Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

22. April 2012 07:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Symbio Wildlife Park

22. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Today we went to the Symbio Wildlife park together with some of our friends.

They don't have a lot of animals in the park, but the ones they have a pretty cool and it is a good spot to get some nice animal photos (It was especially nice to see that they had polished the glass surrounding some animals).

It was also really cool to have Aiden and Sammi feed some of the more friendly animals.

22. April 2012 05:44
by Rene Pallesen
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Luke and Alexsandra's wedding

22. April 2012 05:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Today Luke and Alexsandra was married. She is from Serbia so the wedding itself was a beautiful traditional Serbian Orthodox wedding in a small church in Alexandria.

The church was very darkly lit and I was shooting using natural light trying to be as discreet as possible using my old Nikon D50 camera (still waiting for the new D800) but by some miracle I was able to capture the above photos (by setting it to my max 1600 ISO and underexpose 2 stops and then push and noise reduce in post...would have loved to have one more stop).

Luke has some Scotish ancestry so ourside the church there was a guy playing the bag pipe.

Afterwards the reception was in Drumoyne with about 250 guests invited. Lots of very loud Serbian music and traditional Serbian line dancing (Not sure what the correct name is).

16. April 2012 07:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Easter show and EQ

16. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Synday we took Dylan to the Easter show at Fox Studios. We had bought him a 5 hour pass as a reward for an assignment we gave him.

Dylan tried a number of rides, but I think his favourite was a dodge'm'cars.

While Dylan was queueing up we had a look around at the other entertainment.

15. April 2012 07:39
by Rene Pallesen
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High Tea in Royal National Park

15. April 2012 07:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Today we went to High Tea in Audley in the Royal National Park 30 minutes drive from where we live. Kim had bought a 2 for 1 deal and decided to try it.

Verdict was that is wasn't anything special and even with the special deal it was a bit over priced.

Afterwards we decided to go rowing up through the creek.

Aiden was very keen to get to play with the water which was difficult in the rowing boat (next time we will get a Canoe).

Afterwards we let him play a bit on land before heading back.

8. April 2012 06:18
by Rene Pallesen
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Bora Bora Island Scenery

8. April 2012 06:18 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The island itself is a beautiful place. I took a lot of photos of the lagoon and the beauty of Bora Bora....so many that it would be too many to have in the previous Bora Bora post.

With the risk of creating a post full of Blue photos...I had to separate them out to prevent the other posts from getting too big.

Here they are...I will let them speak for themselves...

6. April 2012 06:19
by Rene Pallesen
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Snorkeling with Sharks and Stingrays

6. April 2012 06:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One of the days at Bora Bora we went with a boat around the lagoon to go snorkeling and have lunch on one of the Motu's (Islands). Along the way we went snorkeling in spots where we also could see sharks and stingrays.

Our first spot was a snorkeling spot with lots of coral and different fish.

I Even saw a big fat murray eel.

Kim also had a bit of a snorkel in the clear blue water even though the water was deep and there was a slight current.

Aiden was facinated by the fish and wanted to join mummy in the water to say hello to the fish'ies...

After this we went to a more shallow spot on the reef with lots of reef sharks.

Yes, that is me in the water with 12 sharks circling around me (and no safety net in place).These sharks would come swimming towards me and then turn around within a meters reach.

Click here to see a video I uploaded to Facebook with the Sharks getting close

After lunch we stopped to feed the Stingrays in the lagoon.

They are fairly harmless and I was feeding them dead fish. While doing so I was bitten by one of them that mistook the camera I was holding in my other hand as a fish.

5. April 2012 06:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Bora Bora

5. April 2012 06:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Bora Bora is a beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Kim and I had promised eachother that we one day we will go there.

It is about an hours flight from Tahiti and along the way you pass a number of other Polynesian islands and atolls. When we landed we were met by the stunning blue lagoon and the very characteristic mountain which is an old extinct volcano.

Aiden especially was mesmerised by the view going on the boat from the airport to our hotel.

On arrival we were met by traditional Tahitian music and someone blowing a seashell.

And Aiden immidiately got into the mocktails.

Our hotel was on the main island itself and we had a small hut facing the lagoon and had a beautiful view every morning waking up.

Every morning we had breakfast overlooking the lagoon where Aiden would stuff his face with fruits, bread and youghurt.

We spent a lot of time at the small beach close to the hotel just swimming in the clear water of the lagoon.

The locals were out on the lagoon showing off their skills.

Aiden loved the calm clear water and the beach...it was a pleasant 27-28 degrees. Every time he saw water he would point at it and shout BoBo (Water)...and insist on going swimming.

