120229 Miscellaneous

February came and went without much notice.  Yes, there was Valentine's Day.  But not much else happened that I can remember.  While very busy with my regular job, I still managed to take a few shots.

My wife & I visited Tempe Town Lake near sunset.  I took a picture of the Center for the Arts from across Town Lake.

Tempe Center for the Arts.

Also there are a couple, or even three, hummingbirds who visit my backyard often.  So I set up my camera near the spot where they feed often, attached a remote shutter release and went back inside.  I observed from within my house.  As soon as a hummingbird got near, I pressed the button.  Most shots are missed.  But I managed to get a few.  Below is one.

Ruby-throated hummingbird.

Thank you for visiting.  As always, your comments and critiques are welcome.

Enjoy,
Paul

120123 Sacramento

After a weekend celebrating the Lunar New Year, the year of the Dragon, with wonderful friends, I was off to Sacramento, California.  The weather was rainy and cold.

Again work obligations had priority.  I got off of work well after sun down; too dark for any photography.  But Sacramento offered a wonderful variety of restaurants.  I sampled Thai, French, Sushi as well as Vietnamese cuisines.

By mid week, the weather cleared up.  Work on Friday ended before sunset.  Traffic was not too bad since I was driving toward downtown Sacramento.  Since I already took pictures of the Tower Bridge from east side of the river, I like to see if I could have decent shots looking from the west bank.  I could only got 2 shots before it became too dark.

Tower Bridge in Sacramento, CA.

Panorama of Sacramento, CA.

The next time I am in Sacramento, I'll visit the "old town" area.  Until then, your comments & critiques of this post and photos are always welcome.

Thank you for visiting.
Paul

120126 San Diego

My second business trip of 2012 was to San Diego, California.  My wife accompanied me this time. Once we arrived in Southern California, we visited our good friends and their family.  TD has a beautiful home and spends considerable amount of time taking care of his garden.  His efforts show.  Below are a few shots of some of the flowers in TD's garden.

Cherry blossoms in TD's garden.

A rose in TD's garden.

At the end of my assignment, my wife & I took some times to visit the Hotel del Coronado, an icon of San Diego, and Torrey Pines State Park.

Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, CA.

Sunset at Torrey Pines State Park in San Diego, CA.

We learned that, starting that Friday 20th January, the Vietnamese community in San Diego would have a Lunar New Year Festival.  And our friends invited us to stay and enjoy the festivities, which would lasted through Sunday 22nd January.  But we couldn't.  Commitments awaited us back home.  Maybe next year.

A few more pictures are posted at https://picasaweb.google.com/108013863525571472697/120115SanDiegoScenic.  Your comments / critiques of this blog and any picture are always welcome.

Thank you for visiting,
Paul

111009 Munich Salzburg

Munich, Germany, welcomed me for the second time this year.  But this time the weather was cloudy and rainy.  This trip was my 4th to Europe so far.

After checking at the Fleming's Hotel, across the street from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), I spent the rest of the day at the office.  The rain came and went but never stopped completely for the next few days.  Since the days were getting shorter, but my time at the office ended late, I could only manage one picture of the Rathaus (city hall) but from the different side than my shot from my previous visit to Munich.

Rathaus (city hall) of Munich.

By the end of the last work day, the sun finally came out from behind thick clouds.  After unloading my work gear (laptop, etc), I took up my tripod and headed toward the "Englischer Garten".  The sun was setting fast.  I had to settle for the smaller Hofgarten.  

Dianatempel in the Hofgarten.

But while there, I met a young woman playing a musical instrument resembling a closed wok.  Her name is Asha.  The sound of this "hang", as this instrument is named, was a mix between steel drum, electric piano, and harp.  A sample of her songs can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/ashaandthehang. 

Asha and her music instrument at Hofgarten in Munich.

But the sun was almost down.  On the way back to my hotel, I passed by yet another street performer.  This man was playing an instrument resembling a stripped down piano, but without keys and hammers.  He hit the wires with a pair of sticks covered with felt.  He was playing "Love Story".  And his performance was wonderful. 

A street performer near Hofgarten in Munich.

When I was preparing for this trip, I discovered it was much cheaper to stay an extra day than fly home on Saturday.  So with the permission of my supervisor and my "boss", I did just that.  I took advantage of this extra day to visit Salzburg, Austria.  I signed up for a day tour.


