Beauty and Peace

Toronto, Canada |

A brutal ice storm, followed by a power outage and all the inconveniences, come this beauty and peace. The 2013 Christmas Eve will certainly be ranking high on the list of events-to-remember.

The Band

Toronto, Canada |

Challenge

Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, Québec |

There are two ways to get to the top of the waterfall at Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, Québec. The easy way is to take the cable car, which is more comfortable and faster but expensive. Or the other way (at no cost) is to climb the stairs. I thought we were going to take the cable car … thinking that there’s no way that I am going to climb all those steps … 

Well, turned out we decided to save money, taking on the stairs challenge. Since there’re no other alternatives, I started my climb cautiously and at the same time trying to hide my anxiety. The climbing part was a bit challenging but not as scary as I originally thought. In fact, I was glad that we took the stairs – we can truly enjoyed the views and all the ambiance at our own pace, and at the same time experienced this great sense of accomplishment which to me was simply priceless.

Lego Parents

Toronto, Canada |

Lego “mom and dad” are parents who drive their kids to a local Lego store early Saturday morning once a month for Lego club meeting; it’s sort of like hockey parents, except the event is at a Lego store inside a shopping mall instead of a hockey arena, and the activity is building/creating Lego structure instead hockey practice.

And, of course, I am proud to be one of them! 

In The Park

Hangzhou, China |

I saw this young man while strolling in a park in the city of Hangzhou, China. It was in a time before Internet and mobile device was unheard of. To most people, hanging out in a park was seemingly a popular choice of activity other than working or sleeping.  

At the Square

Tiananmen Square, Beijing 1986 |

It was September 1986 that I first set foot on Tiananmen Square. Since being on my first trip to China and a young photographer at the time, it was exciting just to be there and I was captivated by everything happening in the Square. The history of the city and its people intrigued me.

Three years later on a warm day of June, in front of a television screen, a few thousand miles away, images of Tiananmen Square captivated me once again, only this time I was shocked and sadden.

On this day of the anniversary, I remember, reflect and pray... 

Rediscovering a Playground

Toronto, Canada |

The playground that near Beaches Park at Queens Street East in Toronto is no different from any other park playgrounds — it’s for kids. What I discovered, however, during a recent visit to the area that this playground is no longer just for kids. It is becoming a colony for parents to chill out, get connected to other parents or simply enjoying a sit-on-a-park-bench moment on a Saturday morning.

A Little French in Central

Gage St, Central, Hong Kong |

My lunch

Le Monde d’Ulysse is a small, but cozy French restaurant in Central — the financial district of
Hong Kong. Its interior décor reflects an unpretentious but elegant flair that one can feel as if they were dining in a country restaurant somewhere in France. Lunch menu consists of a few rice dishes with different combination of meat, seafood and vegetables. As for my lunch, I picked the grilled pork slices with fried egg, which was like French blended with a bit of Hong Kong. It was simply smashing!

Singapore, Bits and Pieces

Four days in Singapore were short and brief, but managed to see the many facets of this modern city, feel the climate and capture my Singapore story in bits and pieces.

Street near Chinatown |

Shops by Chinatown |

Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay |

Telok Blangah Green |

Lotus pond by the ArtScience Museum |

Students at the Singapore National Museum |

Gardens by the Bay |

Ordinary HK

To most tourists, Hong Kong is vibrant, fast pace, modern, a place to shop for brand name products, and a city of changes. During a recent trip there (not as a tourist), I however managed to get a glimpse of a different Hong Kong, perhaps a more down to earth without all the chic and glamour Hong Kong.  It’s a place where everyday folks working hard to support their families, holding tight to their values, living their lives, doing things as what most ordinary people would do. Yes, they are ordinary but in a uniquely Hong Kong style!

note: photos were taken at various locations of the Hong Kong island

Rocks

Hong Kong Global Geopark of China, Sai Kung Hong Kong |

Volcanic rocks that are in the Hong Kong Global Geopark are truly solid and almost sculpture like. I never expected looking at rocks could be such a pleasant and fulfilling experience — one that similar to walking through an art museum. Seeing panels after panels of rocks in different shades of brown have given me a new sense of appreciation towards the simplest, most ordinary object of nature.

The Creation is truly an ultimate art form!

The Calm After A Storm

Toronto, Canada |

Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! — Genesis 8:8-11 NIV

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” — Genesis 9:12-16 NIV

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Suzhou, China |