One evening I did a couple of sunset portraits.

Aiden again insisted on going in the water.

I also went for a swim after we finished the photos, which was absolutely magical as the light was surreal and the water was absolutely calm.

Across the lagoon from the hotel we had a little island (Motu) with beautiful place to go snorkeling. First I went in the water and notices a small reef shark circling around the corals...being kinda shy. I mentioned it to Kim and as soon as she also spotted it later in the day she rushed out of the water (A couple of days later she had a similar experience with a large stingray at the beach).

It was hard to leave all this beauty behind

4. April 2012 04:09
by Rene Pallesen
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Flowers of French Polynesia

4. April 2012 04:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I took a lot of photos of flowers...enough to warrant a separate blog entry..

If you are not a flower person then just scroll down the page past these...lots of other good stuff there.

Anyhow...I will let them speak for themselves...

3. April 2012 07:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Tahiti

3. April 2012 07:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Easter we decided to go to Tahiti and Bora Bora in French Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

We were supposed to have been going to Japan, but we decided that we instead wanted a more relaxing holiday and changed it to an Island holiday enjoying the sun, sand, water and sunsets.

Tahiti is the main island of French Polynesia and is not larger than it is possible to drive around the entire island in a couple of hours (appx 120 km).

On one of the days we rented a car and did just that. We could have joined a day tour, but I am not very keen on the 5min photo stop kind of tours and much prefer to be able to travel independently and take time to see what we would like to see.

It is reasonably easy to find your way around the island. There really is just one road and the entire road is marked by kilometer markers and we had the distances for most of the sights we wanted to see. We didn;t go too much into the interior because of time restraints and some of these roads are only accessible by 4WD.

First we stopped at one of the old Tahitian temples which was interesting

After that we headed to some large caves full of freshwater (would have been convenient in the old days)...very damp and very dark.

After this we tried to find the road up to a lake and supposedly large waterfall. Some of the locals were very helpful with assisting us with directions but unfortunately the road was closed.

Fortunately we did find the nearby gardens which Kim wanted to visit (I will do a separate flower blog posting).

We did find some waterfallson the island (and saw several from a long distance away high on the mountains).

After this we headed to Point Venus where Captain Cook in 1769 supposedly saw the passing of Venus ...now this houses the only lighthouse in French Polynesia.

The next passing will be 6th June this year...243 years after the previos passing (can be seen as a shadow against the sun).

We decided to skip the museums as we would rather experience the outsde rather than objects behind glass.

The other days we spent around the hotel and the marina, just relaxing, swimming and dining. Aiden loved spending most of the time in the pool at the hotel.

29. February 2012 09:31
by Rene Pallesen
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Project Setting

29. February 2012 09:31 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Yesterday I did another photo project. I wanted to do something different with composition.

I had this idea of a guy being attacked by hand-spiders (I hate spiders) and thought that the garage would be a good location for it. I had an old T-shirt and some tomato paste to add some drama.

It turned out to be a lot harder than expected as it was almost impossible to get the right composition, focus etc. when I both had to appear in the photo as well as take it (my head was cropped off on the first series which meant that I had to reposition the camera and then either re-shoot the series or try and stitch them up in post production...I chose the latter because of time constraints).

I could definitely have done a better job if I didn't have to be two places at once, but I don't think it is a total disaster.

28. July 2001 10:48
by Rene Pallesen
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Mandalay . . .

28. July 2001 10:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

When I initially arrived in Yangon / Rangoon, I wanted to fly up Bhamo - one of the bigger towns north of Burma. I also considered exploring Myitkyinã - a town further north of Bhamo.

My Lonely Planet guide indicated that the only border crossing into China was to the east of Bhamo. My initial plans to Burma also included exploration of western China. However, I was disappointed by the military turning me back, despite the fact that my Lonely Planet guide said I could cross into China at Ruili.

I decided instead to fly to Mandalay, not only because it was cheap to do so, but it saved me a 20-hour bus ride there from Yangon.

City of Mandalay

I heard about a song for sailors.

“To be a real sailor, the sailor would have to have been to Mandalay way upriver”

I quite liked Mandalay.

The photo below, is of Mandalay Hill.
During World War II (20 March 1945), the British and the Japanese fought one another to gain control of the position on this hill.

Important Position in Mandalay

The photo to the left is taken from the hill itself facing east - as you can see, it has an aerial view of the whole city, and puts any oncoming enemies at a disadvantage. Control of Mandalay was important during the war, as the soldiers were able to set up artillery and attack anyone approaching the fortress.

