2018 Russia World Cup is in the air! So I’m going to blog about my epic trans-Siberian journey in the following days. In this post, I would start from my first stop of the long journey - Moscow. These photos you see were shot at sunset close to Gorky Park. On this lovely summer day, the locals are resting or dancing by the charming Moskva River snaking through the city. Warm season is not long here, so beautiful sunny days like this are so precious. The bridge you see is Pushkinsky Pedestrian Bridge completed in 2000, built around the old steel arch of the historical Andreyevsky Rail Bridge (1907-1998).

https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZ5aKtSoBDm6REfReJrZX9JLxtZRirMVLZ8pYCtm6nyzs/m1.JPG

Before I went to Russia, all my impressions about it were only from books, TV news, movies and a couple of Russian friends. Just like China or any other countries, foreigners can have misconceptions about Russia. I still remember when I was doing a master in Belgium, we had a Russian girl in the same major, and whenever she stopped drinking in a hangout, the rest would say: “Hey, you are from Russia! How can you drink so little? Don’t you drink vodka like water?” Or things like:”What? You call this cold? Don’t you have frozen lakes most time of the year there in Russia?” Haha… So travel is your best friend. Seeing is believing. Just go out there and see with your own eyes. :)

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So I hopped on the trans-Siberian train and started my 7-day journey through Russia? No no no, it’s way more exciting! ;) First, I have to apply for the visa of course. Should it be a transit one then? When I checked the train routes, I found out that rather than taking the famous 7-day trans-Siberian train (see the red route in the map below), I should actually do the trans-Mongolian route to Beijing. Why? Because I’m going to East China and I’d love to visit Mongolia too!

Image source:

But if you take that popular trans-Siberian train for a week, you stay in one train for 7 days without getting out or taking showers, which is a bit gruesome to me on hot summer days. ;) At last, I opted for separate legs of train, so I could get out and see different places in Russia and Mongolia. Then I had to get a tourist visa instead of a transit visa. I also decided to do couchsurfing, which was as awesome as always. Like many travelers, I’ve loved this way of going local. All my hosts in Russia were amazing, and every one of them took me to meet their friends or other couchsurfing mates. We had so much fun!

So after the visa and the accommodation were sorted out, I first flew from Brussels to Moscow, and after a week in Moscow, I took a couple of trains all the way to Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, and then to Beijing, China. It turned out to be such a wonderful journey full of great memories. When I’m now looking at the photos and videos filled with culture, nature and laughter, I just can’t help smiling.

In my next post about this Trans-Siberian journey, join me in a boat tour down the Moscow River! Stay tuned and see you soon! =)

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All content by @itchyfeetdonica except for the map

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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !

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!steemitworldmap 55.728770 lat 37.597300 long Moscow d3scr

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What’s up fellow Steemians! Today I’m going to ramble a bit about food. As a Chinese having lived in Asia, Europe, South America, the Caribbeans and Australia, my food experience is pretty extensive, and I enjoy a wide variety of food. I don’t want to say “East or West, home food is the best”, too narrow-minded, isn’t it? ;) There are so many delicacies all over the world. But still, Asian food is something I cook and eat the most often, not because it’s the best, but because I’m more familiar with its cooking.

By Asian food, I don’t mean Chinese food or Cantonese food, but food I tried in Asian countries. 🍛🍲🍜 And I have to point out that Cantonese food is always mistaken as typical Chinese food, just because there is a large number of Cantonese immigrants overseas. Look at the strange mushy meat wrapped in dark soy sauce, sometimes even with broccoli, yuuucky…😆 no it’s not Chinese food, not even genuine Cantonese one. In fact, there are so many different cuisines in China besides the Cantonese one. 😃

So when I occasionally miss Asian food in a Western kind of country, what do I do? Aha~ I play with the food:

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And I burn the bread (look at the head picture)! Too much bread in the Western diet! 😅
Haha, just kidding! So what’s the black stuff? No worries, it’s black garlic bread, and what next to it are brown butter and burnt vanilla. You see there’s really something burnt! 😜 They look a bit like a devil, but taste divine. The multi-seed bagel with pastrami and fried egg is also delectable. 😋

下面是澳洲布里斯班/本南岸一家名为Gauge的餐厅吃的brunch，很黑暗有木有？

友情提醒：中英文是互补不是互译的，因为想说的太多，而且受众不同（说得好像真有多少人看一样），哈哈

https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmU4MiEmxHxRbu8mbzv51iBYMZX5andPAiMtpUWap8hjqm/IMG_1642.JPG

This place - Gauge was recommended by a local friend from Brisbane. Located just across the street from the South Bank’s art precinct, it is café by day and restaurant by night. According to the AU Review:

It is a small and unassuming cafe/restaurant that produces a Michelin-star quality food at reasonable prices. Jerome Batten is the man behind Gauge, a role he juggles while also helming Sourced Grocer, a cafe and grocer in Newstead. For both, the focus is on local, quality produce – with each kitchen’s own flair for originality.

