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Vancouver: the forgotten’s fireworks from St. Paul’s

2 August 2014.

I’m in one of the city’s hospitals, visiting my father who’s in very bad shape.

I’ve helped feed him dinner of roast pork, peas, and gravy, a direct sensory reminder of his past as ‘line cook’ in a downtown diner nearby. He eats with great enthusiasm, the most I’ve seen him eat in weeks. Dinner’s done, and he’s worn out. I suggest we go “around the corner” with him in a wheelchair to watch the evening’s fireworks, but he gently declines. A twinge reflects the growing reality of him never seeing fireworks again, but the feeling is moderated by resolved acceptance and mild resignation.

I go out into the corridor where people have already gathered by the windows next to the elevators. From the heights of the hospital, there are spectacular views of the downtown peninsula, towards Burrard Inlet, English Bay, and the waters of the Salish Sea. What sacred spirits have come and gone, then and the now.

Waiting patiently to catch a brief glimpse of fireworks are other hospital patients, their family, and various hospital staff taking breaks in their work schedule. It’s a four-day holiday weekend here in the province of British Columbia, and early August weather is summertime hot under the dome of clear blue skies.

Judging by the look in some people’s eyes, I empathize with feelings which must remain unspoken: “I’d rather be outside, laughing and having a good time, surrounded by family and friends.”

I thought about making a few photographs of the fireworks through the large windows, but something pulls me back, and I decide not to image the fireworks directly.

My thinking about this situation quickly clarifies. What I’ll do is record people watching the fireworks through the windows of the hospital’s upper floors.

They are not forgotten. It’s my promise to capture with a camera’s all-seeing eye an elemental and universal desire for something beyond the ephemeral and temporal, something that approaches a kind of eternity.

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Tian Tan Buddha, Ngong Ping, Ngong Ping 360, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, fotoeins.com

My Hong Kong: above on the Ngong Ping 360

If you’re in Hong Kong and you’re thinking about visiting the “Big Buddha” on Lantau Island, you should consider the 6-kilometre Ngong Ping 360 cable-car high above the island.

From the Tung Chung lower station to the Ngong Ping upper station, the 25-minute cable car ride offers a 360-degree view of the Tung Chung development, Tung Chung Bay, the HKG international airport at Chep Lap Kok, and the forested parklands of Lantau North Country Park. At Ngong Ping village, most will head out on foot to visit the nearby Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha (known also as the “Big Buddha”), hike across North Lantau back towards Tung Chung, or hop on a bus to any number of villages along the island’s coastline.

From central Hong Kong, hop onto the MTR Tung Chung transport-line to the western terminus station in the town of Tung Chung. Located across from the MTR station is the lower station for the “Ngong Ping 360“, labeled ‘T’ (for Tung Chung) in the map below. ‘N’ marks the upper station at Ngong Ping. As of June 2014, adult fares for the standard cabin are $105 HKD one-way (about $14 USD) and $150 HKD return (about $19 USD); private cabins or “crystal” cabins with glass floors cost extra. The 360 operates weekdays 10am to 6pm, and weekends/holidays 9am to 630pm.

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Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, CTIO, Cerro Tololo, Región de Coquimbo, Chile, fotoeins.com

Chilean Andes: morning send-off with Atacama minions

Above/featured: Morning fog in the valleys below, facing north-northeast from Cerro Tololo Observatory – 9am CLDT (12pm UTC), 22 Sept 2011.

Late-2011: Cerro Tololo Observatory, Región de Coquimbo, Chile.

The morning creeps gently forward, up and over the desert sky. Sounds? What sounds? What scarce sounds there are, they pierce the silence with soft whistles and drawn-out wails. Alternating light and dark horizontal streamers, known also as “the rays of God,” mark the first light of dawn. Small clumps break loose, as the overnight shroud of valley fog pulls back slowly from view.

The sun climbs higher, the shadows grow shorter, the cotton patch dissolves. It isn’t long until a spectacular sight is revealed. This is what you get from a height of 7500 feet above sea level.

