I can’t believe how fast this year is flying by. It will soon be 2013 – provided we make it past December 21st ;-)
I haven’t had the time to work on pics from my recent Europe trip yet. In the meantime, here’s a black & white picture from earlier this year. I don’t do much black and white but for certain dramatic scenes like this, I think it works.
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… after a week in France and another week in Spain. Paris was fascinating as always. Spain was great too, but unfortunately the weather didn’t quite cooperate as I had hoped. But good times nonetheless, spending some quality time with family. I already miss the great food and wines of both countries…
More soon.
If you’ve never tried this stinky, gooey fruit, you’re missing out :) It seems to me this is the most polarizing fruit – people either love it, or absolutely hate it!
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I love this picture… this weathered Thai man’s face is so full of character, every wrinkle seems to tell its own little story of the things he has seen in his life. He was the nicest person and had a very contagious laugh :)
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I have taken a gazillion sunset shots in my life, yet I still never get tired of them… here’s a recent one taken in Arches National Park, Utah.
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Went camping in this beautiful National Park in Utah recently… what an amazing, out-of-this world landscape! This is just one of many shots I brought back home. Love how small the people look…. Some of the rock formations in this park look like giants were using rocks as building blocks :)
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Nothing like some spicy Asian street food… I love stuff like laksa, char kway teow… cheap, yummy, spicy goodness.
I love this city – amazing people, very clean and safe, and it’s paradise for anybody who loves food. This melting pot of cultures offers something for every taste – Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and so on and on… Just go to any of the famous hawker centers and you’ll be in heaven :)
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No other style of music can express passion and emotion quite like salsa… if you speak Spanish, you can’t help but love these lyrics :)
I am attracted to complexity. That’s why I love chess. And it’s part of the reason why I love wine (apart from the fact that I love drinking the stuff :)
The wine world is immensely complex. So many different producing countries, with an endless number of regions and appellations, grape varietals and vintners.
Take just France, for example. The permutations are staggering…
In the Bordeaux region, you have the Left bank vs. Right bank, and you have a bunch of AOC’s like Medoc, St.-Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien, Haut-Medoc, Margaux, Pessac-Leognan, Graves, Entre-Deux-Mers, Barsac, Sauternes, Pomerol, Lalande-de-Pomerol, St.-Emilion, Cotes de Castillon….
Within the Medoc, you have the Classed Growths (premier crus, deuxiemes crus, troisiemes crus, quatriemes crus, and cinquiemes crus. With one exception – Chateau Haut-Brion is not in the Medoc but in Graves…) Then you have Bordeaux’s Cru Bourgeois classification for a lot of high quality wines that were not included in the Classed Growths…
In Burgundy, you have a different classification system with Grand Crus, Premier Crus, Villages, Regionals, etc…
And so on and on and on… Haven’t even touched on the Loire, Northern and Southern Rhone, Languedoc, Champagne, etc. And to make it all just a bit more complex, some names are confusingly similar. Take for example the following:
Sauternes: a sweet wine from the Sauternes region of the Graves section in Bordeaux, made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes
Sancerre: wine from Sancerre in the eastern part of the Loire valley, mostly from Sauvignon Blanc grapes
Montrachet: an AOC and a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune region, mostly Chardonnay.
Meursault: an AOC, also in the Côte de Beaune region, mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Muscadet: from the Loire Valley, made from Melon de Bourgogne grapes
Vouvray: from the Loire Valley, mostly made from Chenin Blanc grapes
Volnay: from Burgundy, mostly Pinot Noir
Sauternes, Sancerre, Montrachet, Meursault, Muscadet, Vouvray, Volnay…. Confused yet? :) And these are just a few selected examples, from a few selected areas in France. Haven’t even touched on any other countries… How about Piedmont in Italy, where Barolo and Barbaresco are made from Nebbiolo grapes, but Barbera is made from the Barbera grape… How about the US, Argentina, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Australia, Chile, South Africa, Greece, Hungary…
And of course, in each country, in each region, in each appellation, you have dozens or hundreds of different wine makers.
It goes on and on and on. Truly fascinating if you like complexity :)
Shitty wine glasses can seriously detract from a good wine. By shitty I mean:
- colored glass (really? I like to actually see and appreciate my wine)
- too small (being able to swirl the wine to release aromas is a must)
- thick glass (I like to taste wine, not glass. Go try it – thin glass makes a world of a difference)
Seriously, a well-designed glass doesn’t have to be expensive and can make the experience of wine that much nicer. There are plenty of great wine glass manufacturers out there – companies like Riedel, Schott Zwiesel, Luigi Bormioli, Spiegelau and many more make wonderful stemware.
… with my new camera, doing test shots at a local park. The swans were nice enough to cooperate :) I love this thing! The autofocus is insanely fast and the image quality outstanding, especially at high ISO.
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… is the perfect time for a movie and some nice burgundy :)
Wow, I can’t believe it’s mid-March already. This year is flying by! Time to really plan my next vacation. First I need to decide where to go…
At the top of my list as possible destinations this year:
- Maui
- France (specifically, Bordeaux or Burgundy)
- Vietnam
- Australia
- Chile or Peru
Decisions, decisions… It’s not going to be easy to make up my mind :)
Spring has arrived, time to dust off my cameras :)
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