Moar Food! Nom, Nom, Nom...

Greetings! I've returned from yet another mouth-watering weekend in and around NYC. My buddies and I got together to celebrate my birthday so they treated me to an abundance of delicious food and drink. What else can be better than this? Tasty food, smooth drinks, and the company of great friends certainly made my seemingly accelerating creep towards the big 3-0 much more enjoyable!

We begin today's post with photos from our dinner at Sakura, a Japanese restaurant in Astoria. We had originally intended to go to a churrascaria place in Corona, which didn't seem to be open for whatever reason. The alternative was driving to Brooklyn for Peter Luger but the timing didn't work out since we had to go pick up my college roommate, who was visiting from Singapore, from the airport. After consulting Yelp, we soon arrived in front of Sakura. I guess the third time's a charm!

Upon entering the restaurant, we were told that there'd be a slight wait and we were seated in the waiting area. Soon after, the hostess offered us some sake, which we happily accepted. The wait wasn't so bad as we drank and talked and before we knew it, we were re-seated in the dining area.

Green salad

We started dinner with a simple green salad, which was pretty good. I usually don't like these types of salads because the dressing can be quite Thousand Island-y but I was pleasantly surprised here since the dressing was light. Shortly after the salad, we were presented with our appetizers.

Gyoza

The photo above is of a plate of pork gyoza or pan-fried dumplings. I know these as guo-tie but since we were in a Japanese restaurant, they were called gyoza. We also had an order of fried oysters, shown in the photo below. I enjoyed these much more than the gyoza and it might be because I hadn't had fried oysters before. Now that I've had smoked and fried oyster, I think a future experience will be raw oyster, which I've already researched online. Just in case you're curious, I will be chewing rather than simply swallowing to get the full experience!

Kaki fried

Now that we've gone over the cooked appetizers, let's move on to the not-so-cooked stuff! The slightly blurry photo below is of the tuna tartare, which was topped with roe. When I get my new phone, the new Google Nexus model, I hope to take better low-light camera-phone photos since my outdated Blackberry's camera isn't cutting it anymore.

Tuna tartare

Oops, back to food. The tuna tartare was good but I enjoyed the tuna tataki even more. The slightly-seared thin tuna slices were served over a bed of julienned dicon and had a very good, lightly-smokey flavor. This is one dish that I will be having again the next time I'm at Sakura.

Tuna tataki

Eel avacado, California, eel cucumber rolls

Finally, we come to the highlight of our Japanese dinner - sushi and sashimi! We had two orders of assorted sushi and sashimi, which were brought to our table on a large plate (the makizushi) and a large wooden boat (the nigirizushi and sashimi). I've never seen food presented in a creative manner like this so props to Sakura! While the rolls with eel were good, the California rolls were blah, which is par for the course since rolls with real seafood taste infinitely better than rolls with imitation crab meat. The raw sushi and sashimi tasted fresh and were soon gobbled up. As my friends know, I'm a big fan of spicy food so I chopstick'ed a large mound of wasabi and was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually strong. Yummy sushi and sashimi + good wasabi = nom, nom, nom!

Boat full of sushi and sashimi

The next night, we were joined by my Singaporean buddy and we all went out to Mapo BBQ in downtown Flushing. It had been over five years since we and my other buddy, also a college roommate, all had a meal together. Since we were at a Korean barbeque restaurant, it was only natural that we ordered meat to be grilled. Before the meats came, the many side dishes in the photo below only served to whet our appetite even more as we were all pretty hungry.

Pre-bbq

So what did we order? Beef and pork - lots of it! We ended up having five orders of incredibly delicious marinated beef and pork. I usually like to balance my meat consumption with some vegetables or greens but this was so good that the thought never crossed my mind.

Beef and pork

The next day, my Singaporean buddy wanted to go to DB Bistro Moderne for lunch so off we went. We took the subway from Queens into Manhattan and walked a bit before arriving at DB BM. This was the most bourgeois destination that we went to this weekend and to be honest, I felt somewhat out of place. I actually enjoy small, hole-in-the-wall type places more than fancy eateries. Nonetheless, we made ourselves comfortable after being seated.

