Home

29. November 2021 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Struggling

29. November 2021 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I was struggling a lot this year, through a combination of things ranging from self worth, lack of s
I was struggling a lot this year, through a combination of things ranging from self worth, lack of support, dealing with the boys, work and other things.

Mid-year during the lockdown it hit hard.



7. April 2021 22:04
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Camping Glenworth Valley

7. April 2021 22:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Over easter we went to Glenworth Valley for Camping. This location is about an hours drive north of
Over easter we went to Glenworth Valley for Camping. This location is about an hours drive north of Sydney in an easily accessible but beautiful little valley.

It is private propoerty, so you have to book beforehand and it does get very busy. We were very lucky that we were located down at the end of the property where it was more quiet.

In the evenings there were beautiful sunsets.





In the morning it was a bit more misty in the valley.






The owners also put on a great easter egg hunt for the children. There were hundreds of children with 20,000 chocolate eggs hidden in a field and there was an easter bunny riding a horse.









We also spend time playing some ball sports. I'd brought a baseball bat and ball. Because we were four families, we had plenty of people to form two teams. It got very competitive and the bat took a bit of battering, so I had to go a buy a more solid wooden bat.





In the evenings we had the normal campfire and baked dampers on sticks, marshmellows and baked potatoes in the fire.













There are also lots of walks witin easy driving distance, including some walks with beautiful waterfalls.













Also, people come to the valley for horse riding, so there are lots of horses in the surrounding paddocks.

And wildlife such as Kookaburras!


And going for a short stroll in the mornings was a beautiful experience with the mist and light changing.

Because of lots of rain, the whole area had been flooded just weeks earlier. Where we were camping would have been a meter under water, but because of the river running through the area the water had fortunately receeded.








21. March 2021 13:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Karate 3rd Kyu

21. March 2021 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I reached a significant milestone in karate this week. I graded for my 3rd Kyu (Brown belt) and at t
I reached a significant milestone in karate this week. I graded for my 3rd Kyu (Brown belt) and at the same Kim graded for her 5th Kyu (Blue belt).

On the occation I treated myself to a new dogi (karate uniform).


I was so nervous and tense - and screwed up a few places. There is now a lot of hard work ahead to get to the 2nd Kyu which is at least another half a year away.

Here are some photos from the grading. The ones from the dojo are a bit blurry because they weren't taken from my camera and I don't have the full resolution photos.












20. March 2021 14:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Karate bruises

20. March 2021 14:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last year was a tough year with Karate.First the lockdown meant that we had to go online for trainin
Last year was a tough year with Karate.

First the lockdown meant that we had to go online for training, but even in the dojo I managed to get a lot of injuries.
Some of them visible and some of them not so visible...I have a whole stack of scans and x-rays as souvenirs from this year.

Some could have been avoided, but most are just part of the training.






I even earned an award for it...


The worst one was a kick to my chin. I dont have any photos of it, but I do have the indentation it made on my mouth guard I was wearing at the time. If it hadn't been for the mouthguard I am certain that I would have lost some teeth. This injury could have been avoided.


I have now gone out to buy a new and way cooler mouthguard (I created the design myself). It is thors hammer in the middle surrounded by the Fenrir wolf and Midgaards Serpent.


Even Kim got a few bruises.


13. March 2021 18:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

My Burmese Dha swords

13. March 2021 18:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Back in the late 90's I visited Laos. In the northern corner of Laos I acquired two old swords from
Back in the late 90's I visited Laos. In the northern corner of Laos I acquired two old swords from a local.