My tour group left Munich by mid morning.  The train to Salzburg, Austria, took us through some of the most beautiful landscape of central Europe, with gentle rolling hills and quaint villages. I wished I could lean out of the train or open its windows to take a few pictures.  But doing so was not legal and would probably irk fellow passengers as cold air would rush in.  Shooting through window glass panes was not a good idea as they were full of water stains from the rain of the last few days.


Salzburg, Austria: home of W. A. Mozart - musical genius.  We arrived there around noon.  We were introduced to Schloss Mirabell, the very location where the song "Do-Re-Mi" in the movie "The Sound of Music" was filmed.  The Mirabell Palace is also a very popular location for weddings, with a waiting list of a few years.

Garden at Schloss Mirabell, where the movie "The Sound of Music" was filmed.

The picture above shows the fountain around which "Maria and the children" marched as they sang the song "Do-Re-Mi".  In the background, is the staircase they hoped on as they performed this song.  The tour guide only allowed us 5 minutes to visit this beautiful place.  She told us the history of Salzburg, a city founded before the Roman empire, with its main source of wealth derived from Salz (German for salt) mined from nearby hills.  Salt as an important component of the pay of workers and soldiers engendered "salary".  It is also nicknamed "white gold".


Salzburg is also home to one of the 3 unique "Sacher Torte" bakeries, famous for their chocolate cake.  Its recipe is said to be a state secret of Austria.  This city is also the birth place and hometown of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  As we meandered through the downtown area, I was separated from the tour group.  Since I booked this tour online, I was able to download the phone number of the tour office directly to my mobile phone the night before.  After contacting the tour office and obtained the rendez-vous point and time for the return trip, I went exploring on my own.

Old town Salzburg with Festung Hohensalzburg (High Salzburg Fortress) in the background.

 Salzburg, viewed from Festung Hohensalzburg.

Puppet performing in the street of Salzburg, Austria.

Our meeting point to begin the trip back to Munich was in front of the birthplace of Mozart.  The time spent in Salzburg was clearly too short.  I wished I could stay longer to explore and enjoy the salt caves and take pictures of the Festung Hohensalzburg during the blue hours.  But tomorrow began my journey home.

The next morning, as I crossed the Hauptbahnhof of Munich on my way to the airport, I met a toddler traveling with her family.  She was so adorable as she was dragging a suitcase bigger than she.  By the time I caught up to her family and asked for permission to photograph, the young girl was already inside the grocery store at the main train station.  I quickly snapped a picture of her.

A young traveler at the Hauptbahnhof of Munich.

These pictures, along with others, are posted at https://picasaweb.google.com/108013863525571472697/111009MUCSZB#.  As always, your comments / critiques of this blog or any pictures are solicited and welcome. 

Enjoy and thank you.
Paul

120109 SFO / SJC

The Holiday season was wonderful.  My son and daughter-in-law came to visit and spent many days with us.  So did my daughter and my niece.

My business travel resumed soon after the New Year.  The week of 9th Jan was spent in the Fremont / San Jose, CA, area.  Work took precedence, of course.  I arrived at my branch office before sunrise and left well after sunset.  There was little time to practice my hobby.

Before I left home, I discovered my GPS logger failed.  It no longer power up, in spite of new batteries.  Plugging it into my PC did not revive it.  With luck, I found an app on-line which synchronizes photos to a gpx file.  There was also a GPS logger app for my iPhone, which outputs gpx files.

Late one afternoon, I drove to a park near the San Francisco International Airport to test my GPS logger.  This park was very popular, yet its parking spaces were very limited.  And the sun was setting fast.  Once I was able to park my car, I quickly launch my GPS logger app and set up my camera.

The shot below is the result of this effort, with its GPS location marked precisely.  To view the location where this picture was taken, please go to https://picasaweb.google.com/108013863525571472697/120109SFOTest#5704741095666573362.  Mission successful.

Landing at SFO, at sunset.

And as always, your critiques / comments are welcome.

Thank you,
Paul

111127 SJC

Another business trip to the South Bay area of San Francisco.  This trip was hastily adjusted for additional business.  Originally, it was for a couple days, then it increased to 5 days.  Very good fur business.