This hill was of big strategic importance.

The building you see near the shrine is a monument to the British regiment who managed to take control of this hill from the Japanese.

At the eastern part of the delta, a lot of logging takes place. There was a train line built that used to cart all the trees/wood for export to Thailand.

View of the Fortress

The moat around the fortress is man-made.
Although man-made, comes from the local river.

The original fortress was burnt to the ground.
The whole fortress covered an area of 2.5 x 2.5 km

Fortress at Mandalay

The design of Mandalay was quite colonial, and surprisingly, most of the streets were at 90º to one another.

Overall, I found Mandalay the most expensive city to travel to in Burma.

No matter what one does in Mandalay, be it explore Mandalay Hill or the city itself, the locals always had “special” foreigner prices. It really annoyed me.

I tried to use local currency as much as possible. However, FEC (Foreign Exchange Currency) was more valuable and worth more to the locals. FEC is also used in China, and one tries to use local currency as much as possible. Any item you buy has 2 prices - and obviously it is cheaper to use local currency than to use FEC.

I must admit, even Mandalay Hill was not that nice for the price I paid to explore it. It was also expensive just to go into the fortress.

Surprisingly, I could not find maps of the area that was not more that 40 years old.

28. July 2001 10:47
by Rene Pallesen
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Burma Religion & Politics . . .

28. July 2001 10:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Politics . . .

Queue for Rations

There is a lot of politics going on in Burma that an outsider should not get involved in - Burma is one of those countries where political opinions are best kept to oneself.

In Burma, use of the Internet and mobile phones is illegal. This is the government's way of controlling the information entering the country. Even access to equipment such as laptops is illegal - the country is so poor that many could not afford such a piece of equipment.

I saw many young women queueing for their rations. They were standing so close together that I thought they were lesbians! *laugh* The girls stand close together so another person cannot jump the queue by pushing in.

Girls Standing Close

The girls here are very young, some have barely reached puberty and are doing some very hard work.

Young Girls Working on Roads

There is a lot of critique by Amnesty International, of Burma's use of young girls to provide maintenance for the roads.

28. July 2001 10:47
by Rene Pallesen
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Medicine . . .

28. July 2001 10:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Medicine . . .

My girlfriend, Arumi, tells me one sees the wares of a 'Medicine Man' quite often throughout Asia.

Whether they sit by the roadside, or whether they own a shop in a building, one will see very similar items being sold around Asia.

The “pellets” you see here are in fact different types of roots such as ginger or some unknown vegetable, that have been sun or air dried.

The Medicine Man 1

You will see the antlers of various animals such as deer or even rhino. There are also skulls from different animals - some of these animals may be endangered species, but somehow you will see them being sold in these markets.

The Medicine Man 2

These skulls are definitely not being used as “trophies” around the house!

The Burmese, like many Asians, believe in using very 'natural' remedies to cure common ailments.

Tiger Skull

A Medicine Man may not necessarily be a “doctor” according to western standards - that means he may not have a university degree.

However, a Medicine Man, may be what we know as “witch-doctors”. Some of the remedies they know are very natural and useful.

Unfortunately, not all of these remedies work. Around Asia, you will see shops or Medicine Man selling items like tigers' paws and skulls, or ground ivory tusks. Many of these are sold as cures or enhancements for the sex life.

In Burma, there is virtually no wildlife left.

Selling Tobacco

You will even find that even tobacco is sold naturally.

Not in cigarette form, but in leaf form! The laws in Burma are not quite the same as they are here. Marijuana is also sold very freely.

Lotus Fruit . . .

Quite often in Asia, you may see lily pads floating on the water. In fairy-tales, you hear about frogs sitting on a lily pad.

You will be amazed to associate that this fruit here, comes from the flowers/plant growing out of the water near the lily pads.

The yellow seeds come from the flower itself. The seeds are used often in many Asian desserts, and said to promote better blood circulation.

While, the root of the lotus plant is also a delicacy. It is white when cooked, and has a crunchy texture, similar to that of the water chestnut. Mainly used in savoury meals, although used as a dessert as well.

Personally, I think it is too much hassle retrieving the fruit! *smile*

Created: 31 Oct 2001

28. July 2001 10:46
by Rene Pallesen
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Schwedagon . . .

28. July 2001 10:46 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Schwedagon was a holy place with extremely large and beautiful temples.

To get to Schwedagon, you had to travel up very long escalators. I took this photo because these escalators were the only escalators I had seen during my whole trip in Burma. As Schwedagon is a very religious place for the locals, I guess to travel up these escalators give the sense of travelling to a higher and holier place.

