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Yes, I stayed up late last Saturday to try to take a few photos of the lunar eclipse. It was spectacular here, the moon high in a mostly clear sky and sporting a deep rust-red color, which made taking photos a bit difficult. I walked down to where I usually go running, the soccer field by the gym, which has a wide-open view of the sky.
I use Canon Image Stabilizer (IS) lenses on the camera. IS lenses are supposed to reduce blur when you’re hand-holding the camera in low-light and other situations, but I’d read that you shouldn’t use the IS function when using your camera on a tripod, because the lens will look for camera shake when there isn’t any. Using it with a tripod, then, will add some blur to your photos. Well, I thought that I’d turned off the IS, but when I got back to my apartment, I noticed that it was turned on. Sure enough, all the shots were a bit on the blurry side. Lesson learned–double check all settings, especially if you’re going to be out shooting in the dark.
Anyway, here are a couple of shots. The first one is of the pre-eclipse moon, which I was able to shoot from my apartment, and the second is of the moon during totality, around 11:30 p.m. local time on Saturday. The only post-processing I did in Photoshop was to sharpen both images a bit. The color of the moon in the second one is as I shot it. Click on either image to get a larger view.
Another astronomical event is occurring tonight. The Geminid meteor shower will best be seen between 10 p.m. local time and sunrise tomorrow morning. This annual shower has been picking up steam in recent years, and, despite the presence of an almost-full moon, some of its fireballs, characteristic of the shower, could be seen. Give it a try. Me? I’m feeling a bit lazy, but I might try to watch it from my apartment, though I have a very limited view of the sky. More later.
Well, it was pretty quiet last night after the Laos-Malaysia soccer match. Yes, unfortunately, Laos got beat 3-1. Malaysia scored about 15 minutes into the game on a spectacular over-the-head scissors kick. It stayed that way until the second half, when Laos put on charge after charge toward the Malaysia goal. They finally broke through about halfway into the period, tieing the game at 1 apiece. It was bedlam when the goal was scored, with all the Laos fans (and yours truly) screaming and shouting with joy. Hope had been restored that the unexpected might happen–that Laos might play for the gold medal. Alas, Malaysia stormed back with 2 goals to win the game. Not all is lost, though–Laos still plays for the bronze against Singapore this coming Friday, I believe. Viet Nam squares off against Malaysia for the gold.
Below are some photos I’ve taken recently. None of them have been optimized and I won’t be able to do any postprocessing work on them until I return to Korea. But, I suppose they’ll do until then. Enjoy.
Here’s a shot from yesterday with a few of the Viet Nam fans sporting their colors. I took this from a tuk-tuk, so the sharpness isn’t probably all that great.
Here’s another shot taken last night while we watched the soccer match. We usually eat at one of the outdoor restaurants along the Mekong, and this one is our particular favorite. Here, a couple of the guys are busy cooking up some goodies. I love the big fish you can see on the grill. They’re stuffed with some kind of herb and coated with salt, which gives them their white color before they’re browned. Yummmm.
To continue with the food theme, here’s the view of the Hotel Lao’s charming courtyard, where breakfast is served. As you can see, there’s an empty chair at my table. Care to join me?
We’re heading out to Nai’s house today, so I’ll probably be out of contact for a while. But, as always, more later.
Yesterday, the 11th, was Pepero Day in Korea. It’s akin to Valentine’s Day, which is also celebrated here, with young people and couples exchanging candy, mainly the Lotte Corporation’s Pepero brand. The 11th is Pepero Day because, according to this article, the date 11/11 resembles four sticks of Pepero. However, the name Pepero in Korean, which you can see on the product box below, also resembles 11/11. At any rate, some of my students gave me several boxes of the treat, which makes for good munchies. (Reminder to self: jog an extra half hour next time out.)