Creme of mushroom soup

For starters, I ordered a soup. As mentioned in previous posts, I love soup and try to order a soup whenever possible. This time, I ordered a creme of mushroom soup, which was quite good and had a rich mushroom flavor. Afterwards, our original db burgers and fries arrived to the table. This burger is quite possibly the fanciest burger I've had. Sure I've eaten burgers with a moutain of toppings and dressings, burgers embedded with jalapeños, or non-beef burgers. But of all of them, how many had a center infused with foie gras and black truffles? While impressive, the physical design of the burger made eating it somewhat mechanically-challenging since we humans can't unhinge our jaws like snakes. Nearly twice as tall as it is wide, it made me wonder if whoever designed it had watched the food competition shows on Food Network when they talk about eatibility! Regardless, I was quite satisfied with the burger.

Original db burger and fries

After our burgers and fries, we ordered some dessert. Don't be deceived by the photo below! It's not that the white plate was really big, it was that the red velvet cake was surprisingly small. I suppose this is in agreement with the inverse relationship between a restaurant's fame/class and portion sizes. Good thing we had two orders of it. Along with the cake, we had madeleines with ice cream and fudge. Personally, I liked the madeleines much more than the red velvet cake since the latter was a bit on the hard and dry side.

Red velvet cake

Madeleines

Well, another weekend of delicious food completed! I feel like a bear preparing for hibernation with all this intake of scrumptious food recently. Even though it's barely mid-week, I already have plans to try out Alta by Union Square this coming weekend! I haven't had tapas recently so it should be another enjoyable experience especially since I've heard good things. Stay tuned for photos of that venture.

Sensing...A Lack of Sense

Sense memory. What an interesting thing it is. While going through my photo collection earlier this evening, I came across a set of photos that I had taken nearly a year ago. It was another time, another place, another world, and...another me. Yet, the very sight of these photographs brought back a flood of memories. I immediately remembered exactly where I was, what I was doing, what I was feeling, and...who I was with.

Time: Winter 2010-11; Place: Shenzhen, China. I was in another existence...I was another person. In a foreign country that I had been to before but in a city new to me, I was taking up the sights of Window of the World, a theme park that featured over 100 reproductions of the world's most famous tourist attractions. Here, I saw, among other replicas, the Eiffel Tower, Angkor Wat, the Leshan Giant Buddha, and Vatican City. Here, I continued an eye-opening experience that I had begun nearly two years earlier. It was during this time that I saw the most amazing things in my life and experienced sensations that I had never before felt. It was during this time that I was the happiest that I had ever been.

Feeding koi @ Window of the World

The above photo makes me smile. While walking through the theme park, we came across a small waterway, which must have been a reproduction of some famous river. The details of the exhibit escape me but I remember as clear as day the moments before and after this photo was taken. While the sunset was well underway, we heard a lot of commotion in the water. To satisfy our curiosity, we walked to the riverbank and saw a wonderful stock of beautiful koi. Seconds later, the bread I was carrying in my pack was out and being fed to the koi. This sudden introduction of food caused quite a feeding frenzy among the koi, which fough each other to the surface in hopes of grabbing their share. The happiness and joy that we had from as simple an act as feeding these hungry fish is something that I will always remember. Smile.

The next two photos were not actually taken in the park but were taken a few days prior. As with all of the other photos in this post, they instantly place me back in the moment they were taken. I'm a very visual person and for me, seeing is my key to learning and remembering. As a result, seeing these photos again have the effect of transporting me back to a happier time.

Alright, back to photos from the park. Below, we have the curious bottlebrush flower, which I had never seen before in the States. It was windy while this photo was taken and I distinctly remember having to brace myself and time the shot carefully so as to minimize blurriness. The water in the background was flowing swiftly due to the same wind that caused the bottlebrush to sway to and fro. Armed with our cameras, we snapped away, playfully taunting each other who could capture the best image. Not to brag or anything but I won. Grin.

