Little Adventure around Home (Part 2)

With some restoration, this abandoned house can make an excellent Bed and Breakfast. 

After leaving the Agongdain reservoir, my dad and I drove around the area. I spotted an abandoned traditional Taiwanese house which not only had an amazing view on a cove, but a large garden next to it (with lots of Guava trees). "It  will make a perfect Bed and Breakfast", I thought. Immediately I started to imagine the possibility of running a B&B while working as a software engineer remotely. It was prefect. Then it occurred to me, did I have internet access?  

Now I wish I had my X100 with me. My cell phone was not able to catch the beautiful blues.  

It is hard to find a traditional Taiwanese house. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw one. 

Little Adventure around Home

At Agongdain reservoir, the first reservoir in Taiwan (about 10 kilos from my home town).

It is the first time I try the panorama feature of my cell phone.

The 7 km (about 5 miles) biking trail around the reservoir is quite nice. 

My dad once swam in the reservoir after a break up and almost drowned himself. Had this happened, you would not see these two photos. 

I felt a bit nostalgic because when I was a child, we came here for camping and BBQ a lot. 

Agongdain means "old man's store".  Statue of the legendary founder now looks at the reservoir from a road side pagoda, a bit too creepy to me.

Water gate of the reservoir. 

Top of the levee.

Going Down the Memory Lane

Standing at a place I used to call "home".

Our old neighborhood, or what's left of it.

Though my parents and brother had told me our old house and the neighborhood were gone, the idea of "gone" didn't sink in till I revisited the place and stood on where our house used to be. After the houses were torn down and wiped out, wild grass had reclaimed the whole area. The whole place now reminds me the PBS series "The World Without Us".

There were a few houses still standing. With their windows stripped and everything gone, they were modern ruins. I sneaked in to one of them and had the feeling that I was in a war zone. Right at this moment I heard some explosions outside, it sounded like bombs were falling. Is it my imagination? I went out, and saw far away people were shooting New Year fireworks (the heavy duty one). They shot into the sky, and looked just like the missile footages on TV.  

Our back yard was like this when I grew up, a paradise now forever lost. 

I used to walk this barely recognizable road to school every day.

Thoughts on Photo Gears to Bring on a Trip

I rarely travelled with my camera equipments and only packed my X100 (it has a constant 35mm lens) for the Santa Fe trip. It did a wonderful job, but I also realized the serious limitation of travelling so light. On my way back, I started to reflect what photo equipments should I bring on my next trip (still got a lot of time to refine the list since I would not be doing any travel for a very long time). Here is what I have in mind after learning from my Santa Fe  experience:

• A lightweight camera with 1 auto-focused zoom lens (a range of 24-105mm is perfect for most of the travels).
• The camera should have in-camera panorama feature so no need for any super wide angel lens. (X100 is great in this area. I sometimes thought I bought it just for this feature.)
• The camera should have high ISO capability (acceptable at ISO 3200) since I will shoot a lot of night scenes hand holding it. 
• Color and dynamic range are extremely important. Better getting it right when you do the shooting. Nobody likes to photoshop all those photos after a trip. (X100 did a wonderful job in this area.)
• Battery should last a whole day without any need for recharge. (X100 is not great in this area. Fortunately I remembered to bring two batteries.)
• Camera should be fast to turn on and auto focus should be lightning fast. (X100 is terrible in this area. This is where my Nikon excels.)
• Don't forget your smart phone. Learn to use it. Not only it's a wonderful camera, the instant gratification of uploading your photo and getting it "liked" beats any fancy camera you can have with you. 

A White Christmas (Church Yard of Cathedral Basilica)

"Care to join us for the Christmas Mass", the statue seemed to be saying. It was the first time I attended a Christmas Mass (bored me to death). 

Christmas Eve in Santa Fe

Loretto at Night

An old lady singing Christmas Carol in front of a bonfire.

Chimayo (A Miracle Site)

In this tiny church, there are hundreds of crutches from those people who were healed by the miracles here. Will this gentleman get better after his visit?

Lookout on High Road to Taos

 Two 180 degree panoramas.

On the Road

Near Taos Canyon, with Rio Grande on our left hand side.

With my friend Yicheng driving and her partner Sheryl doing the navigation, I kept on shooting from the back seat. I soon found this type of shooting quite interesting. If done right, it could really show a sense of a journey. I slightly regretted I didn't bring my D800E with me. Though X100 was wonderful at delivering colors, it was not fast enough to catch many scenes. The focus was just too slow. After reviewing these photos, I got another idea: next time, I will try a GoPro.

We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw the sign, but the road indeed turned that way.

Taos (Church of San Francisco de Asis)