Two nights ago as I was going to turn off my computer and go to sleep, I noticed several aurora notifications from the local meteorologist site (I'm subscribed to get the notifications). When I noticed the high numbers, I realized that the Northern Lights must have been strong ones, so I ran outside and yep, despite the fact that our place was surrounded by street lights here and there (that dampened the colour and brilliance of the dancing lights), I could see their movements very clearly across the sky. I had seen them a few times before, but they were much weaker and then they were gone in a few minutes, so I never tried taking photos of them. So I ran back inside and grabbed my mobile phone as I wouldn't know how long they would last. Unfortunately my camera's battery hadn't been recharged, so I had to be happy with my mobile camera, though I doubted that it would be able to take any decent photos at all.
I tried taking photos using different modes. Fireworks: nope, night mode without tripod: nope, videotaping: nope. Just black, black, black. So I did the only thing I could do: automatic mode with flash. The first few photos were blurry, but I could see some green, so I learnt to hold my mobile more steadily and in between the photo taking session, I had to learn to hold my breath as well. You see, if I had breathed out when I held my mobile upward to the sky, my cold breath would go up and cover the camera LOL!!! If I had breathed in, my hand would shake a little. But I must say it was worth all the holding back of my breath HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
The Northern Lights kept on dancing around the whole sky for hours, though I only stayed there for about half an hour. Amazing, though I couldn't see the green that clearly (more like very pale green/whitish) due to the many street lights around me. I didn't want to bother going farther away to find a darker place as I didn't want to miss it at all. My neck was sore after coming back as I had to look up the whole time I was out. They say that tonight there will be another strong show and I'm recharging my regular camera at the moment, wishing that it won't be cloudy tonight. We shall see how it goes.
In the meantime, here's a collage I made of the few decent photos I managed to take with my mobile. They aren't good enough to be printed, but at least you can see how they keep moving around and changing shapes. FYI, the ones on the second row are vertical photos.
Here's one vertical photo in its original size (notice the street light below as a guide to let you know just how long the aurora is):
If you want to see other more amazing photos from across Finland, here's the link (click on each photo to see a bigger version): Aurora.
I haven't been in the mood to blog, even though I do have lots of ideas and stories to tell still. The bad thing is that the travel journals are better off written when they're still fresh in my mind, but lethargy has overpowered me. Anyway, in order not to let this blog rot to silence, let me just post some flower photos in the time being.
I took these photos with my mobile and played with different features. There's a mirror effect, kaleidoscope effect, as well as a feature where I can simply tap on the screen to put colours on some parts of the scenery. Quite fun!
It was snowing crazily yesterday morning and I had an early shift. I had already anticipated it, because Friday was also another snowy and windy day. It was fascinating to see the wind blowing up the snowy particles in the air like dust circling up to the sky. Yesterday I couldn't ride my bike to work, because it was way too early and the snow was coming down hard and the pavement hadn't been cleared from snow yet.
It was pretty rough to walk on the sidewalk and then I noticed someone riding a bike along the side of the main road, so I decided to walk there, too. Mind you, they had cleared up most of the snow from the main road, so it was easier to walk there ha ha...And because it was so early, there was hardly any traffic (well, not that it's ever been that busy over here anyways). About 200 metres away from my workplace, a car slowly stopped next to me. Turned out it was my boss' car, so I could get a lift to work the rest of the way ha ha ha...My eyebrows were wet by the time I arrived at work as it was snowing right to my face the whole time I was walking to work.
After work we went to my MIL's and I started making a snowman right away. It was really perfect weather as it was wet enough at 0'C, so the snow was pliable and easy to mold. Here are two photos of my upside-down, big-headed snowman he he he he...
My highlight of that day was that when I was making the body, a squirrel came by and watched me curiously from about a metre away. If I made a sudden movement, it'd jolt and scurry behind the tree trunk, but then it kept on watching me for about a few minutes before it finally went over to the bird feeder to eat. Very cute!!! Here are some pics of the peeping squirrel he he he...
Last night all the snow turned to slush because the temperature rose to 1'C. I just checked the temperature outside and it's as warm as 4'C now and it's very very wet. I'd rather have all the snow melted away and then new snow can come in its place without melting away again, because it's really dangerous to have some parts of the snow melt away and then refreeze during the night. Oh well...we shall see what kind of winter we're going to have now. One thing is for sure, though: I can't survive without my light box. The other week I decided to skip using it for a day, but I felt SO SO SO tired that day, so I will never skip using my light box until it gets bright enough outside again.
Before I continue sharing some stories of our Indo/Singapore trip, let me share some autumn photos instead. Catching the flu has thrown me off the blogging saddle, especially because I had to work right after I got better. And as you probably know, once you stop writing for a while, it takes time to get back to the rhythm again. Just like exercise. I managed to exercise once last week and today I decided to go for a walk (also to take some photos).
Went to the cemetery to visit FIL's grave and light some candles as well as to see the gravestone that had just been delivered. Saw two squirrels there in the cemetery area and managed to see some birds on the way back.
Enjoy the photos!
Someone was just buried recently...
And this is a really beautifully-kept grave, don't you think?
One of the candles I lit in front of FIL's grave.
The last photo is the one I tinkered using mirror effect, so it's not an original photo at all, but for some reason I feel the result is amusing ha ha...
During our holiday in Puerto de la Cruz, we decided to go to Santa Cruz (about 40 km away). Asked the hotel receptionist which bus to take. Luckily, unlike our experience in Bulgaria, the buses came on time. We took the regular bus there, but on the way back we took the express buss (same fee, shorter route). Luckily for us, the express bus had a scenic route, so if you ever go there by bus, I suggest taking the express bus instead.
Here's a pic of me and MIL waiting for the bus at the bus stop and a photo of the bus tickets. The ticket price €15.75 is for three people.
Here's a photo I took from the bus. The scenic bus ride back to Puerto de la Cruz. There's the sea at the right side of this. I'll upload the short bus trip video later.
Santa Cruz is definitely a MUCH bigger place than Puerto de la Cruz. Here are some photos of downtown Santa Cruz.
Here are some pics of the market. When I first saw the clock from afar, I thought it was some kind of church or something ha ha ha ha ha...This market reminds me of the market in Budapest. :-) There are also food sellers, butchers, etc.
Here's one photo of the inside of the market.
The other end of the market.
We didn't browse around in the market itself, but I found a top in one of the stores on the outer side of the market. Then we continued walking and walking and walking until we got thirsty, so we stopped by a coffee shop to have some snacks. I bought some croquettes, which tasted similar to those in Indo. Yummy!
Then we continued walking towards the high end shops and stores...
Interesting looking flowers high up on those trees...and some zoomed up pics of the flowers.
We kept on walking and walking until we found this...Some cafe/restaurants with interesting ceilings...the other side of the ceiling is covered with beautiful flowers.
Here's a video clip that I took in this area to give you a clearer view. The building with a sloping low roof across the pond is the restaurant with flowery roof.
HA HA HA HA HA HA...I've just had fun in the yard. Was going to start earlier to catch the daylight, but alas things came up, so I started later than I was planning to do it. Anyhow, the only bad thing about it was that it was hard to take pics of the details with flash on, but if I took pics without the flash, it became yellowish.
Anyhow, here goes...my latest snow monster. I was supposed to make a badass sea monster, but for some reason I still managed to make it look like it was smiling HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...Anyhow, take care, people! Hope you've had a smooth start of the year. :-D
