La Citadelle de Blaye.

On the right bank of the Gironde Estuary 56km north of Bordeaux lies the old Citadelle de Blaye which historically guarded the main entry point to Bordeaux.

In ancient times Blaye (Blavia) was a port of the Santones. Tradition states that the Frankish hero Roland was buried in its basilica, which was on the site of the citadel. It was early an important stronghold which played an important part in the wars against the English (who burnt it in 1352) and the French Wars of Religion (when it was the site of a Spanish naval victory in 1593). The duchess of Berry was imprisoned in its fortress in 1832-1833.

The town was formerly named Blaye-et-Sainte-Luce and was renamed Blaye in June 1961.

The town has a citadel built by Vauban on a rock beside the river, and embracing in its ancient ruins of an old Gothic château. The latter contains the tomb of Charibert II, king of Aquitaine, and son of Clotaire II. Blaye is also defended by the Fort Paté on an island in the river and the Fort Médoc on its left bank, both of the 17th century.

The citadel of Blaye, its city walls, the Fort Paté and the Fort Médoc (the latter in nearby Cussac-Fort-Médoc) were listed in 2008 as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as part of the "Fortifications of Vauban" group.

A Perspective of Shih Chung School, Penang

This imposing old tumbledown, heritage building in Georgetown, Penang used to be the Shih Chung School but actually has a much longer and interesting history.  The once glorious mansion was called Goh Chan Lau (literally meant five-storey bungalow) by the local Chinese and was built by millionaire Cheah Tek Soon, founder and partner of Penang Khean Guan Insurance Company (the first Chinese insurance company in the Straits Settlement in year 1885). The Cheahs are one of the big five Hokkien families in the state. In 1908, the building was sold off to Tye Kee Yoon, another eminent personality at that period. and the mansion then housed the Chinese Residency for a point of time before it became a hotel, the Raffles-by-the-Sea. The hotel was a failure and had to be shut down. 

Later on, Kee Yoon, who was a Hakka, collaborated with another millionaire Leong Fee to set up the Shih Chung School within Goh Chan Lau in the same year. Leong Fee, whose full name is Liang P'i Joo, also set up a girl's school called P'i Joo Girls' School which occupied the upper floor of Goh Chan Lau. In 1929 Shih Chung School was moved to Love Lane. By 1938, the school became so overcrowded that a branch had to be established and Goh Chan Lau became the choice destination again. From then on, Shih Chung existed as a main school and a branch school. The periods in between had the mansion leased to the Government Branch School.  

During the Second World War,Goh Chan Lau was used as an administrative headquarters for the Japanese Military and therefore the branch school had to relocate to its main body. There the combined school co-existed until 1949, when the Shih Chung Branch School returned to occupy Goh Chan Lau. In 1961, the launch of the Uniform Salary Scale for Teachers saw the full severance of Shih Chung Main School from Shih Chung Branch School. The branch school again relocated, this time to its current premises at Sungai Nibong in year 2000, when the urbanisation of Penang Island brought forth a collapse in the population of the Inner City, hence a precipitous drop in student attendance. Goh Chan Lau was later sold by the Tye family trustee, when the restriction period in the will expired (after three generations). The building had been purchased by a new owner, Malaysia Vegetable Oil Refinery Sdn Bhd in 1993. Now an abandoned building, the new owner had initially planned to turn it into a columbarium (a place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns -  i.e. urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains) but was met with harsh protest by the people of Penang. The site is apparently now set for demolition and a condominium built on the site. 

An interesting point to note is that the Tye family trust was an early example of a Hakka family that left a will for the descendants, which provided that the family estate including the Goh Chan Laucannot be sold for at least three generations, and 10 per cent of estate revenue is to be donated for education purpose. It is Chinese belief that the estate of a family cannot be passed more than three generations or will be finished by the third generation. The will of the Tye family provides clauses to mitigate the risk on that belief and provided clauses in the will, that the family estate cannot be sold prior to three generations. It also provided for a clause that 10 per cent of estate revenue to be used for education purpose. This reflected the wisdom of the Tye family, and their trust was able to support the Chinese education in Penang for long time. 

Tilt-Shift Lens Comparison

The main image above was shot using a Canon TS-E 17mm L lens and is an HDR processed image from 7 bracketed shots. Just to show the comparison between a shifted image and a normal one, the two photos below illustrate the shot:

1) using the TS-E 17mm L lens without shift and the camera body then tilted up to capture the entire building 

2) using the shift function of the lens to properly align the vertical perspective of the architecture. 