Bottlebrush, Callistemon

Walking a short distance around a wooden walkway, we soon came to water-bound flowers that I remember to be water-lilies. They were fenced in by these metallic cages that served as convenient perches for Chinese pond herons. In the photo below, a heron is looking directly at me as I took its portrait using the highest zoom setting my camera had. During this time, my companion's camera ran out of battery power and luckily, I had a spare to replace it with. Thumbs up to being prepared.

Chinese pond heron, Ardeola Bacchus

Leaving the lake area, we walked some more until we came to a biosphere that housed a huge variety of cacti. Some were rotund while some were skinny like the ones below. I particularly like this photo because the cacti look like fingers reaching up from the ground. While I snapped this photo, my companion was wandering around elsewhere taking a plethora of photos of the other cacti. Yet another inductee into the wonderful world of photography. Smile again.

Cacti

Walking. There certainly was a lot of it while going about the park. After the cacti biosphere, we walked and walked until we came to this barren land filled with large bodies that resembled trees but yet looked like stone. What were they? Where were we? The power of the Reds situated us smack in the middle of a petrified forest. Reading a nearby placard, I found out that the park had the petrified wood shipped from the western regions of China all the way to Shenzhen. I'm glad they did since some had really beautiful patterns, such as the one below. This particular one was from a large tree trunk that was polished to a shine. This photo resets my mind's eye, generating me images of my companion counting the tree rings in the cross section, trying to determine the tree's age. Smile yet again.

Petrified wood

After inspecting the petrified wood, we walked a while before finding the next site of interest. Here in a garden with busts of famous Chinese plant biologists and botanists, we stumbled across numerous bougainvillea bushes. Due to the overcast and still windy conditions, it was hard getting the correct color of these flowers as well as freezing their movement in the wind. Again a friendly contest was set and we snapped away. At one point, I nearly had my camera taken from me by my companion since my colors proved to be more accurate. Seeing this photo reminds me of my companion's frustration while trying to get the perfect shot. Of course, smile. And grin.

Bougainvillea

I don't know if it is the lack of photographic subjects outside that interest me with the onset of milder weather but my thoughts have definitely taken a more introspective turn. Given the amount of thinking that I have done for the past half a year and continue to do, future posts will surely have more of my thoughts interwoven with photographs that I've taken. In fact, I've already written a future post while sitting on the LIRR this past weekend heading home from NYC. These all tie-in to an overarching theme of decisions that we make in life, mostly questioning whether they're right or wrong but for now though, I think I'll take a break and rest my mind.

More Weekend Scrumptiousness!

Well, another weekend has come to a close. I went out to NYC to visit one of my best friends from school. We ended up going to Totto Ramen for dinner on Saturday and Excellent Pork Chop House for Sunday brunch. Needless to say, it was another weekend of good eats!

First up, we have some photos of the food we ordered at Totto Ramen. We got there close to 2100 and there was still a line that stretched outside. After putting our names down on the wait-list, my friend and I decided to go down the street to Bamboo52 for drinks. There, we ordered some Blue Point beer from the tap. As a native Long Islander, I found it somewhat ironic that I had my first glass of Blue Point beer in NYC as it is brewed just a few miles away from where I live. After we finished our glasses, we followed up with some Jameson on the rocks. I usually like my Jameson without ice but since I hadn't eaten that night since lunch, it was a good thing.

After an hour or so of drinking and shooting the breeze, we went back to Totto Ramen. While there was still half a dozen names ahead of us, we lucked out with each name called since they gave up the wait. Too bad for them! Before we knew it, my friend and I were seated and reviewing the menu. For appetizers, we ordered the char siu mayo don and avo tuna.

Char siu mayo don

The char siu mayo don (broiled pork with yuzu mayonnaise over rice) was pretty good. I don't sound too enthusiastic about it since mayonnaise isn't really my thing; however, the char siu was nicely done. The avo tuna, on the other hand, has my enthusiastic approval. The slices of torched tuna sashimi with yuzu garlic sauce-marinated avocado looked beautiful on the plate and tasted even better in my mouth! I'm a big fan of sushi so I was of course going in already partial to the prospect of good sashimi.