From their menu, you can see lots of creative options with Australian ingredients, such as kangroo consommé and quandong (one of the best known bushfoods - a native peach widely dispersed throughout the central deserts and southern areas of Australia).

当地朋友推荐的这家食肆还是挺赞的~ 新鲜的季节性原料，创新的烹饪手法，浓郁的本土特色，有袋鼠肉汤、澳洲特有的丛林食材 – 框档果（曾是土著居民的主要食物，被文玩商引入中国时炒作为佛螺菩提太会掰了）等很多选择。点的几个小盘不说色香味俱佳，起码口感不错，尤其黑色蒜香土司抹上黄油、配上烤焦的香草，吃起来唇齿留香，意犹未尽。旁边的改良贝果面包搭着五香酱牛肉末和鸡蛋，味道也很独特。有专业评论称这家是“米其林的品质，平民的价格”。

Their dinner menu(it’s seasonal, so it can be different):
他家晚餐的菜单（随季节变动）:
他家晚餐的菜单（随季节变动）:
他家晚餐的菜单（随季节变动）:

A great cuppa coffee afterwards:
吃完来杯咖啡，味道不错哦:
吃完来杯咖啡，味道不错哦:
吃完来杯咖啡，味道不错哦:

The quality of coffee and the barista culture is a big thing in Australia. Aussies love their coffee. So when a place takes coffee seriously like this one, plenty of locals are willing to wait from its opening time. Some Aussies love to laugh at Starbucks that can’t live up to the high-quality coffee standards they hold, like the same brand didn’t stand a chance to break into the Italian market (It’s said the first Starbucks shop is finally due to open later this year in downtown Milano).

澳大利亚，尤其是墨尔本这样的地方是以注重咖啡品质而闻名的，个中原因又可以另写一篇。你可能要问，澳洲早先是英国佬的地盘，这帮人不是喝茶的主儿吗？长话短说，就是1928年，墨尔本的一家咖啡厅率先配备了意式浓缩咖啡机，从此，曾经沧海难为水，除却espresso不是咖，☕ 一切都不一样了。接着咖啡机又传到悉尼，喝浓咖啡的习惯渐渐在澳洲社会流传开来。

二战后，政府放宽了咖啡进口和移民政策，于是乎，不仅大量的咖啡豆，还有大量的意大利和希腊移民涌入这块广袤荒芜却又闪着希望的大陆。有了这群酷爱咖啡的意呆利人和希腊人（冰咖啡frappé就是希腊人在1957年捣鼓出来的），一家家南欧风情咖啡馆便在悉尼等地的郊区遍地开花。

咖啡豆要现磨，咖啡要汽压煮，咖啡师要经过专业训练来掌握这门艺术，想不好喝都难。就跟意大利人一样，澳洲人也热衷于嘲笑美国的星巴克，说人家达不到自己对咖啡的高标准。2000年，星巴克雄心勃勃地在全澳开了84家，结果用不了十年几乎全部关停。在这个全球泛滥着星巴克咖啡的时代，意大利硬是抵制这美国品牌直到今天，但据说今年晚些时候会在米兰市中心的邮政大楼里开张第一家，我还去过那座古色古香的邮政大楼，不禁想到当年故宫星巴克的去留之争，呵呵，只能边吃瓜边拭目以待啦。

除了对咖啡很讲究的意大利法国葡萄牙等欧洲国家，我还有幸访问过巴西、越南、哥伦比亚这世界前三大咖啡出口国，也在加勒比、埃塞俄比亚等有名的咖啡产区尝过不少咖啡，希望遥远不久的将来也可以和大家分享这些经历。不知不觉竟然又扯了这么多，吃货的真爱啊~ ❤

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The head picture also serves as an entry to Foodboasting Photo Contest by @karenmckersie. Check out her page and join the fun! Actually she only asks for one food photo, so apparently there’s too much ramble in my post this time. =)

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Like what I said in my intro post:

I do, like many of you foodies there, take great pleasure in eating and cooking. And I try to learn cooking from different cultures during my travels, to spice up my own experiments on food fusion. I’d love to share these experiences in my future posts too, such as the fun culinary workshops in Mexico, Peru, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc..

Check out my food posts and follow me for more:

• Cook with Donica - Braised Pork with Tofu and Shiitake 🍲 跟我一起做香菇豆腐红烧肉
• Cook with Donica - Satay Fried Rice 🍛 一起来做简单美味的沙爹炒饭
• Vietnamese Street Food - Mini-Pancakes🥞 🇻🇳 越南街头美味的迷你煎饼
• Dirty Duck Restaurant in Ubud, Bali 🦆 🇮🇩 脏鸭馆的美食故事
• Come Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 🧀🇳🇱 全球颜值最高的菜市场长什么样？
• Foodie’s Photo Journal of Sydney Fish Market 🐠 带你逛悉尼海鲜市场
• 图说万州烤鱼 🐟 Szechuan Style Roast Fish Recipe and the Legend Behind It

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All content by @itchyfeetdonica
图文 by Donica多

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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !

