Photohunt 117: Pointed

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Pointed
During the recent VBS kickoff, we had many games and one of them is "Ring a Lei." What we did was to take a walker and inverted it with the four legs pointed up. Then we decorated the base with leis and strapped the four legs with colorful sponge (noodle) and let the kids ring the pointed legs. Can you see two rings on one of the pointed legs? The winner is a kid.

It was practical and colorful. More importantly, we had fun and enjoyed ourselves.

Photohunt 115: Water

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Water

This is my favorite hand-made water fountain in Christchurch, New Zealand. I love the spherical shaped water which looks like a blossom.

Oh, how I love the natural beauty of the water which comes in different shades of blue and turquoise overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

Photohunt : Emotion(s)

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Emotion(s)

I cropped from the picture of my father-in-law carrying one of his great grandsons at a local restaurant about a couple of months ago. What is the emotion of this lovely baby?

Photohunt - Self

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Self.

Guess this picture shows which part of myself. I sustained accidental self injury and went through a surgery. I will give out 10 ec points for each correct answer but only to the first person who answers any or both of the following two questions correctly:

a) What is that bone on this picture?
b) What is the stain on the skin?
c) Ignore. Some cuts and lines.

Photohunt - Shoes

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Shoes.

These are the shoes I wear when I mow my lawn. I have been wearing them for 6 years now. In spring, I mow my lawn twice a week when my husband is away from home and each task takes 45 minutes to complete. As you can see my shoes are rich in chorophyll which they absorb from the grass.


Luckily my walking shoes are cleaner. Here are my walking and casual shoes. A kid told me that he had exactly the same pair of Nike shoes at home which I was not surprised. I did not tell him that I purchased all my walking shoes from the youth or children's department.


Below are my favorite black shoes. I purchased the boots when I was in Hong Kong and the shoes with the highest heel were purchased from Malaysia. Most of them are brand new which I kept in my closet and have almost forgotten about them.


I'm not showing colored shoes or those in my car. I think most ladies tend to buy more shoes because they need to match them with their clothes and purses.

Photohunt 109 : Any Photo

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is share ANY photo. So any photo works, simple and sweet.

If you give me a watermelon, I would cut it into halves, then quarters, slice the pink part into bite sizes and discard the rest. The most I had done was to cut a watermelon into two semi circle fruit baskets and then use a scoop to dish out the pink part into bite size spheres, and chill them. I like chilled watermelon.

Look at the following three pictures which I took at a restaurant in Cancun that carefully carved the watermelon to show the contrast of the pink and white part into beautiful floral design.


White and pink carving of a lady with long hair.....


and white and green carving of a swan.


LOL, I will ruin the whole fruit if I am entrusted to the task of carving. This aspect of culinary arts is not my cup of tea.

Photohunt - Time

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Time.

I have many first time adventure pictures but I picked two for PH today. The first time I threw a purportedly made to return boomerang but it never returned. My husband picked up the same and it returned to its point of origin. He threw it correctly but I didn't. Our tour guide explained that there are left handed and right handed boomerangs. If my memory doesn't fail me, he also said that an asymmetrical-shaped boomerang will never return. He also explained the functionality of the arms and curves of the boomerang. So if a boomerang doesn't return, it could be the person's wrong throwing method or the wrong boomerang was used. I think this is interesting.



The first time I rode on horseback in water on a swim suit, I held tightly to its mane lest I fall into the sea. Click here for more pictures of my horse-riding adventure.

Photohunt - Unique/Funny Signs

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is unique/funny signs.

As we were traveling in the Maya Riviera along the hotel zone, in Cancun, Mexico, we saw the sign below "Auto-Mac Drive Thru." We thought it was a local bank until we saw another picture. I call it a unique/funny sign because "auto-mac" sounds like a machine.


We were approaching a small Mexican city called Valladolid in the state of Yucatan. Notice some poor people living in huts. I saw a funny sign with two objects. I don't understand why the arrow is at the bottom. Is it misleading that it's refering to something underground? My husband said it's telling us there are humps or bumps, never mind about how the arrow points. I feel that the humps look more like something else rather than a bump.

Photohunt - Thirteen (13)

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Thirteen (13)

Some people believe that the number thirteen (13) is an unlucky number but I don't believe that it is so. Thirteen is just another number to me.

