The Wonders of My Passions

No longer active in blogging

2010-01-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been involved in writing websites with my husband, I no longer have extra time to do blogging. The website I am working on, is called The Flowering Gardens, a website where there are hundreds of different types of flowers for you to enjoy. So, please feel free to drop by if you have time.

http://www.thefloweringgarden.com/

Happy Viewing.

Birds

2009-11-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

After taking lots of flower pictures, lately I love to capture photos of the animal kingdom. It gives me a satisfaction of capturing their beauties.

I love this picture of owl. It is called buffy-fish owl. Preying for frogs and fishes by the river side. The eyes are so bright and beautiful. It has that piercing look and as I captured it, the eyes were following my movement.

This little parrot is playing with the sand .

Moving turkey is hard to capture with my camera. It just can't stand still, long enough for me to press the shuttle.

Mandarin duck

Another type of duck from the duck family.

Vulture

Red-backed sea eagle or Brahminy Kite

Turning its head to have a better look of me

White-bellied sea eagle ( Haliaeetus leucogaster )

Cock and hen

This bird dons a beautiful arrays of colored feathers

Younger chicks playing in the sand

Hornbills

Peahen

Parrot

Peacock

I love the color of the peacock feathers

Ferns

2009-10-30T00:46:00.001-07:00

Ferns.....what can I say about the ferns? One thing I know is that they don't have beautiful flowers like other plants do. They are also differ from seed plants in their mode of reproduction - lacking flowers and seeds. They can be found in moist, shady forests; crevices in rock surfaces; swampy areas, and also tropical trees.
Ferns are vascular plants which get their water, minerals and photosynthetic products through lignified tissues. Vascular plants have vascular tissues which circulate resources through the plant.

Delonix regia 鳳凰木

2009-10-30T00:29:00.000-07:00

Delonix regia is a beautiful flowering tree, with fern-like leaves and fiery red flowers. It is also called Flame of the forest or peacock flowers. The flowers are big and in very striking red color. It makes great ornament tree and a great sight to see when it is in full bloom. It can also provide shades as the tree has dense leaves and the branches spread widely.

Zinnia

2009-07-07T00:24:00.001-07:00

Zinnias are popular garden flowers, grown from seeds and have a wide range of bright colors. Gardeners like to add Zinnias in their garden to attract butterflies.

Perak - Taiping Lake Garden

2009-05-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos taken at the Perak Lake Garden. I love the many trees lined along the roads which surrounded the lake. A must visit for those who love the tranquility and the beauty of nature. During the 70's and 80's, many couples love to come here and have their wedding photos taken by the lakeside. It still is a favorite spot for the local who come here for their relaxation.

When the water level is high, some branches are hanging so low that it looks as if they are touching the surface.

I like this photos. Very unique.

A pavilion at the lake.

Very old trees. Some are hanging so low that big tourist buses can't pass under it.

The trees also hosted a few other variaties of parasite plants.

Cool day

Tree and its many branches.

Another section of the lake

Boating services also available here

One of the many islands in the lake

Taking a stroll by the lake

The trees are so beautiful.

Bamboos

Heliconia 赫蕉屬

2009-05-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

Heliconia, also known as Lobster claw or false bird-of-paradise, are beautiful, exotic plants which often used by florists as cut flowers and also for landscaping .

Heliconia Mariae - Beef steak heliconia

This is the first time I saw Beef steak heliconia. It looked exactly like a steak from afar.

Heliconia Mariae

Heliconia vellerigera which I gave a nickname Hairy Heliconia.

Heliconia rostrata - Fishtail heliconia

Heliconia bihai - firebird or macaw flower

Heliconia rostrata

Common Crape-myrtle - 紫薇

2009-04-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

The Common Crape-myrtle ( Lagerstroemia indica , 紫薇 ) is one of the many beautiful flowers that captured our attention these past few months. Penang is blooming with flowers lately. It started with the Tabebuia rosea which many crazed over in late February and early March. Now is the season for the Common Crape-myrtle. It did not create a storm like Tabebuia rosea but it certainly did capture both me and my husband's attention.

The species , Lagerstroemia indica, has flowers which are in panicles of white, pink, mauve, purple or carmine with crimped petals. The one I captured is of beautiful purple color.

A visit to Snake Temple Penang 槟城蛇庙

2009-03-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

My husband and I paid a visit to Penang Snake Temple with a group of members from Penang Heritage Trust recently. We were there for an update on the restoration done on the building. As my husband and the members were busy doing that, I roamed around and captured snakes pictures and the iguana at snake farm.

Some of the snakes were camouflaged and blended in the environment they were resting on. They didn't move at all so I had a few scared moments. They won't bite unless you got 'itchy' hands and 'play' with them.

These snakes have beautiful colors and can be found resting on the dried tree branches in the temple.

See their triangle heads, they are vipers and very poisoness. It is safe to view them and be sure not to venture too close. Warning signs were posted at the temple to warn visitors not to touch them at all time.

You can see a few big snakes were resting on this tree. Actually there were also many baby snakes on the tree.

These small snakes were on the same tree as shown in above picture. You won't notice them unless you looked closer.