The un-shifted photo shows the typical leaning verticals giving the viewer an impression that the building is falling backwards. This is caused by the wide angle lens and the tilt of the camera body which is needed to capture the whole building. 

The shifted photo gives better perspective control of the verticals. This tilt-shift lens is therefore very useful for properly capturing photographs of architecture where perspective control is important.

 1) Canon TS-E 17mm L - no shift

2) Canon TS-E 17mm L with vertical shift to align perspective

The Blue Mansion

Having had a few days break from the blog over Xmas and New Year it's time to start the occasional post again as we make our way into 2012. I visited Penang over the festive period and had the opportunity to stay at the wonderfully historic Blue Mansion .... or Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion which has been beautifully and meticulously restored to its former glory. This venue provided some great photo opportunities and the above shot exemplifies that with the deep indigo blue colored walls, the rustic floor tiles and the stunningly detailed and colored spiral staircase.

I also had the opportunity during this trip to test out a new lens which I have added to my arsenal of Canon L lenses. I have often wondered about the benefits of a tilt-shift lens and given the high cost of these particular lenses plus the fact that I may not use it enough to justify the cost I have put off this purchase. However I eventually relented (as I often do with camera equipment) and picked up the shiny new Canon TS-E 17mm f/4.0L just prior to the Xmas break.

I love my existing wide angle 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens but one small aggravating feature it has, particularly when taking architecture, are the sloping perspectives which give the impression of the tall buildings falling backwards. At times this can be used to good advantage but in many circumstances it's good to be able to keep everything orthogonal.

I will share some comparison shots of this new tilt-shift lens in a later post but this shot here shows the power of such a lens. Placing the camera body on a tripod and leveling this it's a simple job then to shift the lens up or down to frame the shot and retain perfect verticals. The other great advantage here is the ability to take three shots, one with no lens shift, the other two shots with positive and negative lens shift to capture the scene upwards and downwards. Then it's a very simple task to stitch the three frames into a portrait panorama and as there is no lens distortion makes the stitching process simple and flawless compared to when I have previously done this with a standard wide angle lens. In a similar fashion with the tilt-shift lens adjusted by 90 degrees you can easily capture a landscape panorama with three shots.

I think the shot shown here convinces me of the great benefits of a tilt-shift lens and I am sure that this will probably become one of my favorite lenses to use especially for architectural shots or panoramas.

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex located in Himeji in Hyōgo Prefecture. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from thefeudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō ("White Egret Castle") or Shirasagi-jō ("White Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.

Himeji Castle dates to 1333, when Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on top of Himeyama hill. The fort was dismantled and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346, and then remodeled into Himeji Castle two centuries later. Himeji Castle was then significantly remodeled in 1581 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who added a three-story castle keep. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded the castle to Ikeda Terumasa for his help in the Battle of Sekigahara, and Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle from 1601 to 1609, expanding it into a large castle complex. Several buildings were later added to the castle complex by Honda Tadamasa from 1617 to 1618. For over 400 years, Himeji Castle has remained intact, even throughout the extensive bombing of Himeji in World War II, and natural disasters such as the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.

Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and it was registered in 1993 as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. The area within the middle moat of the castle complex is a designated Special Historic Site and five structures of the castle are also designated National Treasures. Along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, Himeji Castle is considered one of Japan's three premier castles. In order to preserve the castle buildings, it is currently undergoing restoration work that is expected to continue for several years.

National Archives of Hungary

To go and visit the National Archives of Hungary (Magyar Országos Levéltár in Hungarian) which is situated in a building in Budapest sounds rather dull but in fact the building is beautiful as can be seen here with this stunningly detailed ceiling and unique curved arches.

The Archives' remarkable collections include medieval charters (the oldest charter dates back to 1109, and the collection consists of almost 100,000 records), plans and maps (approximately 50,000 pieces of records), archives of central government offices of (early) modern times, and archives of prominent Hungarian families (Eszterházy, Széchenyi, Festetics, Bethlen, Nádasdy). Documents of post-1867 ministries and other government organs may arouse the interest of those who are keen on the near past. Nowadays, the Archives stores 73 kilometres of records and 64 million images of microfilms. The National Archives does not only preserve the historic sources, but it provides the processing and the accessibility of records for scientific researchers and the great public as well.

The Blue Mansion

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is located at 14 Leith Street, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia. The mansion's indigo-blue outer wall makes it a very distinct building in the area and is locally known as the Blue Mansion.