I was out walking around a few weekends ago and took the following shot from near the Soho Yacht Marina area, along the sidewalk back toward the main part of town. Yeosu is quite pretty at nighttime, as you can see from the photo. I took a bus there and back. The bus system in town is very extensive and you can travel almost anywhere for 1,000 won (about 85 cents), unless you have to make some transfers. It doesn’t run like clockwork, though, because you might have to wait 30 minutes for a specific bus to come along and then 2 or 3 of them show up within 5 minutes of each other. There are no timed stops, so it’s kind of hit and miss as far as timeliness. More later.
Unfortunately, there were some deaths in Laos caused by Typhoon Ketsana, at least 16 according to this report. Tonight, Nai told me that Laos TV news reported that 20 had died. In addition, a new typhoon, Parma, is now ripping through the Philippines. Only yesterday, the tracking map on some weather sites appeared to me that it might continue on into Viet Nam and, perhaps, Cambodia and Laos. Now, however, it appears it’s going to swing north-east into the Pacific.
I took a few nighttime photos of Yeosu from my office this evening. The first one below shows the nearly-full moon rising just after sundown.
Moon Over Yeosu
The following shot is an experimental effort in color enhancement. I thought the various yellow, orange, blue and purple hues contrasted nicely, so I played around a bit in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to give them a bit of “whoomp.” It looks much better when you click on the link below the photo. Enjoy. More later.
Nighttime in Yeosu
No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth–just busy settling in at Yeosu and teaching classes at the university. This weekend and Monday is the Korean holiday of Chuseok (chew-sock), so I have a bit of time off to catch my breath and make a post. I promise I’ll try to do better with the frequency of entries.
Right now, though, I’m watching CNN International and following the landfall of Hurricane Ike along the Texas Gulf coast, an area where I lived when I was a youngster. It looks to be quite bad in Galveston and other areas, so we can only hope for the best for those folks. My brother in Fort Worth might also see some severe effects of Ike as it passes through his neck of the woods.
And speaking of hurricanes, the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, has also been hit extremely hard in the past month or so. I guess I left just in time, more or less, and my sympathies go out to those people, also.
We’ve also got a typhoon, Sinlaku, heading in our direction, but it’s predicted to turn to the north east and rake the eastern coast of Japan. For now, though, we’ve had some very nice early fall weather, with clear, blue skies and mild temperatures. The area is quite beautiful, where mountains meet sea, and I’ve posted a few photos below and more on the new Yeosu section of the Photo Gallery.
Everyone I’ve met so far has been extremely friendly and I’ve struck up good friendships with the other 4 foreign teachers. There are 2 Aussies, a Canadian, and a fellow from just north of Boston (but I forgive him for his baseball loyalty to you know what team). Word is that the uni is hiring another teacher from New York, so maybe we Yankee fans will be in the majority.
Here’s a night shot of Yeosu from the campus, which sits high upon a hill overlooking the city.
I took a hike in the surrounding mountains last weekend and caught my first view of the ocean from the top of high hill. The photo I took is below. I rode my motorbike down to one of the beaches (didn’t have my camera), and it was quite nice, though not exactly the type of beach I’ve been used to for the last few years. 
Here’s a view of the Cheonnam National University campus.
And, finally, a shot of the building in which I work, the Health and Human Sciences building where the Language Education Center is located. More later.
I’m off to Marrakech tomorrow morning, catching the 7:55 train. It’s also the first day of Eid in Morocco. Since believers are supposed to go to early morning prayers at the beginning of the festival, I’m hoping the noise will settle down early tonight so I can catch some sleep before getting up at 6 a.m. I’ll probably be out of touch with the blog for the next three days, but I should have a lot to report about the trip and Marrakech, hopefully with some photos to put in the gallery.
It looks like Friday and Saturday will be devoted to sightseeing and whatnot, with a welcome dinner to the conference on Saturday evening. Nabila and I give our workshop at 9 a.m. on Sunday, then I’m supposed to catch a 2 p.m. train that afternoon. I might, though, see if I can change my ticket, maybe coming back on Monday instead. More later.
Here’s another mosque photo.
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