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!steemitworldmap -27.473492 lat 153.017678 long 77 Grey Street, South Brisbane d3scr

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Hey Steemit friends, today I’m going to show you an old lamp shop and the story of its legendary owner in Braidwood, Australia. Braidwood is about 55 kilometres to Canberra, and it is the first town registered as a historic town in the New South Wales State register. It boasts quaint historic buildings, antique shops, fine restaurants and beautiful nature around. I found this lamp shop when we had a stopover in Braidwood, on a road trip during the past New Year holiday.

大家好！今天我来介绍一个澳洲小镇Braidwood一家不起眼的古董灯老店。这是前几个月新年假期的自驾途中偶然看到的，当时听了店主的传奇故事，觉得这个小店很有意思，就拍了几张照片，还在门口留影一张，觉得应该写一写，结果，拖延症晚期的我一拖又是几个月，直到今天看到@aaronli的“城事影像”活动的“老店”主题，才想起来找到这些照片，写下它的故事。Braidwood离首都堪培拉约55公里，是新南威尔士州最早注册为历史古城的小镇。作为历史上的淘金重镇，这儿有不少古意盎然的老建筑（相对于澳洲来说）、古玩店、餐厅酒吧等，周围还有很多小河小溪，不失为干旱地带的一片小小绿洲。

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Since this antique shop was kind of hidden on a tree lined street, his owner Mr. Aernout placed this car at the town centre to attract visitors, and it worked. Later in his lamp shop, he asked us if we noticed this historic vehicle. And yes, that’s how we found his place:

因为这家古董灯店静静地藏在一条侧街边的树丛中，不容易被一般游客注意到，店主就把下面这辆拉风的老爷车放在镇中心的路口，旁边放着他的广告招牌吸引访客，这一招还挺灵，我们就是这么被吸引过去的：

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The Albion Cafe next to the sign serves great food and drinks, highly recommended too!

下面这家灯店广告牌后的咖啡馆就是我们吃午餐的地方，他家咖啡和简餐也很棒，但这期主题是老灯店，我就不放吃的照片啦手好痒：

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So we came to this antique lamp shop and met its owner Robert Aernout. This fun energetic man showed us around his shop and told stories about his past and the shop’s origin.

我们根据广告牌上的地址找到这家老店，见到了照片里的传奇店主 - 罗伯特 · 阿努特先生。老先生年近八旬仍然精力充沛，神采奕奕地向我们介绍了自己的古董灯店，还讲述了他一生的传奇经历。

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Mr. Aernout was born in 1940 to Dutch parents on a tea plantation in East Java, Indonesia. His birth place is exotic enough, isn’t it? And it’s more than that. He spent the war years in Japanese P.O.W.(Prisoner Of War) camps, and left Indonesia in 1948 with his parents on an evacuation ship to Holland. Then he was educated in the Netherlands, but obviously he didn’t end up living in Europe but migrated to New Zealand in 1963. After 7 years, he came to Australia in 1970, and lived in Sydney for 20 years. So how did he turn to a collector and merchant of antique lamps?

阿努特先生1940年出生在印度尼西亚东爪洼岛的一处茶叶种植园，父母是荷兰人。是不是挺异域风情的？我听到这里脑海中已经上演好几幕殖民电影场景了，然而，接下来更精彩：二战期间，他在日军战俘营度过了童年，到1948年，又随父母坐着疏散的远洋轮船去了荷兰（简直又可以拍成好几部电影~）。在母国接受教育后，他并没有留在那里，而是在1963年又移民到了新西兰，果然会折腾，跟我有的一拼，听到这里对他好感度大增，哈哈。 我当时真的把他的口述飞快地打字记在了手机里，仿佛知道有这么一天会写下他的故事…… 真是有点记者八婆潜质啊~ 7年后，就像很多新西兰居民一样，他又从一块宁静安详的土地移居到不远处一块更加广袤荒芜的大陆 – 澳大利亚（看过电影《澳大利亚》没？）。从1970年起，他在悉尼一住就是20年，看来跟众多华人眼光一致呢，挑了个好地方。然而，故事还没完，否则怎么会有今天我写的这个老灯店？

In the early 1990s Mr. Aernout often travelled to Braidwood and he was fascinated with the Lake Bathurst Gallery, an 1830s slab timber cottage. So he bought it and started a collectible business specialising in vintage and antique lamps and replacement parts. Here in the shop, you can find everything from oil and kerosene lamps to oldwares. It’s like a little paradise for the lamp enthusiast or collector. In the showroom, there’s a complete range of rare and collectible lamps spanning 200 years of lighting. Besides, there are souvenirs and artworks from different parts of the world collected by Mr. Aernout.

