Back in Jakarta....Turkey Was Fantastic

It's always a bummer to end vacations, but it's also nice to be home again.

The trip to Turkey was fantastic...if you have never been there, I highly recommend going. We thought the weather would be super hot, but as it turns out, it was perfect. Temps were really comfortable and it was dry...perfect travel weather.

I took tons of photos, but after looking at them last night, I am not that impressed with what I got. I am hoping some of the shots will grow on me after time...after an intitial run through, I am going to guess that maybe 2% of my photos will end up being keepers...you have to take thousands of photos to get a few keepers...luckily, in the digital age we are now in, it doesn't cost anything extra to take thousands of photos.

Thanks for all the nice comments I received on this blog while I was away...will try to get to all your blogs for a visit as well...

Anyway, here is one from Istanbul I took before our short day cruise on the Bosphorous...

The Taj

The Taj Mahal...

I am arriving back to Jakarta today...this is my last scheduled post, and hope to have some new photos from Turkey up on the blog in the next few days...

Krabi, Thailand

There are three places in the world where I have seen these outcroppings of limestone...

Halong Bay in Vietnam...Yangshuo, China...and here in Krabi, Thailand...

Pink Anenome Fish

Here's another oldie but goodie...as you can tell, I am running out of photos to post for my scheduled posts while I am away...

Will be back after the weekend...

Annapurna Black n White

Here's an oldie that I liked as well...

I am still in Turkey...will be back in a few days with some new photos...

The Tornado at Fantasy World

Before I left for Turkey, our family went to "Dunia Fantasy" which is Fantasy World in Indonesian. Tika rode the "Tornado"...she is the one in pink screaming...

The Top of The Mall

This was the view from the parking lot of Grand Indonesia Mall...there were all these chrystal balls hanging from the ceiling...I thought it looked cool...

Need a Shackle??

If you are a sailor, this could be the dream store for you...

Streets of Jakarta

A typical street scene in Jakarta...

Kids Who Love Their Country

I took this photo on Indonesia's Independence Day last year...

You think they have some pride for their country??

The Bajai

In Jakarta, they are trying to get rid of these "Bajai"...they do put out a lot of pollution, but they are classic "Indonesia" and there are still many around...

One of My Favorite Shots

You may have seen this shot before (I have posted it a couple of times on this blog)...I just love the expression on the faces of these two boys...could they be any different??

Bugis Schooners of Jakarta

One of my favorite things to do in Jakarta is to get up early and watch all the action down at the pier...these sailing ships are incredible....

Sittin' on the Dock of The Bay

Isn't that a song??

I am in Turkey now. I made a bunch of scheduled posts for the next couple of weeks while I am away...Look forward to taking some new photos while here in Turkey...

Havin' A Chat

A few old guys havin' a chat in Kathmandu...

My Daughter, Kelly

I am off to Turkey today for a couple of weeks. I will return on the 29th of June. In the meantime, I have scheduled posts for the next couple of weeks with some older photos and some newly edited photos of some older shots...

I took this one of Kelly the other day, and used a texture that I found when I was in China. Some people look at me funny when they see me take photos of walls, but they sure make for some good textures to add to photos later...

Life in the Kampung

Every time I look at this photo, I find something new in it...

I guess that is the way life is in this area of Jakarta...so much going on ALL the time...

Pano of My House

I was bored at the house yesterday being a couch potato. I looked over the couch through my back sliding doors, and saw some nice light hitting the house, and thought, "this could make a cool photo"....so jumped off the couch, grabbed my tripod, and decided to play around with making a panoramic HDR photo of my house...

This is the result...I am pretty happy with it, but want to try something else next time. In CS4, Photoshop has really improved its panoramic feature. I want to try next time to take photographs up and down as well as side to side, and see what PS4 can do about stitching together a collage of photos in order to capture more of the roof...I will experiment and let you know...

Another From Nepal

Here is another one of those "hidden gems" that I missed the first time around...

Annapurna Base Camp Revisited

I was going through my Nepal photos that I have not looked at since January (last year), and found this one...I don't know why I skip over some photos when doing my original edits, but sure glad I keep EVERYTHING....I always seem to find hidden gems that I somehow overlooked before...

Skywatch Friday - Disney

I couldn't find a good skywatch photo for today, and I have been real busy closing shop for the summer here at work, so decided to post a photo you may have seen before on this blog...but for me, Disney always reminds me of summer...and my summer vacation started today...

For more skies from around the world, click HERE...

Have a great Weekend, and HAPPY FRIDAY!!

The Market

Yesterday, I was talking about the markets in Yangshuo...here are some photos of the market...

Waiting for a Sale

As more and more tourist spots open up in China, the otherwise poor folks come out in hordes to try and capture money from the rich tourists. Last time I was in Yangshuo was 1994. When I was there before, there was just one small street in town with a couple of shops...and a small market at the end of the street by the river. Now, there are hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants, and the market is HUGE. There are countless people walking the streets selling flutes, toys and other gizmos...capitalism is alive in China.

Walkin' The Buffalo

I just love riding my bike through the China countryside. One of those quintessential Chinese scenes is that of the water buffalo walking with their master through the rice paddies...

Fishing Nets

Well....fishing nets...what more can I say?