Avo tuna

After the appetizers, we went on to the highlight of the night - the ramen. Since I hadn't been to Totto's before, I ordered the spicy ramen. At one point, I had the extra-spicy ramen in mind but since I didn't know what their scale was, I decided that I wanted an edible dinner. I went with the chicken variety and topped it off with more char siu chicken and a hard-boiled egg. Having both chicken and egg in the same dish makes me chuckle inside for some reason. I guess it's the irony of having both at the same time. Anyway, the ramen was delicious! The spiciness as perfect for a warm Autumn night and went down smoothly. The ramen was less "bouncy" in texture than I expected and actually felt more like spaghetti noodles but still good nonetheless. The broth was flavorful and enhanced by the chili oil. Next time, especially colder weather soon upon us, I'll be getting the extra-spicy version since "spicy" merely registered in my taste buds.

Totto spicy ramen (chicken) with char siu chicken and seasoned boiled egg toppings

After ramen, we finished the night at my friend's friend's party, which was at Copia. This self-described restaurant, lounge, and bar seemed like a nice hangout. Unfortunately, the liquor they serve there seemed to be heavily watered-down. The Jameson and ginger ale we had was definitely more ginger ale than Jameson and it felt like there was more alcohol in the Bud Light we had afterwards. I guess they think most people are inebriated enough at 0100 to not notice the water they serve. Major fail! At least the Patron shots seemed to be okay.

Shrimp and egg fried rice

The next morning, we decided to go to Chinatown for some dim sum. Unfortunately, the two places that we had intended to go had wait-times longer than our stomachs wanted to tolerate. We ended up going to a restaurant call "Excellent Pork Chop House", which seemed like a rather silly name. Regardless, we went in and ordered some food. I had a simple shrimp and egg fried rice, which was pleasantly tasty. Initially, I wanted a hot and sour soup because I'm a sucker for good soup but changed my mind since I caught a glimpse at the dessert side of the menu. For dessert, I ordered Taiwanese shaved ice with small red bean, taro, and roasted peanuts as toppings. This was a refreshing treat as it was almost 80ºF outside.

Taiwanese shaved ice with small red beans, taro, and roasted peanuts

Well, this does it for now. The photos I take while in NYC are usually with my phone's camera so the results aren't always the best but they get the job done. I always look forward to going out in the city because there is just so much delicious food to enjoy!

Of Life and Death...Decisions, Decisions

Last night, the world was informed of the death of Steve Jobs, the tech visionary who, over decades, has shaped so many things of modern life that we take for granted today. While I have never been a fan of Apple, the company, or Mr. Jobs, the businessman, the news of him losing his battle with cancer truly saddened me. I may not have liked Apple's marketplace tactics or Mr. Jobs' perceived arrogance but both the man and his company were forces to be respected and reckoned with. Without Mr. Jobs', the tech world has certainly lost its most forceful driver of innovation. With this said, rest in peace, Mr. Jobs.

When someone passes away as young as Steve Jobs did (he was only 56), it can really make one think about his or her own mortality. With modern medicine extending the human lifespan, we sometimes forget that we are still mere mortals, that illness or other tragedies can end our lives suddenly and unexpectedly. Life is truly short and fragile.

While watching the numerous tributes to Mr. Jobs on television and reading the many articles detailing his life online, something he believed in made me stop and think. What was this principle? Well, it was taking chances and living everyday as if it were your last day on Earth. As someone who is generally risk-averse and likes to plan things out prior to execution to ensure success, this concept doesn't always fit into my view of the world. I've done things before on impulse but these events are few and far in-between. Knowing my nature, I began to think about the decisions we have to make in life.

