Saturday, October 31, 2009

1st AFL!!!! Awesome experience!!! 31st May

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I’m beginning to like FOOTBALL!!! (i shud said football here is NOT soccer)

All due to this awesome opportunity offered by Greg (my supervisor) to watch the CROWS (one of the Adelaide team) vs Hawthorn (from Victoria) when the game was held in Adelaide :). Prepared myself, went to the game v Greg.

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Football is one the major sport in Australia, same like tennis and cricket. Everyone is into them. Either they watch LIVE when they got the chance or at home LIVE. The tickets for the season are quick to be sold out. One can buy seasonal tickets for your favourite team which cost ~ 100-200$ or a bit more(cant remember exact) and you get to watch every match LIVE when they play home!!

The experience is AWESOME and FANSTATIC. Everyone (when i meant everyone, i meant kids, families, gals and guys!!) in the stadium just cheers and ROAR and HIGH when their favourite team score a direct goal (8points compared to side goal = 1 or 2 point). And all the “#@#$$^%$%@!@#@$%#%*” vulgar sentences and complaints when their favourite team player got tackle and did not get the right justification or “BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” all the way or “wat is he doing??? Pass the ball!!! RUNNNNNNNNNNN!!!! “, all the high and low emotional stimulation and adrenaline pumping was a good experience. You don’t felt like you are the only one shouting or cheering crazily, everyone is crazy here!!! haha. Some shout or cheer so loud as if they are screaming on top of their lungs directly into my ear!!!

As i mentioned earlier, football is a huge topic in Adelaide when the season start. You can bump into a stranger and talk bout football as if you knew him/her for ages!!! Ppl predict and bet who is going to win…etc. There’s a saying that : “Everyone in Adelaide got merrier the next day if the Adelaide team won the game against their rival”. It’s that influential to them!!!!

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This is the team i watched, they played pretty well. And slowly i gained a bit of knowledge of how the game play and the Crows became the team i supported, haha. Here, young kids were already trained for football at an early age. So you’ll see when the game have a break, kids coming out into the field playing football which is kinda Cute, haha.

But football is SUCH A BRUTAL game, i just duno how those players got into it, hahha. One knock down to me, i think, i will masuk hospital with fractures here and there. Really dun understand how those boys would get themselves into such brutal game although it 's nice to watch, haha. But certainly not for play!!! Obviously not all are very well built, and energy is not the only winning factor , strategy, team effort, heights and speed are the other winning factors.

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When the game ends, huge crowds just get off their bum. A huge traffic jam, luckily Greg parked his car at a spot that can easily hit the road back. ALl in all, an AMAZING experience!!!!



THX GREG!!!
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Colours of Autumn in Adelaide hills…~ 秋之美 ~ cont.

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Autumn around other small towns in the Adelaide hills are as fascinating as the Mt.Lofty botanical garden. You can see some ppl plant these autumn trees in their front yard which make the house looks much more stand out with the vibrant colour of the autumn tree. Here are some photos of Autumn in Bridgewater (famous for the mill) and Sterling (awesome in autumn) which i like a lot :)

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The mill which is still use now. Very excited to see it for the very first time :)

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A track amid the bushes and trees. Isn’t it such a good one for riding a bike or a walk?

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A house (right picture) which was quite historical but under repair and renovation somehow, haha.

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Autumn among the lush greens with a stream!!!! With all those fallen autumn leaves floating :) LOve them!!

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I hope kuching have a playground that looks like that (right picture) :)

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Don’t you like this house??? How awesome to look out of your window everyday during autumn!!!

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Colours of Autumn in Adelaide hills…~ 秋之美 ~

“Gentle reminder: heaps of photos in this post :)”

The arrival of the fall between April and May has brought with it warm colours but chilly mornings and cold nights.


I must say one of my most awesome trip in Adelaide so far was in April – the season of Autumn :)

Autumn colours have always been very fascinating and vibrant, never thought that i would see them in Adelaide, all i can say is i felt like a part of my life fulfilled and dream came true :). This trip to the Adelaide hills – Mount Lofty botanic garden has been one my most anticipated trip because this garden has a collection of many different deciduous autumn foliaged trees and the colours of this garden changes with season. It was one of happiest day here although i went on this trip alone, the colours of autumn just brighten my day no matter what sorrows or hardships i face the day before. JUST FASCINATING!!!!

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Have been wondering when would be the best time to visit Adelaide hills, when would the leaves turn its colours, and if yes, how long they last, will i be too late or too early. The trees in the city gave no sign of when is the best time of autumn as the trees planted here don’t change much. Even though, one species of maple tree is planted around the city, that species sadly do not change its leaves colour, all it does is turn brownish, dry and drop-off. 

The best time to capture the colours of autumn is when the colours start appearing. The time frame between the best of the autumn colour and bare branches can be very short. A brief thunderstorm or burst of strong wind is all that separates a beautiful tree laden with autumn colour from being a pile of leaves on the ground. It's all too easy to wait too long for the perfect day that never comes and, along the way, miss out on some great shots.

I picked one of the weekend which is supposed to be somewhere in the mid of Autumn season, and prepared myself very early as i knew i need a whole day, i don’t want to be rushing and ended up taking shit/blur photos, haha. Once i reached the foothill of my destination, excitement filled me thoroughly. Bz enjoying the early morning and taking photos. Signs of colourful autumn can be seen at the foothill, just AMAZING!!! Couldn’t wait to get to Mt.Lofty botanic garden!!!!

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Foggy roads uphill everywhere as Mt.Lofty botanic garden is located in the hills. The whole place looked empty, chill weather (i was there by 8sthg am) but peaceful. Enjoying the crisp fresh air :)

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The whole garden was filled with mist everywhere, which make shots a bit harder due to the fog. But it was at the same time good as the sun is still pretty much asleep meaning i can good shots with soft lights without worrying bout irritating bright over-exposed sun light.

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My 1st beautiful signs of russet and gold yellow fallen autumn leaves decorating the floor bed of the trails!!!!

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As most of the deciduous plants are planted as patches on certain area or path, i have to walk a fair distance to get to that AMAZING trail. Words just can’t describe my feelings when i saw all these AMAZING work of nature, those striking colourful of autumn leaves and trees. My mood just swing from normal to HIGH, smiling and WOW all the way as if i saw money hanging on those trees. Just amazed and stunt!!! One can really see the transformation from green to yellow, amber, crimson and purple along the trail. The only thing i felt sad is that i SHOULD have a DSLR with polarized filters to shoot these photos, as the sun rise higher, the sunlight is so annoying that i can’t get a good shot.

Here are some of the photos that i hope to share with whoever reading this, feel the vibrant warm colours of autumn :) Hope u guys enjoy :)

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