Is that a flower...or something else?

I have to admit that I am sometimes naively arrogant about being a "tropical" girl. I assume that since I lived in a tropical country nearly all my life, then there is nothing really fascinating to see in the greenhouses of the botanical park. I mean, they would probably have the "usual" exotic plants I would have already come upon some point in my lifetime.



So I had skipped the place the past two times I had been there, the additional cost (just a mere 200¥ extra but I wasn't feeling very generous then) was also another factor. But the last time I had been there, this spring, I decided to see what the greenhouses had to offer. What else is better for macro photography?



The first sight were the begonias that I had posted about recently. All those dazzling colours - it was a shock at first because I expected, er, green! See how naive I am? By the way, I thought that the flowers above (the name I have completely forgotten) looked like dolphins breaching.



The first time I saw a picture of this inflorescence (Strongylodon macrobotrys or jade vine or emerald vine), it was on a poster. I thought that whoever that was in charge of printing this poster must have chosen a bad colour printer because it looked like one of those washed out poster, all the wrong colours and there was no way that those flowers could be that emerald green. Hah, was I so wrong! I nearly missed it cause it was hidden. It wasn't until I was walking back to take another picture of another plant that I finally saw it.



I think that this flower reminds me of a certain part of a woman's anatomy. If you can't figure it out, then please, just bring out those science textbooks. It is a Pearcea hypocyrtiflora and it is really this red.



And this definitely reminds me of a certain part of the man's anatomy, complete with studded protection. And there is more, but I think I will just leave it to your imagination.



I may be hungry but these flowers looked like they had a sprinkling of powdered sugar on them, like sugared "elongated" berries.



For the extra 200¥, it really was worth the price and more. There was of course the king of the fruits in the display case (ah, when can I eat durian again!), some bananas growing and papayas as well. Funnily enough, there were no coconut trees (or at least I didn't see any), but then they are too tall and probably can't fit into the green house.



There are more flowers there of course and I took hundreds of pictures but I won't bore you with them. If you want to see more, then please visit my flickr album site!



I know that I won't be so arrogant next time!

Blinding colours

The world of tulips has always fascinated me, mainly because I live in a tropical country where green is the dominant colour. To see rows and rows of bright, colourful tulips evoked in me a sense of awe, awe at mother nature for being able to produce such spectacular array of colours.



Of course, man has a tendency to interfere in things. The quest for the 'Black Tulip' is tantamount to the quest for the Holy Grail - something that exists in man's dreams but never realised - dare I put a 'yet' at the end? It also inspired Alexandre Dumas to write a novel based on the same dream. We have fiery red ones, startling pinks, bright yellows, deep purples but yet no black or blue tulips - and not for the lack of trying. 'Queen of the Night', a name that brings to mind blood thirsty vampires, is a deep purple cultivar that appears black in some lighting conditions comes close enough to be our 'Black Tulip'.



Before, sights like this for me only exists on photographs or images. Now, I get to gawk at it firsthand. Although the tulips grown here at the botanical gardens are on a much smaller scale, nevertheless, it still managed to impress visitors like me.



Tulips are known as colourful, beautiful flowers, associated with romance and love yet these very flowers sparked a speculative frenzy in 17th century Holland over tulip bulbs. During that period, tulips were considered a status symbol, a sign of luxury. And at that same time, some of the tulip plants had contracted a virus which caused coloured streaks across the petals, making them even more highly prized than before. The value of the tulip bulbs went higher and higher as greed reared its ugly head. Inevitably, the tulip market crashed, causing widespread panic and financial loss. (Disclaimer - I am not sure how true this is though)



Tulips are simple yet bold. Their colours stand out strong, making a statement. You can hardly miss them, whether they are planted in a garden somewhere or arranged in a vase to brighten up a room.



And as I was admiring the flowers, I saw a little boy happily playing with the flowers while his indulgent grandmother looked on. A new mother and her baby, posing amidst the vibrant flowers for a family photo.



A young couple walking hand in hand, admiring the flowers and admiring each other. An artist trying to capture the moment. A photographer, waiting for the right moment.



I walked away, feeling happy.

The begonia corner

I had been going around taking pictures of flowers and plants, mostly at my new favourite haunt, the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. So, since it would be impossible for me to post them all in just on post, I am going to post them according to species, or if there is a common theme, then I will group them together. I will post more frequently in order to finish them all! If you, for some reason, find plants a bit boring, then I will have to ask you to wait for a few weeks for my blog to resume to normal posting session.



In this post, it will be about begonias. They flowered early in spring, in the greenhouse. The Kyoto Botanical Gardens had arranged this little special corner (seen in the first picture) for people to gape at the colourful begonias and to take their pictures with them, if they wanted to. I passed up on that chance and instead, took the opportunity to 'steal' a picture of the two women who were posing.



Apparently there are over 1000 species. Some of the flowers are huge and some were small, but all were colourful - yes, even the white flowers are 'colourful' to me. Somehow, some of them, especially the larger flowers, looked fake to me, like those ornamental plastic plants you often see in shops, restaurants, hotels etc. Now, I do not know if the hanging flowers are begonias, I assumed they are since they were placed in the area designated for begonia species. First time in my life seeing so many huge flowers of different colours - it was a bit overwhelming at first!

P/S: Post had been edited.

More to come.......tulips

Sakura light up at Hirano Jinja

Kagaya-san asked me if I wanted to join them for a sakura light-up outing in Hirano Jinja about two weeks ago. Since I had seen Hirano Jinja in the day time and was awed by the sakura trees, I thought I should also visit this shrine at night.



The tall, numerous sakura trees tower over the people and stalls, covering the sky. If you look up, you can only see the blossoms. Carefully positioned lights gave the trees a pinkish-orange-ish glow.



