Simple can be beautiful.

I've discovered my windows lately and have been using it to frame off things in my shots. This one is the tulips the girl and I picked up last weekend. They opened beautifully. I'm glad I was able to capture them before they are completely wilted.

Just made me think. 

Perhaps I should retake the shot with the 5dmiii. Well, there's always tomorrow.

Forever Chasing Light

I am forever chasing light. In my life, and in my love of photography. 

I'm trying to reinvent myself this year. Trying to be better, in every way. Let's see how I do, shall we?

There's a corner in my head, a far removed place, my happy place

Where no one else exists but me.

Sometimes, I escape to that place. It's necessary.

Thought of the day

One day soon, I will only be a part of her life instead of being her everything.

The thought of it breaks my heart into a million pieces...

The Red Center

Finally made it back to Australia before the end of last year. Completely different trip from the one we took five years ago, when we were tourists during the day, and partied every.single.night. It was a trip without kids.  Oh, how I missed those times.

This time around though, as if planned, we all have kids about the same age.  So, everything we did were centered around the kids. It wasn't bad, just different.  It was fun in a wholesome kind of way.

One of the highlights of the trip was making it to the red center.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from Ayers Rock.

LOVED the camel ride! 

Kata Tjuta

The kid at Ayers Rock

The path to Uluru

The magnificent Ayers Rock.

While the sun is setting just behind me, a rainbow forms just above the monolith, during a thunderstorm. What you don't see is the full moon, just to the left of this frame.  It was an awesome last day at the red center.

Playing in the dark.

Playing in the dark., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

With the light set at the lowest setting, she played with her toys while I played with my toy, in the dimly lit room.

Aperture-priority, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO 25600. Image cropped and resized to 15%.

Canon 5D Mark III with the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L.

There are better ways to eat healthy than overdosing on oatmeal

Since it's the beginning of the year, almost everyone and their moms are on a diet, and eating nothing but oatmeal. I don't mind having oatmeal once in awhile. However, since I don't like eating paste on a daily basis, I try to find tastier alternatives when I feel the need to (pretend to) eat healthy.

I was introduced to farro last year when a good friend of mine took me to this Italian joint in Brooklyn. I've been hooked since then, but never tried to make it (or even thought of making it) until the same friend served it at a dinner party around the holidays. I've been inspired since then, and finally got around to making it over the weekend.

This salad is easy to make, it just requires a lot of steps and time. For example, to make the farro, you need at least 50 minutes. To cook the beets (because, hell no, I'm not about to use canned ones if I'm going to go through all the trouble of making this myself!), requires peeling, and chopping, and then steaming them in batches. You need to roast the pine nuts, and peel the pomegranate. so on and so forth. But, really, when it's all done, you'll realize how this truly healthy dish is so delicious, it's worth all the effort.

Farro Salad

- 1 lb Farro, cooked as directed (I soaked mine in water for 25 mins, and then slowly cooked it in veggie broth for another 25 mins)

- 4 cups cubed and steamed red and golden beets

- 1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

- 1 cup pomegranate

- grape tomatoes, cut in half

- 1/4 cup

- some very good olive oil

- some very good aged balsamic vinegar

- sea salt

- black pepper

- red onion, sliced thin

- blue cheese

- dried cranberries

In a large bowl, toss the farro, beets, pine nuts, pomegranate, and tomatoes with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar (according to your taste). Season with salt and black pepper (again, according to your taste).

Top with red onions, dried cranberries and blue cheese upon serving.

You can also add all sorts of herbs in this recipe, such as parsley or cilantro. To add another dimension of flavor and texture, you can toss it with a bit of arugula.

Enjoy!

Wanderlust

Overworked, both at home and at the office, I can't help but wish I can be off elsewhere worrying about nonsense, like lack of oxygen, instead of everything else.

Speaking of lack of oxygen, the picture above is from last year's trip to Peru (taken by my friend, Audrey). Machu Picchu was more than tenfold of what I expected, and climbing up Huayna Picchu (that big mass towering over Machu Picchu), I thought, was the most physically challenging experience I've ever had, until we decided to climb down of it via the Gran Caverna. That was the most physically challenging experience I ever had. I wanted to die, and I probably would have had I given up. In any case, I survived, and I swore I will never do it again. But, after recovering from the trip, I wondered when I'll have the chance to do it all again...

This is the first time in a long time that I'm looking at the pictures from that trip. I have to go through all of them, get rid of the crap (there's a lot of them), and post-process the ones that are worth keeping. I'll post when I'm done. It could be months. Or years, perhaps. But I'll get it done. At least before I set off to Peru again.

Girlfriends

You love them, no matter what.

Even when they tell you that they have to TiVo the Jersey Shore since they dont want to miss an episode while they are out to dinner with you.

