Samomatic

Fun fact: Shanghai has a population of over 20million while the population of Canada is 33million.

With the black rainstorm and long weekend the airport was overloaded and after sitting on the runway for a long time we were finally off to a bumpy ride. A 2.5hr flight turned into a 9hr trip from door to door.

Upon arriving at grandpa’s place I was greeted all the aunts and they had prepared a lot of home cooked food. After the meal the cousins took me downtown. This street is usually packed shoulder-to-shoulder but it was raining so heavily that we were the only silly people walking around. hehe.

I had 3 cousins to guide me around the city and eat good stuff. I had asked them to take me to see the old stuff, the older the better.

Mom had told me not to buy food from the street side vendors but I had to disobey her. By the end of the 3rd day I had tried 53 types of local goodies!

Some of the interesting things in Shanghai like the way people walk around with their rolled up shirts (a mating protocol perhaps?!) and a shop that has a tree in the middle.

My cousin’s baby, she is so cute!

She is a solid build and kept asking to be picked up…

Love the customized motorcycle setup and family weekend excursions.

A local market. These areas are being slowly replaced by high rise buildings and indoor markets.

This is my ride in Shanghai, its got the U-shaped handlebars, 1 single gear and a massive basket. The next step is to have the cabin on the back!

In busy traffic the best method is to move in a predictable straight line despite the other moving objects on the radar. If you slow down the other drivers will have a hard time predicting your exact course and that can be very dangerous!

Before going to Shanghai I didn’t have any expectations except to see relatives. It turned out to be a great time to catch up with the cousins, eat from the street side vendors and also see different parts of this giant city. Too bad I had to leave so soon.

A while ago, I said I would stop buying manual focus lenses. But I just couldn’t stop myself from trying the legendary 50mm F/1.2.

Even though it is more cumbersome to manually adjust everything but this lens can make everything seem surreal with its buttery smooth bokeh.

We went to Dos Amigos to celebrate Charlie’s birthday. The service was a little slow but the food was pretty good.

Kenny showing off his pipes to impress the ladies. I think he had a better chance with his ripped pants.

After a grueling week of midterm cramming and getting demolished by the last exam. We decided to go for sushi buffet to to eat our depression away. This is the block diagram for the bowl of ice-cream.

It was a nice excuse for me to use the camera again and capture some of the silliness. Ben stealing peas, getting burned by wasabi, and Yassir with his 3rd order of shrimp tempura.

What a great way to kick start the Reading Week! Hehe

Sam: “Alright guys I have just bought the tickets…where is Bermuda?”
Randy: “No idea”
Paul: “Not a clue…isn’t it Bristish?”

That was how our weekend trip to Bermuda began. We had no idea where this country is or what to do there….all we know is that it sounded warm. Planning for the trip wasn’t easy since Paul were away for many of the weeks in between and Randy always had to run off right after work.

We took off from Logan Airport on friday morning, the left is Cape Cod; the other is the reefs near Bermuda.

My dream finally came true, to escape from North America! Bermuda has a very distinct culture and unique architecture. At first we were planning to rent scooter but after seeing the very narrow road with no sidewalks we decided we didn’t want to spend the weekend in the hospital.
This is the guesthouse that we stayed at, it is very well equipped and right near the city. We had a BBQ so Paul decided to show us some ‘proper British’ sausages.

I found this little bird that fell from its nest on a rock wall and chased it to the side of the road.


The Royal Naval Dockyard
I couldn’t stop laughing after reading about this weather stone!
It was raining sideways in the afternoon but that did not deter us, only after we got back to our room did we realize that we were experiencing gale force winds…

We found out that it was Fight Night, a once a year fund raiser for the rugby club. All the fighters were amatures so it was fun to see them swinging wildly while an entire section of their friends are cheering them on.
I was able to get to the ring-side and shoot a few.
And the upper level reserved for the offical videographer.

Bermuda has many forts yet it has never fired a round for military purpose. They are beautiful though.

By their famous beach, this is during the off-season so almost all the tourist attractions are desserted.

The weather was perfect, hovering around 19C – blue sky, sunshine, a little breeze.
View from the highest point of the island, Gibb’s lighthouse.

It was an amazing trip, we squeezed in pretty much everything we wanted to do. The people on the island are the friendliest people I have ever met, people go down the street nodding to each other and saying hi. However, I don’t think I will be going back anytime soon – try another country! :)