Watery Reflections

Reflections, be it in a photograph or in reality always intrigues me, because more than the original, some how they seem to add an element of surprise. If not how can the reflection of a  simple building, that too on a dirty water body be beautiful?

On the banks of Vaigai river - Madurai, India - Smiling Sally

Yet another watery reflection of a old building...

Somewhere on Bombay High Road NH6 on the way to Kolkata, West Bengal - Weekend Reflections

In addition to reflection, when light plays, the image becomes exquisite!

Silhouette during sunset over a swimming pool @ Penang, Malaysia

Basking in the Sun

Look at the way he enjoy's life!

For Skywatch and Camera Critters

Labuan - Chimney and WW II Memorials

When Airasia canceled their direct flights from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu (KK), (we had booked this flight about 6 months ago during promo), we were looking for other options to reach KK. It was a blessing in disguise! We decided to go to Labuan from Brunei by ferry Shuttle Hope, and then take MAS Wings to Kota Kinabalu.

Labuan is an union territory on Malaysia and is best known for its Japanese Surrender Point, which led to the end of 2nd World War and it is also a shoppers paradise because of duty free shopping.

As we arrived at the International Labuan Ferry Terminal, we noticed that the taxi stand was right in front. A local lady was kind enough to let us know that the island round would take less than 2 hours and recommended that we should bargain before getting into the cab. First cabbie demanded a flat RM100 for the sightseeing around the island, but when we spoke to the second, he said, if we booked for 2 hours, he could offer us RM 80! So we went with the 2nd cab offer and here is the virtual tour...

Coal mining started in Tanjong Kubong in 1844 and now only the chimney and some of the artifacts are preserved in The Chimney Museum at that location!

Locals call it 'punil'. 

This is located by the sea side.

Inner wall of the chimney shows no sign of burning. so there is a belief that this tower must have been used as a light house or a bell tower to announce the arrival of a ship.

visit to Japanese Surrender Point, which is at Layang-layang beach (South China Sea) in Labuan.

Japanese Surrender Point

This is where the Japanese surrendered to the Australian Imperial forces, which led to the end of World War 2. In this garden, there is also an inscription in memory of all those who sacrificed their lives in land and sea in and around Borneo Islands during WW 2.

Peace Inscription

With a heavy heart we proceeded to the World War II memorial, which has about 3900 burials of Australian and Indian regiments, who either died in the battlefield or at the Japanese prisoners of war camp from all over Borneo.

Cross of Sacrifice

The graves are symmetrical and looks like rows of peaceful soldiers waiting for command.

Most of these dead souls buried here were unidentified because the records were destroyed in the war camps. 

This pillar is in honor of the Indian Soldiers whose mortal remains were burned as per their religion

Terrible living conditions of the refuges in a ship from Poland described in Jeffery Archer's World War based Cane and Able flashed across when we were there. Reading the novel itself was disturbing, seeing in reality altogether was heart wrenching.

Moon and Lens

Moon, to me, like cloud and water has always been an attraction:

• Carefree childhood - when my grandfather used to enthrall us with mythological and religious stories.
• Teen - gazing at the moon, especially full moon and dreaming, about anything and everything   
• Of late - my aim was to capture a nice macro of a full moon 

But, with my Canon 550D and 18-55mm lens, I couldn't get a decent shot. Today, we went on a shopping spree looking for something, but ended up in buying stuff, that I'd been looking out for quite sometime. Yes, the best item was Sigma DX 70-300mm Macro lens and finally, I could capture full moon!

Manual Mode with Shutter Speed: 1/160, Aperture: F-11, ISO -200

In most of the cultures and religions moon has a special place. Worldwide, Muslims follow lunar calendar for observing religious practices. In Chinese tradition, Mid Autumn or Moon Cake festival is celebrated around September/October. As per Hindu belief full moon and new moon are considered as auspicious. In fact, there are several sentimental beliefs attached to the waxing and waning moon. 

On a full moon day, my mom accidentally told me that it was a 'new moon' day. In a typical Hindu household, you would often hear from elders, 'cut your hair on a new moon and your hair will grow well, as the moon waxes'. Though it sounds silly, I tend to follow it as I've been hearing about this kinda sentiment since childhood. Instead of calling it as a belief, I'd rather label it a 'habit' and I did go and cut my hair on that evening. While parking my car, I saw a bright reflection on my hood and looked up, full moon was dazzling and I realized about my mom's 'lunar miscalculation':)

Seedlings

Like watching the clouds, it gives immense pleasure to watch paddy fields, irrespective of the season. Here is a couple of shots that shows the early stages of rice planting...

Rice seedlings - planted randomly

Transplanting the seedlings