I told them not to say such things out loud.

But that I still love them.

The picture is of the George Washington Bridge. Sorry for the blur. It was an after thought.

Bitterness

Because, no matter how hard you try, someone somewhere still has it better than you, without even trying.

Just sayin'.

For the 2nd year in a row, we spent the day after Christmas in Brooklyn, eating French food, drinking French wine. It's becoming a tradition, along with going up to the rooftop after we stuff ourselves, and freezing our asses off while up there as we sing, and dance, and drink some more.

Thank you to our dear friends for having us over again this year, and we hope to get invited again in 2012.

Happy 2012!

Another year gone, another year began.

How to start?

First of all, we started it right - with champagne in our hands. Sure, The Guy and The Kid had the non-alcoholic stuff, but I drank enough of the real thing for the three of us. Instead of staying in tonight, we opted to go out and celebrate with some friends. How's that for starting it right?

I'm actually looking forward to this New Year. I intend to kick ass and paaaaartaaay! Heh. Actually, I intend to kick ass and not party as much. Lots to get done this year that partying too much might just get in the way.

Anyway, here's to 2012. May it be good to all of us!

Interracial Marital conversations

When we got home from shopping, the kid excitedly showed her dad her new doll.

Him: "Why did you get her a white baby doll?"

Me: "Coz they are cheaper. The black dolls are not on sale."

Him: "What about the Asian baby dolls?"

Me: "They didn't have any. It's too exotic."

Bringing Spring To Me

Bringing Spring To Me, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

The trees are beginning to bloom in the northeast, and it's finally getting warmer outside. However, I'm in such a gloom lately - overwhelmed with a lot of things - that I could use anything to lift my spirits. Today, it's these magnolia flowers, clippings from my friend's tree.

Aren't they beautiful?

Kauai - Day 4, 5 and 6

We saw everything on the top half of our list, and we're running out of time. Instead of rushing to see everything else, we just decided to relax and enjoy the rest of the time we have left on the island. Afterall, if we see everything this time around, then it won't give me much reason to come back, soon, right?

Kauai perfect., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Hands down, my favorite photo from the trip. Our last night in Kauai, and this is the last shot I took of this magical place. With all its imperfections, it couldn't be any more perfect. This picture, and Kauai itself.

Day 4, 5 and 6 was like this:

Day 4

• Breakfast at Poipu Tropical Burgers - won't be going back
• Decided, for day 4, we'll stay local. Stay on Poipu beach, spend time at the pool
• Spouting Horn
• Bought the kid's 2011 ornament
• Poipu Beach - the kid LOVED it
• Ate Puka Dog for lunch
• Pool at the hotel
• Farmer's market - bought more fruit!
• Dinner at Merriman's - the husband liked it, I didn't
• Husband picked a banana from a tree for the kid

Day 5

• Breakfast at our room balcony - mango, caimito, papaya, pomelo, and star fruit, before we hit the road for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches
• Banana Joes - STRIKE 1. No ripe papaya means no smoothies.
• Guava Plantation - STRIKE 2 and replaced with a cafe. How sad is that?
• Beach by St. Regis in Princeville - STRIKE 3. No parking available.
• Anini beach - a great consolation for all those disappointment
• More bird chasing
• Dinner at Oasis. Best meal so far.
• Awesome sunset
• Finally, pointing out a sugar cane plant, still in the ground, to the husband and resisted every urge to just start hacking at the plant so he can have a taste of what its like fresh versus sitting in the refrigerator for days.

Day 6

• Last day...
• Breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee company. We decided it was the best breakfast place we've been to on the island. No fuss.
• Back to Poipu beach and the pool where I discovered that my kid has no fear and complete trust on me and her dad, and wished I was the same...
• More Puka dogs
• More Papalani gelato. No, they still didn't have the sour cream flavor, and I was ok with that
• Drive to the airport for our flight out
• And, that was that.

I want to go back...

At the Spouting Horn Park, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Spouting Horn, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

"Banana, Daddy, banana. Please.", originally uploaded by gealouxy.

The Girl and Her Treasures, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Spotted Dove, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Itsy Bird, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

The story of the sour cream gelato., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

NO FEAR, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

She kept on wanting to swim away even though the water was way over her head. There were a few times when she jumped from the edge of the pool, she went under, and when her dad pulled her out, she screamed, "Again, Daddy, again!".

I just hope that her daddy will always be there to catch her when she falls, or pull her up when she's down.

Kauai - Day 3

Day 3, and I'm getting so used to being in Kauai. We now have a routine - wake up with the roosters, get dressed, hop in the car, breakfast, and then decide on which direction of the island to explore. Northeast. Today, we're heading northeast

Day 3 was like this:

• Skip the big breakfast - coffee, scones and croissants instead


• Fresh coconut, plucked from the tree, by the husband


• Banana joes smoothies


• Also bought some fresh banana and oranges to bring back to the hotel. This becomes part of the routine - find fresh fruit, bring back to hotel to snack on.


