Textures and Patterns

After having breakfast at our favorite cafe Susan and I had a very leisurely stroll through the grounds of the resort we were staying at. It was nice not having anywhere to go or anything pressing to do. This hotel and grounds are amazing. Everything you see is gorgeous. Ever since arriving in Thailand I have been intrigued with the colors, patterns and textures you see everywhere. Obviously many of these colors and patterns are from plant life because it is so lush here, but it was interesting to see how many different patterns there were.

Golf

Ryan and I made our way to the Mission Hills Golf and Spa Resort for a round of golf. The resort was gorgeous and the golf experience was something completely new to me. It seems in Thailand you are required to have a caddie. Um, OK. I have never had a caddie and didn't quite know what to make of the idea. We were sitting in the starters shack waiting for the caddies when two women drove up in separate carts, but with our golf clubs. They were dressed in traditional caddie overalls and large brimmed hats to keep their faces out of the sun. We introduced ourselves and set off to the first hole. It seems my name is quite difficult for them to pronounce.

The golf course was extremely well maintained and in fantastic condition. As I walked up to the first tee, my caddie hands me my driver and in broken English tells me the yardage and the best way to play my drive. Their English was not very good, but they knew all of the golfing terminology. I was surprised they used yards as a form of measurement instead of meters like Europe. (I was quite pleased with this though.) One can become extremely spoiled having a caddie. I would hit my shot, hand my club to my caddie and then stroll along the hole or walk back to the cart. It took me a number of holes to get over my guilty feeling of having this woman getting my clubs for me, cleaning them, and lining up my put for me. I did get to the point where I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

This was the second Jack Nicklaus course that I have played and am much more pleased with this one than the first. Everywhere you look it was beautiful and scenic. I was having as much fun taking pictures as I was playing golf. As I didn't have to carry a club I would take my camera with me when I left the cart. On the third hole I was going out to play a shot and I had my camera and the iron I was going to use. I set my camera down on the ground so I could play my next shot and my caddie comes running over saying “No, no, no.” She picks up my camera and puts the strap over her shoulder. After that she would always hold the camera too!

We didn't play so well, but we didn't care. We had an absolute blast and loved every minute of it. Ryan and I had a great time. As we finished I asked if it was OK if we could have our pictures taken with them. They were quite amiable to the idea. Ryan took my picture with Dat and then I got the camera back to take his picture with his caddie. They were standing next to a concrete bench and she jumped up on the bench. I was laughing so hard and was glad I was able to get shot of her as tall as Ryan.

P.S. There were so many cool little experiences this day, but there was one more cool experience I wanted to ad. As we finished the ninth hole and were walking towards our carts a waiter came down the steps of the hotel with a tray of drinks and wet washcloths for us. Talk about cool!

Phuket

We made it into Thailand with no problems. I was kind of sad to leave Korea so fast. This is a country that I would love to explore and see more of. One very interesting thing about Seoul that we noticed was their pursuit of fitness and health. There were very few over-weight people. So few in fact that it was noticeable to Susan and I. There are these little exercise parks everywhere throughout the city. It was amazing! As we toured the city these parks would be full of people exercising. Some would be doing Tai-Chi while others would be running, cycling, walking, or using the exercise equipment in the parks. Everywhere we went people were exercising. Waiting for a bus or taxi there would be people stretching or meditating. A very different world than what I am use to.

Phuket. We have been here for a few days now and I wish I could tell you how amazing it really is. I don't think the photos can adequately do Phuket justice. Everywhere you look there is something gorgeous, unbelievable and downright bizarre. I love it! The hotel we staying is an absolute work of art. It will take your breath away, again and again.

Yesterday we went diving at the Similan Islands. Honestly, I was little nervous. We just got certified and here we are, scuba diving in the middle of the ocean. On the way to the pier I was talking to a guy from England, but living in Australia. He has dove all over the world and joked when I told him this was my first real dive that I wasn't leaving any room for lesser dives. I guess this is suppose to be a good dive. Well, it was. We took a speed boat out to the islands. Have you ever ridden in a speed boat through the ocean for an hour and a half? It isn't exactly a smooth ride, but I will tell you this. It was easily worth the jarring. We met up with the dive boat out at one of the Similan Islands. After our quick dive orientation (a sort of blend of Thai and English) and getting split up with a dive master we got our gear on and hopped into the ocean. The fish, corral, and ocean plant life was amazing. Who would have thought that at 20 meters the colors would be so vibrant. It was stunning. It was a two tank dive and I was thrilled with the entire thing. I can understand how one could become so addicted to scuba diving.

Golf...

Seoul

We spent the day roaming through Seoul, Korea. I knew this was a large city, but I was not ready for just how vast it really is. And dense. Everything is jammed together. Where ever there is room, a building has gone up. We took a bus tour to get a general idea of the city as I wasn't feeling overly confident with me navigating in this city. The bus tour was actually really cool. We bought day passes so we could get off at any spot we thought we might like to explore and then would get on another bus when we were ready to go. I am quite impressed with the Korean people. Everywhere we went we saw them exercising and working out. They take great pride in their history as was obvious by the way they talked about their temples and royalty. They were very well maintained and a lot of love and attention went into making them look as good as they do. The food was good too!

Off to Thailand next...

Bodybuilding

I came across this the other day and thought I would make a quick post. Remember the female bodybuilder in my photo gallery? She placed 1st in the 2008 NGA Bodybuilding & Figure Championships. She took Overall in the Woman's Figure category. She was also recently named the bodybuilders.com Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Week. They use a bunch of the photos that I shot. It is great to see your photos being published and used. Way to go Traci!

Updated Web Site

I have been toying with doing some revisions to my website. There is a bunch of new material that I have wanted to add for a while. I didn't want to start adding more material if I was just going to change the website. But I have decided to put the changes on hold for the time being and just add some of my recent work to the format that I already have going. I am very excited about some of the recent photos. Let me know what you think of the content I have chosen. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Baseball

Just a quick behind the scenes shot from a shoot with a pitcher from SLCC. How do like the river running through the alley?