Dave Hodgkinson Photography » Travel http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog Photos and stuff by Dave Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:37:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Retro http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/retro/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/retro/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:37:12 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1202 This was the future once.

Retro\

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/retro/feed/ 0 Taiwanese food http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taiwanese-food-2/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taiwanese-food-2/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:33:08 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1200 I may rag on Taiwan for many reasons but food isn’t one of them. Just look at this little spread and click through to flickr for the annotations. So good.

A little light Taiwanese snack - annotated

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taiwanese-food-2/feed/ 0 Houtong – Cat Village http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/houtong-cat-village/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/houtong-cat-village/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:04:49 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1197 At its peak, Houtong was a thriving and often fatal mining town, at its height under Japanese rule. Now, it’s silent and decrepit. BUT! It’s now a super duper tourist attraction because it has, wait for it, CATS! Yes, there’s a bunch of semi-feral cats and people now tour out to pet them. Oh the high life. On the upside, aside from on Canon 5D MkII and some weird Olympus people, it was solid Nikons. Are we cat people?

Enjoyed shooting in B/W with the D300 again today. The colour pic was with the Canon S90.


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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/houtong-cat-village/feed/ 0 Taiwanese food http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taiwanese-food/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taiwanese-food/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:09:28 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1192 Taiwan has its ups and downs: trade huge cockroaches, typhoons and earthquakes for epic scenery, hot springs and great food. Taiwanese food draws from all regions of China, Japanese food it inherited from the occupation and many others besides. Here’s a good selection we had at a restaurant at the Sogo department store. To me, the menu kinda chose itself. From left to right: Hakka-style squid, fried tofu in black bean sauce, three cup chicken, stir-fried greens and braised pork belly. It was good!


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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taiwanese-food/feed/ 0 Sucker for sunsets http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/sucker-for-sunsets/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/sucker-for-sunsets/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:19:53 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1186 If we all have a dirty little secret photographic cliché, then sunsets are mine. I’ve shot them in California, Taiwan and assorted points in Europe. They are always different and always lovely.

This one was shot 300m up the mountain at Maokong after a lovely tea with the local brew. And cake.

On a photographic note, I was trying out new UV and polarising filters on the Nikon D300 and the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. Jury still out on that.

Sucker for sunsets

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/sucker-for-sunsets/feed/ 0 Taipei Twilight http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taipei-twilight/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taipei-twilight/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:29:16 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1183 A rare thing. A clear night and some nice twilight. Shin Kong Mistukoshi tower just lighting up.

I need to get a tripod.

Mitsukoshi at twighlight

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/taipei-twilight/feed/ 0 Disabled Robot Gymnastics http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/disabled-robot-gymnastics/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/disabled-robot-gymnastics/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:14:33 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1180 I *think* I know what this sign is trying to say, but you never know.

Disabled robot gymnastics?

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/disabled-robot-gymnastics/feed/ 0 Papaya tree: resurrection http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/papaya-tree-resurrection/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/papaya-tree-resurrection/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:47:45 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1170 Most days we walk past a decrepit Japanese-era building owned by the university. There was a nice papaya tree with fruit growing right in front. Then it disappeared, lopped off about four feet off the ground.

But it’s back! We’ll be watching it in our last two weeks here.

Papaya tree: resurrection

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/papaya-tree-resurrection/feed/ 0 Stunning golden waterfall, Jinguashi http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/stunning-golden-waterfall-jinguashi/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/stunning-golden-waterfall-jinguashi/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:36:35 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1158 Taiwan isn’t short of natural wonders: from hot springs, to alien coastline to soaring mountains. This one is a little special. This is a little down the hill from the Jinguashi disused gold mine and shows what happens when copper leeches into the water. Rather purty, no?

I have more pictures of the mine, but for now, know that it was a notorious POW camp that housed over 1100 British soldiers during the war. And yes, the Japanese were as brutal to the British as they were tolerant to the locals.

Golden waterfall - Jioufeng

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]]> http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/stunning-golden-waterfall-jinguashi/feed/ 0 Shi-Da purveyors of deep-fried goodness http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/shi-da-purveyors-of-deep-fried-goodness/ http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/2010/07/shi-da-purveyors-of-deep-fried-goodness/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:26:13 +0000 davehodg http://www.davehodgkinson.com/blog/?p=1156 This is a paradoxical country: everyone eats hugely and widely, yet on the whole, people remain resolutely skinny. Which I think says much about the Western diet.

This stall in Sh-Da night market is our occasional stop-off for cauliflower, mushroom, tofu and chewy fishy thing, lighty battered, deep fried then powdered with salty pepper and dotted with fresh garlic. Accompanied by a bucket of iced tea. Nom.

Shi-Da purveyors of deep-fried goodness

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