Temples at Schwedagon Photo 1

The temples at Schwedagon were really impressive.

Temples at Schwedagon Photo 2

I was told that collectively, these temples were built with 39 tonnes of pure gold.

Cleaning Up

At the end of the day, the locals all contributed in cleaning the place. They clean all the tiles and are very organised.

Big Stuba

Here is the 'Big Stuba'. All that gold...

Up close, the temples are a glorious sight. Especially at night!

Can you see those lights at the base of the Big Stuba? Each is a 'mini temple', illuminating a Buddha.

Lots of Gold

You can really see the magnificence of these temples!

Praying to Buddha

There are lots of rules or procedures about the way one prays to the Buddhas - very complicated to an outsider!

I saw a couple of the buddhists pour water onto the statue of the Buddha. Depending on the day of the week a buddhist is born, the individual would pour the respective number of bowls for the day of the week. A buddhist believes that by doing this, it would bring them luck.

At Schwedagon, I noticed there were hardly any tourists, mostly locals paying homage.

Can you see how intricate the carvings are in the foreground?

Praying Monk 1

The monks rung this bell to announce prayer times.

It brought luck to ring the bell.
For example, if you were born on the 1st day of the week, you rung it once to bring good luck. If you were born on the 6th day of the week, you rung it 6 times etc.

28. July 2001 10:45
by Rene Pallesen
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Myanmar ( Burma ) 23 July ~ 5 Aug 2001 . . .

28. July 2001 10:45 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Burma/Myanmar surprised me in many ways. I would have liked to see more of Burma than I did, but due to military restrictions, I only had access to certain parts of Burma and was not able to see any of the indigenous people along the border as I had initially planned.Burma is a very poor country. It was difficult to travel... travelling 100 kilometres could sometimes take up to 6 hours.

One of the most beautiful places in Burma, I thought, was Bagan.

I took many photos in Burma, and tried to order them in the following pages:

I spent some days in Yangon, which had a heavy colonial influence.

Schwedagon was another place full of temples, a place laden with pure gold.

Whilst travelling, I could not help notice how influenced the people were by religion, and Burma's politics is one thing an outsider should not get involved in.

I was fascinated by what the Burmese used for medicine. They also had some rather interesting local fruit.

Mandalay also had an interesting colonial battle history. Whilst there, I watched the “Mandalay Marionettes”.

With the restrictions up north, I did not get to see much. But you would not believe how the Burmese play volleyball!

Finally, at Mt Popa, I went there to see a local monastry, and saw a lot of wild monkeys there.

Yangon ( Rangoon ) . . .

One of the main streets in Burma

This is the city-centre of Rangoon. Rangoon is the capital city of Burma.

It is actually a pretty big city if you compare it with other parts of Burma on a map.

Most of the buildings are from the old colonial period when the British occupied Burma. Unfortunately they have not been very well-maintained.

Can you see the green bits on the clocktower?

Clocktower with vegetation growing on it

Clocktower with vegetation growing on it

If you are thinking it is vegetation growing on it, you are right! There is quite a bit growing on most of the buildings in the city.

Colonial Building 1

There were so many pigeons!

I managed to catch a pictures of a pigeon flying mid-air - can you see the blurred grey thing near the tree in the middle of the photo?

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Created: 22 Sept 2001

28. July 2001 01:56
by Rene Pallesen
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Burma newspaper

28. July 2001 01:56 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

15. June 2001 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
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3rd Place in Photo Competition!

15. June 2001 10:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I took part in a photo competition in November 2001, using one of the photos I had taken during my trip to Mt Cook in January 2001. This photo was of Kevin, the alpine guide from my group in the technical climbing course.

The following photo and comments appeared on the Planet Fear website, in the Front Line Photography Competition - not long after I was notified that I was one of 20 winners, and I was even more surprised to find out that I had come third!

The comments above the photo were my comments that I had emailed to them when I sent the photo. The comments below the photo were (one of the judges) comments about my photo.

3. Rene Pallesen

The attached photo was taken in New Zealand on the main range near Mount Cook. The valleys to the west are filled with clouds formed by the moisture from the forests underneath. The snowcovered mountains in the north are visible through the clouds. The photo was taking using a Nikon FM10 using a Fuji Sensia 100 film.

Kevin in the Clouds

Literally bathed in atmosphere. It would be easy to muff this high key exposure but Rene is spot on. The vertical format adds to a shot capturing all the euphoria of life on the tops. Reminds me of the legendary Mountain mag front covers.
~ Comment by Ian Parnell, Planet Fear

Feel free to see my photo on their website.

