Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place vs. home

Posts tagged ‘fotoeins’

Canada flag, National flag, Canadian flag

Red, white, & maple leaf: the Canadian flag

The “red, white, and maple leaf” flag is now recognized around the world as a definitive symbol for Canada. The National Flag of Canada celebrates its 53rd birthday in 2018.

Whenever I’m back in Canada, I always get a warm feeling when I see the English and French signage in our airports or train stations, and the the red, white, and maple-leaf flag flapping in the wind. The sight of the flag tells me I’m home.

I’ve often asked myself: how old is the Canadian flag? Has the flag been around as long as the nation? Does Canada have a day to celebrate the flag?

Since 1996, the National Flag of Canada Day is observed annually on February 15.

( Click here for more )

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Melbourne: gettin’ my drink on at Croft Institute

I’m with my friend, Belinda, on Little Bourke Street in the Chinatown area in Melbourne, Australia.

We make a turn off the street, and as I’m being led down a poorly-lit grungy alley with the sight of waste containers to the side, pools of stagnant water on the pavement, and the faint yet distinct smells of rotting food, I can’t help but wonder into what I’ve got myself now.

“Don’t worry,” she said.

“Famous last words,” I groused, only half-kidding.

At the end is a sign, indicating that there’s something here: a place to have a drink, or to come face-to-face with an ugly demise.

There are flasks, beakers, and tubing; old chemistry lab benches like high-school of old. And that’s where we’re going to prop ourselves after we fetch our drinks!

While the Croft Institute might appear like a Dr. Evil science-lab gone mad, in truth the only dangerous thing here are the beautifully delicious drinks.

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Located at the end of Croft Alley just off Little Bourke Street in Melbourne’s Chinatown, The Croft Institute closed for good during the 2020-2022 Covid19 pandemic.

Disclosure: No Connection, Unpaid, My Own Opinions. I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to The Croft Institute. Thanks to BR who kindly led me to some of her favourite bars in Melbourne’s CBD. I made the photos on 27 August 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-2Vf.

New Zealand: inside Fiordland’s Milford Sound

A trip to New Zealand’s South Island is incomplete without a visit to the Fiordland National Park. A stop at one or both of Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound is also highly recommended, as they are some of the most popular destinations in New Zealand and on the South Island. From Queenstown, I sided with Real Journeys for a daytrip out to Milford Sound: morning coach on the only road access, Milford Sound Highway (State Highway 94), from Queenstown to Milford Sound; a boat into the fiord; and the return to Queenstown by plane. The Maori Ngai Tahu name for the body of water is Piopiotahi (“one piopio bird”). The piopio resembles a thrush but is considered extinct with the last sighting in 1905.

Much of the scenery reminds me of my home province: coastal British Columbia. Carved by glacial activity, Fjords (also spelled “fiords”) are long narrow inlets with steep sides or cliffs. My time in southwest New Zealand reminds me of home along the southwest coast of British Columbia.

( Click here for images and more )

Chicken, mushrooms, snow peas in black bean garlic sauce

Chicken with black-bean garlic sauce, HL style

Above: Chicken, mushrooms, and snow peas in black-bean garlic sauce – 26 January 2013.

I’ve had versions of this dish before, hundreds of times, either at home or at a restaurant. When I decided to make this dish, I didn’t start with any recipe: it was all about ingredients, memory, and experience.

When I posted a picture of the final product (which was delicious), I was urged to describe my makeshift recipe. The most common question (re. demand) was: “how’d you make that?”

I describe here what I’ll make from scratch …

( Click here for ingredients and recipe )