Through some forums I have tried to find out as much as I can about them and this is what I have been told:

  • The swords are of a Burmese style called Dha (Means sword in Burmese).
  • They are of museum worthy pieces
  • I should NOT EVER attempt to restore them. This would degrade their value significantly.
  • The flower script design on the swords are reserved for the rulers and officers of those days.
  • အဲဒီဓားတွေကငါတို့ရဲ့ဗမာဓားတွေပဲလာအိုဆိုတာအရင်ကဇင်းမယ်လို့ခေါ်တယ်အင်းဝခေတ်မှာမြန်မာတွေတက်သိမ်းခဲ့တဲ့နိုင်ငံပဲဓားကိုငှက်ကြီးတောင်ဓားလို့ခေါ်တယ်ဓားကဓားကောင်းပဲ အခုငါပြတဲ့ဓားဟာလည်းသမိုင်းဝင်ဓားပဲငှက်ကြီးတောင်ဓားပေါ့ (Translation: These swords are our Burmese swords. Laos was formerly called Zin Mae, a country that was conquered by the Burmese during the Inwa period. The sword is called the Sword of the Bird. The sword is a good sword.).
  • It's a Ngat kyee daung Dah the sword that was once used by Burmese warriors and Thai during the dark age of Konbaung (1765–1767).
  • This Burmese Empire was destroyed during the English colonized to the East and totally wiped out by the English cannons kind of like a scene from the last samurai movie in the end! They were like charging to the enemy where they were being shot at.
  • These are also antique pieces in a good state of preservation! Swords, even if they are in such good condition, belong in the museum. You have to take a look at the Malaysia Sword Museum! They are great specimen
  • One would have to analyze the material metal wood winding fibers would certainly be very interesting! You don't see such a bundle every day
  • The handle on the smaller sword is made from wound rattan fibres.
  • The larger sword is made from silver and wound silver threading (I believe it is the typical not so pure silver/tin that was used).
This means that it is likely that the swords are up towards 250 years old and that the long one belonged to someone of a high status.

The area they are from is a place that has been ravaged by war for several hundred years right from the wards beween Burma and Siam (Thailand), conquer by the English empire, the Second World War, the Chinese civil war through to the Laos Civil/Vietnam war.

It is highly likely that the swords have seen some action. Although a bit rusty, the swords are still very sharp. Given that the blade on the longer sword is narrower at the hilt it is likely that it has been sharpened several times through history. Again this probably means that it had a practical use/purpose and wasn't just for display.








22. January 2021 01:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Newcastle

22. January 2021 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Between Christmas and New year we made a trip to Newcastle with the family.They had this beautiful l
Between Christmas and New year we made a trip to Newcastle with the family.








They had this beautiful little animal park that is maintained by the council and is free to visit.











Just outside Newcastle is fighterworld, which is an aircraft museum next to an active air strip.










Newcastle museum was also worth a visit on a rainy day.





One evening we went to the games arcade...no idea how Aiden managed to get a first place in racing.




21. January 2021 18:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Karate 2020

21. January 2021 18:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Karate during 2020 was challenging to say the least.I was devastated when everything moved online. I
Karate during 2020 was challenging to say the least.

I was devastated when everything moved online. I love the partner work and couldn't see how this was going to work through video conferencing.

The boys and Kim were okay with the new format and I hung in there. I was so happy once we were able to get back in the dojo again.






Just before the lockdown I had purchased a punching bag, so at least we were able to do some outdoor contact punching.









During the lockdown there was a kata competition and other programs, and we did get a few prices.




...but dojo definitely rules...







We have managed to go to gradings...












And I have kept all the grading certificated we have gotton...





















21. January 2021 14:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Tennis Award

21. January 2021 14:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Another encouragement award for Aiden. This time in Tennis...
Another encouragement award for Aiden. This time in Tennis...





31. December 2020 14:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Covid

31. December 2020 14:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

2020 was definitely a bit different because of Covid.Australia managed to get through with very few
2020 was definitely a bit different because of Covid.

Australia managed to get through with very few outbreaks because of very early and sever lockdowns.

This let people to panic buy. We spent the time to chill out and solve lots of puzzles in the evenings, do lots of exercise in the parks (which was still allowed), Karate online and work moving fully to conference calls.


















31. December 2020 13:03
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Challenging year

31. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The last couple of years has been super challenging for Aiden all around.He is struggling all around
The last couple of years has been super challenging for Aiden all around.

He is struggling all around and this photo tells it all.


For myself I have been struggling equally, and had it not been for the release of karate I don't know where things would have been at. I often wish I had my own bucket to hide under. I don't think this year will be any easier unfortunately...