My flight out of Phoenix was delayed by about half hour on departure because of fog at the airport of San Jose, CA.  The flight itself was uneventful once in the air.  Most days this week started with fog, which dissipated by mid morning.  Below are pictures taken in San Jose and Santa Clara, CA.  Clearly Autumn had settled in this region.

Corner of 1st Street & Skyport Drive in San Jose, CA.

Just off of Kifer Road in Santa Clara, CA.

Just off of Kifer Road in Santa Clara, CA.

Just off of Kifer Road in Santa Clara, CA.

As always, your comments / critiques of this blog are welcome. Thank you for visiting.

Enjoy,
Paul

111113 SJC Yosemite SFO

I had the pleasure of having my wife along for this business trip to Fremont, California in mid November.  We were surprised, even though we should not be because it was the week before Thanksgiving after all, by the large crowd at PHX Sky Harbor.  A short flight of less than 2 hours from Phoenix landed us at San Jose Airport around noon. 

After a quick lunch, we went to my office to set up the training room and get its workstations for ready for a class starting on Tuesday.  Once this task was completed, we drove to Mariposa, a small town just outside of Yosemite National Park.  We arrived at our motel in Mariposa well after sunset.  After settling in, Mylinh & I had a nice promenade along the main street.

Mariposa, CA.  Photo by Mylinh.

Early the next morning, we headed out to Yosemite.  We made a few stops along the way to enjoy the beautiful landscape.

Entrance to Yosemite National Park.

Information panel at the ranger station at Yosemite National Park.

The ranger at the entrance gave us numerous tips to maximize our enjoyment of this wonderful park.  Our first stop was Bridalveil Fall.  The scenery along the road was majestic.  Yosemite has many waterfalls and delightful vistas.  Below are selected photos from our visit to Yosemite National Park.

Natural rock gate.  Photo by Mylinh.

Bridalveil Fall.

Bridalveil Fall.

Half Dome.

Biking in Yosemite National Park.  Photo by Mylinh.

Yosemite National Park.

Path to Yosemite Falls.  Photo by Mylinh.

A young visitor at Yosemite Falls.  Photo by Mylinh.

Half Dome over clouds.  Photo by Mylinh.

Scenic road at Yosemite National Park.  Photo by Mylinh.

A view in Yosemite National Park.  Photo by Mylinh.

Mylinh & I had a wonderful day at Yosemite National Park.  We wished we could spend more to fully appreciate this magnificent place.  There were many hiking paths we wished to explore.  Spring would be a good time since there would be blooms and waterfalls would be grander with the melting of the winter snow.  Autumn might also be great time to see the changing colors of trees all around Yosemite.  But we had to head back to Fremont, CA, as my work would begin soon.

Somehow, our GPS directed us back to San Jose by a different route, bypassing the town of Mariposa.  Along the way, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Sunset.  Photo by Mylinh.

The rest of the week was spent at the office in Fremont, CA.  On Saturday, Tony H., a college friend, gave us a guided tour from San Jose to San Francisco.  Tony also brought along his friend Mai D.  Upon reaching Half Moon Bay, we took California State Route 1 (also known as Pacific Coast Highway) to San Francisco and enjoyed the beautiful coast line.  Tony introduced us to the Sigmund Stern Grove, which is a park in a ravine in San Francisco.

Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco, CA.

After a quick picnic, we went on to visit the Golden Gate Bridge, Tiburon, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Sausalito.  Both Tiburon and Sausalito are charming towns, deserving more of our attention than we could offer, because the sun was setting and the air temperature was dropping fast.

Mylinh photographing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Luxury condominiums in Tiburon, CA.  Photo by Mylinh.

Glass art at a gallery in Sausalito, CA.  Photo by Mylinh.

While in Sausalito, we had a very pleasant time getting to know our new friend Mai D. over hot coffee and delicious tiramisu at the Il Piccolo Cafe. 

Bowls of delicious roast duck noodle soup at a popular restaurant in Chinatown of San Francisco brought a warm end to a wonderful day.  We thank our wonderful friend Tony H. and his friend Mai D. for being great tour guides and magnificent hosts.

Your comments and critiques of this blog and its pictures are solicited and welcomed.  Thank you for visiting.

Enjoy,
Paul & Mylinh