Dozens of stalls were set up during this light-up festival, mostly selling food but some were also selling toys and games for children. Plenty of tables and seatings were available for the groups of people who decided to hanami under the night sakuras. The air smelled of grilled smoke. This is an activity enjoyed by everyone - families, teenagers and even businessmen and women in suits.



There was even a performance by a flutist and a harpist on the shrine's main stage. I remembered when I went there last year, in the afternoon, they had a small orchestra playing on the stage as well.



The place is beautiful at night. As with most of the shrines here, they have beautiful lanterns adorning the gates, walkways and so on. I love the deep yellow glow of the lanterns.



This was the entrance to the garden which was lighted up by lanterns designed by children.



Here is a sample of a lantern and another was in the first photograph. They were positioned throughout the garden.



Hmm...maybe I should try a night hanami next year....

Shidare zakura at Heian Jingu Garden

Heian Jingu gardens are famous for their shidare zakuras, or as I call them, weeping sakuras. Plenty of beautiful pink sakura blossoms ala weeping willows style.



Thanks to my friends' advices, we went there a week later than we planned and we chose the perfect time to see them. According to the man who was in charge of the tickets, it was the sakuras' "pinkest" time. Ah...lucky us!



And indeed, the man was not kidding. The shidare zakuras were indeed in their peak and pink! The sight that greeted us was awesome. Lots of trees held up by carefully constructed frames.



All you could see was pink for a while until the path gave way to a pond, which would be beautiful in summer when the lilies bloom.



We went on a weekday so we managed to avoid the main crowd that descend to Kyoto during the weekends. The garden was huge; I did not expect it to be that big mainly because you could not see how big the gardens are from the outside.



I have to say again that the eye is still the best camera. I did not manage to capture the full beauty with my camera - it is a skill I have to learn.



I love the place and it is worth every yen. If you could not go to Heian Jingu, Kyoto Botanical Gardens is another place where you can see gorgeous shidare zakuras of different species.

For more pictures of Heian Jingu Gardens, please visit my flickr album.

Springtime

Kyoto Gosho Park

Well, we are back to our normal mode of non macro pictures of the cherry blossoms. I was on my way back to the lab from meeting a friend when I realised that I had not seen the Imperial Palace park during springtime before. The day was sunny and with nary a cloud in the sky and I had brought my camera along, so I decided to do a detour.


Kyoto Gosho Park

Many cherry trees were blooming, their branches laden with the delicate blossoms. The park is huge and many people were strolling about complete with their prized pet dogs, enjoying the warmth and the pretty trees. And despite the number of people, the place seemed quiet, serene, as if only through silence can you truly appreciate the beauty before you. Though I do like tranquility, I can't live without noise either. I need it, to know that someone else is out there, that I am not truly alone.


Kamo River

Some days before, WY and myself had taken a stroll along the Kamogawa river towards the Botanical Gardens. It was a breezy, sunny and sometimes cloudy day. Though a bit cold because of the wind, the walk was very pleasant and many were out with the same purpose as well.



Because the haze had gone on to murk another unfortunate place, the view before us was magnificent. The layers of mountains that surrounded Kyoto were there in full view against the blue cloudy skies.



As I walked along the path, I was envious of the houses situated along the river. Imagine opening your door to have a view of the river with the beautiful cherry trees greeting you. Or having a fully flowered branch arched delicately into your little patch of garden.



The cherry blossom trees are the stars of the show not only because of their beauty but also of the fact that they are notoriously short-lived (death always somehow seems to magnify things). However, spring would not be complete without the host of other co-stars - the "snow flowers", the dancing daffodils, the gorgeous blue muscaris, the daisies and petunias and the star-shaped white flowers. And the best thing is? They will still be here, long after the sakuras have faded away.

Sakuras in black and white

As I had mentioned before, I realised that I have nothing new to show for the sakura season. I have been to the same places for the past two years and had taken the same pictures from the same angles without realising it until I got home and compared the pictures.



So, as I was walking along the path, I realised I should shoot some black and white pictures instead of the sakura flowers, just to see how it will turn out. I don't have many macro pictures of the cherry blossoms; most of my pictures are of sceneries.



Since the day was hazy, it made shooting in colour a little bit difficult (or rather, I wasn't skilled enough to make the best of it). But through the haze, the sun rays still managed to edge their way through, giving the flowers a lovely soft glow. Perfect.



The light wasn't too bright because of the haze and the fact that it was still early in the morning, so I got pretty good effect for the black and white pictures. Although, I still have to adjust the brightness and contrast a bit to get the best effect.



I just love the translucent petals of the sakura. They are so soft and delicate. The way the light shines through them. Gorgeous. And they dance prettily in the sun when the wind blows with their petals falling like blessings from heaven.



I have to say that it took me quite a while to get the best conditions for the pictures. The wind was crazy that day, so I had to stand there waiting for the wind to die down. Because I was adjusting the shutter speed, ISO etc, I stood there at the same spot shooting for quite some time. Got quite a few looks from people who were obviously wondering what on earth was I shooting at for quite so long. Thank goodness it was still early and there weren't many people around, so I was not in the way or people were not in my way.



But it all turned out for the best. I very happy with the pictures. They turned out the way I wanted them too. Usually I have little success with B&W pictures.



So, if you ever get tired of shooting in colour, why don't you try the black and white mode instead?



You can see more pictures of the sakura blossoms in black and white in my flickr set : Sakuras in black and white



I will post more sakura scenery pictures in the later post. Finally went for a light up today and I will post those pictures up too. Also, I have an interesting batch of pictures from the tropical section of the botanical gardens. Till then, have fun during the weekend!