Also, you could go to the Planet Fear website to view the other winning photos.

15. January 2001 11:14
by Rene Pallesen
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Mt Cook

15. January 2001 11:14 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Created: 18 Aug 2001 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001

15. January 2001 10:59
by Rene Pallesen
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Mt Cook ( 15 ~ 28 January 2001 )

15. January 2001 10:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Above the clouds at Mt Cook - photo competition winner!

Mt Cook ( 15 ~ 28 January 2001 )

I decided to do a Technical Ice-Climbing course with Alpine Guides in New Zealand.

I spent 10 days at Mt Cook doing a very challenging course, but I learnt a lot. I learnt all the techniques required to do ice-climbing safely. I also learnt the necessities of surviving in the icy mountains.

Prior to the trip, a lot of preparation was required. Everyday, I went jogging to build up my fitness, so by the time I left for New Zealand, I could run 3km on the sand without getting puffed. I also had to buy some of the equipment. I had to buy cramp-ons (looks like spiked metal soles) to attach to my boots; ice-axe and ice-hammer; a new Gore-tex jacket (I needed a new one anyway) and some other clothing and equipment.

The photo on the right became a 3rd-place winner in a photo competition.

Our group consisted of 4 other doing the course. There were no prerequisites, other than a love for the mountains and a very high fitness level. Not all of us who do this course go on to climb the great mountains. We also discovered it takes guts and courage to stand on top of the world and feel confident. One cannot be an ice-climber if there is a fear of heights or if unsteady on the feet.

Our ice-climbing group

All of us in the group had come from different backgrounds. Søren was an experienced climber, who had aspirations of going to the Himalayas. Alan was a rock-climber who wanted to try the challenge of ice-climbing. Rob too loved the mountains and wanted the experience and challenge of being on the icey slopes of New Zealand. I had had quite a lot of climbing and mountaineering experience, but this was my first time ice-climbing.

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2. April 2019 13:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Onsen Osaka

2. April 2019 13:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

While in Japan we had to try a traditional Japanese bathhouse. We found a small one in the suburbs of Osaka that had good reviews and was also suited for the boys.

As most of the bath houses men and women are in different sections, so I took the boys with me which was a fun experience for them.

The bath house had a section that was full of yellow rubber ducks, and the boys spent a fair amount of time playing with them.

It also had a lot of other pools that varied from really hot to freezing cold pools as well a various mineral baths with water pumped up from deep underground.

It is difficult to describe the feeling, but both Kim and I felt amazing afterwards. No photos allowed inside, so the outside and the poster at the local trans station will have to do.

2. April 2019 13:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Universal Studios Osaka

2. April 2019 13:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

In Osaka we went to the Universal Studios theme park. It was just before Halloween, so everywhere in the park people were dressed up in 'scary' costumes.

After dark the park put on the most amazing zombie show with hundreds of actors and dancers dressed up as zombies - No One celebrates Halloween like the Japanese - amazing!!!!

1. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Nara

1. April 2019 20:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Nara is an area a couple of hours outside Kyoto that is full of temples and deer roaming the streets.

It has a massive temple with one of the pillars with a hole in it. Apparently if you can squeeze through then you are enlightened.

The deers are good fun although Kim and and boys took a while to get used to them.

1. April 2019 18:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Nijo-jo Castle Kyoto

1. April 2019 18:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This castle is close to the centre of the city. It is quite big and lit up at night. Out hotel was just around the corner so we passed it almost every day.

We didn't go inside it as there were too many other things to see.

1. April 2019 18:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Other Kyoto temples

1. April 2019 18:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

There are lots of temples in Kyoto. This is mainly because the city wasn't bombed during the second world war.

For historical reasons they are mostly outside the city centre in the hills - apparently they were banned from the city centre long time ago due to the monks growing influence.

1. April 2019 13:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) Kyoto

1. April 2019 13:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The golden pavillion in Kyoto is one of the most iconic sights in Kyoto. It is a small zen temple surrounded by a beautifully manicured landscape.

It is however very touristy with large tour buses and large crowds, but still worth the visit.

1. April 2019 09:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Asiyama at Kyoto

1. April 2019 09:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Asiyama is on the outskirts of Kyoto and this is where people go to see the Bamboo forest but there is also lots of other things to see in the area such as monkeys and more traditional sights such as temples.

The bamboo forest itself is very crowded and the foot paths are fenced in and to be honest there are so many bamboo forests in Japan in the land districts that it is hard to see why this particular forest is so special.

