Christmas Dinner

One of the things we do every year at work is to organize a dinner party at the end of the year to celebrate Christmas and the fact that we all still have a job.  :D

We went to the East hotel to enjoy it's semi-buffet in the current year.  A decent meal which also enabled me to play around with the camera a little more.

How could it be Xmas without wine!

Actually, that picture above is a teeny weeny bit misleading as I didn't actually drink any wine.  I was driving so only got to watch while some of my colleagues had a glass.  I did manage to grab a picture of it though so that's close enough right?

Our main course - flaming steak!

As it was a semi-buffet, the starters were free flowing.  I stopped myself from eating too much though as I wanted to leave room for the main course - a massive steak!

Yum!

The hotel was done up really well with lots of Christmas decorations.  As we were a large group, we got one of the bigger tables which meant that even our table had some dectoration.

Done using the watercolour effect on my camera

Playing around with my camera - December 2015 - Part 2

Another picture taken from around the area I live in.  This picture was actually taken from the clubhouse level where there is a tiny little path through a patch of trees.  The final effect is quite nice in that it feels a lot more "green" than the area really is.

hacking my way through a jungle

Playing around with my camera - December 2015

This picture was actually taken during mid-Autumn when I was playing around with my new 35mm Prime lens.  The fruit itself is fake and was placed at our clubhouse reception.

Primarily, I was trying to see how close I could get to the fruit and still manage to keep focus.  I could have actually gone in a bit closer but I pulled out for this photo as it was a better framing.

13th Hong Kong Synergy 24 Drum Competition - Part 2

After the first round competitions, the final itself was inside the TST Cultural Centre.  Luckily, unlike with normal shows, they do allow photography during the drum competition.  I was too far away to get really good pictures but I managed to snap a few anyway.

As always, it was amazing to watch the chinese drums.  It never ceases to amaze me how good a bunch of primary school kids can be.

Getting started

Changing formation

In the new formation

Rocking on!

The final pose

As with last year, Gerry's drum team came first.  That's two years in a row that they've come first now!

Champions

Also picking up the crowd favourite award

Group shot with all finalists as well as some of the guests

13th Hong Kong Synergy 24 Drum Competition - Part 1

Recently, Gerry's school drum team took part in the annual HK Synergy 24 Drum Competition.  The first rounds are played in an open environment so I was able to go along and take some pictures.

The finals took place inside the Cultural Centre and I'll post pics of that next week.

You can tell how sunny it is from his glasses

Happy with how his trousers and belt came out here

Mid way through their routine

The end of a successful routine

Group photo!

Playing around with my camera - October 2015

Some more pictures from me playing around with my camera.  Another close up of a flower - can you guess where this is taken from?

Apparently, I like taking pictures of flowers

Wandering around a shopping mall

I've started to carry my camera whenever I go out with the family.  Hoping to grab some pics.  To be honest, most of the time the pictures aren't particularly interesting.  However, occasionally, I grab some pictures which make me pause and question what is going on.

Like these.

I wonder what they are talking about?

Playing with the on camera flash

I'm back!

The Meister's back

No - that isn't really my back.  Nor did I take the photo.  Nor do I actually have anything to do with the photo or the person in the photo.

Hmm - that kinda got away from me.  Lets start again.

I don't use the flash on my camera very often - which is why I haven't gotten a proper flash yet - but recently, I did try playing around with it to see how it would handle a relatively low light situation.

Overall, you can see why most people don't like using the on-camera flash.  Part of the reason obviously, is that the flash is centered on the camera itself which means that the light from the flash falls directly onto the subject.  Granted, a bigger flash wouldn't, in itself, solve this problem directly but it would give you the option of bouncing the light off another surface (which you can't do with the camera's built in flash as it isn't strong enough).

He still manages to look super cute though.
:D

Gerry and the drum academy - Part 4

Last post about the drum academy.  :)

One of the places we went to while we were in Jiangzhou was to visit a place to see how the drums are made.  As you can imagine, these drums are made by hand.

First, he shaves off pieces of wood

Then, he puts them up against the side of a drum template

Once all the pieces are in, they get nailed together and have the top and bottom planed

Last step - they get the drum skin and then painted

And then sold to consumers!

Gerry and the drum academy - Part 3

In addition to doing a bit of tourism, we also saw several other drum teams.

