Sat evening was one of those rare days here where it did not rain all day long. AMAZING.It was strange not waking up to raindrops or not comming back in the rain. After a few failed attempts somewhere else, decided to test out the wide lenses in my own back garden. Literally

Rows and rows of sweetheart cabbage

That’s how it looks like. Don’t know what’s the diff with normal cabbage except the size -will let you know soon as I ‘borrowed’ a cabbage from the farm

Savoy cabbage. A constant companion on the english sunday roast platter;usually sweated and drenched with gravy.

Can you see my house?Bacon using the 200mm telescopic

Would you believe that this is the first time that I had ever been to a cabbage/veggie farm?

I am, I am!

How come mommy’s friends don’t like me?They keep asking her to get a dog…I think it is racist and sooooo unpolitically correct myself.

Whether you like it or if my mommy convulse in short breaths whenever she is near me,I am here to stay!

to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

woo!!!

yes,bacon baked and iced me a car – influenced by the skoda advert

and oh,please welcome EOS400D to the family!I’ve missed you canon!

Sorry for the spotted quality – taken on the toilet mirror.heh.

Just got it 2 hrs ago,so you will see more of my EOS400D in action soon!

so happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeee!!

Sangria-ed sunset

I have seen many a pretty sunsets in my life – you would have more than noticed it if you had been following my blog for more than a few months. Even my wedding march was done to the tune of a purply red pretty sunset – or so I noticed after the event as I was too stressed out being mad at the photographer and everyone else.

Anyway. Ibiza is blessed with clear skies in the day, and long lingering colors of sunsets from 8pm onwards. The prettiness of sunset only dissapear around 10pm – whilst in Malaysia it would start at around 7.15pm and pitch black by 8pm.Not much of time for you to enjoy the calming effect. All around the island,there are outposts and cool chillout bars for you to sit out and enjoy the remnants of a beautiful sunny day, in calm relaxing surroundings – no, not piano lounge.It is truly la isla bonita.

The San Antonio Bay sunset

And again

Boats boats, take me away..

Reflecting on an angry sun

Sunset from my hotel

The super-famed Café Del Mar is located on what is called the Sunset strip, which should give you some clue of why is it included in this post.It is currently a shithole of a place – renovations are intensive in that area as they are building a broadwalk so that people can walk on it safely instead of on the rocky beach that has been part of its charm since the early 80s with Jose Padilla manning the decks.Incidentally, Jose Padilla has apparently moved on to Café Mambo, which is right next door,thereby their direct competitor.

Watch this – the café del mar sunset. All taken in bursts of 1 minute.:

The end

Blurred

Putting your feet up

The beer after.

I love old buildings. They are always filled with character and images of days gone by.For that reason alone, I am a big fan of castles and churches.I can sit in churches for a whole hour just not doing anything, as I often did in Bruxelles. But I am not even christian, so it’s not like as if I was having conversations with God. I also love old chinese temples, the smokier and the more colorful the better.

Admist the modern amenities and the endless building around Leeds is the very special Kirkstall Abbey. Looking dark and formidable next to a busy main road into town, I had always wanted to do a photoshoot there…and the suprise of a sunny day made the opportunity too hard to pass up.

Introduction
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Kirkstall Abbey is one of the most important buildings historically in Leeds. Built between 1152 and 1182 on the northern bank of the River Aire, the Abbey was home to a community of Cistercian monks and lay brothers. One of Britain’s best preserved abbeys, it has been through many changes in the nearly 1000 years of existence ; a cafe and as part of a main road (!!) is some of the stranger ones .A quick and inept history on the Cistercian monks; they follow the teaching of Jesus Christ but prefer a monastic existence. They are only allowed to speak in certain areas of the abbey. A typical day’s in a monk’s life would start with prayers from 1am – more prayers – transcribing manuscripts -eat- prayers – bedtime at 8.30pm.

By the sixteen hundreds the spiritual fervour that had gripped the middle ages had started to fade, the monastic way of life fell under suspicion by a king whose need for spiritual freedom (and financial expansion) forced the demise of an increasingly unpopular way of life. With the publication of the Valor Ecclesiasticus in 1535, all monasteries valued under £200 per annum were suppressed and their occupants either pensioned off or moved to larger sites. By 1540 the “voluntary” surrender of all the religious houses in England and Wales had been obtained, their estates and sites granted, rented or sold and their inhabitants pensioned off.

After its dissolution in 1539 the abbey’s windows, roofs and much of the stonework were steadily removed for use in local building projects and this helps explain its current partially-ruined appearance. Nevertheless, Kirkstall is still preferred by many historians to other Cistercian abbeys such as those found at Fountains and Rievaulx.

entrance to heaven

the infirmiry

The Church:
Beginning at the west end, the view along the church’s entire 200 foot length is unbroken, with 8 huge columned arches. At services, there was a strict order from back to front. Closest to the west door is the Nave, where lay brothers and lay visitors sat. Closer to the front were aged and infirm monks, then monks and novices in the choir.

The Main church. Believe it or not, it used the be the main route into Leeds during the Victorian era until conservationist moved in on it. How crazy was that? There were even properly carved initials of Victorians into the columns.

Arches

Inside the side arches.

Altar looking up

The Transept:
On either side of the tower providing the important crucifix shape to the church. The North Transept doorway gave access to the cemetery after funeral services. A fascinating feature of the South Transept is the ‘night stairs’ used by monks to reach the choir from their dormitory for night vigils.

Upview at the middle of the Transept.

The Cloisters and Chapter House:
The Cloisters form one of the most tranquil corners of Leeds, a square with covered walkways where monks would sit reading and writing. The Chapter House has many carved arches and pillars and some old stone coffins.A little piece of trivia; coffins were also stuffed into the walls, for some strange reason. Probably to reinforce the walls ; coffins were made out of stone in the Middle Ages.

Inside the cloisters & chapter house

Courtyard

Out and around:

Gateway to the shining light

Side view

Holy swan!

quack?

bloomin’ river

sepia-toned glory

view the rest of my pictures in my Flickr account here. Bear in mind that they have been kept private, if you would like to view it, please let me know and I will add you!

information/facts stole off Kirkstall Abbey’s website . Photos are all mine.