"Magnolia" at Hunter Valley Gardens' Car ParkTuesday, 25 March 2008
Four Days in Easter
Day 2 at Lake Macquarie, Mannering Park
Black Saturday
"God's Pelican"
"On Holidays"
"On An Innis"
"Alum Dinghy"
"Boats' Row"
"Just Sticking Out"
"Family Time: Gone Fishing"Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Thirteen Days at Sea: On the Way to the South Pacific
"Blue Lagoon", The beach on the other side of Yasawa I-rara Island.This is my first leisure cruise. It brought me to the South Pacific islands of Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia. One of the best vacations I had - "living the life" as one friend quipped.
I was planning to get a decent DSLR but decided not to. I was paying off the cost of the cruise!But see some of the pictures I took with my point and shoot Olympus digicam:
"Artifact - Sea Cones"
Taken on the island of Yasawa-I-rara, off the coast of Fiji on the Nadi side of the island. The Yasawa group of islands extend up to 90 kilometers long on the western side of Fiji.
The Yasawa I-rara island is remote and not develop at all, no touristy shops just a virgin island, unspoilt. There's only a small village, a community center and a church. One of the best islands I've been to. The locals are nice and friendly. According to the P & O staff, they don't go there much so as not to spoil the tranquility of the island and the villagers. I hope it stays that way!
Villagers Unloading from a Day in the Market.
With our ship and tenders (the orange small boats, that ferries us to and from the cruise ship); as background, these residents of Yasawa I-rara unloads the week's shopping. It took them a three-hour ride by boat one way to shop and barter on the main island of Viti-Levu (where Suva, Nadi and Lautoka are).
"Shells"
Bula! A less formal greeting which literally means "health" and "life". The western equivalent of "hello", but in a more meaningful and substantive way, like the Hawaiian "Aloha" and the Filipino's "Mabuhay".
The Alliance Francaise: French Film Festival 2008 (In Sydney 5-19 March)
Driving in CBD Sydney downtown last week, I saw this streamer regarding a "film festival". As I was busy driving to a relative's wedding, I asked my wife to take a quick picture so I can read it afterwards.
I sometimes use my digital camera like this, to record and "take note" of signs and other announcements, billboard and other advertisements and what have you that takes my fancy but "too busy" to remember or make a note of. A snapshot of what it says rather than the image itself.
Anyway, I learn that there is a French Film Festival in Australia sponsored by The Alliance Francaise. In Sydney, this was scheduled from 5 to 19 March. There are other schedules for the rest of Australia and New Zealand. This is the 19th edition of the festival here in Australia, and offers 436 screenings!
The Alliance Francaise is a non-profit organisation founded in Paris in 1883. It is now an International Federation that promotes and teaches the French language as well as promoting French culture and arts.
As I write this, this is the last day of the Festival and I am cooped at work till 9:30 PM! As always, I took it for granted and was not able to see even one film. Imagine, I don't need to travel to France and I'll save heaps of money to savour the French cinema experience. Well, I hope there will be another one next year.
Back to my SBS, ABC and Foxtel at home! Sigh...
Friday, 14 March 2008
Earth Hour 2008: Turn Your Lights Off for One Hour - 29 March 8:00 PM
Earth Hour 2007 was a Sydney event, but this year's Earth Hour is a global event. Only if a household turn its lights off just for an hour (8PM your local time on 29 March), will make a huge difference in the carbon footprint of the world.
Make a difference and join me in this year's Earth Hour. To make a commitment, please click main title or here, you do not need to donate any money. You will save money by turning your lights off for an hour!
World's Greatest Shave 2008
Lilac Shavings, All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2007The World's Greatest Shave 2008 is on again from 13 to 15 March.
This annual event is a project by the Leukaemia Foundation to support patients and families of leukaemia sufferers.
This is a fun fundraising, the biggest in Australian fundraising event; you either shave your head or colour it. In return your friends and co-workers will be requested to donate or pledge donations to the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia.
In Australia alone, every hour a person is diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukaemia.
A couple of years ago, my grandson Jaylen was diagnosed with leukaemia (ALL variety). Fortunately for him and us, he was cured just last January. Without the help and support of medical practitioners and people like you who donate to worthy causes like this, he would have not had the chance to live. So please donate to your local Leukaemia Foundation, it is the least you can do.
To donate, please click here, or click here to go directly to the Leukaemia Foundation in Australia.
See me here, after my "no hair-do!"
Monday, 4 February 2008
Earth From Above: Photo Exhibit by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
At the outset, my apologies for the very poor (substandard) photo above. It does not do justice to the very excellent photos of Yann.
I went to this exhibition, as always managed to catch it before it closes. I am glad I did find the time to drive to the city and see the exhibit. My only regret was that the kiosk was closed, so I did not managed to buy or support Yann's cause.
The exhibition was an outdoor type as shown above. I am glad I did come late in the afternoon and early evening, for I believe this is the best time to see the exhibits. It's cooler too, being summer and all!
One of the pictures on the exhibit by Yann. This is from the Southern Philippines' fishing village.I saw about three pictures of the Philippines and about four of Australia.
Bondi beach circa November 2007. Dark spots on the lower left hand side are just seaweeds and not garbage. My photographic record of Bondi in 2007, hope it stays beautiful for future generations!Yann is a French photographer. According to an article in one of the many websites about the Earth From Above exhibits:
"Yann’s aim for the Earth from Above project was to create a record of the world’s environment as a benchmark for future generations. By presenting these 120 emotive images in a free public forum, Yann invites us on a journey to experience a unique view of the earth’s natural beauty, but also our assault on the environment. With these images, he encourages us all to consider the impact of our footprint on the earth’s surface, and the role we all have to play in the preserving the future of planet earth."
“The more conscious one is of the issues at stake, the more interest one takes in our planet, the greater the desire to actively engage in change for the better.”
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand
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