Category: Photography

photos from our travels, other interesting places and events

Coffee shops and night life in Amsterdam

PhotoHunt 99: Party photohunt

This party took place in one of Amsterdam’s famous bars and coffee shops, with some old friends and hubby’s workmates from around the world during the worldwide meeting.

It shall be noted that in the Netherlands, the use of soft drugs – cannabis in all its forms (marijuana, hashish, hash oil) has been admitted for the personal use only; it is legal! And openly sold and smoked in Amsterdam’s coffee shops which can legally store up to 500 g of marijuana and can sell up to 5 grams to adults over 18. (We didn’t smoke, ok!) These coffee shops offer several kinds of weed and hash, and usually there is a “menu” to choose from. The prices vary according to the quality (about 5 EUR per gram). Amsterdam has also a major smoking event called High Times Cannabis Cup on November. But there are also so many interesting places and tourist spots in Amsterdam as well.


Signs of Spring

trees in winter

budding trees

The weather is still heavy and unpredictable at times, and the mornings freezing, but the sign of spring is here. These are just some snapshots I took around the house. Another season will soon come, afresh and anew. It is so good to see see trees come to life again, except the evergreens, with its beautiful budding. Every time is a blissful morning.

Hold tight!

Wordless Wednesday – Safe in her mother’s bossom
Sanjay Gandhi National Park, India.

Sanjay Gandhi Park monkeys

emtional bonding of monkeys

I am not comparing monkeys with people; I don’t believe in the theory that we come from there. But looking at that scene in that park I didn’t see the monkeys, but I saw the emotional bond between them and made me recall that when we were kids, five of us siblings (that’s a blessing!) then with a year or two age gap, it was not just our mother that held us tight, but our eldest sister too. She would always hold us together so we would not be run over on our long way home from church. The joy of childhood! I was holding tight. 🙂 In case you ask why it is a blessing..

Taj Mahal tower

Weekend Snapshot 25

This is one of the four large towers of the Taj Mahal, called the minarets, each more than 40 meters tall standing at the corners of plinth, all symmetrical in every corner, made from naturally crystallized marble only found in India.

Taj Mahal tower
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The minarets display Taj Mahal’s penchant for symmetry. These towers are designed as working minarets, a traditional element of mosques as a place for a muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The minaret chattris share the same finishing touches, a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. Each of the minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth, so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many such tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.

Buildings of the world

PhotoHunt 98: Wooden

We see how the Middles East, not just Dubai, has been booming with all projects that are so amazing, making records in the world. All constructions modern and prestigious and are unending, it is really amazing to see them work.
Dubai buildings

But far from the recesses of the modern world is this one barn across the road. It has been there for more than half a century. I think it is lovely.
wooden barn

Wooden shoe-making in Netherlands

PhotoHunt 98: Wooden
These are some of the photos I took in Netherlands during our trip last October. These are in the countryside where life still rolls with the wooden shoes and windmills. The wooden shoe factories gained it’s reputation across the world and gathered display collection as far as Korea and Japan. One thing with wooden shoes is that they warm the feet when its cold and cool the feet down when its hot.

Netherlands shoe factory

A wooden shoe-maker showing us the traditional shoe making using the same tools as old as the use of clogs themselves.

wooden shoe maker

These are the finished products. Colorful and Imeldific shoes.

wooden shoes

One more. This is what the unpainted old shoes look like:

wooden shoes of the Netherlands

Juhu Beach Hotels

Mumbai hotels

This was the hotel we stayed in Mumbai in 2006. Situated on Juhu beach, this was taken one afternoon along the shore where thousands of Indian passed their time. A silhouette of the hotel gave obscure view of the building painting.

Juhu beach, an indispensable part of the city of Mumbai, is one of the largest and frequently visited beaches in India on the shores of the Arabian Sea. Not exactly an ideal place for a quiet swim and a sunbath, the beach has a charm of its own, attracting legions of Mumbaikars every day.

juhu beach view from the hotel

How to get there:
Juhu is 20-25km north of the city centre; by air, it is not far from Mumbai airport, and which is also well connected by rail and roads, 15 Kms From Dadar Bus Stand.

For accomodations along the Juhu Beach, check here.