The Wheel

Ping Peng, this isn't working...

I told you so!

Who's that guy watching?

I give up...

Click on the photos for a bigger version

Sharing

Dinner time...
(Ping Peng is missing here, most likely he's in The Wheel)

(click for the big version...)

Introducing...

The Offspring
(sweet fruits of hamster love)

Peng Peng

Ping Ping

Peng Ping

Ping Peng

Time for a bigger house?

Peng Ping & Ping Peng in The Wheel, coming soon on a blog near you!

Click on the photos for the bigger version...

Those Towers

They bother me a bit... they're so iconic that you simply have to take pictures of them, but you then quickly realise that your pictures are no different from the millions of pictures already out there of these things... Nevertheless, I've taken many photo of them, from different angles. Still haven't found the perfect one, and in this city it's very hard to find an angle where you can actually catch them both, without loosing big parts of it... This one I like... it's not a perfect shot, but the coloring makes it almost look like a pen drawing... It was taken on new years eve 2007 (going into 2008), which explains the blurry sky around the right one... it's the smoke from fireworks... Click on it for a bigger version...

Sabah, album II

And the more observant readers might already have spotted the new link to the second day on Sabah.

You can click here if you didn't spot it yet...

Sabah, Kota Kinabalu album

I'm on a roll here... decided to restore some albums that got lost in the whole transition from old blog to Blogger...

Here's the first one of my trip to Sabah, Kota Kinabalu on Borneo. It took place around Chinese new year in February 2007.

For the photos of the first day, click here

Butterfly Garden, album

And yet another one finished, almost done now, although the two big ones (Vietnam and Cambodia) are still gonna take some time...

This was in February 2007, a while ago already... I've cleared them up a bit, there's 14 photos in this album.

If you're not crazy about insect close ups, you might want to skip this one :-)

Click here to view it...

Vigil for victims in Burma, album

It was a vigil organised in Kuala Lumpur, in the period that the Burmese regime was killing its own citizens, after monks had sparked an uprise there...

Click here to view the album, with some 14 photos, taken on a very warm evening...

Melaka, album

And another one finished!

Click here to view it.

It contains some 26 photos.

Is there a doctor in the audience?

Well my dear readers, this is it...


I know, quite disappointing.

But it is me, your faithful blogger, at least a part of me...

I still don't understand how they are able to read this. The report also stated that my heart isn't enlarged (nice bonus), but I can't even figure out where my heart is on this thing! Somewhere in the middle I suppose...

It wasn't easy to get a proper picture of it. I tried back lighting it behind glass, but that upset the camera quite a bit on the transparent areas. Turned out that moderate back lighting and some front lighting with a longer exposure gave the best results. I still have another idea of how to photograph it, so I might treat you to a better version soon, if that way works better.

I'm also not fully sure if I haven't mirrored the pic. I went for the 'Erect' text on the right, but my full name on the left (blocked out by me for privacy reasons) was actually mirrored and might indicate the picture should be flipped. Which means that blob down on the right might belong to the left... either my colon transporting the Japanese meal of the night before (yummy) or a part of my liver, I have no idea... A kidney perhaps? But then you wonder where the other one is... I'm quite sure they would have mentioned a missing kidney in their report... :-)

I will ask the doc when she has a look.

See the bigger and more detailed gory version by clicking on it.

Oh, and for people wondering what the actual results were of this pic, or why I am sharing my lungs with the world, see this post.

Shanghai album III

And the final album about Shanghai is finished.

Some nice ones of food, if you're interested in duck heads, goose necks and pig snouts... (be warned)...

Click here to view them...

Those naughty, naughty Roentgen Rays

Well yep, I've got the picture of my lungs, in a big brown envelope.

It's a strange idea: my lungs in an envelope.

I don't understand how they can see anything on it. I've looked at it against the light, but to me it seems like a few blobs and some ribs (yes yes, I did take it out of the envelope first!).

There's also a report with it, and I'm supposed to hand it all over to my doctor, most likely tomorrow. Of course I had to read the report, who wouldn't want to know what possible scary stuff is hiding in their lungs.

But first I need to figure out a way to take a good picture of it.

I know I'm usually behind the camera, none of the pictures I've shown you on this blog contains me as the subject (except this one with the camera in my face), so I want to treat you all to something special:

Not only me, but actually inside me!

And not to worry, the report contained nothing. Unless they mixed up my lungs with those of somebody else.

They are clean, healthy and they couldn't discover anything in them, except what lungs are suppose to contain...

[By the way, this X-ray set me back 30 ringgit, which is about 6 euros. That's actually cheaper than having your picture taken for a passport in The Netherlands - granted, the subject is quite different, but still, the camera they use for the X-ray is a lot bigger!]

Shanghai album II

Just finished up the Shanghai photos of the third full day, which we spent in Zhouzhuang.

Click here to view them...

