A Few Forgotten Frames and a Paradigm Shift

Two toads sticking the heads above green, slimy pond water, Lodhi Garden

Some time back I made a post from our Winter days in Lodhi Garden and from Purana Qila. But while I was going through some old pictures I realised that I had missed a folder with pictures taken with Nitoli's camera. On this card there were a few more pictures, which I really like and wanted to share, despite the fact that I failed to include them into the thematic posts I made earlier. I particularly love the toad picture above.

This post will also signal a bit of a paradigm shift on this blog. I have earlier been focusing on fairly big thematic posts each one with quite a lot of work put into them. As the regular visitor would surely have noticed, it has been hard for me to keep up with this format with updated becoming increasingly rare and irregular. There are many reasons for this, one of them the fact that I work more now than I used to.

For that reason, I have decided that going forward I will make a lot more short posts with just one or a few pictures that I just want to share without necessarily putting it into a grander thematic context. This should allow me to take my blog back to the level I can make at least 1 or 2 updates each week.

These short posts might primarily be from my daily observations centred on everyday life in and around Delhi, while I would still work on the larger posts covering a broader topic when I go traveling to new destinations or when there is a major change in our lives. Regarding the latter, I can reveal that there is a very special thematic posts coming up as soon as I find the time to put it together. Without giving away too much to those who do not already know what I am talking about, I can say that it is about one of the biggest changes any person can undergo in life :)

Beautiful White Throated Kingfisher in Lodhi Gardens

A tree full of black kites (In Danish: Sort Glente) near the railway tracks, seen from Purana Qila in Delhi

(The events in this post took place on 7 February 2009)

A Day in Macau

Landmark Grand Lisboa Casino looms large over old colonial buildings of Central Macau

From Hong Kong we took the almost mandatory one-day ferry trip to the former Portuguese colony of Macau, which is filled with culture and charm but primarily known for its status as Asia premier gambling destination - if not the world's. In recent years Macau has reportedly bested Las Vegas in total gambling revenue.

We had a chance to sample both history and gambling. We arrived very early in the morning and for most of the day we walked the streets taking in various sights and museums. But in the evening we visited a couple of the many foreign casinos, which have established themselves in Macau, which is seen as a much more promising avenue towards increasing gambling revenues than Las Vegas. Most impressive - but also extremely tacky - was The Venetian, which shares it's name with it's sister casino in Las Vegas (which I also visited back in 2003). We even gambled a bit of money, with neither any winnings nor losses.

Colonial buildings in Macau's Largo do Senado

Old man doing some people watching in the square

In Macau the signs are written on porcelain tiles in Portuguese and Chinese (I assume Cantonese, but not sure)

The famous ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral - the principal historical landmark of Macau

Building beautifully decorated with chines lamps - home to a Pawnshop museum

Nitoli playing the role as pawn shop cashier inside the museum

Nice little alley with a very Chinese feel

Nitoli at Monte Fort, which is also home to a good Macau Museum

Nitoli in front of a row of replica Macau houses in Macau Museum

Scale model showing what Macau's waterfront would have looked like in the 19th century

I spotted this old rusty gate while walking. Although it's not very peculiar to Macau, I liked the motif enough to share it with my blog visitors

As dark descended we shifted our focus to the casino. The foreign owned "Sands", placed strategically near the ferry docks to lure in the many visitors just arriving in Macau or those looking to kill some time before departure

The grand central lobby of the Venetian, which connects the gambling floor downstairs to the shops and restaurants upstairs. This picture doesn't really do justice to the cheesy grandeur of the place, though.

It may be dark outside, but inside The Venetian the sky is always blue. It can be tricky keeping a proper sense of time in here, and I think that's not accidental

(The events in this post took place on 10 April 2009)