ladies, please remember to bring your scarves to cover your hair.

Tetsugaku no michi and Eikan-do temple in autumn

Tetsugaku no michi

I thought I had better finish my autumn postings (I have one more to go which is Shugakuin Imperial Villa) before continuing with my Malaysia and Turkey posts. Tetsugaku no michi is more famous for its sakuras rather than the autumn trees but at some parts of the path, you can see really beautiful colours. This picture was taken right at the end of the path, near Eikan-do temple which was my actual destination.


Eikan-do temple

The price of the ticket to enter Eikan-do during autumn went up to 1000 yen for adults. Damn pricey. The night light viewing was priced at 600 yen per person. The temple grounds are pretty big and the autumn trees were the stars of the moment.



I went there in the evening and was busy chasing the sunlight. So much so that I forgot all about the famous Buddha statue in the temple, the Mikaeri Amida (Amitabha looking back). Instead of the usual Buddha statues that faces to the front, this statue had the face looking backwards. I must have just glanced at it while I was walking....fast. Damn



As usual, the crowd during this time is horrible because Eikan-do is famous for its maple foliage. The beautiful garden with the large pond is the main attraction, in addition to the Buddha Statue.


The sand raked garden


The beautiful yellow maple tree in the small garden

Then there are two other smaller gardens, one is a sand raked garden and the other one is a smaller pond where you can sit on the wooden platform to enjoy the view.



Soon, sunset caught up with me and the light was beginning to fade when I reached the small pagoda situated slightly higher than the rest of the buildings in the temple. A beautiful but slightly hazy sunset over Kyoto City.



So finally, I had to say goodbye to Eikan-do because the people were shooing us out. They were getting ready for the night light up in about 30 minutes time. When I was leaving the place, I saw people already lining up for the night time viewing! Then it was off to dinner.

Back home

Yeay! I am back home now in hot and humid Malaysia for a holiday. Had my char kuey teow and laksa already and planning for more! Nope, nope. The crabs in the picture are not Malaysian crabs but Hokkaido crabs. A big THANK YOU!!!! to Oyabu san and Shiori san!! They treated me to this delicious crab buffet lunch before I left Kyoto. Below are more pics from the buffet....



Some salmon thingie. Really nice. Gone in a flash.





Desserts. There are more food of course but I didn't take any pictures of them.



View of Kyoto city from the restaurant way up in the hotel....well, as high up as you can be in Kyoto, considering that the buildings aren't really that tall.



While we were there, it was drizzling and the sun was in and out of the clouds. So for a while there (actually it happened quite a few times), we saw a beautiful rainbow shining over the city. And there was two moments actually when we saw two and three rainbows together at the same time!



And at the end, we had tea at this cosy, small and very english-like cafe in Shijo.

Nanzenji in Autumn

One of my favourite temples in Kyoto...probably because the main grounds are free! Hahaha...I am such a cheapskates. Nanzenji is a Zen temple, one of the most important Zen temples in Japan. It was an imperial villa when it was first constructed in 1264 but later became a temple in 1291.



The bare sakura tree against the vibrant maple tree. The building in the background in the temple's main gate, the Sanmon (side view). I think my next project is to go there next spring and take the same view again, with the sakura tree in full bloom and the maple tree bare. The temple has a lot of subtemples which you have to pay go in and I have yet to step foot inside any of them.....wait...I think I did, last autumn.



I love this tree. The leaves were in the midst of the colour changing process and the sun was just shining directly on it. Love the blend of the red, yellow, green and orange.



The branches of the maple tree, casting a shadow on the moss covered grounds. I like this kind of maple tree where the branches spread like a carpet to the ground. They are beautiful to look at.



This temple has a water aqueduct which is a part of the Lake Biwa's canal and it dates back to the year 1890. You can walk along the aqueduct, which I have yet to do.



This is the "It" tree on the temple grounds as the sun was shining on it, highlighting the brilliant orange leaves. You can see the crowd gathering around it, trying to take pics of the leaves and of themselves with the tree. I had already had my shot and was quite content to take pics of the trees from a less crowded area.



Who is the star?? This lovely dog was taken by its owner to Nanzenji as a part of the owner's photography project. He was trying to take pics of his dog against the temple backgrounds. But the dog was so adorable, so many ppl stopped to pet it, take pics of it, including this one girl whose hands you see in the pic. She was playing with the dog for so long and he/she thoroughly enjoyed it though I think the owner was a bit annoyed because he was setting up the dog for some shots only to be interrupted by us, the public.



The ginko trees on the temple grounds weren't as popular as the maple trees. But I love their golden hue against the green mossy grounds.



Phone cameras are all the rage here in Japan as nearly every handphone has its own camera functions. So instead of whipping out a fancy, sleek digicamera, they might just whip out a fancy, sleek cameraphone!



The light was beginning to fade when we found this delightful corner. Too bad. But the bridge, the ginko and maple trees all made for a beautiful scene.



Close up of the ginko leaves strewn ground against the backdrop of the "It" tree with the crowd still there, frantically taking pictures of the tree before the sun dips beneath the horizon.



Another close up of the It tree leaves.



And finally, I will end the post with a curtain of red maple leaves.