The Furious Panda’s 7 Super Shots
Here is something interesting. It seems that I've been tagged by Bino from I Wander (check out his excellent blog, a finalist for Best Travel Blog at this year's Singapore Blog Awards) to join in HostelBooker's 7 Super Shots challenge. The idea is to put up 7 photos, one each from the listed categories, and tag 5 others to do the same. I'm a lousy photographer with my P&S camera, but I do have thousands of photos lying around. So here goes:
1. A photo that…takes my breath away
This was taken from Floridas restaurant on Ternate Island, which is one of the original Spice Islands of Indonesia. The restaurant, located on top of a hill, is supposedly the best place to catch the sunset overlooking the adjacent spice islands. This exact same scene can be seen at the back of the Indonesian 1000 Rupiah currency note. Pulau Maitara across the strait, the volcanic cloud covered peak of Mt. Kiematabu in the background, plus waters so clear you can see the bottom, all add to this awe-inspiring favourite shot of mine.
A photo that…makes me laugh or smile
I was in Penang, Malaysia, walking down the street admiring 19th century shophouses when I came across this wire sculpture thingy that brought a chuckle. The street was known as "Ai Cheng Hang" which translates from Hokkien to Lover's Lane. "The local Chinese say the rich men who lived on Muntri Street kept their mistresses here, hence the name 'Ai Cheng Hang' or Love Lane". The speech bubble "Where's my husband?" is a nice touch. It would be a more awesome shot had there been an actual woman opening the window with a furious expression on her face!
A photo that…makes me dream
This shot just has that dreamy, surreal feel to it. The boy and the girl, dressed in the same colours, walking in step, hand in hand in the park. A couple sits in the shade of trees, cuddling away. In contrast to their black clothes, the grass is all green, as are the mounds in the background. This was taken in the Tumuli Parks of Gyeongju, South Korea. Here is where the ancient kings of the Silla dynasty (57 BC – 935 CE) were buried. And the mounds are actually the thousand year old tombs of these kings, now very much part of the tranquil landscape.
A photo that…makes me think
That's me, taking a shot into the stained glass pane of an outdoor altar, located halfway up Disket Monastery. This was a Tibetan monastery in the middle of the Nubra Valley, Ladakh, India. There's a lighted candle behind the glass pane, and of course my silly reflection. What sets me thinking is however, the sticker pasted on the top right. "Free Panchen Lama". The Panchen Lama is is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama. His role is important as "according to Tibetan tradition, the confirmation of either the Dalai or Panchen must be mutually recognized." The controversy arose when the current Panchen Lama, asserted by the Dalai Lama back in 1995 when he was 6 years old, vanished and was replaced by the Chinese government's choice of Panchen, perhaps as a way to install its own choice of the next Dalai Lama. Hence the sticker, and certainly something to think about.
A photo that…makes my mouth water
Looking for a good photo for this category was tough. Despite having so many food photos (Asians, we get trigger happy during every meal and snap away), I had a hard time picking something that actually made my mouth water. This was largely because most of the photos were blur, due to bad lighting, or because I didn't put the camera to macro mode. This extra spicey specimen of Sri Lankan Biryani however, makes me drool a little bit, so it makes the list. Sri Lankan food, especially the curries, lovingly simmered over a hot stove for hours, are delightful and warms your insides. Papadums, chicken drumsticks, basil leaves and fragant rice don't do too badly either.
A photo that…tells a story
I did not really care for this photo; it has never been on my list of great photos, until I browsed through my old collection for a worthy photo for this category. This photo tells a story. A story of three best friends, who after spending time inside Sinbad's amusement park, came out with their treasure: what looks to me like pages from comic strips. The kids in Alexandria, Egypt move with a cocksure swagger that belie their youth. But amusement parks are amusement parks, even urban ones found in graffiti strewn side streets like these, and kids will always be kids.
A photo that…I am most proud of (aka my worthy of National Geographic shot)
This one is from the little visited island of Sumba, Indonesia. During the annual Pasola festival, men from various villages meet and challenge each other in a ritual involving horses, spears and a lot of heart-stopping action. Atop the short, tough and decorated Sumbanese horses, these warriors eye their adversaries, ready to charge headlong and throw their spears. To their right, the earlier wave of horses charge forward. If they get struck by a spear, and bleed, that is good because blood then returns to the earth. The atmosphere is electric, with cheers and cat-calls from the rows of spectactors, their shadows framing the perimeter of the field. They stand far away from the horses though. Come too close, and these spectators run the very real risk of being speared to death.
And those were my 7 shots. Please share the post if you like them. And here's tagging 5 others to come up with their own list:
1) SY from Veni Vedi Edo
2) KC from Earth Expedition
3) Charly et Pierre from Worldiscovery
4) The guy running Adventure Vacation Trip
5) Your blog, if you are reading this!
Read More @ SourceBeijing - Botanical Garden (CN 2000 HQ)
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