Hook Turns and Stops in Melbourne

“What the heck is that driver doing?” I stared in amazement at a car parked – literally – in the intersection as other vehicles whizzed by. I was astonished that I seemed to be the only concerned onlooker. When the light turned red, that car, as well as the two waiting patiently behind it, made a 90 degree turn across all lanes of traffic. No horns blared. The drivers who now had the green light did not move until the intersection was clear.

I had just witnessed Melbourne, Australia’s famous –- or is it infamous? –- Hook Turn. Melbourne (pronounced Melbun) is a city of trams, or what, in the United States, we call streetcars or trolleys. The hook turn was developed to maintain traffic flow at busy intersections where trams and traffic share the space.

I became enthralled by these unique turns, standing at intersections long after the ‘walk’ sign I wanted changed back to ‘wait.’ My fascination, however, did not extend to a desire for first-hand experience. Knowing that I would soon be one of Melbourne’s drivers, I made a mental note to avoid the entire downtown area where those hook turns would be waiting to torture me. If I unintentionally found myself in such a situation, plan B was to skip the right turn (because Australians drive on the left, is equivalent of our left turn) altogether and find an alternate route to my destination.

Melbourne’s trams are as famous as the hook turns necessitated by them. They are the answer to the tourists’ prayers. The City Circle Tram circles the Central Business District (CBD). The price was right –- free –- and I could walk to any of the major attractions in the CBD from one of the stops. And there are LOTS of major attractions in this cosmopolitan city.

One of my favorites is the aptly named “Cow in a Tree” sculpture. Its quirkiness appeals to my whimsical sense of humor. Another fun venue is Etihad Stadium, home to numerous sporting and other arena events, including Australian Rules Football. As far as I can tell, Aussie Rules Football means no rules whatsoever. What a hoot! I toured the stadium in the company of seven males. It was nirvana. Since I had never in my life been in a men’s locker room, I have to say that was the highlight of the Etihad tour for me.

Not quaint like the trolleys, but also free, are the buses of the Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle. The utilitarian buses serve the outlying areas of the city –- Southbank, Waterfront City and Carlton among them -– before looping back to toward the CBD. The ideal, I discovered, is to use a combination of both trolley and bus for exploring the beautiful old and new mix of Melbourne.

There is James Cook’s cottage, built in 1755, completely disassembled in England in 1934 and transported stone by stone to Australia where it was rebuilt in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens. I chuckled over Chloe, a larger-than-life painting of a nude woman that hangs in Young and Jackson’s Hotel (which is actually a pub) that has scandalized and/or enchanted Melbourne’s citizens since the early 20th century. I was neither scandalized nor enchanted, merely intrigued that such a painting created a furor in a country characterized by the unconventional.

Hungry from all the tramming and tramping, I never had to look far for nourishment. Melbourne has a plethora of options in the food department. There is Chinatown, Little Italy and the Greek Quarter. Delicious and fresher-than-fresh seafood can be found at the Docklands and Waterfront City. I had my own international gourmet experience during my stay in Melbourne, topped off by Moreton Bay bugs in Little Italy. The bugs turned out to be something akin to crawfish. Voluntarily ordering them from the menu and actually eating them was a fitting end to my stay in a city that captivated me with its character.

Written by Susan Tornga

Camera Talk: An Exposure Primer

Correct exposure on a photograph is confusing for a lot of people. That’s why so many camera manufacturers compete with each other to provide the best of the best Automatic features and Modes on their brand. You can take fairly decent photos in Auto Mode but, once you learn the basics of proper exposure and apply them your picture taking skills will improve dramatically.

What is Exposure?
It’s simply the amount of light allowed to enter the camera when you press the shutter button. The correct amount of light, reflecting towards your lens, from off your subject is what you want to capture.

In Auto Mode, your camera is making a decision as to what is the proper amount of light (Exposure) based on everything it sees through the lens. It’s taking a guess; it doesn’t know that the subject may be in the left or right third of the frame. So, it meters the light entering the lens and hitting your digital film (The Sensor) based on what it sees, not what you intend to be the subject.

How Can You Control Exposure?
The camera doesn’t have to be an expensive DSLR. It doesn’t even have to have Manual Mode on it but, you can control the Exposure in almost any Mode you use: A (Aperture Priority), S (Shutter Priority), P (Program Mode) or a Red, Green, Picture of a Camera on the dial for the beginner’s Mode.

Check your camera manual and look for Exposure Compensation. There are dials you can turn, menu buttons you can push or gadgets you can slide to deliberately under or over expose the photo. That’s what you want to experiment with. I’ve included some pictures here to demonstrate what a camera’s light meter displays when I deliberately underexpose a shot at -1/3 and -2/3 Exposure Evaluation (EV).

Demonstrating underexposure was my choice because, the majority of the photos I shoot, I deliberately UNDEREXPOSE. That’s according to the meter readings my camera gives me. The camera was taking-in the whole scene; PC Monitor glaring in the background and my mouse pad in front of a camera pointed at it. The camera doesn’t know I’m trying to show you a little ORANGE TICK MARK on the LCD screen of the camera I’m taking the picture of.

Whenever you’re taking photos of what’s called a High Contrast scene with a digital camera, you have to use Exposure Compensation. I shoot a lot of these type scenes, especially when I’m out in the bright Okinawa sun so, I’ve learned how to best guesstimate the difference between what the meter reads and how much I need to underexpose for any given amount of contrast in a scene.

