Can’t sleep for some reason tonight. I went to sleep at 11pm and slept for an hour and a half only to wake up feeling like it was already morning. The wheels in my mind just keep turning. Ideas bombarding me from all sides. Too many good things happening in your life can make it hard to sleep.

Below are photos from down on the waterfront under the Hawthorne Bridge. I wanted to capture a new vantage point of the skyline and this is what I came up with.

For the photo above I rocked the zoom lens back and forth for half the exposure and then let it sit still at the wider end for the rest of the exposure. All shots were exposed for 30 seconds at f/8 using the 17-40mm f/4 L lens.

The holiday season is upon us.

Walking back to the car after doing some landscapes of the LA skyline.

The Staten Island Ferry consistently tops lists of the best things to do in New York City. If you’re attending a conference here and can fit in just one outing, this one should be it.

This 5-mile, 25 minute boat ride from Whitehall Terminal in Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan to the historic city of St. George on Staten Island offers outstanding views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the city’s various bridges. In the waters closer to St. George you’ll enjoy a breathtaking panorama of the city’s skyline. Perhaps best of all, this simple pleasure is absolutely free.

The Staten Island Ferry is a working commuter ferry (no vehicles allowed) provided by the New York Department of Transportation to bring Staten Islanders into the city.

The ferry runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The fleet makes 110 trips each weekday and 64 trips each weekend day, making this an attraction that’s easy to fit into your schedule. Timetables are available in 7 languages.

Ferry history and tips for a pleasant trip (hint: wrap your camera strap securely around your neck or wrist) are available at http://www.siferry.com/

If you have the time, consider hopping off the ferry and taking a meal and a wander in St. George. The area right around the ferry terminal is a historic district sprinkled with architecturally appealing old buildings, including many large Victorians left over from the city’s heyday as a fashionable resort in the 1830s.

Dozens of movies have been filmed wholly or partly on Staten Island, and a recent influx of artists seeking affordable has also contributed to making ‘the forgotten borough’ a vibrant community well worth a visit.

This picture seriously makes me want to cry.  While rotting cars make for an eerily-gorgeous picture, especially in black and white, seeing any classic rusting and deteriorating stirs emotions that I have never felt before…  Losing a job.  Fighting with family and friends.  Even when my girlfriends would break up with me.  None of them can compare.

Rest easy, great legends.  Hopefully, you’re racing in the great Tsukuba Circuit in the sky.

EDIT!

My blog homie, Enoezam (Check the blogroll!), posted another picture of a Zed left for dead to the cruel elements.  I had to steal it and have some fun with it.

The website is all in Japanese but it’s easy enough to figure out.  It adds all the drama of the sepia tone, without having to go through the Photoshop process.

http://labs.wanokoto.jp/olds

…the skies!  The sunsets are beautiful, the sunrises are beautiful, the clouds are beautiful, and all of those things reflect off of every building in the city, most of which are either mirrored buildings or else are covered in reflective sliding glass doors. It’s absolutely breath-taking.

I’m sorry, do I live in Miami, or on Jupiter?!

This is that Bank of America building I talk about all the time. I’m torn between whether I love this building, or the Performing Arts Center more! It changes colors on a regular basis (for example, it was purple when I first moved here, but now its blue!) but the reflections of the sunset make it look rainbow-colored.

Here is the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts building again, this time from a different angle. It’s obviously not as pretty as from the other angle, with the waves that look like the one in Sydney. But I still like it.

Just look at the sky! And the clouds!

When I first moved here, I was in a car with my friend Sam and some of her friends, and I looked up at a building and gasped and said, “oh my gosh, that building is on fire! why is nobody doing anything?”  But the building wasn’t on fire, it was just the reflection of a sunset!  This building is a condo across the water from my building.

I think the sunsets here look like something out of a fairy tale, or CGI effects, or something.

I had a cheap score on ebay for this Nissan Skyline Bayside Blue Z Tune model. Very nice model for the money!

Video I saw on JNS. I have them in my blogroll. Classics goin at it. Check the Yellow S30 & the black G-Nose

Kataoka Racing Service set it up.

Arrsirtywan.

Skyline 360 @ St Thomas Walk. Call Jack 8366 3113

DEVELOPER: Hiap Hoe Group
LOCATION: Location D09, St.Thomas Walk
PROJECT: Freehold /61 Units / Private lift / 76 carpark lots
TOP: June 2013
AMENITIES: Orchard Road/ City Living / Good Schools & University.

SELLING POINTS :

- 61 LUXURIOUS units all with private lift & lobby with direct access to balcony.
- Natural marble flooring, timber strips for bedroom and full height, wide sliding window/door panels.
- Stunning views of Orchard Road, Istana, Marina Bay, IR, Flyer.
- It is designed to provide maximum visual impact. Each unit comes with more than 270° view of the city.
- Normal Progressive payment or IAS Scheme available.

Sizes of Units: ( High Ceiling 3m )

3 bedrm- 1733 sqft / 4 bedrm- 2131 sqft
5 bedrm Penthouse- 3929 to 4015 sqft
Super Penthouse- 6523 sqft

Skyline 360 @ St Thomas Walk. Call Jack 8366 3113

found this neat video

I am off to the UK followed by America!!

Here we go!!

If you weren’t impressed with the Abu Dhabi police department’s acquiring of a Nissan Skyline, be prepared to get blown away. The UAE has been known to be the master of PR in the region, meaning it knows how to put a spin on anything and you have to respect that!

To promote road safety in Abu Dhabi, the police force decided to showcase some of their cavalry. I had learned about the Skyline only recently, but I had no clue that they had a new Chevy Camaro, a custom Orange County Choppers (OCC) motorcycle dubbed “The Falcon”, and an open-wheel race car in full police gear (lights and sirens) called the F999 in their arsenal!

Thumbs up to the Abu Dhabi police for doing something different to raise awareness on the importance of road safety.

[Source: Abu Dhabi Police GHQ]

Sunset view at a stop on Illinois Interstate I/39

Select for larger view of panoramic  photo of the sunset

This past May, when I went to NYC, I wasn’t really allowed to experience much (okay, any) of the city at night, being all of fifteen years old at the time.  But from what I did see, the only thing better than New York City during the day, is New York City at night.  They don’t call it “the city that never sleeps” for nothing.

Night skyline over the water

I’ve always had this idea that as much as any city is always alive, at night is when it wakes up.  I don’t know what it is about it, but the noise gets louder, the lights get brighter, the dark gets darker, and everything is that much more vivid.  I guess when the sun sets, everything else rises.

What do you think?  Do you think this is true, that nighttime is the best time?  Or do you think cities are most alive under light of day?  When does the metropolis come to life for you?

Ah yes, Cebu.

I know our affair has been very short, but it was wonderful. I will come back to you and explore you more.