Yet another attempt to take a group shot of the cousins.
Out of the many, many clicks…
This is as good as it gets.


I had this grand plan of shooting a tanned Zoë wearing a white peasant blouse, with her hair loose and blowing in the wind. Yeah, well. That did not happen. She’d insisted on wearing her pink dress today.
But I do have this one shot of both Josh and Zoë wearing white. It’s actually one of my all-time favorite shots of the two of them, one of the first few shots taken when I first took my D90 out.
1. Night Photography – This is a view from our bedroom window on yet another full moon night (different from the one I posted here). Because of how the windows open out, I get a very limited opening through which I’d get an unobstructed shot. I don’t have a tripod, so this shot was taken with my camera resting on one of those childproofing grills and with me taking a deep breath and breathing out as the shot went down. Still not as sharp as I would have liked, but I’ll take it. I love the light on the water.
2. Old and New - I could not find something old and new in one shot, so here are two totally unrelated items that are old and new.
Old travel papers and old suitcase
Josh’s new Poetry Journal which he gets to bring home from school every Friday
3. Sun – I love the rays of afternoon sun that sneaked through the slats to lightly land on the girls as they busied themselves with their water play.
4. Music – Dragon boat racers paddle to the beat of this drum.
5. Cheesy – This one is from the archives… from a pizza-making party that Zoë attended.
I still am not done processing all the photos from this summer. At the rate this is taking me, our next summer holiday will be here and I still won’t be done. Anyway, I was looking through and these ones totally make me long for next summer –when we could do it all over again!
We always go blueberry-picking, but this year, because it was a bit too early in the season for blueberries, we picked raspberries.
Of course, I had to be taught by my 4-year old how to pick raspberries: “You have to twist and pull, Mommy.” This was when she saw me having difficulty plucking one. Well, what do you know? It worked! I asked her how she knew. She airily told me, “Special Agent Oso” and then she walked off to pick some more, sneaking one or two into her mouth.
The cousins dragging our haul back to be weighed.
If you ever find yourself in Stanley (Hong Kong), try to stop by the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. I’ve lived here over 15 years and I’m in Stanley every week; yet, last week was the first time I’d visited the museum. I’m glad I finally did. It was really quite interesting and if you have a curious child, it could be a fun mommy-child date on a hot afternoon.
Here are some more photos from its Ancient Gallery (where you’re not supposed to take pictures –flash or no flash!)…
What it says on the little sign on the side:
Antique figurehead, possibly of Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy)
19th Century
“In the West, figureheads replaced the ancient “seeing eye” or okulos, on the bow as well as the later Christian substitute, the Star of the Sea (Stella Maris), or Virgin Mary. In the figurehead of Guanyin, east meets west. The fleur de lys (lily) shape in the figurehead’s hand may evoke the lotus (water lily) of Buddhism.”
{copied verbatim}
Most days I’m a rule-follower. Most days. That’s just the way I’ve been raised. That’s not to say that I don’t have a bit of a rebel streak in me.
When Josh and I visited the Hong Kong Maritime Museum the other day, I took photos where I was not supposed to have taken any. Uh oh. In my defense, I did look around for “No Photography” signs and saw none –not a single one anywhere in the gallery. I also had my camera hanging around my neck when the guard ushered us into their Ancient Gallery after we handed over our tickets. He did not say anything to me about not being allowed to take photos in there. I also saw other people taking photos with their phones and with their point-and-shoot cameras.
I’d snapped quite a few before a boy, about 12, muttered to me, “There is no photography allowed in here.” I asked him to point out the sign to me. He just repeated what he mumbled earlier. We were almost near the Ancient Gallery’s exit, so I just let it go.
Of course, the second we got out, I approached the guard and asked if we could take pictures. He explained that we could in the Modern Gallery, but not in the Ancient Gallery where we were just in. Ah. It was then that I spotted the tiny “No camera” sign –not on the door to the gallery where one could plainly see it, but on the side of door sill… posted in a way such that if one doesn’t turn one’s head to look specifically in that direction, one could totally miss it. Oh well. I already have my photos –all taken before I was made aware of the rule. I’m not going to delete them.
(This giant LV case was from the Modern Gallery.)
Are you a rule-follower or a rule-breaker?
1. Hanging by a Thread – This Coke delivery truck caught my eye, made me look twice. I hurriedly took a shot, as it was very hot and Josh and I were both tired and just wanted to get back to the car to go pick up Zoë at her play date. It wasn’t until I was uploading this photo that I realized that the “doors” were closed and that the crates of Coke that I thought were real were part of the giant stickers on the doors. What a cool, creative concept!
2. On the Dotted Line – The bus straddled stopped on the dotted (dashed) line when letting off passengers. A bit of a stretch for this theme, I know.
3. Geometry – This old shopping center got a facelift and now has these squares and rectangles on its facade for a relatively more modern look.
4. Brushstrokes – Calligraphy on a t-shirt. There are shops in Stanley that ‘translate’ your English name into Chinese (if you don’t already have a Chinese name) and they could print the Chinese characters onto a t-shirt for you.
5. Collage – It’s late Saturday night and I have an early day tomorrow. Together with friends, we’re taking the kids to an out-of-town country club for a final hurrah before school starts next week (for Josh and my friends’ children, anyway). I don’t have the energy to put together a new collage, so I am re-posting one that I posted earlier this week. (I personally find it very painstaking to put together collages, so I would greatly welcome suggestions on easier ways to make them.)
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