Initially, I had intended for this post to be without photos so that I could concentrate on my thoughts. This soon changed after I started typing as I remembered that there were some photos in my collection that could be woven into the post. This is true of the photo above, which is of a rose vine that has shed its leaves and flowers for winter. The thorns that line the woody vine remind me of the decisions in life that constantly nag you, the ones that you can't avoid no matter how hard you try. I dislike these kind of decisions because, well, they're usually difficult to make but yet, must be made. These are the type that make me procrastinate and avoid taking action. Self-justification for procrastinating rears its ugly head and I tell myself that I can't rush the decision, that I need more time to sit down and think about it carefully. Obviously, this isn't true since I am simply avoiding pulling the trigger.

Another type of decision that I dislike having to make is the type that makes my gut feel as if it were being twisted, much like the dried lily has been in the above photo. For me, decisions of this type are those for which I already know the correct and logical answer but are ones, even with this knowledge, that I want to choose the "wrong" choice for. This ambiguity makes things tricky as the situation quickly becomes a battle between logical rationality and emotional irrationality. Needless to say, the "correct" choice often results in a logical victory but at the same time, emotional loss. With these decisions, painful sacrifice is likely involved, making the matter all that much harder.



Speaking of emotions, this leads us to yet another type of decision, the one that is largely emotional where all logic is tossed aside. I chose the above photo of a dried hydrangea "bouquet" because it looks like a heart. Often, this type of decision involves relationships and heartbreak so the heart-shaped hydrangea is particularly appropriate here. Unfortunately, most of us will experience the consequences of type of decision at least once, sometimes multiple times for the unlucky ones among us. While loving another person requires us to put ourselves "out there" and trust our significant others not to let us fall, sometimes we are allowed to fall or allow our loved ones to fall. Such is the nature of human love.

So, just where the heck am I going with all of this? To be honest, I feel like I've been babbling and lost my original vision this post's intent. Looking at the three types of decisions mentioned above, one can see without much difficulty that the situation can arise where a decision involves not only one but two or all three types. This results in a decision that is unavoidable, internally conflicting, and emotionally painful - ouch, indeed. Going back to the concept of living life as if the end were imminent, the driving point of this whole monogue is that decisions have to be made, no "if", "and", or "but". If we stew and prolong the decision-making process, then we risk being stuck spatially and temporally. A small bump in the road can suddenly become an insurmountable mountain or a small pothole can become a deep, unbridgeable chasm. This is a situation that we must avoid getting into and one way to do that is to commit to a timely decision.

 

Anecdotes attributed to Mr. Jobs reveal that he was a man who made difficult decisions, took risks, and lived life. In the face of adversity and failure, he stood with resolve and marched swiftly forward. When others doubted him, he pushed even harder to prove them wrong. From him, we should learn to do the same. Challenges are to be met and overcome. Risks are to be taken so that we may attain our goals and dreams. Decisions are to be made. Like Mr. Jobs, we should ask ourselves, "What do I want to do if this day was my last?"

I realize that all of this is easier said than done. Having had to make some of these decisions recently, I'll be the first to admit to procrastinating and flip-flopping. Only with experience and confidence in ourselves can we move forward. Making hard decisons and taking risks, whether they be professional, recreational, or romantic in nature, is something we can't avoid. So, my friends, make your decisions and live life to its fullest. To Mr. Jobs, I say "Thank you" for helping me see clearer.

Tricyrtis hirta, The Hairy Toad Lily

Hello! Today's post features the Tricyrtis hirta, or the hairy toad lily, which has been posted here before. The previous posts did not have much information about this beautiful flower since I could not find much about it, not even on Wikipedia. Over the weekend, I managed to find a detailed write-up of the Tricyrtis formosana that features many wonderful macro-photography views of both the dark and light forms of the formosana species. I highly recommend reading this article if you want to know more about this flower. While the photos below are of the hirta species, the two are virtually identical in appearance.

So why have I decided to give the hairy toad lily it's own post? Well, this flower nearly went by undetected last year as I was walking around my backyard last year. Given its height of approximately 1.5 feet, the 1-inch wide flowers seemed rather insignificant from a far viewing distance. Even after taking some close-up photos of the flower, it did not appear to be anything special to me. That is, until after I downloaded the photos onto my computer.

