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

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

schwedagon
Escalator leading up to Schwedagon








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
Another Temple




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 StubaBig Stuba at Night

Buddhas at base of 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 BuddhaPraying to BuddhaIntricate Carvings


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 1Praying Monk 2

Large Bell









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

myanmar burma 23 july 5 aug 2001
Click here for full size Map of Burma






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



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 1Colonial Building 2The Strand HotelColonial Building 3

Man feeding pigeons



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

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

competition photo 2001
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

mt cook





Mt Cook

Mt Cook
Our ice-climbing group

Alan


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

mt cook 15 28 january 2001
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.

Mt Cook

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.

The person holding the camera is Søren. I met him in NZ, whilst waiting for the bus for Mt Cook. To my surprise, he was a Dane living here in Sydney. He was a professional photographer (hence you see him holding the Nikon). He and I had similiar experience so our speed through the course was pretty much the same.

Soren

I actually ended up cracking a rib whilst on the course. I did this during a 'self-arrest' technique, where we actually throw ourselves down a steep slope and try to use our ice-axe to stop ourselves from falling any further. This technique is used in case you fall down a crevass and have nothing to hold onto.

Rob was the other person doing the course. He once dropped his ice-axe and one of us had to abseil down to collect it, as an ice-axe is a piece of equipment that is vital and you only carry one of these each.

We worked in pairs, but had to swap partners as our guide took turns working with each of us.
Søren doing a climbAlan doing a climb
Alan doing a climb

Ice-climbing is nothing like rock-climbing. You cannot use your fingers (well, they will freeze if you take your gloves off), so you really on equipment like ice-axe and ice-picks to anchor yourself into the ice. These pieces of equipment are really important, especially if you are sleeping on a ledge or stopping for a rest. Other than someone belaying you, using ice-picks to secure yourself into the ice is the backup should your belay fail.

We each took turns at ice-climbing! Alan is the one in the blue jacket, Søren is the one in the red.

I guess Søren has more photos of me climbing, whereas I can't take photos of myself!


In the following section, you will see a series of photos of Mt Cook.
If you want to have a look at the black & white version of this (quite artistic), click here.

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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21. July 2013 07:47
by Rene Pallesen
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Orange Cake

21. July 2013 07:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

orange cake


Kim likes baking too and these days she will ask Aiden to help her.

Her cakes usually looks much better than any of my efforts.

21. July 2013 07:42
by Rene Pallesen
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Baking Ciabata

21. July 2013 07:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

baking ciabata


A couple of weeks ago I tried to bake Ciabata bread.

It is a long process that takes about 24 hours (first you have to make this yeast and flour sponge which you then later use for the end result).

I substituted normal flour for wholemeal. This was the end result.



The taste was ok, but it was too dry for my liking...so will have to try again one day.


28. June 2013 07:40
by Rene Pallesen
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The Lightbulb

28. June 2013 07:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

the lightbulb


Light bulbs are really rare now as you can't buy them in the shops any longer.

We still have one in the cupboard so I decided to have a bit of fun with it one evening...



28. June 2013 07:25
by Rene Pallesen
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Vivid Sydney 2013

28. June 2013 07:25 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

vivid sydney 2013


Vivid Sydney was on again this year and in my opinion better than the previous years.

Because of the kids it was hard to find the time to explore, but I did manage to head in there one evening to get some photos from the classic angles.















13. June 2013 09:48
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas 9 months

13. June 2013 09:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

lucas 9 months


Lucas is now 9 month old and the other day we went to the park to do some Autumn photos with him.

The photo of the day was definitely this one of Kim and Lucas having a moment together.



It was hard because he wanted to crawl around and play and because it was the middle of the day the light was pretty harsh.



We also tried to take some at one of the small bridges in the park but they were shooting a commercial shoot there and Lucas was more interested in trying to get into the water than posing.



And when we tried a family photo he didn't want to sit still.


13. June 2013 09:45
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas 8 Months

13. June 2013 09:45 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

lucas 8 months


For Lucas 8 month photo we decided to do a profile photo of the four of us just like we had with Aiden.



A bit more difficult this time because there we two kids and getting them to look in the right direction and keep the right face expression.

13. June 2013 09:42
by Rene Pallesen
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Aidens 3 year birthday

13. June 2013 09:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

aidens 3 year birthday


Last week it was Aidens 3rd Birthday.

We celebrated it by singing happy birthday and having cake.



For his birthday he got a new car as well as some new shoes.





13. June 2013 09:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden insect bite

13. June 2013 09:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

aiden insect bite


The other day was in the park with his daycare group to play at the playground.

While he was there he was bitten by some unknown insect and the morning after his whole face was swollen.



Fortunately he was happy enough and it didn't require any visits to a doctor.

30. May 2013 10:47
by Rene Pallesen
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Emma's Birthday

30. May 2013 10:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

emma s birthday


Last weekend it was our Niece Emma's first birthday.

This was celebrated with lots of cakes and a jumping castle on which Aiden had lots of fun.







2. May 2013 09:16
by Rene Pallesen
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Countries I have been to

2. May 2013 09:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

countries i have been to 61


I just updated the map of the countries I have set my foot in...now 69 countries.





AfricaRene(69)KimAidenLucas
Kenya YES


Tanzania YES


Uganda YES


Egypt YES


Tunesia YES


Morocco YES


Gambia YES


Senegal YES


South Africa YES YES YES YES
Zimbabwe YES YES YES YES
Zambia YES YES YES YES
Europe



Turkey YES


Spain YES YES

France YES YES

Swizerland YES YES

Austria YES YES

Greece YES YES

Italy YES


Lictenstein YES


Vatican YES YES

Yougoslavia YES


Croatia YES YES YES
Slovenia YES YES YES
Bosnia YES YES YES
Montenegro YES YES YES
Poland YES


East Germany YES


West Germany YES YES YES
Belgium YES YES

Holland YES YES

Denmark YES YES YES
Sweden YES


Norway YES


Finland YES


Portugal YES


Luxenbourg YES


San Marino YES


Monaco YES YES

Cyprus YES


Hungary (YES) (YES) (YES)
United Kingdom YES YES (YES)
Americas



USA YES YES

Canada YES


Mexico YES YES

Chile YES YES

Peru YES YES

Bolivia YES YES

Argentina YES


Brasil YES YES

Asia



Japan YES


Russia YES


Malaysia YES YES

Thailand YES YES YES YES
Singapore YES YES (YES)
Cambodia YES


Laos YES YES YES YES
Phillipines YES YES YES YES
Burma/Myanmar YES


Hong Kong YES


Yemen YES


Qatar YES


Indonesia YES YES

Diego Garcia
YES

Vietnam
YES

India
YES

Australia/Pacific



Australia YES YES YES YES
New Zealand YES YES YES YES
New Caledonia YES YES YES
French Polynesia (Tahiti / Bora Bora) YES YES YES (YES)
Vanuatu YES YES YES YES
Fiji YES YES YES YES
Cook Islands YES YES YES YES