June 2021

Oh man, it’s a week into July and it’s HOT HOT HOT! The AC is my lifesaver (sorry environment 😦 ) and I’m rarely sweatless when I’m out. I’m now fully on summer holidays, which started in mid-June and will last till the end of July. Then in August I start full-time work, so I’m fully enjoying my time off without reserve. Let’s see what I’d been up to in June 😉

Starting off with some nice sky photos – it’s been a while since I’ve seen such beautiful azure with magnificent cloud formations. This one was taken at Xinyang train station, during a short weekend trip.

Here’s one right at home, as the sun was setting. Lots of people were getting out their phones to take a photo and I could understand why – it’s been one of the rarest sights of the year so far!

More cloud formations at dusk, by the East Lake in Wuhan.

Looking through a hexagonal hole in the wall (literally) at a bookstore, where I was studying for the afternoon.

More fun with hexagons! This was a piece of art exhibition showcased at a private contemporary art gallery in the East Lake area in Wuhan. The hexagonal glass patterns reflect the natural backdrop and though it was cloudy that day, the shapes and colours created a mesmerizing display. Really liked this one!

Breakfast in Tianjin overlooking the city on the 31st floor, where my hotel was located. This was a traditional meal of local breakfast items including green bean flour strips dipped in sauce, a thick spring roll, a roasted bun (hidden behind the plastic bowl), and a gigantic bag of soy milk. All this for 10 RMB (<$2 CAD)…what a fantastic start to the day!

For something more heavy, here we’ve got the spicy oil-steamed crayfish, which is super popular in Hubei province during summer time. It takes quite a bit of effort to eat and does get messy but is almost an obligatory rite for everyone in Wuhan during the summer season.

Figurines of cats dancing in unison, yup. There were displayed at a bubble tea shop and I could have taken them all home with me along with my tea… 😛

And yeah, I do ❤ cafes and I try to go to local ones instead of large chains as much as I can. Great place to chill, study, read, have a drink, chat, or just sit and do nothing all afternoon…

Finally got around to posting this entry after much procrastination – haven’t used this word in a while. Happy summer, and remember to bring sunscreen!

July 2019

Of course summer came. Did I really think that I could avoid summer in Wuhan, one of the four ovens of China? Nope, not a chance. Amidst working during a busy season and planning our wedding in October (not sure if I’ve mentioned this before), July has been rather hectic, but that doesn’t stop us from taking some time to observe the beautiful things in life that keep us sane 😉

These flowers look like roses but they’re not the typical ones that you get for your loved one on Valentine’s Day. These ones were growing just outside my office building in mid-July, looking elegant and sassy!

Lotus is definitely the summer flower of Wuhan and there is no shortage of lotus ponds in the city, especially in university campuses. Here’s the one close to the south gate of HUST, though J joked that it was so hot that day that the lotus pads were drying – and it was true!

The people of Wuhan do love their lotus…to eat, that is. You’ve got your good ol’ lotus root but there are parts of the lotus that I didn’t even know existed before coming to Wuhan. Lotus pods and baby lotus stems, for example, are delicacies here that I can’t get enough of 😛

I travel west when I head home from work and so I often catch some nice sunset skies as I hop off the bus. It’s good to see God’s beautiful work of art at the end of a long, exhausting day.

This was a sight to behold. J and I were on a walk around Yujia Lake one evening and it began raining – with lightning and thunder! I am usually terrified of lightning but it was too good of an opportunity to capture some photos of lightining…or at least try. I kept pressing the button of my phone’s camera really quickly, hoping that one of the 2387942 photos that I took would turn out well – and I guess it sort of worked?!! This was the best one that I managed to get – not of a lightning streak but of light emerging from dark clouds looming over the book shop in the distance. Spectacular!

This cat did not seem to mind the outdoor heat and was ready for a long, lazy day ahead. It was only morning though, and I was pretty sure it went hiding somewhere else as soon as the heat of noon hit…

A random gathering with work colleagues from my department, at a very large round table that turns by itself! Convenient, as we didn’t have to turn it ourselves to get food, but you also had to be quick to get the food that you wanted or else you won’t get an other chance till it comes around the next time…if there’s any left 😛

My dear LS dropped by Wuhan as a short stopover and we only had a couple of hours to chat over some drinks. Very rushed, but it’s always fun and jokes when this lady is around. See you soon in October 😉

New glasses, yeah? It’s about time – I think I haven’t gotten new glasses for seven years! These took a bit of time to get used to but I like the thick black frames. And I complimented J by saying that he looks handsome in this photo and he blushed like a little kid, hehe ^_^

Another two weeks to go till September and then it’ll be one month before our wedding…stress and anticipation!! So much work, so much planning, so much to look forward to!

March 2019

Spring is here! I’m hoping it stays awhile before the impending doom of Wuhan’s summer arrives and sucks the life and sweat out of me. March has been a month of generally good weather that made it comfortable for going out, especially to view the various types of blooming flowers, including tulips and cherry blossoms. But I’ll write an individual post about the seasons of Wuhan in the future. For now, let’s talk about spring and March 2019!

This month was all about nature and one of my favourite phenomena to observe is dramatic cloud formations. Like THIS. Let’s ignore the fact that Luoyo Road was madly congested in the opposite direction and enjoy the smooth ride on our electric scooter (operated by J, with me as a passenger), against this fabulous sunset hour!