I took this picture at Chichen Itza which is nicknamed a "Chicken Pizza" when I was in Mexico. Coincidentally, there are 13 replicas of the Maya Pyramids which are known as the New 7 Wonders of the World as published in USA Today. Count and see if you get 13 of them. Some were stacked together. I will have a more detail post on Chichen Itza on my travel blog soon.


Happy photo hunting.

Photohunt - Glass

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Glass

Below is a picture of a thick piece of tinted glass I custom ordered to protect my counter top. However, one of my tenants broke the glass top. When she moved out, she denied and insisted that it was already broken when she first moved into the apartment 3 years ago. I visited tenant at the apartment in 2006, used the glass top to write down some phone numbers and it was in perfect condition. She still argued that the glass was tinted and dark so it's hard for me to see the cracks. Sob, sob. I am so disappointed. It is not heat proof or weight proof. All glasses are breakable and must be handled with care. How could someone be so irresponsible?

Questions:
1) What do you think are the possibilities that the glass can break up like this?
2) If you are going to rent an apartment with a glass in this condition, what would you do?

I will be away for a few days. I will visit you guys after my return. Happy photo-hunting.

Photohunt - High

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is High.

I wanted to post a picture of one proud Orang Utan swinging itself with one arm holding to the highest point of a tree at the Orang Utan Sanctuary in Sandakan, Sabah in Borneo Island but my scanner is not working right. So I decided to post two pictures which I had published on my travel blog.

I'm sharing my experience at high altitude in high thinning air. I have never hiked anywhere else as high as the highest point of Mt. Kinabalu which is is 4,101m or (13,455 ft) above sea level. See picture below.


I am the one on a red windbreaker with the worn out sign leaning against my lap which read something like this, "Congratulations, you are now at Low's Peak, the highest point of SE Asia."

It makes one wonder why the highest point or summit is called Low's Peak. Apparently it was named after Sir Hugh Low who was the first person that attempted the climb in 1851. Although he did not make it to the top, the peak bears his name in honour of him.

For more details of my adventure or hike to Mt. Kinabalu, click here.

Photohunt: Metal

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is Metal.

The metal gold is more than just jewelry or a wedding ring. For those of you who have lots of gold jewelry or better still hold bullion or gold coins, congratulations. IMF holds the most gold; about 103.4 million ounces at the historical cost of $9.2 billion and the market price of $95.2 billion as on February 20, 2008, a gain of 1,035%. Wow!

Quote from IMF Gold in the IMF:

"Gold played a central role in the international monetary system until the collapse of the BrettonWoods system of fixed exchange rates in 1973. Since then, the role of gold has been gradually reduced. However, it is still an important asset in the reserve holdings of a number of countries, and the IMF remains one of the largest official holders of gold in the world."

Gold generally moves in the opposite direction as the U.S. dollar. On March 17, 2008 it soared to new high of $1,033 an oz. As the U.S. dollar strengthened, gold dropped to around $920 an oz on March 21. It's pretty volatile.

I don't own any gold bars. I do not like to wear gold jewelry either because I do not want to attract snatch thieves who might hurt my neck or arm. Here is a picture of some gold which I seldom wear:


The price of silver went up to about $21 an oz and dipped to $17 an oz within the same week. Now I have turned my gold into imaginery silver with modern technology.


Do you like the picture of my metal gold or silver better?

Photohunt - I Spy

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is I Spy.
I went to the Strip District in Pittsburgh to buy some noodles and fish a couple of days ago. The traffic was heavy as many people were driving home from work. I spy to take picture of a red truck on a busy street because I like its color.

Then I went to an Oriental grocery store to buy some noodles. While I was picking the frozen noodles, I stumbled onto the next freezer and went on with my second spy mission to take picture of frozen durians being sold there.


Durian lovers, you can get durians in the U.S. but more often than not, they come frozen. I'm not a durian lover.

See if you can find the green beans, tamarind, pineapple and fish in this pot of curry.

Photohunt - different

I went to Walmart today to buy some bananas to take two pictures for this Saturday's photohunt The theme is different.


Questions:
1) Can you tell what is so different between the two pictures below?
2) Do you peel a banana like the one displayed on the round plate or the rectangular banana leaf plate? I first realized that there are two different ways of peeling a banana after this encounter.
3) Did you know there are 2 ways people from different parts of the world peel a banana?
4) Do you belong to the round plate or green plate?

In your comments, can you please share which way you peel a banana and why if you have a reason.

