Mt Kinabalu – The Mountain

September 9, 2006

My friend Chris & I decided to climb Mt. Kinabalu. The summit is 4095 m (13,450 ft), the tallest between the Himalayas & New Guinea. For some perspective, Mt Rainer is just taller 4392 m (14,410 ft) – although, since you’re trucking through snow, Rainer is a tougher climb. The climb up Mt Kinabalu starts at about 1866 m (6,122 ft). The first day, you hike up to Laban Rata at 3272 m (10,734 ft), where there is a lodge to spend the night. The next morning (around 3am) you start the final 823 m (2,700 ft) climb for sunrise at the summit. After hiking back …

Elephant Sanctuary

September 8, 2006

Based on a recommendation, my friend Chris & I headed out to the Kuala Gandah, an elephant sanctuary about 2 hours outside of Kuala Lumpur. We had the most excellent Mr Razali as our guide. The elephants at the sanctuary were found injured and/or trapped. The sanctuary also runs an elephant rescue & relocation program. Much of the elephants’ natural habitat in Malaysia is now plantation crop & many elephants are trapped in “islands” of forest that are too small to sustain them. The sanctuary tries to mitigate this by relocating them to the national forest for protection. The highlight our trip was the baby elephants – Siput (female, 10 months) …

Petronas Towers

September 6, 2006

The Petronas Twin Towers were beautiful at night. It’s no wondering they’re a symbol of Malaysia.

Redwood National Forest

August 20, 2006

This past weekend, I was in Arcata, California with my folks for a wedding. We wandered up to Redwood National Forest yesterday. It was incredibly foggy… and a bit too reminiscent of Seattle weather. 🙂 But it was incredibly beautiful, and we had a fun time. the redwoods. driftwood on the shore my parents an old house in trinidad

Paragliding – Tiger Mountain

August 16, 2006

This past weekend, I went paragliding for the first time. It was a “tandem flight” off Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mountain. The weather was perfect: blue skies, warm sun. I was in the first group to go up. It was beautiful up in the air – very mellow and serene. I actually had hoped for a bit more “extreme adventurous”… but maybe next time. 🙂 I did seem some wicked looking spirals from other paragliders. Some photos: The dude on the far right was supposed to act as “ballast”… ….but the wind was so strong I just popped right up… looking up.. …

Appreciating “Digital” Retouching

August 14, 2006

I took these photos on one of my favorite hikes ever: Oyster Dome in the Chuckanut Mountains last April. My friend Archana and I caught one of the first sunny spring days. As you can see, there were some amazing views of the San Juan islands. I remember being somewhat heartbroken when I picked up the prints. I hadn’t meant to do a silhouette (although I like it more now). And, the sunspot in the middle of the frame *killed* me. But last night, I took out the sunspot, blended away the negative scratches… and lighted the tone a bit. It …

More Photos from Travels

August 14, 2006

Going through my stacks of negatives, it hit me how lucky I’ve been to travel. Here are a few more of my favorites from an early 2004 trip. charles bridge in prague, czech republic prague, czech republic park guell in barcelona, spain kunming, china tiger leaping gorge, china

Negative Scanner & Photos

July 27, 2006

About a month ago, I finally broken down & bought a negative scanner. I’ve slowly been digitalizing about 80 pounds (literally) worth of scrapbook photos. A few of my favorites that I’ve recently scanned… traveling on horseback to monteverde, costa rica my friend vidya’s dance recital my friend archana in the hoh rainforest dali, china

My Hot Wedding Date

July 12, 2006

(Also known as Mr. Burger) Me w/ Rodin’s Burger of Calais @ Stanford University.

Airplane Photos