Shanghai album

And since this is still supposed to be (also) a photo blog, the next album is finished, arrival and the first two days. All at bigger sizes and some a bit spruced up. It's just the first album, there's more to follow.

Click here to view them...

East coast album

As written in previous entry, I began to change the photo presentation into single pages, with the pictures on the intended height. Anything to make it simpler for you lazy surfers out there...

Finished the East coast album of last year July. If you had a look at the Phuket pictures it's interesting to compare.

I also did some better post production on most of the pics, since the white balance was a bit off on some of them.

Click here to view the whole page.

And give it some time to load, the cuter pics sit in the end...

Phuket, album

All the pictures are now visible on one page, at their intended size.

Click here to view them all.

I'm planning to change all the albums into similar pages, which would mean there's no more need to click on every pic individually if you're interested in the bigger version.

The Phuket album contains 29 pictures, so give the page some time to load if you're on a slow connection... Speed shouldn't be a big issue though, since the actual pictures are still coming from the Google Picasa servers, which are quite fast...

People

One of the more interesting subjects to take pictures of is people. But I still haven't mastered that art. Basically because I feel very reluctant to just point and shoot. And asking - which I mind less - results in either a 'no' or a very posed picture. The new 70-200mm lens helps me out a bit on the long end, but the thing is so conspicuous, that even from a distance people see me pointing it at them. Still, that's more comfortable, because then I have quite a distance between them and me when it turns out they don't appreciate their photographer (which has actually never happened to me).

This scene was shot in a random street in Phuket, and I noticed it was probably a homeless guy or a beggar living in his possessions. The lighting from this angle was perfect, but the guy is for the most part invisible.


When I passed the cart I walked a bit further and then turned around. Pretending to take pictures of the street I quickly lowered the camera and took a shot of him.


I must admit I always feel quite silly when I do this. Apart from the fact this particular scene wasn't a very happy sight, people are not stupid, as you can see: he's directly looking into the lens (which is better visible on the really big original). He had already spotted me walking by with the camera. The picture, made quickly and hastily isn't great and I have the light against me, now shining from behind the cart.

Then, as if he felt my predicament - I didn't want to walk away yet - and wanted to express very clearly that he really didn't give a shit, he fell backwards - a big swing with his arms into the sky - onto his rubble, and started snoring...

And I snapped away...

Old Town Festival

Yes indeed (on the comment on previous post), Phuket looks like Europe. Apart from the occasional stray Thai, wandering around between bloated white beer bellies – I never get why these guys seem to enjoy showing off the belly by either wearing no shirt or opening up the shirt - red burned faces and heat exhausted sweaty beer guzzling tourists, it’s really like Europe on a hot and summery day. Absolutely not enjoyable if you expect to find ‘Asia’ (which in itself is of course a bit of a silly notion).

It’s still Asia. Just a different kind.

If you want similar or better beaches, islands, diving and swimming, without the feeling you're actually back in Europe, go to Malaysia.

The second day we went to Phuket Town, and that was a pleasant surprise. I expected a similar beach scenery, with too many tourist shops selling the same stuff and an overpopulation of westerners. But it was a nice city that reminded me a bit of Hanoi, and away from the west coast beaches, so not totally tourist infested. We ended up in the middle of the Phuket Old Town Festival, which was a very nice surprise, seeing the local activities going on, spread out over quite an area in the city, with music, food and performances.

As usual, click on the pics for a bigger version...

Thai school boys having fun with Thai school girls in the boat, which just passed under the bridge...

Women praying...

That brought back some memories...

Performing...

Waiting for their turn and possibly checking out the competition... Note the details on the head gear (click for a larger pic)

Sunset over Phuket Town...

Thai choir of elderly performing...

Phuket

This is Phuket... Of course - and luckily for me - this is only one side of the island, also literally... This was on Kata Beach... endless rows of white bodies sizzling in the sun or sheltering in the shade... Not really my cup of tea... Coming blogs will show some other scenes... Click on the pic for a bigger version...

Peng or Ping?

Of course I didn't only take a picture of a hamster's ear.

They're easy guests. They sleep a lot, which I find rather sympathetic, I like to sleep a lot too, and they sleep very cuddly together, almost on top of each other, all curled up and hidden in the corner... Otherwise there's not much going on. They run a bit in their wheel - Ping runs clockwise (the wheel spinning anti-clockwise) and Peng runs anti-clockwise (the wheel spinning clockwise - Peng also discovered that when Ping runs in the wheel, he can run on the wheel), they nibble on the cage, eat by stuffing their cheeks, drink, have sex - during which they make tiny strange noises - and sleep again.

Ping is a bit of a bully and I was afraid she might be a lesbian, seeing her butch behaviour towards more timid Peng, but she seems to enjoy the love making, so I guess she's straight after all.

They don't like to be watched when they're making hamster love - no exhibitionism going on in the hamster cage - so when I perv on them I have to do it from a distance.

Here's three more...