Hey Doc

(Bellavita)
Another new shopping mall expected to be open in Oct. at the popular Shin Yi district in Taipei

(The Main Peak of Seven Stars Mountain)
I haven't seen such a clear and blue sky in Taipei for awhile. But it is scorching hot under the sun. I heard on the weather news that this will only last for one more day. Another low pressure system is coming from Philippines at north/west direction. Its almost August but we only had two small typhoons passing through, none direct hit. The water supply for the second half of the year depends on the rain typhoon brings. I don't like to see the damages done by typhoon but we really need the water.

(Green ring buoy)
Not sure where she was going with that ring buoy, beach was what I had in mind. We were finally getting some relieves from a series of heat waves. We had thunderstorms in the afternoon for the past few days. Also clean up the air too.

(sun behind the cloud at 85% eclipse)

The nature gave people of Taiwan an opportunity to witness an 85% solar eclipse on 7/22/09. The longest eclipse of the century, all six minutes and twenty seconds at the peak. Although we did not see the total eclipse, but it was close enough for me. The next solar event will be the Annular Eclipses (the ring) on 3/21/2012. Believe me, I will be ready when that comes. I was ill-prepared for today's event. I did not have proper gear for the camera but I was lucky to get a shoot with my point-and-shoot when the cloud half covered the sun during the peak of eclipse.

(Lotus blossom)

May, June are the months for lotus to blossom in Taiwan. Although I was back in Taipei in the middle of May, I have not had the chance to take photos of them. Now it is July, I did not give much hope today when I went to a popular spot by many photographers, the 台大安康農場 at 新店. It is the mecca for lotus blossom photography. I was there close to noon, not a good time of day for shooting condition. I only had a point and shoot camera which I always carried with me. But the purpose for today's trip was mainly to see where this place is and be used for future reference.

I was pretty jazzed to see the outcome of my trip. My Panasonic LX1 takes good photos if it has plenty of light. All photos were post-processed in Photoshop.

More photos follow the jump.