九十年代初期，阿努特先生常常从悉尼去西南方向的Braidwood（布莱德伍德？），他被那里的一处画廊建筑迷住了，这是一间19世纪30年代的平板小木屋。最后他终于拔草，买下这处木屋（我竟然忘了给小木屋拍照，一定是外面太热，我出来后只匆匆在店牌前留了张“到此一游”照就跑路了，汗颜……），搬到这个鸟不拉屎的小镇，开始了自己的古董灯店生意彪悍的人生从来不需要解释，不是吗。在他的这家老店里（我知道，区区三十年不到历史的店对于来自中国的我来说能算老吗？但是这在澳洲真的是家老店啊~），各种老式油灯、煤油灯琳琅满目，还有其他老先生收藏的古物和世界各地的艺术品比如螺旋桨、头盔、铠甲、木雕、老桌椅之类，也让人目不暇接。

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The photo on the table of his shop was taken some decades ago. The younger Robert was behind Miller kerosene lamps dating back to 1895. It looks interesting together with the recent photo I took for him among his lamps. Time flies, while his passion and pursuit stay the same. According to Mr. Aernout:

These lamps are called library and parlour lamps. The painted shades and fonts came in various flower designs and less ornate ones in plain white shades. A Number 2 burner was used with a round wick and gave around 80 candle power. Some of the other lamps are of French origin and also date back to the late 19th century.

下面放在他店里桌子上的黑白照片是几十年前年轻些的罗伯特，在1895年的一群米勒老煤油灯前拍的。是不是跟我上面给他拍的那张形成有趣的对比？光阴荏苒，不变的是那颗热爱古董灯的心…… 根据他的说法：

这些古董灯一般用在图书馆或客厅。有些灯罩上有各种彩绘的花纹图案，还有些白色灯罩的比较素淡。使用圆形灯芯的2号灯头，烛光功率80左右。其中还有一些灯来自19世纪的法国。

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He told us his collection of antiques was also used as props in some old films, and he showed us a few movie posters in which he played roles. Before we left, he recommended a creek nearby to dip into. It’s a life saver in the incredibly hot and dry weather!

他说自己收集的这些年代久远的老灯具还被一些老电影用来当作道具使用，并给我们看了他年轻时饰演的一些电影角色的海报。我们又聊到开车来的路上看到头被撞死的袋熊，他就跟我们讲了些当地的各种动物。最后，我们跟他告别前，他还推荐了附近一处可以泡冷水的小溪，真是贴心 – 这在这种酷暑天和这块极度干热的地区简直是救命稻草啊~ 好了，老灯店就聊到这里，去游泳啦……

先吃个冰淇淋（不好意西，还是没忍住发吃的，但是一只手没拿稳手机，拍虚了，哈哈）：

再游泳（老先生推荐的小溪还不错哦~ 如果我照片里找到的是他所说的那条的话 这块地区真是干得可以 很多草木都是针叶状 好可怜 分分钟渴死的节奏 然而彪悍的植物人生也是不需要怜悯的 老天自有安排不是吗）：

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All content by @itchyfeetdonica
图文 by Donica多

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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !

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!steemitworldmap -35.439390 lat 149.802601 long Braidwood, Australia d3scr

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This page is synchronized from the post: ‘#102 Story of an Antique Shop and Its Legendary Owner 🇦🇺 古董老灯店和它的传奇主人’

Hey my Steemit friends, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far? =) I haven’t blogged for a while since I have been tied up with a project at work for the past week, and now I’m happy to be back! This time it’s not my feet itchy to travel around, but my hands itchy to write travel posts! ;)

So now let’s visit a typical Miao minority ethnic region in Southwest China. Considered to be the largest living museum of the Miao primitive culture, this group of small villages - Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village is located in the mountainous region in Guizhou Province. I reached this place from Kaili, a nearby city known as the cradle of certain ethnic minorities in China.

各位周末愉快！这刚过去的一周多一直在连夜赶工一份技术专利校对和翻译，眼珠子都快掉进厚厚一沓设计图纸里了，现在终于有空来写文，手痒痒得不行啊。=) 对，一般是脚痒痒想四处旅行，但这些年满世界走动，输入很多，觉得有不少内容亟待输出，很开心能在这里和大家分享。今天就请跟我去中国西南最典型的苗寨一探究竟吧！西江千户苗寨位于贵州省凯里市附近的雷公山，包括十余个依山而建的苗族小村落，是全国乃至全世界最大的苗族聚居区，来到这里仿佛置身于一座巨大的苗民生活博物馆。

Its name Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village literally means “a thousand household(Qianhu) by West River(Xijiang)”. Since it’s a well-known consolidation of typical Miao communities, the main village here can get pretty touristy. Yet it’s a great cultural destination with particular charm, especially when you go to explore the less-visited surrounding hills.

