May 29, 2009

JiuZhaiGou National Park - Afternoon Tea at a Tibetan's Home

九寨沟的命名是来源于其间的九个藏族村寨。玩累了,就到密秘家里喝点奶茶,吃点青稞饼吧。 JiuZhaiGou is named after the nine Tibetan villages residing along the mysterious water. Getting tired after all the sightseeing and taking endless photos, we decided to take a break and enjoy some snack at a Tibetan local's home. She, the owner of the little restaurant, was preparing the Tibetan traditional hot milk tea for us. Quite tasty with a slight hint of roasted nuts.


看我爸这架势,像不像黑社会老大,带两个女人的样子?!
In my heart, my dad is a loving father with a great sense of humor, a bit goofy sometimes, if one can take it. His passion and the love of life have been the greatest influence on my own life attitude of being positive, being strong and yet a bit silly sometimes.


藏族的室内装饰还是以鲜艳为主。 The internal decoration of the Tibetan home is very bright and warm. red.


父女俩


The pattern on the wall.





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May 25, 2009

Tianlong Tunpu (Village Fortress) (3)

去屯堡是同我外公,四外公(外公的弟弟),老妈和我家马老者同去的。 还带上了当地的一个小导游。 可爱的女孩子,我们都姓马。还有点缘分。 我家一家人,除了我外公,都是“香香嘴”, 向来走一路吃一路。到了屯堡,说都不用说,当然要尝一尝当地的特色。



腊肉炒山厥菜。 青辣椒炒血豆腐。血豆腐算是贵州特色了。就是辣味豆腐干。这些都是农家菜。每个菜都配料差不多,无外乎青辣椒,西红柿,贵州干辣椒之类。但是就着新鲜蔬菜的清甜,很是下饭。吃农家饭,那是一定要吃包谷饭的。要想忍住不吃第二碗,真的是需要顽强的意志。


农家小炒鸡和我家马老者的最爱- 蒜苗炒豆腐干。我家马老者口口声声说我土。但到头来,他吃的菜最土!


我的外公和我。从小,外公在我的心中就是第一位的。小孩子,都是有些实用主义的。今天最喜欢这个,明天最喜欢那个。排名先后总是因人,因时,因地,因利而异的。但外公在我心中的地位永远是第一。从来没有因为我外婆对我施予的小恩小惠有过丝毫的动摇。


吃完中饭,装模作样地做点农活,折腾一下,全当减肥了。 哈, ,哈。。。





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May 24, 2009

Tianlong Tunpu (Village Fortress) (2)

屯堡人过着与世隔绝的生活,时至今日依然恪守着其世代传承的明朝文化和生活习俗,历经600年的沧桑,形成了今天独具特色的“屯堡文化”


茶战。这个老妈妈可是屯堡的“形象代言人”。国内大小刊物凡是有介绍屯堡文化的文章,老妈妈的照片一定少不了。


喝口大碗茶,吃个当地的小点心吧。绝对纯天然手工制作。这在美国一定要花大价钱才享受得到。



好酒嘛,还是我外公说了算。Grandpa took a sip of the wine, and then started nodding his head. Guess the local wine is not bad. We actually brought some to take home.


当地的小玩艺。


屯堡地区妇女的服装非常特别,多以青、蓝色为主,样式为宽袍窄袖并且不加花边。据当地的老人讲,屯堡妇女的服饰是传承了明太祖朱元璋夫人“马大脚”的服饰。俗称“凤阳汉装”。这些服饰从安徽传来,如今在安徽当地早已失传,但是在屯堡却完好地保存下来了。这种服装在当地不仅仅作为节日或祭祀的礼仪服饰,在日常生活中、劳作时都穿着.


我家老妈就是好奇。人家做什么,她都要去问个么二三。也有可能是当了几十年老师当出的毛病。Sigh....My mom is always curious towards whatever others are doing . I am wondering where do I get my insatiable curiosity to the world?!




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Tianlong Tunpu (Village Fortress) (1)

贵州屯堡是当年朱元章屯军驻扎的地方。任由时代变迁,这里的人们过着600年与世隔绝的生活。民风民情没有改变,可以称得上是个仍生活在明代的村落。


The tunpu (village fortress) in Anshun, Guizhou, was built in the Ming Dynasty (600 years ago) for military use. During the early period of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhuyuanzhang sent Han national troops from the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River to Anshun.Despite the changing of dynasties and the passage of hundreds of years, residents of Tianlong Tunpu still live in forts and keep a simple and peculiar army style, retaining their traditional Ming lifestyles, clothing and hair styles.





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May 23, 2009

Watching Deer and Flowers at Point Lobos

Tried a few settings of exposure for the same scenery, and finally settled down with this one. Not bad, isn't it? But the framing of the picture is all Teddy's credit


So, I have learned how to use the TV mode and a reduced shutter speed, with the help of a couple of different filters to get the blue and yet "silky" water.


Another one. Kind of like how the picture was framed. Not sure why.


Really like this layered scenery - the mountain of the farsight in the fog, the glacier water on the forsight. Kind of neat!


The peaceful coast line.


Came back from the 6-week long trip to India and China a few days ago. I took the phased approach to unpack. It's not because I had so much stuff to unpack. It's just the life has been a bit crazy since I came back. In spite of the unpacked suitcase at home, I still could not resist a photographing trip with Teddy and Prakash to shoot the sunset at Point Lobos. Inspiring and fun.


The best way to learn to shoot picture or learn to pretend to be a photograher is to go on some photo-shooting trips with those who actually know what they are doing. Prakash and Teddy has been the best instructor. I have been using this simple rule of thumb - to reproduce whatever they have. So far, this strategy has been working quite well.