Upon closer inspection while making adjustments to the photos, I noticed that there were small, golden spheres along the length of the styles. I learned from the article that these are membranous sacs containig a sticky fluid that may be used to attract insects to help pollinate the flower. These orbs are less than 0.02 inches in diameter and virtually invisible to the naked eye. To me, they are the most beautiful part of the hairy toad lily. Why? Well, while the polka-dotted petals and sepals or the tentacle-like forked styles are the more prominent features of the flower and readily visible, these miniscule golden orbs require the observer to spend a little more time to discover them. Once I did so for myself, they soon became the focal point of my hairy toad lily photographs.

Using the information in the article mentioned above, I labeled the preceding photo (reproduced below) to identify the different structures of the hairy toad lily.

While the structures of the hairy toad lily are standard to most flowers, their arrangement and appearance give it an exotic look. Speaking of which, it is my hope that one day I will have the opportunity to photograph the Passiflora, another exotic-looking flower.

 

Since the hairy toad lily grows best in shaded areas away from direct sunlight, it can be a challenge to photograph since lighting conditions tend not to be optimal. Luckily, after spending several hours waiting for the right amount of sunlight on multiple days, fortune smiled upon me, allowing me to capture some photos. Here are some more of my keepers:

Oh, before I forget...what makes the hairy toad lily, well, "hairy"? The answer is that the entire flower is covered in short, fine hairs. The petals, stalk, and leaves are all covered as can be seen in the photo of a bud here (also note the bi-lobed spurs):

Well, this concludes my introduction of the hairy toad lily. They will continue to bloom into October so I will most likley be taking more photographs of them in the near future.

Weekend Scrumptiousness!

Happy Autumn! I'm about 1.5 weeks late but what the heck...better late than never. The weather has gotten noticeably milder in recent weeks with some people already decked out in winter jackets. Seems like overkill since I'm still rockin' shorts. To me, Summer's not over until the first snowflakes start to fall!

So I spent this weekend in Queens, NY catching up with some friends. It's always nice to spend time with people who you know have your back and this weekend, it was no different. Whenever we get together, we like to go and try out different restaurants. My buddies like to just dive into the feast but not before I hold them back as I snap some obligatory photos, which are posted below. The photos were taken with my camera phone so please excuse any blurriness or overexposures.

For dinner, we went to Himalayan Yak, a Nepalese-Tibetan-Indian restaurant in Woodside. Some of us had gone there before but this was my first time and I was eager to try it since my buddies had given it good reviews. The photo above is of an appetizer consisting of shrimp and pickled/spiced tofu and vegetables. I can't remember exactly what it was called but it was tasty. Another appetizer that we had was sadeko bandel, which is sliced wild boar. This was my first time having wild boar and it was slightly tougher than pork but still very good.

Sadeko Bandel

Having grown up eating Taiwanese-style, I am quite partial to soups. If there is soup on a restaurant's menu, then I'm pretty much guaranteed to order it. The soup below was a light broth with vegetables and mushrooms, of which the latter I'm a big fan of. For me, the best soups I've had have always been homemade and this one was satisfyingly good.

From the Indian side of the menu, we ordered garlic naan and goat curry. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the curry but believe you me, both were great.

Garlic Naan

The other dishes were from the Tibetan selections and we ordered chale (sautéed beef tongue) and shapta, which is a beef chili. My photo of the chale was too blurry to post so only the shapta is shown below. As with the other items we had, both the chale and shapta were delicious.