The locals have been living for centuries in those wooden houses on the slopes of hills. Look at how people’s residences blend with the natural settings! I was amazed by such perfect harmony. From my photos, you can see the idyllic scenery, which is even more breathtaking when all the houses are lit in warm lights at night. By then it’s more obvious to tell the outline of the whole village that resembles a buffalo head. Miao people see buffalo head as an auspicious totem that wards off evil spirits. I’ve found this shape and symbol widely used in patterns and decorations in the village, such as the top of the traditional headpiece I tried out (pictured below).

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Generation after generation, the people here work in the surrounding rice paddies and make exquisite Miao silverworks, batiks and embroideries. They chase away bad spirits with silver jewelry, and cure their illness with all kinds of Miao herbal medicine from the dense mountain forests.

They celebrate life events with plenty of local festivals, when people (mostly women) put on their finest silver jewelry and embroidered costumes. I tried out one copy with fake silver jewelries (pictured above), and it’s not that easy to walk around with the huge headpiece and all those bling bling decorations. You can imagine how heavy it is when it’s genuine silver all over your body, but well, like always, many are willing to pay a price for looking good. ;) Plus it’s a cool tradition to wear this on festive days, and the girls might be happy to dress up when there were not many choices in clothing or accessories in deep mountains in the early times…

In events like wedding, celebration of new-borns and village gathering, Miao people have a traditional way of sharing food called Long Table Banquet. The hosts are supposed to sit at the left side of the table and the guests at the right side. Besides enjoying the delicious local delicacies like fish in sour soup, cured meat, ham and sausages…, the hosts toast the guests with rice wine and folk songs. Imagine hundreds of people sitting around a long table to share all the food and joy. Sounds fun, isn’t it? :) I didn’t get the chance to witness a big event like that, but only found this dining etiquette being applied in many restaurants in the village.

In these festivals and celebrations, Miao people is also known for their colorful traditional singing and dancing. In my coming posts I’d love to share the video clips of their lively performance.

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The most typical architectures in Miao villages are the wooden stilted houses(Diao Jiao Lou 吊脚楼) and Wind & Rain Bridges(Feng Yu Qiao 风雨桥), as you can see from my photos below.

Like most visitors, I stayed in a beautiful guest house modified from a local building. The wooden stilted houses are usually built on a 30-70 degree mountain slope without any nails and rivets. What a smart way to fit into the environment, and it creates the magnificent views for both the inhabitants and people watching from afar.

There are normally three floors in a building for different uses. The lowest floor is for raising poultry and livestock, storing tools, etc. The second floor is the living space, with central room, bedroom, kitchen and place for making embroidery. The top floor is used to store grain, fodder and other goods.

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The five Wind & Rain Bridges are crossing the main river in the village. They are popular venues for villagers as well as visitors to have a rest. Just like the rest, I loved enjoying the different but equally fabulous views from these bridges both during daytime and at night. They are built based on “Feng Shui” (风水) in Chinese culture to bring good luck and convenience to the locals. These bridges used to be built in wooden structures without any nails, but now they are rebuilt in more sturdy concrete and wood to withstand floods.

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I was walking along the Xijiang river that snakes through the village, and it’s sad to see the polluted unclear water. I witnessed some restaurants by the banks directly discharging waste water into the river:

我沿着穿寨而过的河流漫步，看到大部分河水很混浊，污染严重，痛心地发现不少两岸的餐馆就直接将污水排入河中：
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Tourism has brought new opportunities for the Miao villagers, but I’ve seen locals stick to their traditional ways of living, not just for the tourists.

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I had a chat with the sweet old lady from this hilltop guest house and batik workshop. She told me some interesting old traditions in their Miao villages, such as the sacrificial ceremony and agricultural meetings hosted by hereditary heads. She also recalled how she met her husband from her village nearby and moved here after marriage, and how things have changed since this place was listed as a cultural heritage site.

All content by @itchyfeetdonica
图文 by Donica多

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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !

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Hey my Steemit friends! Today I’m going to show you how I created a cartoon drawing - A Raccoon and His Potato Cannon. So why did these 2 subjects come hand in hand to my mind?