The Circa 1880s mansion built by the merchant Cheong Fatt Tze at the end of 19th century has 38 rooms, 5 granite-paved courtyards, 7 staircases & 220 vernacular timber louvre windows. The architecture of the mansion however originates from the Su Chow Dynasty Period in China. Other features of the house include Gothic louvered windows, Chinese cut and paste porcelain work, Stoke-on-Trent floor tiles made of encaustic clay in geometric pieces all shaped to fit to form a perfect square, Glasgow cast iron works by MacFarlane's & Co. and Art Nouveau48 stained glass windows. The mansion was originally built with careful attention to the principles of Feng Shui. For example, it faces the sea and has Penang Hill behind it, a strategic placement boasting an un-imped view and a promontory at the rear for protection; the domestic annex is built in front of it to prevent any road being built to create a T-Junction in front of it; it has water running through a meandering network of pipes that begin from the eaves of the roof, channeled through the upper ceiling, down the walls collecting in the central courtyard before being channeled away from the property via a similar network of pipes, in this case, underneath the entire flooring system and is built with a step in the middle to create a slope (to ride on the dragons back).

The distinctive blue colour of the mansion is the result of mixing lime with natural blue dye made from the Indigo plant. The blue was very popular in the Colonial period and the dye was imported from India to Penang by the British. The lime-wash was very effective in a tropical weather as it absorbed moisture and cooled the house whilst dispelling moisture without damage to the structural integrity of the walls. Though white was the most easily-available colour, the indigo-blue was chosen as the former is a colour synonymous with death for the Chinese.

The mansion was purchased from Cheong Fatt Tze's descendants in 1989 by a group of local Penang individuals in order to save the edifice from encroaching development and possible demolition. While it remains until now, a private-residence, the property operates as a 16 Room Bed & Breakfast-cum-museum as part of the adaptive-reuse of an ongoing restoration project.

The mansion has been featured in various films including the 1993 Oscar-winning French film "Indochine" starring Catherine Deneuve, 'The Red Kebaya', "Road to Dawn', '3rd Generation' and the critically acclaimed 'The Blue Mansion' in 2009 by Singapore Director Glen Goei of 'Forever Fever' fame. The mansion has also been featured in programs broadcast on various international tv channels (CNN, BCC, The History Channel, Discovery Travel & Living).

Hotel Metropole, Brussels

The Hotel Metropole, Brussels is a beautifully preserved world of 19^th century splendor and opulence, set beneath a sea of glittering chandeliers. Situated in the midst of the city’s historical center, this superbly renovated Brussels luxury hotel captures the imagination with Corinthian columns, sumptuous furnishings, and an extravagantly rich attention to detail. Experience the vibrant “heart of Europe” from the most celebrated Brussels luxury accommodation, and embrace the lavish elegance of days gone by. 

The Hotel Metropole, built in 1895, is the only nineteenth-century hotel in Brussels still in operation today. The hotel has 298 rooms and 15 suites. The hotel was originally built as an afterthought—a brewer's family added a hotel to their Place de Brouckère café in an effort to promote their selection of beers. 

The Hôtel Métropole benefits from a superb location right at the heart of the historical center of the European capital - only a few steps from the famous UNESCO world heritage site of the Grand Place, the Bourse and la Théâtre de la Monnaie, and near the city’s most exciting shopping thoroughfare. Just in front of the hotel are the "De Brouckère" metro and bus stations, with connections to all of Brussels’ major train stations.

The Metropole is famous for having hosted the first Solvay Conference in 1911. The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the first world physics conference. Just check out some of the names of the famous physicists in the photograph above which can be found in the lobby of the hotel - Planck, Lorentz, Madame Curie, Rutherford and Einstein!

It is also the birthplace of the Black Russian cocktail, which was created in 1949 by barman Gustave Tops for the United States ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta.

And of course nothing to beat relaxing for lunch and some nice Belgium beer in the Cafe' Metropole.

Brugge Canals

Because of the many canals in Brugge it has sometimes been called The Venice of the North. Today these canals are not used commercially but are used for boat tours which allow you see many of the sights of Brugge and give you a different perspective of the town. During a half-hour boat trip on the canals of Brugge you are treated to some fantastic views over monuments and historical buildings and you can experience aspects of Brugge you would never be able to have when walking. Visiting Brugge from one of the boats on the canals means experiencing Brugge from a totally different angle, it is a relaxed way of taking in breathtaking impressions of Brugge.