"A Wise Passiveness"

To read my other posting about this mosque, click here.

Gum For Sale

This little Ecuadorian boy came up to our breakfast table outside a restaurant in Quito as we were eating. He was tiny and had a small, plastic basket hanging around his neck selling equally tiny packets of Trident gum.

Of course we bought some from him, we would have regardless, but there was something that stood out about this little boy. He had a sparkle in his eyes and a lot of personality for a person so small and I wanted to remember him. The funniest part of our interaction was whenever I would take a picture of him (I asked first) with my digital camera, he would lean over to see the instant results. Every time.

Better Than Ice Cream

I shot this picture in Quito's Old Town, or as the locals call it, El Centro. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1978 and rightly so. You can spend quite some time wandering through Old Town's narrow streets looking at one beautifully restored colonial building after another, people watching in one of the magnificent squares or sitting deep in thought inside one of the glorious churches.

The people milling about Old Town are just as diverse as Ecuador itself. An old-fashioned ice cream cart operator will be on the same street as a young Ecuadorian off to school or work or an indigenous woman carrying her child on her back.

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Heading Out

Asleep on the Job

There is a highly-regarded market north of the Ecuadorian capital in the town of Otavalo. It takes about 2 hours to get there by local bus but once you do, you see some gorgeous handmade crafts. The huge, outdoor artesan market is known throughout South America for its variety of goods and every year draws tourists from around the globe. Don't go if you're afraid of haggling.

I went on Friday which is not the day that everyone hypes as the day to go. That is Saturday when they also have the animal market where people come to buy livestock. I opted to not go on the really crowded day which made the experience much more relaxing... and for some working there maybe a little too calming.

Wedding Wonderland

Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach is one of Australia's most popular places to visit and is perhaps the country's most famous of its many beaches. If you're relying on public transportation, as I was, it takes a little while for you to get there but once you're there, Bondi is a beautiful sight. Some of the interest I think comes from actually being at such an iconic place but the water is wonderful and it's a nice change of pace compared to some parts of Sydney.

Bondi gets criticized for being too touristy. When I went, it was closer to sunset, and most of the people there were local. Bondi wasn't as crowded as Manly Beach but the color of the water was not as striking either. The surf on one end is really powerful and too dangerous for a swim which I didn't know until I visited. The street that runs parallel to it is lined with housing, shops, bars and restaurants. If you're relying on public transportation to get there, make sure you carve out time to get there and back because it took me about 45 minutes, each way, on the bus.

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For more information about Bondi Beach, click here. If you're interested in my other post about Australia, then click here.

Traveling Through Thailand

My trip to Thailand took me to various parts of the country, from the madness of Bangkok to the calm of the North and the overwhelming beauty of the South. The landscape is diverse, the people are so kind and of course the food is worth the trip alone. I shot these first two pictures on the Railay Peninsula in Thailand's Southern Krabi province. The area is surrounded by high, sharp cliffs. Some of that same rock formed the outcropping I shot in these picture at sundown.


Click on this next image to enlarge it so you can really see the detail. There are actually two mischievous macaques not just the one in the foreground. They were running all up and down the same beach where I took the previous photo, snatching food from wherever they could get it. It was a strange experience at first because living in the United States, you're not really used to seeing macaques or any primate for that matter running free on the beach or anywhere else.

Thailand's temples and ruins are plentiful, beautiful and more importantly, amazingly intricate. This one is made completely of small, pastel colored tiles some of which are used to make flowers while others appear to form jaws or teeth. Clicking on the photo will reveal more details.



I was on the River Kwai Bridge in the Kanchanaburi province when a group of Thai schoolchildren on a field trip walked by with their teacher. The area is perhaps best known internationally as being part of the Japanese government's so-called "Death Railway" during World War Two. POWs were used to construct the bridge which resulted in the deaths of some 16,000 Allied POWs and 90,000 Asian laborers.


For another image from Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, go to my previous post. If you're interested in the history of the bridge, you can find some archive photos by clicking here.

Thai Tranquility

I shot these photos as I zig-zagged across Thailand. The first picture is of Buddha's hand at a ruin in Sukhothai, one of the former Thai capitals.



This second photo I took at a cemetery for American servicemembers in the province of Kanchanaburi which is about 150 miles outside of the modern capital, Bangkok. That's where the River Kwai is and the cemetery holds the remains of Americans who died during World War Two. If you look closely, you can see two Thai women taking care of the grass and weeds around the headstones. There is also a small wheelbarrow on the right-hand side of the frame. The ruins were so ancient and the cemetery was so grounding. Both images struck me as so serene and calm and I wanted to capture the feeling while I was in the moment. You can click on both images to make them larger.

Bright Beach

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Boogie On

Another Day at Work

For my several other Morocco posts on this blog, you can click here, here, here, here, here, here, or here.

Three's a Crowd

Cast Away

The Strength of Sand

What struck me about the Sahara was the sand. I mean, other than the fact that it is a desert. When you approach the dunes, they look soft... almost fluid. But once you get close, you realize that a lot of the sand has been packed by wind and hardened by the sun. The texture was actually a lot different than what I had expected. It was a surprising discovery.

Into the White Light

In Pacific Palisades, there is an underground pedestrian tunnel so you don't have to defy death to cross Highway 1. That's where I snapped this photograph. The tunnel doesn't smell all that great but as you approach the end of it, the sun comes pouring through and then it just opens up onto the beach and the Pacific Ocean. It's actually quite impressive the first time you walk through it.

Just as we were about to approach the end of the tunnel, we saw a guy and a girl hanging out near the sand while smoking a questionable substance. The girl exhaled just in time to warn us about Pterodactyls loose on the beach. Apparently, she didn't get the memo that they are extinct. Or maybe she just scored some really good stuff.

Not My Left Foot

Hairspray Premiere

Yesterday evening, my cousin and I were running errands in Westwood near UCLA and we happened upon the premiere of the new movie, Hairspray. The movie's major stars walked the red carpet including the flawless Michelle Pfeiffer. She is absolutely stunning in person. That's her husband, TV producer David E. Kelley to her right. She took her time down the red carpet, graciously posing for all the photographers.







John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston (not pictured) also braved the cameras on the red carpet. His hair was uh... interesting. He was definitely rockin' the man-dye. He was faster down the red carpet.



The lovely Queen Latifah also worked the red carpet wearing a platinum blonde wig. She played to the cameras and also took time to pose. Her skin is gorgeous... she literally glows.

Peering Under a Pier

Wedding Aftermath