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

Home

17. October 2014 17:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Water play

17. October 2014 17:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend it was pretty warm here in Sydney and the lawn needed watering.I turned on the sprinkle
Last weekend it was pretty warm here in Sydney and the lawn needed watering.

I turned on the sprinkler and we let the boys have some water play.













16. October 2014 18:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Playing with Dragons

16. October 2014 18:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is Friday, so time for a little photoshop fun.Lucas gets really scared whenever Aiden roars like
It is Friday, so time for a little photoshop fun.

Lucas gets really scared whenever Aiden roars like a dinosaur/dragon. When we went to the forest last weekend he again got scared and I snapped this photo and decided to insert a dragon into it.

13. October 2014 12:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Sydney Harbour panorama

13. October 2014 12:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend when we went to Luna Park I took this panorama I took this panorama from the top of the
This weekend when we went to Luna Park I took this panorama I took this panorama from the top of the ferris wheel.

It is a series of 5 photos stitched together. The large one if amazing. You can clearly see individuals at Sydney Opera house and you can tell the colour of their clothes.

It was just taken handheld with my D800 and 50mm lens.

12. October 2014 12:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Sammi's birthday at Luna Park

12. October 2014 12:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we went Luna Park to celebrate Sammi's birthday.The kids (especially Aiden and Sammi) h
This weekend we went Luna Park to celebrate Sammi's birthday.



The kids (especially Aiden and Sammi) had loads of fun on the different rides.


















11. October 2014 11:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

More from playing in the forest at Centennial Park

11. October 2014 11:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend we made another excursion to Centennial. This time to a different and more open area (K
Last weekend we made another excursion to Centennial. This time to a different and more open area (Kim wanted to have picnic on the manicured lawn, but I convinced her to move into the trees so the kids could play).
















They also wanted to go and play/climb on the rocks.














9. October 2014 09:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Lots of oldies but goodies

9. October 2014 09:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Here are a lot of individual photos of the kids that I haven't had a chance to post because they did
Here are a lot of individual photos of the kids that I haven't had a chance to post because they didn't really justify a post or not of the best quality.

First one is one of Lucas with face paint from daycare.


And he throws the biggest tantrums once in a while. Here is one on the street.


Here Aiden and Lucas are being silly and trying to balance on one leg.




And here is Aiden think he is stuck under the sofa (he is not).



Here he is very proud of his colouring in from daycare.


They both have the same bathrobes.


As a reward we took Aiden to the movies to watch 'How to train your dragon 2'.


We are still trying to teach Aiden how to ride a bicycle.



A scary hand.


They love their chocolate and ice cream.





Chilling out.


Selfies.







Breakfast.






A beautiful sunset.

8. October 2014 11:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Playing in the forest with the boys

8. October 2014 11:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend kim was away for a girls weekend.While she was away I decided to go to the little fores
Last weekend kim was away for a girls weekend.

While she was away I decided to go to the little forested area of Centennial park and let the boys play amongst the trees.

They had a lot of fun just making up their own games.


























8. October 2014 09:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Childrens Paintings

8. October 2014 09:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden and Lucas are doing a lot of painting and drawing at daycare.Here is some of their better work
Aiden and Lucas are doing a lot of painting and drawing at daycare.

Here is some of their better work.

This one I call 'The water dragon' by Lucas


This is 'The night owl' by Aiden (Aiden calls it 'Wave')











8. October 2014 09:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Lucas 2yo birthday

8. October 2014 09:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Here is a couple of photos from Lucas' 2 year birthday with the family.
Here is a couple of photos from Lucas' 2 year birthday with the family.








5. October 2014 15:10
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Open day - flower girl

5. October 2014 15:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This is without a doubt my favourite photo of the day (and it was also one of the first I took).Ther
This is without a doubt my favourite photo of the day (and it was also one of the first I took).

There is something very serene and dream like about this photo that I really like, and the dreamy look or the model fits well.




Set & Lights: Studio 1A Sydney
Model: Jacqueline S (IKON)
HMUA: Donna Kalasho
Photo: Rene Pallesen