Dramatic cloud formations #2 – at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology campus. Again I was on the scooter and I told J, “STOP! I need to take a photo of this!”

Dramatic cloud formations #3 – enjoying another sunset, before the sun turns into a monster in the summer. The road was rather crowded with people when I was taking this photo, but I was sufficiently distracted by the unexpectedly lovely scenery and wasn’t as annoyed as I usually would have been.

Onto the flowers – first up, white magnolias in the technology park where my company was based. Well, I think they’re called magnolia, as that was what a colleague told me. One day they just appeared out of nowhere and sprouted and bloomed around the park. It instantly lit up my lunchtime stroll and I couldn’t stop myself from taking way too many photos of these beauties ❤

And here’s a collection of the many types of flowers that I noticed during my walks around the park. I can’t name them all or…any of them, to be honest. I’m going to guess the bright red ones at the top right are late-blooming plum blossoms (peak bloom happened about three weeks ago) and the others are various types of peach blossoms. Someone please tell me what they really are??

As I mentioned previously, peak plum blossom season was approximately three weeks ago (early to mid-March). On a gorgeous Sunday, I went to the plum blossom garden at East Lake and it seemed like every resident of Wuhan was also there – it was so crowded! Can’t blame them though, the weather had been so horrendous for weeks prior to that, so even the slightest sliver of sunlight was able to attract anyone to spend the day outdoor. Though crowded, the garden was beautiful and the plum blossoms were magnificent! I might even have to say that they are my favourite March flowers, compared to tulips, magnolias, and yes…even cherry blossoms!

This shy feline friend of mine appeared around my neighbourhood one day and kept trying to run away from me, but stopped to stare every few seconds. It reminded me of the fox who asked the Little Prince to tame him before they could become friends, and if I could have, I would have brought home this little fella with me. I wonder if it’s still lurking around somewhere nearby…

Almost-obligatory-monthly-photo of me and J, this time in a Ferris wheel (which you probably can’t tell). I was smiling but that was to hide the fact that I was hella scared. And J tried to make me look down at the highest point of the ride… not cool at all.

This height-free photo was certainly a lot more pleasant, phew. Apparently in addition to white magnolias, there were also red/rose/violet magnolias blooming in an area around where I live. Here’s a rare capture of a candid (or intentional?!) goofy moment. It seems like my fiancé isn’t all about all that serious research and teaching stuff, after all!

I still don’t like Wuhan but admittedly the city has been made a lot more bearable with nature’s beautiful exhibitions in March. I can’t emphasize enough that I’m NOT looking forward to the arrival of summer, which is inevitable and the single most detestable thing about Wuhan. Summer, please skip us this year??

Something I don’t want to forget

In the blink of an eye, St. Andrews was 6 months ago. I’ve begun and stopped writing this post many times and always hesitated finishing it because I always feel very emotional when I remember that trip. The photos remind me of that weekend, such a short one but one that made me nothing more than content because of my companion. And perhaps I’ll leave it at that.

The ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral left behind signs of age and a glorious past. This would be the “touristy” part of St. Andrews, but it was a calm and quiet November morning. I felt like we could have been all alone in the world.

We took a short walk by the pier with the bluest sky, the bluest water, and a very blue me. The cathedral can be seen in the background.

St. Andrews is known as the birthplace of golf. We didn’t get to play, but at least we saw some people (who seemed to know what they were doing) take a few swings. I was just there to enjoy the nice weather, really.

The East Sands of St. Andrews (or was it the West Sands?) hid a wonderful surprise at sunset. It must have been raining the night before, and the sand at the beach formed an amazing ripple pattern, a scene made perfect by the fading light of dusk. I could have stayed in that moment forever.

Then red clouds covered the sky as if devouring it, and I could still remember how it felt, when my heart might have skipped a beat then and there, though it was not for the clouds.

Walking around the University of St. Andrews we passed by a grand courtyard, and wondering about the surrounding buildings, we asked the students what they were, to which they replied that they were residences for undergrads. We marveled at the luxury and wondered how much it would cost to live there.

The trip ended with a walk through the Lade Braes, a trail through the outskirts of St. Andrews. I didn’t hesitate to add a photo to my “Food and the Hills” series, although this was by no means a hill. Who would have known that such a serene place could be found here?

Then I had to leave. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to leave. And say goodbye. The air, the sand, the sunset, the company – thanks for everything.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow…the sun is hiding, perhaps. I am not kidding when I say that I haven’t seen the sun in almost three weeks. Well, it comes out once in a blue moon after the rain, but always for a very short period of time and always behind heavy, grey clouds. What I ought to say is that I have forgotten what blue sky looks like 😦 Oh Glasgow, must you do this to me?

I guess you win some and you lose some, or the other way around. If there is no rain, then who could experience and appreciate the beauty of the rainbow? Thinking of this made me realize that rainbows are one of my favourite things to photograph, though I obviously don’t have as many photos of rainbows as I would have liked since it depends a lot on timing. Still, here is a compilation of some of my favourite rainbow scenes captured throughout the past years.

I can’t stress enough my NEED to get a window seat when I travel on a plane. The only exception is when I have to make a connecting flight within a short period of time, in which case I would compromise and go for an aisle seat. Then I would miss views like this. It was raining as the plane took off from Glasgow last December, and without high expectations of seeing anything glorious, I looked outside the window, just in time to see the opposite of the expected – a semi-rainbow hanging from the sky. Perhaps then, I loved rain a little bit more, even if it were just for a split moment.