Laurent

Laurent is a French Patisserie based in Melbourne, Australia. The owner is a chef who is trained in the world famous Lenotre in Paris. It currently have 16 retail outlets around and does wholesale as well.

The Professor's Courtyard

When I was in uni, I always passed by the Professor's Courtyard and see this structure over there. I cannot figure out what is it suppose to symbolize.

Picture notes: Try to give your object a background of a contrasting color to stand out. Also try to learn the color spectrum for better understanding of the colors.

Ormond College Clock Tower

Ormond College is one of the residential colleges along the College Crescent in Melbourne University. It is the largest college in Victoria with a population of over 300. This was where I was residing when I was studying at the university. It was a rather pleasant experience as it enhanced my overall university experience.

With such a huge and diverse population, you get to encounter all types of people. The college activities make it easier for international students to adapt to the new environment as you don't get the sense of loneliness.

The clock tower is something you cannot miss. And if you do, you will definitely hear it has it sounds from morning until the evening.

This shot was taken on the first floor just outside the chapel

Picture notes:It is sometimes good to use your environment to frame the picture to give it a new perspective.

28th July 2009

The 28th of July 2009 was a Tuesday. That night was pretty memorable as I went out with a couple of my closest friends on a food adventure that brought us a good distance away from where we lived (12.4 kms to be exact). It was in the suburb of Ripponlea and we had to take the train, which took us at least half an hour to get there. However, it was well worth the trip.

We had a tasting menu prepared by one of Melbourne's best chefs. This New Zealander had a dream to progress faster with the development of his cuisine, hence the tasting menu came about. It takes him approximately 50 hours to produce the tasting menu that is a feature in the restaurant every Tuesday (that was back then, hopefully it still is). And every week, it would be fresh ideas, none which has been cooked before.

So throughout the night, we were presented with 5 beautifully presented and delicious courses and lots of extras like bread, nuts, palate cleansers and things I cannot remember now. The menu is simple and for dessert it states "quince, sesame, rhubarb, goats milk". This picture shows the chef's interpretation of the ingredients.

Anyone would like to name the restaurant?

Capital Square Apartments

Sitting on 15.2 acres (that is 15 football fields), nestled in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Capital Square is one of Bandar Raya Developments Berhad's recent projects in the city. It is within walking distance of the major clubbing scene in Kuala Lumpur as well as various bars and "mamaks" around. With a shopping mall and some office blocks, this development is a self contained development that would be a hit with the yuppies.

In this picture, you have the view of the pool with plenty of greens. What you could also admire on this level is the view of K.L. Tower and K.L. Twin Towers from the distance. The pool itself has a water feature. All in all it is a pretty good place to relax and unwind after a stressful day at work.

The developer is a well known local developer that has successfully built many developments. One of it's prominent projects is the Bangsar Shopping Centre. And when buying from such a developer, you can rest assured that you are getting value for the price you have paid.

Kota A'Famosa

Kota A'Famosa is a the name of the A'Famosa Fort in Bahasa Malaysia. For those of your who do not know, it is located in the historical town of Malacca, Malaysia. This glorious spot has been the desire of many in the past. The Portugese, the Dutch and the British has held this fort at some time in the past.

The reason previous empires wanted it so much is because of the Straits of Malacca. Back in the days, it was a strategic route for most ships and people can here to trade spices. It was rare and valuable then and still is now.

This picture is taken inside St Paul's church at A'Famosa. It has Latin and Portugese inscriptions that I do not understand. 

Banana leaf rice

The banana leaf rice is your typical Mamak food in Malaysia. It is a delicious serving of rice with different types of vegetable side dishes, a few types of curry gravies to choose from and your meat. And for the vegetarians, the meat is optional.

As you can see in the picture, it is served on a banana leaf giving it some fragrance of the banana leaf. The leaf is not to be eaten, or at least I haven't seen someone eating it.