The Origins

I stumbled upon the Drawing Raccoon Challenge from the pages of @ericet and @kidsreturn. Also, the theme of @angelina6688’s Drawing Contest is Military Equipment this month. To kill two birds with one stone, I was thinking of drawing something with both themes in it. That’s how this work of “raccoon and potato cannon” was born. I’m not sure if a potato cannon is a “military” equipment, but yeah, it’s fun 😁! And have you noticed how happy the 2 potatoes are in my drawing? I suppose they enjoy it! :D Happy International Children’s Day(coming soon…)! Ok, let’s shooot~

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大家好！这次我来展示一下自己刚画的一幅卡通的步骤。画的主角是小浣熊和土豆炮。什么？为什么是这两样风马牛不相及的东西？且听我细细道来……

缘起

两位美女@angelina6688和@kidsreturn分别主办了齐白石杯“军事装备”绘画比赛和“新手村首届画浣熊”比赛，所以作为一个大忙人我不会告诉你其实就是懒，我就在想怎么节约时间高效率同时参加两个活动呢？答案就是：让小浣熊和军事装备同时出镜呗~ 小浣熊在我眼中是比较可爱的形象，不忍让他举着冲锋枪射击或者舞刀弄剑开坦克之类，而且六一儿童节就要到了，所以我一拍小脑瓜 – 就画个同样可爱的土豆佳能炮来给他玩玩好了！有没有被我的想象力所折服？哈哈哈😄

而我为什么要在23号晚上画呢？因为画浣熊比赛24号截止啊！我一直觉得应该给最后期限一点仪式感，如果不重视它的临近所带来的极度兴奋和焦虑，不在最后期限之前的一点有限时间里赶死般完成任务，那它的存在还有什么意义呢？毕竟每一天都有不同的deadline要赶，赶赶更健康嘛~ 生命不息，奋斗不止！上帝保佑我在今晚24号东八区23:59前写完本篇哈…… =)

好了，瞎扯到此为止，下面进入正题：

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What I Used
材料

a drawing pad, water colour paint, 2 brushes, 6 colored pens, a black marker, a 2B pencil
绘画本、水彩颜料、小排笔2支、彩笔6支、黑色马克笔1支、2B铅笔1支
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What I Did
步骤

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I’m a bit hesitant to use step 1, 2, 3… as I didn’t really follow any rules or certain steps. I think normally we are supposed to first outline all the shapes, and later color them. But I couldn’t wait to try out the new water color paint I bought, so I finished coloring the raccoon before I drew other objects, haha, I know, I’m too random… And I drew the little boy potato with a purple marker - I was thinking drawing the girl potato in pink, and it’s matched with purple, but later, I found this purple was a bit out of nowhere, so I regretted using this color instead of blue!
Anyway, here is the so-called

Step 1 – Draw and color the raccoon and the boy potato:

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其实我有点犹豫要不要弄个第一步、第二步、第三步…… 因为我真的没有遵循什么步数，毕竟不是什么专业的画家啦。冥冥中，我觉得似乎应该是先勾完所有的轮廓线（其实我很后悔用黑笔勾了线，不太自然的感觉），再上色，但由于等不及想试试看新买的水彩颜料的效果，所以我就先给小浣熊上色了，哈哈哈，我是不是太随性了……

我还把浣熊握着的土豆男孩画成了紫色，是因为想着跟后面粉色的土豆女孩相配，结果发现这种紫色有点突兀，跟画面的其他颜色挺不协调，还不如用云朵和炮架的蓝色。不管怎样，我还是来假正经地标个步骤好了：

第一步 – 勾画出小浣熊和土豆男孩，并用水彩上色：

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Step 2 – Draw the cannon and the girl potato:

To make the cannon design a bit special, I customized it with the auspicious cloud pattern from ancient China ;). Hmmm, it should be “designed by a Chinese” instead of “made in China”, my mistake… And it’s your mistake if you still think “made in China” equals bad-quality(oh how patriotic I am! ;p).

And I made the 2 potatoes very happy and excited, since I would feel so if I was shot out of a cannon to a faraway place. Imagine the swooshing sound flying away freely, and please ignore the science behind it, like hot and burning, blah blah… this is just a cartoon. 😜

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第二步 – 勾画出土豆炮和土豆女孩：

注意到没有？炮身上绘有美丽动人的中国传统特色的祥云图案哦！男女两个小土豆都很开心地投入到射击游戏中，想想看，被从炮筒中飞快地射出去，自由地在空中翱翔，这是多么惬意的感受啊！请各位小伙伴忽略这其中的科学道理，毕竟这只是卡通画啦~

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Step 3 – Draw the bird and the sun:

Apparently the sky above is lacking something. So I just added a bird tied with a balloon, since I always feel it would be cool to save some energy when flying. I believe the birds would love this idea too. What do you think?