First off was the school drum team from the school where we went to.  Interestingly, learning drums is considered a core class in Jiangzhou which means that everyone learns how to play in school.  No wonder they are so good!

The kids were amazing - probably a good thing they aren't competing in Hong Kong!

We also saw a professional drum team.  To be fair, I was less impressed with the professionals.  It was an all girl drum team and it felt almost as if their routine was more focused on a song and dance rather than the drums.  Clearly, this is all a matter of opinion although I do have to admit that their costumes were really impressive.

I love the sense of motion in the hair in this pic

Two mice getting married

Check out those costumes!

By far the best group we saw though, was a group who were only part-time.  By day, farmers - by night, drum master!

The group itself has been in existence for many years - the original founder now having passed away.  In some ways, its a shame as the current group are having some financial trouble and are in the process of raising funding for a trip to America.

Despite being farmers though, they were utterly amazing in both their interpretation of the music as well as their performance of it.

Group photo with the amazing farmers!

Gerry and the drum academy - Part 2

While most of our time in Jiangzhou was spent at the drum academy, we did get some time to do some sightseeing.

Unfortunately, I didn't actually understand what the various sights that I was seeing were.  I had a lot of fun though and managed to get some traditional holiday style snaps!
:D

The first place we went to must have been some kind of local landmark.  It was basically a tower at the top of a hill which meant that it was visible from multiple locations within the city.

Say cheese!

Naturally, the drum team took a group photo there.

Ha!

Admittedly, part of the reason that the trip was fun was because the kids had a lot of fun playing with each other while wandering around the city.

In case its not obvious, they aren't really fighting

As befitting the home of chinese drums, there was an amazing amount of drum related architecture and design ethos.  Literally, you would wander around and see something drum related in the middle of nowhere.

A stone drum

In addition to drums though, there were other sights.  There was a place where they were hand-making ink pads out of clay.  I have to admit, there was an amazing level of artistry on display as they carefully carved shapes out of a block of clay.

The clay gets baked before its finished

Gerry and the drum academy - Part 1

As you might have already guessed (I know my dad did but did you?), I've been on holiday.

Well, I say holiday but it's probably not strictly true.  At least, not completely.

The first part of my absence is due to taking Gerry to the home of Chinese drums - Jiangzhou.  Gerry is part of his school's Chinese Drum team and as part of this, he got invited to go to Jiangzhou to up his skills at a drum academy.  As Jiangzhou is the home of Chinese drums, the people there are all proficient at it (in fact, drum classes are part of the normal curriculum).

The place itself is fairly remote so it was quite a trip just to get there.  After a 3 hour flight up to Taiyuan (near Beijing), we got on a bus for another 5 hour roadtrip.  As I said, remote.

It wasn't actually the whole drum team that went.  Some of the older children in primary 6 had just graduated so were no longer officially part of the drum team.  Understandably, they weren't able to go.  Meanwhile, some of the new members of the team, taken from primary 2, were too young to go so they weren't able to go either.  Even so, there were a group of 12 children who made the trip.

Gerry and the Thundermakers

Teacher lays down the law!

It's actually fairly amazing how much sound a group of Chinese drums can make even when they are being played by children.  We spent most of the week being verbally assaulted by a cacophony of bangs and cracks.

Practicing the basics

It's also amazing how much variation you can get from just a single drum and the drum sticks.  There are a range of techniques to vary the sounds and visuals.  Below, you can see Gerry twirling his drum sticks and banging them against each other for a more "clicky" sound relative to the banging of drums.

click, click, click, clack, click, click, clack, boom, chack, boom, chack, boom boom boom chack!

Gordon and the Spock effect

This picture was taken a while ago at the Island Shangri-La.  And yes, we were there for a buffet feast.  :)

I'm actually not sure what Gordon is doing here.  For some reason, he is raising one eyebrow (to be fair, something I do a lot!) at the camera which was when I took the picture.  Regardless, any guesses as to what is going through his mind?

That is illogical, father...

Celebrating the end of exams

And that is the end of exams for another year!

In case its not obvious, I should mention that I'm not taking exams.  I'm celebrating because the kids have finished their exams.  And as far as I'm concerned, that is a good enough reason to celebrate!

Going out to eat!

Naturally, when I celebrate, I celebrate with food!

Buffet time!

While there, I also took the opportunity to play around with my camera a bit more.

My other cars a Honda

Lastly, can you guess where we went?

A clue!