It is lovely to see people in traditional kimono's being transported in rickshaws.

From the place where there are monkeys, there is also a view of all of Kyoto.

1. April 2019 09:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Japan - Gion District in Kyoto

1. April 2019 09:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The Gion district in Kyoto is the traditional Geisha district and one of the very few places in Japan where it is still possible to spot Geishas and see them perform.

It is a lovely little district with all its narrow lanes and old traditional wooden buildings.

We went there a late afternoon and were lucky enough to see a couple of Geishas heading out to perform.

Later in the evening we went to a performance where they both had Geishas perform as well as some traditional Japanese theatre, comedy and tea ceremony.

28. March 2019 13:03
by Rene Pallesen
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Kanasawa Castle - Japan

28. March 2019 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

28. March 2019 13:03
by Rene Pallesen
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Kanasawa Geisha District - Japan

28. March 2019 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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11. April 2011 04:32
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden 10 Months

11. April 2011 04:32 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Sunday we went to Ethans 10yo Birthday at Maroubra. It also happens that Aiden was 10 Months a couple of days ago and it was a nice and overcast day, so good to take some monthly photos of him.

He is pretty happy to show off his new chompers (teeth)...he's got four now. He's been a bit sick for the last week with a cold. Probably something he picked up in daycare, but he is a lot happier now.

He now knows how to sit up straight, but he is still not able to crawl or get to/from sitting position, so the way he gets around is by rolling. He has learned to repeat one word from up and that is 'Dada'...but he still doesn't know the context or meaning of the word.

He is also a lot more reserved when it comes to other people...the general rule is that he likes me and grandad, but everyone else depends on the day...even mummy is sometimes given the cold shoulder (which Kim gets slightly upset about when it happens).

7. April 2011 10:26
by Rene Pallesen
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New garden doors

7. April 2011 10:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last month we received our new bi-folding doors to the garden. The old doors were old aluminium sliding doors that didn't allow us to open up the dining room towards the garden properly, they only allowed us a metre of opening to walk through.

We really wanted to open up the outside and inside areas. The old door really wasn't ideal.

Before christmas we ordered new bi-folding doors that would allow us to open up the whole area (about three metres and would allow us easier and better access to the garden).

It took the two tradespeople the better part of a full day to remove the old door and install the new one.

The new door looks really good, it was delivered in raw cedar wood and yesterday I spent most of the following weekend sanding and varnishing it.

The new door comes with a sliding moscito net that allows us to open the whole area and still keep the little critters out. It is almost invisible to when we have the family over we will need to keep it open to prevent the kids from running through the net.

The trades people couldn't take the old door with them so I had to find a way to dispose of it. Eventually I put it on Gumtree (a free site similar to eBay) and said that whoever wanted the door could come and pick it up for free. Within a couple of hours I had a dozen interested people and a couple of days later hey came to pick it up.

28. March 2011 10:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Doctor Zhivago take Two

28. March 2011 10:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Saturday Kim and I went with a couple of friends to the Lyrics Theatre to see the Doctor Zhivago the Musical. It is a large production that they hope eventually will make it to broadway.

If you would like to know the story then rent the movie of the same title...worth watching.

For those of you not familiar with the story behind the story: It is about the cultural revolution and civil war in russia during the years 1917-1921 (mainly). The book was written by a russian Boris Pasternak during and after the cultural revolution. It was smuggled out of Russia in the 1950's and the author was awarded the Nobels literature price much to the dismay of the russian government (the book is very critical of the revolution).

We did have tickets booked a couple of months ago, but when we turned up then they said that the lead actor (playing Zhivago) had an injury in the afternoon. They said that they would still show us the first 20-40 minutes of the performance as this was all that the understudy (replacement) was familiar with and then let us either rebook or get a refund. Very dissapointing, but not much we could do about it.

It was actually worth seeing the whole performance (and not just the beginning). The acting and singing was great (Kim was so-so about the actual songs, but I thought they were ok).The stage setup was very clever and added a lot of depth to the stage, it allowed them to show what was happening in several locations at the same time using the same stage.

We had left Aiden with his grandad for the evening and this time we decided to let him sleep there all night rather than wake him up really late to take him home.

7. March 2011 09:44
by Rene Pallesen
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Barber of Seville

7. March 2011 09:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Friday night Kim and I went to the Opera to watch "The barber of Seville". We had left Aiden with his grandad for the night hoping that either of them would be able to get some sleep (Aiden is a little chatterbox once he gets started).