Here's another one. Looks like tree branches to me.

Another one. It is a baby snake.

Baby snakes.

Huge iguana at the snake farm which was at the side of the snake temple. This is the first time I can captured animal picture minus the cage. The camera I was using can zoomed pass the cage and focused on the iguana. I was happy to be able to capture it.

Look at its eye, isn't it beautiful?

Close up on the iguana

It was looking at me!

For complete details on Penang Snake Temple, please visit my husband's website .

http://www.penang-traveltips.com/snake-temple.htm

Buddha's Hand 佛手

2009-02-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

I saw this plant while traveling in Macau a couple of years ago. A first for me and I found this plant unique.

A close up view of the fruit.

Just like slender fingers.

Buddha's Hand is also called by the name of Fingered Citron. It is a type of citrus fruit which has a fragrant smell. It is lemon-like and has a thick peel, seedless and juiceless and only a small amount of flesh. As it is fragrant, it is sometimes used as air freshener. The other uses of the fruit is in cooking ( as zest ) and also made into candied peel called succade. It can also be used as religious offering where 'close fingered' fruit is more favorable than the 'open fungered' one. Close one symbolized the act of prayer.

Sea Hibiscus

2009-02-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

Beauties in the sky

Flowers and fruits

Beautiful and relaxing beach

Yellow sea hibiscus- Hibiscus calyphyllus

Flowers on the sand

Orange-pink hibiscus

I captured the sea hibiscus while on a road trip around Langkawi Island. I have never seen this orange-pink type before and was fascinated by its color. They created a beautiful sight when they fell on the beach.

More information on Langkawi can be found at

http://www.asiaexplorers.com/malaysia/langkawi_travel_guide.htm

http://www.asiaexplorers.com/

Chinese New Year Flowers

2009-01-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

Dahlia

Chrysanthemums

Desert Rose

Chrysanthemums

Kalanchoe

Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums

Kalanchoe plants on sale

Chrysanthemums

Begonia

Chrysanthemums

Chinese New Year is just around the corner, the footstep of year-of-Bull is getting closer and closer. This year's CNY falls on 26th Jan 2009 . Lots of things need to be done to welcome this joyous and blessed occation. Cookies to bake, special meals to prepare and house to decorate. And one way to decorate our house is with fresh blooming flowers. Flowers brings life and vitality.

http://www.thefloweringgarden.com/

Jiuzhaighou

2009-01-19T15:52:00.001-08:00

Golden leaves, the sign of autumn. I love the golden color against the blue sky.

Wuhua Hai- different shades of colors. The water is so clear and blue.

Wucai zhi - I can see clearly the rocks in water. At certain angle, the water appears purple.

Shuzheng Lake waterfall - Standing in front of the waterfall can get you soaked to the skins.

Nuorilang Waterfall - Very huge waterfall. This is only a section of the waterfall.

Nuorilang waterfall - With sunlight coming from behind, we can see how thick the water had sprayed.

Jiuzhaighou - one of the must visit heaven-on-earth places. An awesome and breathtaking heritage site.

http://www.asiaexplorers.com/china/jiuzhaigou-unesco-world-heritage-site.htm

Siem Reap - Cambodia

2009-01-15T23:54:00.001-08:00

Angkor Wat

Close-up of Angkor Wat

Ta Prohm

Ta Keo

Giant Face at Bayon

Cambodia is a very beautiful country to visit. You can spend weeks there and still there are places yet to cover. I can only imagine the time when everything was in perfect order. How the people then lived and pray at the many wats and temples.

I am glad my husband has a detailed desciption of the places we visited as I have a poor memory. I tend to forget the names of the places we visited. After a while, everything looks the same and it was very frustrating to be unable to recall it later.

You can spare all the walkings, the hot sun and getting dust on your clean body just by clicking the link below. It has a detailed information for almost every tourist attractions in Angkor.

http://www.asiaexplorers.com/cambodia/angkor-unesco-world-heritage-site.htm

Cherry blossoms

2009-01-13T15:27:00.001-08:00

pink cherry blossoms

Pure and beautiful

close-up on the cherry blossoms

If you like flowers, you will definitely love cherry blossoms. They are so beautiful and once you see one, you will ask for more. The first time I saw cherry blossoms was during my honeymoon a couple of years ago at Japan. The whole tree was full of blossoms. Everybody was busy with their cameras, posing in front of the trees and was beaming from ear to ear and still couldn't get enough! The scenery with many full-bloomed trees was spectacular and not to be missed.

Daisy

2009-01-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my favorite close-ups, from a Daisy. It is just like another new species of flower blossoming in front of me. I am really happy that I captured it when it was at its best.

Flowers - My Passion

2009-01-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

I love flowers, any type of flowers. Since I got a digital camera from my dearest husband, Tim, I can't stop snapping flowers. If you can't find me, look for me where there are flowers. I shall be there. I love the close-up of flowers. Through the lens of a camera, I can see a whole new world of flora images where naked eyes prohibited me from looking at the beauty. This is a photo of a red rose which I took during the Penang Flower Festival 2008. Hope you like it.