Shapta

Now, after a meal like that, one would think that we'd take it easy the next day, right? Wrong! One of my buddies who couldn't make dinner the previous night invited us out for brunch at Fatty's Cafe in Astoria. While I'm a big fan of good old Chinese dim sum, a hearty American brunch can really hit the spot as well and boy, did Fatty's deliver. I had the two-egg omlette with mushrooms red/green bell peppers, and scallions with a side of sausages and home fries. The salad came standard, which I guess helped me feel better about eating the sausage and fries. Now, now...I keep a balanced diet in-line with the semi-vegan lifestyle. (Read: omnivore) =P

Omlette, home fries, sausage, bell peppers, salad

I hope this post was a nice break from the usual flower photos that I usually put on here. Now that summer's over, the only flora that's around to be photographed are hairy toad lilies (which will be featured in the next post), dried hydrangea flowers, and the occasional rose. Time permitting, I may take a trip upstate to Ithaca, NY and take some photos of the fall foliage as well as my alma mater. Either way, I'm sure there will be something to photograph!

Summer's Last Hurrah!

Greetings! It's been almost two months since my last entry here so today's post will have a good number of photos for everyone's viewing pleasure. I completely skipped the month of August but what an interesting month it was. From an earthquake centered in VA that was felt all the way in New England to losing power from Hurricane Irene, there was certainly enough to keep anyone busy.

Speaking of storms, we'll begin with a photo that suggests a looming storm is inevitable. In actuality, only a few raindrops fell and the storm clouds left as fast as they arrived. The conditions interested me since the sun still managed to shine through the clouds, illuminating the trees in the middle ground.

The photo below is of a hydrangea leaf that was backlit by the setting sun. I find lighting conditions such as this fun to work with as they allow you to see things not normally visible under typical lighting conditions. Leaf structure is so intricate that one can't help but be mesmerized by it.

The next two photos are of the Night Queen flower, or Epiphyllum oxypelatum. This particular cactus rarely blooms and when it does, it happens for a single night. When I was young, I would always know when one of these beautiful flowers bloomed because it gives off a strong, pleasant fragrance. Given this small window of opportunity, I picked this flower and pinned it so that I could photograph it. This might just be my favorite flower!

The next half-dozen photos below are of various flowers including clematis, sunflower, lily, and hydrangea. Some have been posted here before while some have not.

Clematis

I'm not sure what this particular flower is. It is very small, roughly 0.25" to 0.375" at its widest and grows in clusters close to the ground. From a non-magnified view, they can be easily missed! 

Sunflower

Lily

Hydrangea (and a really big fly!)

I've posted photos of these little white flowers below and have yet to find out exactly what they are. If anyone knows, then please educate me! =) 

Here we have a series of photos featuring the blossoms of the Chinese chive. Not only are these flowers pretty but they can also be eaten! They have to be harvested before the blossoms open though and can be stir-fried or used in soups. My family's been growing Chinese chive for over 25 years in our garden and regularly use them in dumpling, soup, scrambled eggs, and stir-fry.

There were many insects feeding on the blossoms and they provided me with an abundance of photographic subjects. Below is a photo of the largest hoverfly I've ever seen. They're usually about 0.375" long but this one was over 0.5"!

In this photo, I believe we have a shield bug and this is the first time I've ever seen one. I'm not sure which species it belongs to but it looks a lot like other shield bugs I've seen in photographs online. This little guy was quite the adventurer, climbing over and under leaves like it was nothing.

Last but not least, there were also bees getting their share of pollen and nectar. There were some rather large ones flying around sometimes bullying the other much smaller critters in the neighborhood. These guys moved really fast and it was hard getting a sharp focus on them given the dim light available at the time.

Finally, we have several photos of the hairy toad lily. The first of these flowers started blooming a couple of weeks ago but this is the first time this season that I've had the opportunity to photograph them. Several buds are currently maturing so I expect some more chances to capture them in pixel form.

Some photos of the hairy toad lily were posted last year but I think this year's results are much better since I have the close-up lens to give me a magnification boost. What intrigues me the most about these flowers are the little golden orgs that hang in the central "arms". These little guys bloom at a time when nearly all of the other flowers have given their show and will continue to bloom into October. 

Well, this wraps up today's post. With the Autumnal Equinox less than two weeks away, there will be an ever-decreasing selection of subjects to photograph in my yards. Next up will be more hairy toad lilies, dried hydrangea flowers, and the fall foliage, so stay tuned!