The play is not one of the usual tragic Operas but more of a playful one with a more happy ending. During the play there is a lot of different things happening on different parts of the stage. Most of the play is taking place in a house and there are different things happening in different rooms of the house.

It was a good play but I think Kim and I agree that we prefer the more tragic operas although I think I have now seen all the major Operas.

2. March 2011 09:31
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden 9 Months

2. March 2011 09:31 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden is now nine months young. He is finally able to start sitting by himself without falling over (...too often). Another milestone reached and another opportunity to take some more photos of him.

He is still a happy and hungry little boy. He is such as daddy's boy and loves being carried around on my shoulder. Sometimes he cries when he sees me after I return from work in the afternoon because he is happy to see me.

We are hoping that he will be able to crawl around soon now that he is sitting...but could take a while.

3. February 2011 12:52
by Rene Pallesen
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Chinese Zodiac Story

3. February 2011 12:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

There are several legends about how the animals were chosen for the Chinese zodiac. This is one of them. The Jade Emperor is the name of the Emperor of Heaven.

Long ago, in China, the Jade Emperor decided there should be a way of measuring time. On his birthday he told the animals that there was to be a swimming race. The first twelve animals across the fast flowing river would be the winners and they would each have a year of the zodiac named after them.

All the animals lined up along the river bank. The rat and the cat, who were good friends, were worried because they were poor swimmers. Being clever they asked the strong ox if he would carry them across the river.

'Of course' said the kind ox. 'Just climb on my back and I will take you across.'

The rat and the cat quickly jumped up and were very excited when the ox soon took the lead in the race. They had almost reached the other bank when the rat pushed the cat into the river leaving him to struggle in the water. Then just before the ox was about to win the race the rat leapt on his head and on to the bank to finish first.

'Well done,' said the Jade Emperor to the proud rat. 'The first year of the zodiac will be named after you.'

The poor ox had been tricked into second place and the second year of the zodiac was named after him. Shortly after the exhausted tiger clawed his way to the river bank to claim third place. Swimming across the river had been an enormous struggle for him against the strong currents. The Emperor was so delighted with his efforts that he named the third year after him.

Next to arrive was the rabbit, who hadn't swum across at all. He hopped across on some stepping stones and then found a floating log which carried him to the shore.

'I shall be very happy to call the fourth year after you,' the surprised Jade Emperor explained.

Just then a kind dragon swooped down to take fifth place.

'Why didn’t you win the race, as you can fly as well as swim?' the Jade Emperor asked.

'I was held up because some people and animals needed water to drink. I needed to make some rain,' the dragon explained. 'Then when I was nearly here I saw a poor little rabbit on a log in the water and I blew a puff of wind so that the log would float to the river bank.'

'Well that was very kind of you and now you are here you will have the fifth year of the zodiac named after you.' The next thing the Jade Emperor heard was the sound of the horse’s hooves. Just as he was thinking the horse would be the next animal to arrive, a sneaky snake wriggled out from around one of the horse’s hooves. The horse was so surprised that he jumped backwards giving the snake a chance to take the sixth place in the race. The poor horse had to be satisfied with seventh place.

Not long afterwards a raft arrived carrying the goat, the monkey and the rooster. They explained to the Emperor how they had shared the raft that the rooster had found. The goat and monkey had cleared weeds and pushed the raft to the shore. The Emperor was very pleased that the animals had worked together. He said the goat would be the eighth zodiac animal, the monkey the ninth and the rooster the tenth.

The next animal to finish was the dog.

'Why are you so late when you are one of the best swimmers?' asked the Jade Emperor.

'The water in the river was so clean that I had to have a bath on the way,' explained the dog.

His reward was to have the eleventh year named after him. Now there was one place left in the zodiac and the Emperor wondered when the last winner would come. He had nearly given up when he heard a grunt from the boar.

'You took a long time to cross the river,' said the Emperor to the boar.

'I was hungry and stopped to eat,' explained the boar. 'After the meal I felt so tired that I fell asleep.'

'You have still done well,' said the Jade Emperor. 'The last year of the zodiac will be named after you.'

As for the cat who had been pushed into the water by the rat, he finally crawled out of the water but was too late to have a year named after him. He felt very cross with the rat and since then cats have never been friends with rats.

From that day to this the Chinese Zodiac has followed this cycle of years named after these twelve animals.

29. January 2011 04:58
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden on a swing

29. January 2011 04:58 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day Kim and I went for a walk down to the local park with Aiden.

It was a good opportunity for us to give him a ride on one of the swings as they have some bucket seats that makes it impossible for him to fall out (he is still not able to quite sit by himself yet).