There is a lot of things going on in this meal, for instance, the vegetables has a lot of spices, some uses yoghurt and some are deep fried like the deep fried bitter gourd. You also can get deep fried salted chilly. The beautiful part of it is that, in most places, you are able to top up the rice and vegetable side dishes for free.

The banana leaf rice is best eaten with your hands and a good cup of "teh tarik", which translates to pulled tea. For this drink, it is good to be seated near the drinks counter to enjoy the art of pulling tea. And once you are done, fold the leaf in half to indicate so.

Il Dolce Freddo

Lygon Street is the heart of the Italian community in Melbourne and hosts many good restaurants. One of its stand outs is a little ice cream shop called Il Dolce Freddo. It serves a fantastic range of gelato from your fruity flavors to your indulgent chocolate. In this picture, there is a scoop of durian and a scoop of Roche.

There is also a decent Thai Restaurant next door called Ying Thai 2. The funny thing is that both shops close on the same days. Maybe because they are complimentary goods, they then to see a trend that if people go for the food they usually finish off with the ice cream. What a good business partnership.

Also this ice cream parlor does not open during winter as it is too cold for people to be eating an ice cream in temperatures below 10 degrees.

However, the down side to this shop is that it keeps raising its prices year after year. Since I just arrived in Melbourne until today,  I believe it has raised its prices by more than 25%. That is definitely more than inflation. And the amazing thing is that they still have a lot customers.

The owner sure knows his economics and is taking every step to capitalize on it. Kudos to him.

Maharaja's Palace

The Maharaja of Bangalore was a ruler with many interests. One of his many interests was hunting. After hunting down the animals, he would then preserve and use parts of the animals for ornaments and furniture as depicted above.

The Palace in Bangalore is a magnificent structure with a lot of things to see. It has an English castle feel to it with some local touches to it. It also has a nice garden in front of the palace for visitors to roam about.

With an entrance of Rs. 350 or Rs. 500 with a camera, it is worth the money spent as they have taken the funds and made an audio tour for the visitors to enjoy the tour and understand the significance of the displays.

Blue Malaysian Coral Snake

The Blue Malaysian Coral Snake is a beautiful but lethal reptile. It is venomous and there has records of deaths caused by this snake. The bright colors serves as a warning to stay away from the snake.

It can be found in the South East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. And coincidentally I took this picture at a reservoir in Penang, Malaysia just as the name indicates where it could be found.

The primary habitat of this snake is forest floors, mainly in tropical rain-forests as that is what can be found in the region.

Picture notes: focus on the head as I was giving it a narrow depth of field to highlight the snake in a rather boring background of dead leaves, grass and concrete. Also I would not want to be moving the snake anywhere for a better background.

Sunset

Sunset on Port Phillip Bay. The bay represents Melbourne, Australia. Covering a large area 1930 square kilometres, it is shallow with the deepest point of 24 metres. The bay bottlenecks between Point Lonsdale and Portsea going out to the Bass Strait. The Spirit of Tasmania taking you from Melbourne to Devonport, north of Tasmania.

This shot was taken from a high point along Queens Road, Melbourne, hence you can see part of the St Kilda Harbour.

I still need to practice on these shots to get more of the foreground and make the picture more interesting.

Vineyard

This is the scenic view you can get in the vineyards of Victoria, Australia. As you can see, the clear blue skies on a lovely day would make it a desirable time to be frolicking around the vineyard and enjoying the fresh air.

However, it is not such an easy task to take care of a vineyard. In the past few years, Victoria has been hit by drought, floods and bush fires. This can affect the quality of the grapes and worse still cause the whole field to be destroyed all together.

These hardworking winemakers are the people that have toiled for generations and made Australia one of the best producers of wine in the world. Currently the fourth largest exporter of wine around the world, it is a feat to be proud of.

Picture notes: For a scenic view like this, it is always good to have a minimum aperture (small opening) like ƒ/22 to get clarity for the whole picture. This is because there is no individual standout object to be taken.