Also, Mr. Sun needs his sunglasses, flipflop and a glass of drink to enjoy this beautiful hot day. Ain’t I considerate? Haha…

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第三步 – 画出小鸟和太阳：

显然，小浣熊和小土豆们头顶上空荡荡的天空里还缺了点什么。所以我就来加上只飞翔的小鸟吧，给她拴上氢气球，应该会省力不少，呵呵，慢悠悠的在空中浮游，一边看看地面的风景，该是很多鸟儿的梦想吧？小多同学你可能想多了……人家鸟儿可没那么多闲工夫

还有太阳先生，这么个大热天，也是需要戴个酷酷的墨镜来遮阳滴是遮他自己吗！云朵桌上还得供着清凉饮料和人字拖，才对得起这满满的夏日风情啊~

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Step 4 – Finish all the coloring, shade with the pencil, and add a title and signature:

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第四步 – 完成所有的水彩上色，用铅笔画上阴影，添上标题和日期签名：

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Here are the details of the raccoon and the cannon, since they are the 2 themes for the 2 contests:
下面是小浣熊和土豆炮的细节图，因为它们毕竟分别是两个比赛的主题：

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好了，到这里卡通就画完了，希望你们喜欢！提前祝各位儿童节快乐，童心永驻！:) 一直以为自己以成熟理性著称，却不知道为什么常常是画点东西出来，被人说太萌幼稚，而且色彩太缤纷。哎，你们就将就着看吧。欢迎留言给出你的批评建议~

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At last, to remember this 100th post of mine, I took a picture of my introduction sign I made last December, together with this cartoon drawing I did yesterday. I was holding this sign for the intro photo to include in my first post on Steemit, and the paper I used then was from the same drawing pad. :)

Time flies - 5 months has passed, swooshing like the flying potato from the cannon, and happy time as well! I’m not going to ramble on how much I appreciate this platform and @ all the awesome friends I made here. I might do that in the coming future when I reach a milestone like 1000 followers? Who knows, I’m lazy anyway… But still, I would love to say thank you all, and you know who you are! =)

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最后要说的是，我发现这是自己来Steemit后写的第100篇文章，而去年12月做第一篇自我介绍时用同样的纸张画的袋鼠和写的姓名日期也一直夹在这绘本里，所以我就给它们来张合影留念吧~

时光飞逝，正如土豆炮里射出的小土豆一样新成语：土豆过隙，“飕飕”地飞向远方。按理说，我应该在此表达自己对Steemit这个平台的感激，并@所有在这里认识的朋友，呼朋引伴，让大家都来看看。但是，我毕竟是个比较低调的懒人，也许会等到1000个粉丝(虽然可能很多僵尸)的里程碑时，再来玩玩分发SBD彩蛋的游戏吧~ 谢谢你们！不用我@, 你明白“你们”是谁~ =)

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感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

Thank you for reading. Check out my recent posts, and follow me for more! =)

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An Evening of Light in Hong Kong 香港之光三部曲

Colorful Olinda & Latin America 多姿多彩的南美 + 奥林达拼图

土耳其咖啡占卜的暧昧 A Story About Turkish Coffee Fortune Telling

Upcycled Newspaper Figures in Havana 创意十足的升级改造

Learn Chinese Idiom on Mother’s Day - the Story About Mencius’ Mother 孟母三迁

DIY with Donica: Make a Plant Saver DIY环保小物~自动给水花瓶

Paint with Donica - 4 Treasures of Chinese Painting + Recreating Film Characters 来画国产动画角色 + 文房四宝小知识

Batik Stories (1) - My First Batik Work in Indonesia 蜡染系列（一）我的蜡染处女作

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !
https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSyM6PcNQJ9LL5UciWHWdZjHvcKQwP63HHMyJzvzvobB/4.jpg

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The theme of @aaronli’s “A City a Story Photo Contest” is LIGHT this week, so I’m now sharing with you an evening of light I spent last summer in Hong Kong. You will see three parts in this post - an exhibition of chasing light, the Pulse Light Show, and the evening lights at Victoria Harbor.

First, let’s check out a photography exhibition in HK Cultural Centre. As we know, photography is an art of light. This exhibition – “Her Journey; Her Passion” showcased photo works of 16 HK female photographers who travel the world to chase the light. I wish one day my travel photography could reach such a level that I would do an exhibition like this as well!

In fact, speaking of Hong Kong in light through camera lens, the first photographer comes to my mind is Fan Ho. He is a master of utilizing light and shadow to depict a quintessential Hong Kong. He has captured lots of classical moments in this city with his timeless black and white images. Together with a few other photographers who focus on shooting Hong Kong, I could write another 10 posts at least, so I’m not rambling too much here today. Wait for my coming posts! =)

Now please follow me to tour the world through these awesome photographers’ eyes:

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今天请大家跟随我的脚步，一起来看看香港这颗东方明珠的独特光芒。本文会分为三部分，按照时间顺序，分别是：追逐光影的摄影展，“脉动”灯光秀，还有维港夜色。

首先，我们来瞧瞧一个名为“旅程~女情”的摄影展。摄影是一门用光的艺术。这里展出的作品是16位香港女摄影师游览全球各地，追逐光影所拍摄的自然风光和人文景象。她们技术高超、风格各异（见下图）。希望将来我也可以达到这样的水平，展出自己的世界旅游摄影。

