Was driving earlier today, and started thinking about my blog... I started it back in 2008 because I was bored. I didn't intentionally decide to focus so much on food & travel, although I think probably 80% of the posts have turned out to be such. (Naturally I wasn't going to not blog about them, since it gives me a "valid" excuse to i) eat a lot and ii) travel a lot.)
Anyway the point is... as time passed, my "snippets" posts became less and less frequent. Now that I think about it, the main cause is probably because I have spent less time driving. Yes, I mean driving. Non food/travel posts require thinking and inspiration, unlike food / travel posts where I can usually rely on pretty pictures to carry the story. And also, I decided long ago not to blog specifically about work despite all the interesting fodder material it often tempted me with.
Ideas used come to me while I was driving and I would mentally draft my posts because my brain had nothing else to do. (Ok, start the lecture on safety later...) So since I seem to drive less now, there are fewer such posts.
Something I hope to change.
Anyway the point is... as time passed, my "snippets" posts became less and less frequent. Now that I think about it, the main cause is probably because I have spent less time driving. Yes, I mean driving. Non food/travel posts require thinking and inspiration, unlike food / travel posts where I can usually rely on pretty pictures to carry the story. And also, I decided long ago not to blog specifically about work despite all the interesting fodder material it often tempted me with.
Ideas used come to me while I was driving and I would mentally draft my posts because my brain had nothing else to do. (Ok, start the lecture on safety later...) So since I seem to drive less now, there are fewer such posts.
Something I hope to change.
You can get really close to the rapids and water (spy the staircase on the rhs?), but I don't recommend putting any body part in. It would be such a shame to dirty the crystal clear waters, and this is a nature reserve after all.
We must have been to about 4 waterfall areas, each one gorgeous in its own right.
Some required a little walking to get too, but nothing more strenuous than a relaxing 20min stroll.
I tried to play with the shutter speed...
... but with no tripod (and even if I had one on me, the hoards of tourists nudging me along the narrow path would have made it difficult to use it) it was not so easy to hold the camera steady.
If you look on the left of the photo below, can you see a face with the mouth wide open? Freaky!
Another attempt at playing with the shutter speed...
Slightly more successful this time!
All in all, I was very glad that I signed up for the trip. Would definately recommend anyone going to Chengdu to make a side trip there, especially if the season is right!
I don't know if its because I was watching it in a different cinema (Cathay) from my usual one (Great World GV) or what, but I found the 3D graphics less headache inducing and contributed to the overall experience in natural subtle ways rather than the "in your face"-ness of Avatar and even (at some points) Up!. *Shinta also found the 3D glasses at Cathay a much more comfortable fit over spectacles.
So now we're camped out at our usually under-utilised living room, watching more hours on our Samsung TV in these few days compared to the past 5 years. Our previously empty coffee table is now ladened with 2 notebooks (so that we can blog / play WOW / surf Facebook while watching), snacks, drinks and books (to flip through during the boring parts).
Despite not being the "perfect" time to see JZG, this weekend was supposed to be super crowded because it was a holiday in China. We were quite fortunate that the crowds were tolerable, the weather was good, the flowers were in bloom and there was water in the lakes!
Well there's not much to say except that the lakes are gorgeous. Beautiful crystal clear blue waters... You can see the fallen logs and branches in the water!
Surrounded by lush green hills...
I included the shot below to show how clear the waters are. This place is like so "not Chinese"... It was well maintained and no litter around despite a lack of dustbins! Also, while Chinese tourists swarmed some spots, it wasn't *too* crowded and there were still plenty of chances to get "people free" pictures.
I think we hit a total of about 4-5 lakes while we were there... They were all a short 5-10 min walk away from where the bus dropped us.
I love this next shot for the beautiful reflection in the still waters...
The next 2 photos really display JZG at its best I think. Starting from snow capped mountains at the top, followed by hills covered in a multitude of greens and browns, and then the rainbow coloured waters with little pebbles and short grass at the bottom.
The reflection of the mountain could also be seen in the rainbow coloured waters. There was also the opportunity to dress up in traditional Tibetan costumes (for a fee) and have your picture taken by the lake. Quite a novelty for many!
The next shot was taken from one of the highest elevations in the park.
This little pond is supposed to be filled with water all the way to the brim of the depression, and then you can see the rainbow colours as well. Sadly it was still too early in the season.
Another shot of the crystal clear multi-coloured waters. You can see the details of the gravel and individual stones all the way to the bottom!
I didn't include photos of every single lake that we saw. Sadly my Chinese (and memory) are not good enough to remember all the names and the stories behind them as well. If you go there, hopefully you're with a large enough group to get a private tour bus as well, the guide onboard will know where to go!
2. Early hours
3. Flight delays
4. Altitude sickness
5. It's the wrong season
6. We took the cable car up
This photo was taken right at the top, and was the only pool area on the entire mountain with water.
7. Walking down is worse!
