In the winter of 2009, we went on a Skiing trip to Les Arcs, France. Although it was a skiing trip, a few of us, myself included opted for snowboarding. We had to go through a crazy long bus journey (20 or 30 hrs, can’t remember) which was held up due to adverse weather conditions; the crazy snow.
Since the trip was for about 7 days long (minus the bus trips), we had to spend Christmas over at the Ski Resort. It was such a beautiful place, sort of like entering a fairy tale. I can’t help but wonder how Switzerland or Austria would be like.
There was a Christmas countdown-fireworks show along the slopes of the mountain. It was my first time taking photos of fireworks, which was quite a good experience. Had to tweak a lot of the settings to try getting the best light paths etc. It didn’t work out that well, but still acceptable I guess.
It was rather difficult to take photos while snowboarding. Can’t imagine falling and having my dslr fly into the air. So, was only able to take out the camera on the last day, and even then I had to set it aside and take shots when I’m not on the board.
Snowboarding, is just awesome. Although skiing may seem to be the more practical safe choice, snowboarding seems really cool. Well I can't comment much considering I did not attempt to ski, but it just feels good. Although the first 3-4 days of learning nearly cost me an arm and a leg (bruises from falling), it was definitely a worth while experience.
Some of the mini toys from the Christmas Crackers! Cute.
View of the slopes from the 1950 village.
A tasty shot of the 1950 special. 1950 is the level of the mountain the village is on, which I’m assuming is 1950 meters above sea level. This amazing waffle is so delicious, with chocolate sticks skewered into the waffle itself.
Siberian husky? My favourite breed. I find the dog's glare really cool, and the fur is just nice, not too fluffy or naked. Feel like hugging it but didn't want to die so fast.
More shots of the fairy tale village.
First attempt at Panorama shot. It didn’t work out that well as I didn’t have a tripod with me. The gradient of the ground is also extremely tilted. Click to enlarge! This is a lovely pic of Cik Sophia/Sophy. I actually flipped the picture horizontally cause it felt better this way. Apart from that, very minor touches to the contrast and the shot turned out great!
Ahem, this shot is dedicated to the special couple of the trip. I’m sure you guys have had a great time together on the trip =)
Last shot, an attempt at B&W + Vintage look. I still can’t achieve the type of warm gentle vintage feel that I’m looking for. Still need a lot of practice. Cheerio ~
On the 15th of Dec, Alex and I went to Manchester to watch a match. Well I don't really know football, but according to Alex, tickets were cheap at GBP50? I wanted the experience, so why not. Went down to Manchester for a night.
Many thanks to my college mate Siak Gee for having us over. Also had a tour around the city courtesy of Alexis. Didn't really spot anything extraordinary in the city, so no pics there.
Oh, if you are still wondering what were the words at the bottom of each picture, they are the chants from the fans. You can hear them here at http://www.fanchants.com/football-team/manchester_united/. I've only included the ones I like, but you can find more over there..jpg)
Well I must comment in a cliché manner that, the experience was so surreal. Outside the stadium everything seems normal and you keep seeing bare concrete walls and metal stairs. But once you come across the door which leads inside the stadium, its like an opening into another world. With seating capacity of 75,957 (wiki), it feels amazing being in the stands.%20copy.jpg)
In the Owen Hargreaves pic, directly opposite from where the view is in the corner the opposition stand. Just the 2 columns. If I'm not mistaken less than 1000 Wolverhampton fans were present.
I'm not really a football person, but it was fun. Especially exhilarating when goals are scored. Other than that, the ball just goes back and forth across the field. Luckily the funny chants from the fans were quite the amusement.
We went for the Old Trafford tour the next day, which takes you around the stadium and into the off limit places. You even get to walk right next to the pitch (not on it though). It was an interesting experience, but I doubt I'll be paying so much to watch a football match again.
