Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban

I was very excited to see this week’s photo challenge theme. I consider myself to be an urbanite. I love the traffic, the tall buildings, the noise and the modernity of the cities I’ve visited and lived in. Here are some photos of some of the cities I have been to and adored.

Helix Bridge in Singapore

A narrow street in Kuching, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Seoul as seen from 63 Building

 

 

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Downtown St. John’s Busker Festival

First of all, sorry for my absence. This has been a somewhat busy month between being away, my birthday and our anniversary. I have also been actively setting up a baby’s room and getting prepared for our little arrival who will be here this month. Thanks for coming back and keeping up to date with us.

Last weekend, the weather was hot and sunny! It was a great weekend to get out and enjoy some street performers. We headed downtown to the annual Downtown St. John’s Busker Festival here in St. John’s, Newfoundland. We didn’t get a chance to catch all the acts by the buskers, but we did manage to watch two.

The first performance was called Twin Tango. This act tells the story of a shy and dorky man who eventually gains the courage to woo the woman he wants.

Most of the show is him clowning around, with a finale of him doing some jaw-dropping stunts on a pole which is being held up by four volunteers.

We had a much better view for the second show we saw by The Circus Fireman. This Aussie Brother duo put off a show of stunts and laughs while dressed as firemen.

They noticed that I was in the crowd and taking photos, so they made sure I got some nice and quite hilarious poses from them.

The grand finale of their show was of both brothers on separate ladders juggling fire sticks.  Definitely something not easy to do on solid ground, let alone while balancing on a ladder.

Last weekend was a very hot summer day. It was a great day to get out and enjoy the skills and talents of buskers from around the world.

Want to know more info on the festival and the performers. Please check out the links below.

Downtown St. John’s Buskers Festival

The Circus Firemen

Twin Tango

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

For this week’s photo challenge I chose a photo from Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. At one time this used to be a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. However, during Pol Pot‘s rule, this school was used as a prison to unjustly house some of the citizens of Cambodia. Many would later be tortured and executed. This photo was taken from behind the wire on the second floor of one of the buildings.

 

 

To Middle Cove Beach We Go

Living on an island has its advantages. One of the biggest is the ability to be on a beach or a cliff, overlooking the ocean within hours, or in our case within 15 minutes. Yesterday, we headed out to the beach in Middle Cove. The town of Middle Cove is about a 10 minute drive outside of the capital city of St. John’s. The beach is a popular place for people to enjoy the Sunshine while looking out at the waves of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being this close to the ocean makes me grateful that I live on an island. The ability to be standing on the shores of the Atlantic within minutes is something to be very thankful for.

Have you been to the ocean lately?

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Mini Golf: Golf For the Rest of Us

Serious golfers go to driving ranges and courses. Serious golfers buy golf shirts and shoes. Serious golfers have a whole set of clubs and keep them in an oversized bag. For the non-serious golfers, there is mini golf. You may call it miniature golf, goofy golf, crazy golf, mini-putt, Putt-Putt golf or mini golf, but it is basically golf for the rest of us. No clothes to purchase or clubs for that matter. Just come as you are, pay a small fee and receive one ball, one putter, one scorecard and a tiny (mini) pencil. We recently participated in the low-stress version of golf at the mini golf range at Pippy Park here in the city of St. John’s.

We wanted to have some good old-fashioned fun. We didn’t want to watch balls disappear into water hazards and sand traps. We didn’t want to have to dress in certain attire. We didn’t want to lug around a heavy bag full of clubs. We wanted to play the miniature and less stress version of golf. Our afternoon of mini golf was a success because we had fun. Oh, and by the way…I won!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Dreaming

This is a photo of something that makes me dream. When life is a little too stressful or the winter days are too long, I day dream about a scene like in the photo below.

 

This photo was taken from beautiful White Beach in Boracay, Philippines.

Summertime in Bowring Park

Summertime is here. To me it seemed to take awhile to get here, but the hot days of summer are here. There is nothing better than getting outside and enjoying the warm weather. One of the best places to do that in St. John’s is in Bowring Park.

The park was officially opened in 1941 on land that was donated to the city by Sir Edward Rennie Bowring on behalf of his company Bowring Brothers Ltd.

The park has plenty of grassy areas with picnic tables for family and friends to get together. It also has a number of recreation facilities such as a swimming pool and tennis courts for people to pass the time.

There are several trails that make their way through the park. They provide a way to exercise and a place to escape the city and enjoy nature. These photos were taken from the trail alongside the Waterford River.

The statue of the caribou is a monument to the battle the Royal Newfoundland Regiment fought during the Battle of the Somme in Beaumont-Hamel, France. Another monument sits at the battlefield in France and also includes a statue of a caribou.

There is nothing better than getting outside on a summer day. If you are in St. John’s or planning to visit make sure you spend some of that time outside in Bowring Park.

More information on the park can be found here: http://www.bowringpark.com/

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Movement

Movement as seen from a park bench next to the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

 

Dandelion Seeds

As she walks along the wooded path something catches her eye. There by her sandaled feet is a dandelion. Suddenly, her mind is taken back to her childhood,  a past when she had the time to pick many dandelions and distribute their seeds by gently blowing on them. “Why not now?”, she thinks. Why couldn’t she take the time to pick a dandelion now and send its seeds flying into the wind?

She pauses…there is nothing to stop her. She bends down and chooses the seeded flower. With a gentle pull it comes out of the ground. She looks at it, smiles and then begins to blow.

The seeds take flight. Some of them go to the left and some to the right, but all of them end up falling to the ground below.

She twirls the flower as she gently, but precisely blows. She is careful to make sure every seed breaks free.

She smiles as looks at the now naked stem before dropping it. Her childhood memories begin to fade as she continues to walk on the wooded path.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting Moment

This week’s photo challenge was one of my favorites. The challenge is to post a photo of a fleeting moment on a street. The reason why I like this challenge so much is because I love street photography. I can attribute that to being a city person. The busyness of a city provides countless opportunities to capture many fleeting moments. Here are a couple from my collection.

Wedding Procession in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Motorcycles on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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