He absolutely loved the experience and wasn't scared at all (we will make a real boy out of him in no time).

He is now seven and a half months and is learning how to control his parents and he is starting to know what he wants and don't want...ie doesn't want to sleep if he is in a playful mood.

28. January 2011 01:26
by Rene Pallesen
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Photoshop fun

28. January 2011 01:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Over the weekend I had a play with creating a more interesting profile photo for my Facebook profile. The idea was to use photoshop to create something a bit out of the ordinary (and a bit spooky).

Anyway here it is...and you can either love it or hate it!

For those interested in the details...it is 3 composite photos (Face, left eye and mouth). I could have done it with two composites, but I wasn't happy with the mouth. It was originally shot on a red background but I desaturated the background and darkened it a bit because I though this looks better. It has also been ultra sharpened to add some effect.

27. January 2011 09:43
by Rene Pallesen
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Madame butterfly - again

27. January 2011 09:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Tuesday Kim and I went to the Opera to see Madame butterfly with one on Kims friends. I have already seen Madame butterfly some years ago so this was a bit of a repeat for me.

It was the same stage setup as last time, most of the cast were the same as well, but despite that it was an really good experience. It is a good story despite the tragic ending...and yes the american sailor is both a dog and a coward.

Kim was sitting next to me crying for much of the performance...so sad!!!

31. December 2010 10:43
by Rene Pallesen
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New Caledonia - New Years Eve

31. December 2010 10:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

When we arrived to New Caledonia we started to find a good place/party to celebrate New Years eve.

As far as we could tell it sounded like the hotel we were staying at was the place to be, but when we tried to book we were told that it was fully booked and that we were number twenty-six on the waiting list. Fortunately we received confirmation a couple of days later that we now had a confirmed booking at the party.

On new years eve we were greeted by musicians playing local music and girls putting a Lei around our necks. Kim and I was going to bring Aiden along to the party (fortunately there was other kids there as well).

Aiden wasn't sure what to think of the Lei...I think he would prefer not to have one as it tickled.

There was about 3-400 guests at the party and the food was absolutely fantastic. It was a buffet of 25-30 dishes of mainly seafood ranging from fresh oysters (still moving in their shell), lobster salads, sushi to fresh Sashimi cut straight from a massive tuna.

This was followed by entertainment from dancers and musicians.

After the entertainment the dance floor was open and pretty much everyone (including Kim and I) was dancing. Aiden got his first dance with mummy (all the other guest were laughing).

At midnight everyone celebrated the new year with a toast.

After midnight we headed up to our hotel room to see if there was any fireworks (there was a little so Aiden got to experience his first fireworks).

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23. August 2023 20:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Driving and Various

23. August 2023 20:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The trip in New Zealand first landed us in Christchurch where we picked up our rental car and stayed the first night.

Next day we drove through Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef (a long drive) where we stayed for three nights. This was mainly so that we had a spare day in case the weather closed in and we couldn't fly to the glacier.

From there we drove to Queenstown via Wanaka and the Crowns Range (another long drive). We were lucky that this was open and that snow chains weren't required.

Here we stayed for 5 nights whereafter we went to Twizel near Mount Cook for two night.

Lastly we drive back to Christchurch to fly out.

Queenstown is a scenic place, but lost of other scenic places along the way.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lake Pukaki chapel

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.

Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Skiing

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.

The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.

Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.

Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.

I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - West coast

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The west coast of New Zealand is really beautiful.

It is not very populated and there are not a lot of tourists either as it is hard to get to.

We did a lot of walks in the area both around beautiful lakes and also at the beach outside Fox Glacier and Franz Josef villages.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lake Wanaka and the famous most photographed tree.

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Driving back towards Queenstown we had to go through Wanaka. Boy, has it changed! It used to be a small place with maybe fifty houses, but now it is a proper town with lots of cars and traffic.

It is very scenic approaching Lake Wanaka, and the lake itself has this tree growing in the water that photographers from all around the world come here to take photos of.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lindis Pass

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

A place that I have always found really magical is driving through the Lindis Pass.

Kim doesn't think much of it, but since I visited it the first time, I've alwas found the rolling hills and the colours absolutely stunning.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Glacier Tour

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kims highlight on the trip was to go up on a real glacier.

She had booked a helicopter tour that would take up up on a section of the glacier between the two major ice falls.

This is a section of the glacier that Andy and I dreaded having to walk through 20 years ago when we were climbing higher up on the glacier. Mind you, back then there was probably another 100 metres of ice on top of where we landed on this day.