其实呢，说到香港摄影，我首先想到的大师是何藩。何老先生用它的相机展现了一个黑白光影中永恒经典的香港。只是这次影展是香港新晋女摄影师在世界其他地方所拍作品，而关于何藩镜头下的香港，或者他作品的赏析和感想，我以前也写过手稿，再结合其他几位专门拍香港的摄影师，我完全可以另写至少10篇，所以今天这里就不展开太多了，可能不久的将来会写到。

现在就请先随着我的手机镜头，来看看这些女摄影师眼中的世界：

Part 1 – An Exhibition of Chasing Light
逐光的影展

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Mildred Lai’s India:
印度：
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Anita Tong’s Hokkaido:
日本的北海道：
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Stella Lo’s Lake Baikal:
俄罗斯的贝加尔湖：
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Susanna Choi’s Tibet:
西藏：
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Anab Leung’s Australia:
澳洲：
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Antelope Valley in USA:
美国的羚羊谷：
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The Winter in Northern China:
中国北方的冬天：
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Janice Wan’s New Zealand:
新西兰：
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Part 2 – Pulse Light Show
“脉动”灯光秀

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Then I came out of this gallery and walked on. On my way I happened to witness this Pulse Light Show. The colorful lights were projected to the big screen to show motion pictures. It’s incredibly crowded at the venue, so I only took these 3 photos below in the short time when I could hold my phone above all the heads, without a chance to take a longer video which would show better the changing frames:

走出文化中心的影展画廊后，我继续往码头方向走，恰好看到下面这场绚丽的“脉动”灯光秀。五颜六色的灯光被投影到前面的大屏幕上，播放不断切换的动画。这里简直是人山人海，对于一个习惯了高人口密度的亚洲人来说，虽然算不了什么，但在这人口攒动之间想拍个照还真不容易，别说灯光秀的视频了，我连下面这仅有的三张照片，也是费了九牛二虎之力，才把胳膊举到黑压压的一大片人头之上才勉强拍下的：

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Part 3 – Evening Lights at Victoria Harbor
维港夜色

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After watching the light show, I walked to the pier of Tsim Sha Tsui to take the famous Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island. Operated since 19th century, Star Ferry has been an inexpensive mode of harbour crossing for local commuters between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, as well as a popular attraction for tourists.

I chose to come when the sun was setting, so I could see both the views of the splendid sunset light in the sky and of the gorgeous lights from the buildings. The first three pictures below were clicked when crossing Victoria Harbor. In my last three photos and the head picture are the views from Wan Chai Ferry Pier after landing. I believe the skyline here is one of the best known ones across the world. Just spectacular, isn’t it?

It’s also a popular subject among photographers. Unlike many who carried a tripod and a big camera to shoot seriously the harbor views here, I only chose to bring a phone with me in this muggy hot weather. I guess that’s the main reason I couldn’t reach that high level of the above-mentioned photographers - it’s my LAZINESS, except for the limitation of my camera gear.

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观赏灯光秀后，我又继续往尖沙咀码头走去。因为趁这个日落的好时机去搭乘天星小轮，正好可以看到空中的日落之光和两岸建筑渐次被点亮的璀璨灯光。维港两岸夜空中鼎鼎大名的天际线总是众多摄影师酷爱的题材，只是在这种酷热的天气里，我实在懒得背个相机甚至三脚架出一身汗，只带了只轻便的小手机随手拍拍算了。呵呵，这可能也是为什么我还达不到上面那些女摄影师的高度，除了自己破旧器材的局限性，懒惰估计才是主因。

这些照片的前三张拍于天星小轮里，后三张和题图是到了对岸的湾仔码头后拍的。我觉得这片天台是拍摄维港风景挺不错的一处地方，人也很少。这些独具特色的天星小轮自19世纪末开始为乘客摆渡往返于九龙和港岛，也逐渐为外地游客所钟情，成为观赏维多利亚港和两岸风光的交通工具。

All content by @itchyfeetdonica, all photos shot by iphone 7
图文皆原创

So that’s it for an evening of light in Hong Kong, hope you enjoyed it like I did! Tell me what you think in the comments! Until next time. =)

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感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

Thank you for reading. Check out my recent posts, and follow me for more! =)

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Colorful Olinda & Latin America 多姿多彩的南美 + 奥林达拼图

土耳其咖啡占卜的暧昧 A Story About Turkish Coffee Fortune Telling

Upcycled Newspaper Figures in Havana 创意十足的升级改造

Learn Chinese Idiom on Mother’s Day - the Story About Mencius’ Mother 孟母三迁

DIY with Donica: Make a Plant Saver DIY环保小物~自动给水花瓶

Paint with Donica - 4 Treasures of Chinese Painting + Recreating Film Characters 来画国产动画角色 + 文房四宝小知识

Batik Stories (1) - My First Batik Work in Indonesia 蜡染系列（一）我的蜡染处女作

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !

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