• Kilauea Lighthouse


• Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge


• Lunch at Kilauea Bakery and Pau Hana Pizza


• Waterfalls x2: Wailua and Opaeka'a Falls


• Dinner at Kiibo - another hole in the wall. Food was ok, not going back.


• Stopped by saimin - smelled like chicken in there. Since the hubs doesn't eat chicken, and i wasn't up to smelling like chicken, and we just had dinner, we skipped the noodles (que horror!) and settled to just bring back some lilikoi pie.


• Turned in early, again.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Taken from the Kilauea Lighthouse vantage point. Every white speck you see is some sort of bird. It would have been nice if we were closer. I imagine, though, that it would have smelled like a bird's ass as well. Also, I would have taken a picture of the lighthouse itself, except that it was under repair and, as a result, looked nothing like you'd write home about.

He climbed and took two coconuts for me to enjoy., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

He must really like me, this guy.

Banana Joe's in Kilauea, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

I was told that the best smoothie on the planet can be found here. I've never been to many places on the planet, but I can tell you that the smoothie - don't make the mistake of asking "What flavors are there?" as they only have one - was definitely awesome. Too good, in fact, that we drove back (our hotel was a good hour away) two days after to have more. Sadly, they didn't have any fresh papayas. So, no smoothie. Boo.

Purple flowers outside Banana Joe's, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

This bird has a Facebook page., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Her name is Daphne. And, she has some 80+ fans on her Facebook page. Quite friendly. At the Kong Lung Market Center in Kilauea - Kauai, Hawaii.

Some interesting flowers at the the Kong Lung Market Center area in Kilauea - Kauai, Hawaii.

A bud within a bud..., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Red orange cluster, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

What is it that makes a lotus so poetic on its own?, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Lobsterclaw Heliconia, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Another tree, even better than the first one., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

From lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel. On our way back, we saw signs for the Wailua and Opaeka'a waterfalls. So, we decided to go.

The sign says, "...people have been killed". Is it because of the slippery rocks, or the bullets that pierced this sign?, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

One of my guidebook said to ignore the warning sign: go ahead and climb down the waterfalls, if you dare. I told the guy he can try, and we'll wave to him from the top along with the rest of the tourists. He took one look down and assumed I was trying to get rid of him. Kauai, Hawaii.

At the Wailua Falls Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Wailua Falls, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Recognize it? Only if you watched Fantasy Island.

Twisted, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

An attempt for something artistic. Or, something. Whatever makes more sense. Taken while the guy checks out the route I wanted him to take down to the waterfall, just before he said "I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes here, and you're taking a picture???". He can be so dramatic sometimes.

Something simple, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Opaeka'a Falls, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

At the Opaeka'a Falls Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Two waterfalls in one day. It could be luck. Or, it could be Kauai.

Kauai - Day 2

Our 2nd day on the island and Kauai was taking me farther and farther from reality. I didn't think of work. I didn't think of home. I didn't think of anything. I was just there with the two people I love the most.

Day 2 was like this:

• Woke up early, again, at 530AM. The roosters were starting to grow on me.
• Breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee company.
• Drove to the western side of the island this time where we passed by leftover sugarcanes swaying at the side of the road, and the Kauai coffee plantation. We were planning to stop by on the way back to the south side, but we chose to skip in favor of hanging out at the beach instead.
• Checked out Waimea Canyon from Waimea Canyon Lookout.
• Took our first - and only - family picture for this vacation.

Waimea Canyon, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

At the Waimea Canyon Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

• And then we headed to the Puu Hinahina Lookout.
• At this lookout, we chased chickens with the kid.
• She also sat high up on a tree for the first time.

At the Puu Hinahina Lookout for the Waimea Canyon, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Waimea Canyon from Puu Hinahina Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Roosters, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Roosters, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

• The kid saw her first waterfall, the Waipo'o Falls, at the unsigned Pu'u Ka Pele lookout.
• Lunch at the Shrimp Station. It was a dive, and the flies bothered me, but the food was decent. We ordered the shrimp burger and the shrimp taco and walked away very satisfied. I'd consider going back again. Sadly, I think the flies will still be there. If you don't mind swatting at them every five seconds, then do try it.

The Shrimp Station, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Red Hibiscus at the Shrimp Station, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

• Milkshakes at Koloa Mill.
• Pool and beach again.
• Dinner at Roy's where the kid ate edamame, seared ahi, crab cakes, salmon teriyaki, broccoli and rice. Next to us, two kids ate spaghetti - no sauce - with cheese. Was it my future staring me in the face? I hope not.
• Sleeping by 830PM.