Added Information:
I am a round plate person and I was caught by a green plate person for peeling a banana different. I just surfed the net and these are what I found on the same subject. My opinion is there is no right or wrong way, just different ways. Enjoy!
1) The Monkey Way
2) The other way
3) Banana Revolution
4) Peel a Banana
5) Either Way unless Grandma is there

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Photohunt - Wooden

The theme for this Saturday's photohunt is wooden.
I looked around my house and every corner is made of wood such as my furniture, oak wood floor, stair oak railing, doors, deck, and so on. I tried to find something wooden that is less common.

A few years ago, my father-in-law gave me two blocks of wood. I asked what they were. Here you are:
These are cypress wooden blocks.

Since I have been getting snow, I decided to put the them on the snow so that there are no distractions from other wooden stuff.

Some properties of cypress including relieving stress and other aromatherapy uses are found here. This is the recipe to add a little cypress oil to cure your stinky shoes so that they smell good.

I found cypress fence, decks, floor and furniture online. Then I found an interesting Q&A on cypress mulch including the attraction of termites. If you want to try the quiz with answers at the end, click here I don’t want to have a cypress tree or mulch around the house. They may smell good but I don't want to take the chance to attract and treat termites.

If you like my post, please remember to stumble/review/fave it. Thanks.

Photohunt - Free

The theme for this Saturday's photohunt is free.

Who doesn't like free stuff? I have seen many free premium gifts offered by banks, hotels, businesses, non-profit organizations and the government, mainly to create an awareness or to advertise a product or a brandname. I have learned to give up free things that I do not need because my husband said if I have no use for them, it's like collectikng junk.

Here are the free stuffs that I like. The hot coffee mug which I use to make hot chocolate since I seldom drink coffee.


The fridge magnets that I use to remind me of my shopping list, to keep my new recipes in place, bills to pay or discount coupons.


I also have free pens which I use very often but I am so good at misplacing them that I could not find any of the freebies to take picture for today's hunt.

Photohunt - Narrow

The theme of this Saturday's photohunt is narrow.
This picture was taken when my husband and I went to the Outback in Northern Territory, Australia. According to our Outback driver and guide, it never rainned as much as we had experienced and he was amazed that we were able to see narrow streaks of waterfalls on the Olgas. He added that it was a one in every ten years chance to witness it.

Mount Olga is the highest of a group of more than 30 rounded red conglomerate masses of rock called Kata Tjuta, meaning many heads to the Australian Aborigines. The narrow waterfall that you see is due to some rocks bunched close together with only narrow crevice in between.

The Olgas was named after the Queen of Spain in 1872 when the rocks were first explored by a white man. Like the Ayers Rock, The Olgas have been sacred to the Aborigines.

For more interesting factual stories and beliefs of the Aborigines, click here.

The picture of the rocks may look small. But when you are there it takes forever to walk around them. Enjoy the outback adventure and the rare narrow waterfall!

Photohunt - Old-Fashioned

The theme for this Saturday's photohunt is Old-Fashioned.

When my husband was in Malaysia, he was curious what this person was trying to sell as we drove down from Cameron Highlands. Oh, it is an old-fashioned tool which may still used by the orang asli of Malaysia. It is called the Sumpitan or blow pipe which you blow the arrow or dart to hit your hunting target. It was also used for defense purposes.

I asked the orang asli whether I could take a picture of him and his sumpitan. He was kind enough to demonstrate to us and then hid behind the pipes. If you want to see the demonstration pictures not taken by me, click here.

The original sumpitan is selling for $995. Oh what a price for an old-fashioned, antique, collectible or historical weapon!

Added information for clarification purposes: The sumpitan above was asking for US$5. If you click on $995, you will see a different one claimed to be original which is selling for US$995.

Feb 14, 2007 Updated information: After Zach informed me that the URL did not work, I revisited it with this update. The site which originally offered $995 has reduced it to $795 and the URL is here They have a few items for sale. Look for Sumpitan.....

Photohunt - Important

The theme for this Saturday's photohunt is important

There are many things which are important in our lives such as our family, spouse, career, health and the list goes on. As for me, two things that are important which I need for work are my photo ID and sometimes passport if I need to travel out of the U.S. Each time I go through airport security checkpoints, I have to show my driver's license.



For a change, I made them black and white.

Photohunt - Skinny

The Saturday Jan 12, 2008 theme for photohunt skinny

Something skinny that I always use are pens and my eyebrow pencil. They fit nicely into my purse, my car glove compartment, my diary and checkbook.