Dry river beds twist and sweep and stretch along canyon floors. Cactus and desert scrub carpets the surrounding hills in faded greens and dusty browns. To the east rise jagged rocky teeth capped with white frosting, fixing the location of the Andes along the Chilean spine.

In this desolate and isolated part of the world, I’ve often wondered about the few brave souls who make this place their home. They’re prospectors, miners, even some farmers, all of whom carry their burden for financial endeavour. People have been digging around in these parts for centuries, whether it’s plant, mineral, or some kind of monetary paydirt.

But there’s another human enterprise with different rewards, a quest that asks questions on a much larger scale.

How do planets take shape?
How do stars form?
How are galaxies assembled?
Is there life elsewhere in the universe?

These issues occupy astronomers from all over the world. Many astronomers go up onto mountains, just like this one, onto the summit of Cerro Tololo, peering into the skies. The telescopes point straight up, reaching out like outstretched hands, wanting more.

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Up, up, and away: Helijet chopper tour over Vancouver

Fortune often favours the brave, especially for those who rarely get to see Vancouver from a height of 1500 metres (5000 feet). This city may be my birthplace, but this is my first helicopter tour. The only other occasions I’ve seen Vancouver from the air are from planes on approach to YVR international airport.

We arrive at Vancouver Helijet Heliport on a weekday morning, and hang out for a few minutes in the spacious waiting area, sipping on coffee and chatting with the folks at the front desk. We head outside, file down the walkway to the landing pad, and hop into a Bell 206L-3 LongRanger helicopter (chopper) for our 20-minute sightseeing tour.

The “West Coast Spectacular” tour heads across Burrard Inlet to the North Shore, goes up and over the nearby coastal mountains, flies past Crown Mountain and The Lions (The Sisters), before emerging over Howe Sound. It’s easy to forget this abundant B.C. evergreen wilderness is at the doorstep to Vancouver. After heading south down the Sound, the final half of the tour proceeds past West Vancouver to English Bay (Salish Sea), enters and covers False Creek, crosses over the downtown Vancouver peninsula, makes a small loop over Burrard Inlet, before landing at the harbour base. The map below shows in green the chopper’s path, the Heliport in downtown Vancouver is marked by the helicopter icon, and the blue pins indicate mountains I identified during the tour.

The scheduled 20-minute tour goes by quickly; blink or look away for a moment, and a part of that view in that moment disappears. Not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of chatter throughout the flight, and we’re astonished by what we’re seeing below. After returning to base, we rediscover our voices and express our wonder with grateful enthusiasm. Helijet’s sightseeing tours go for a pretty penny; the “West Coast Spectacular” tour costs $224 CAD per person (minimum of two people, 2014), but the price goes down to about $150 per person for a group of five. These photos show there’s a different side to Vancouver that’s tantalizingly close and within reach.

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Lübeck, Hansestadt Lübeck, Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Deutschland, UNESCO, World Heritage, Welterbe, Weltkulturerbe, fotoeins.com

All hail Lübeck: Queen of the Hansa

I’m walking gingerly on the uneven cobblestone, the narrow streets surrounded by tall gabled buildings. The air is full of history, permeating structures and streets, in contrast with modern activities taking place. Much of the architecture falls within the red brick Gothic style uniquely representing the height of an era going back one thousand years.

Slowly, I’m sensing from centuries past the apparitions of people who’ve passed through this place. I tuck into a narrow passageway and stop. If I close my eyes, I hear the ancient sounds as though they’re etched into the grooves between the red brick. Shouting, negotiating, best products from around the world, best stuff money can buy, best deals you can get for miles around.

I’m fascinated by the influence of merchants who cast a massive net across northern Europe. I’m interested in the history of architecture and trade, how a town surrounded by an important river a mere 20 kilometres from the sea became a hub and crossroads for the movement of people and goods.

This special place is the “Hansekönigin”: Queen of the Hanseatic League.

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