Adjusting Exposure, How?
There are two things which effect exposure readings, regardless of what ISO your camera is set at. They are Shutter Speed and Aperture. Remember exposure is simply how much light is allowed to hit your camera sensor.

Think of it as light hitting your eyes. You just came out of a dark theatre on a bright and sunny day and your sunglasses slipped off your nose. Too, much bright light = Overexposure. You squint. Your pupils close down (Aperture). How long you squint to keep the bright light out (Shutter Speed) is entirely up to you.
The lower the number on Aperture, equals more light entering the lens. f/2.8 is a much wider opening than f/11. Sounds confusing, I know but, think of it as a fraction. Replace the “f” and consider this: 1/2 is a much larger fraction that 1/11.

Shutter Speed, is just as confusing to some people; the higher the numbers 1/2000 (Fast Shutter Speeds), the less the amount of light there is hitting the sensor. The shutter stays open longer at lower numbers; fractions of a second.

When you read a light meter, if the exposure reading is way to the left side of the scale, open the Aperture more or slow down the shutter speed until the readings move towards perfect Exposure.

If the meter indicates the photo will be way Overexposed, Stop-down (Close the Aperture) or increase Shutter Speed, until the meter moves towards perfect Exposure on the scale

Experiment:
Play with the Exposure Compensation on your camera or set it to Manual Mode and take a few photos of the same subject at different Aperture and Shutter Speeds. Maybe, use Auto Mode first then, take 5 or 6 shots and each time vary the exposure by 1/3 plus or minus on the Exposure scale, taking notes as you go. When you look at the shots after downloading and see them you may be surprised. You may never want to shoot in Auto Mode, ever again. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

Written by Michael Lynch

Gateway to the Desert — Zagora, Morocco

I have been to Morocco many times, seen all the famous places but I can never resist to return to Zagora. Located in the Draa Valley in southeastern Morocco close to the border with Algeria, Zagora is my personal Moroccan dream. Considering that I’m a history fan, love ancient sites and museums, this is somewhat surprising, because Zagora has none of it.

It’s a smallish city which was only constructed in the 20th century and although there are some remains of the Almoravid Fortress on top of the Zagora Mountain there is nothing else for the history buff to get excited over.

Having said that, there are two things which draw me to Zagora: the atmosphere and the trip to get there. Zagora is known as the Gateway to the Desert and that’s famously indicated by the sign, “52 days to Timbuctu.” On foot or camel back that is! You walk through town, cross under an archway and step right into the desert. Excursions on camel are available but I preferred to just walk out, all on my own and when the sun was setting. Then I was sitting on a sand dune, looking at the stars and enjoying a feeling of freedom that cannot be equaled anywhere else.

Back in town, once the heat of the day has subsided, the locals come out in force, stroll around, sit down in one of the many, tiny, open air restaurants and enjoy, like me, the best tagines I have found anywhere in Morocco.

As Zagora gets more and more known and tourists find their way there, several good hotels have opened their doors and you can stay in comfort.

Best of all is the journey from Marrakesh to Zagora. As I have come often, I found a taxi driver in Marrakesh who would take me there. It’s a long drive, some 10-12 hours and he would politely ask if he could bring his wife as she has relatives in Zagora and this was her only chance visit. Great fun is always had on the trip. Leaving Marrakesh’s hustle and bustle behind, the road winds higher and higher into the Atlas mountains until you have to cross a pass which has snow nearly year around.

Then the descent into the Draa Valley, a slow flowing river bordered by lush green vegetation and thousands upon thousands of rose bushes. Deep valleys and canyons cut through and we make several stops at tiny road side shacks to have mint tea and sweets. We sit in rickety iron chairs right on top of a steep cliff and look at the river below. It’s an incredible landscape and the contrast between snow covered mountains and the hot sand dunes of the desert is magic. Writing about it makes me already want to go back. I hope you will too.

Inka is German and used to be an international attorney with offices in London and Spain. Retired two years ago because I wanted to be a traveler and writer and now live between Didim/Turkey and Miami with plenty of travel in between. Next destinations: Istanbul, New York and Petra/Jordan. Inka’s first novel has just been published and can be found here

Written by Inka Piegsa-Quischotte

15 Steps to Understanding Japan, part 4: Chopsticks

For starters, Chopstix is the name of my favorite fast food restaurant in Los Angeles, which offers tasty food that resembles nothing I have ever eaten in Asia.

As for the real chopsticks, the wooden sticks that are held between the thumb and fingers (minus the pinkie) are used for eating in most Asian nations. I have seen these gentle pieces of wood strike fear into the hearts of westerners all over the world during meals. I have also heard from travelers that they have avoided Asia over this same fear. Take about a colossal shame.

Truth is, outside of big cities in Japan forks can be in short supply. There are also few images that are more culturally specific than chopsticks. Try them out when in Japan even if you think you’re failing. However, there is nothing to fear. I may not have empirical data, I feel confident that no visitors to Asia have ever starved to death for lack of chopstick ability. While I cannot offer specific advice of how to use these, but I have become quite comfortable using them, I can tell you that you can figure it out. However here are a few thoughts if by some chance you parachute into Asia and get hungry without prior chopstick knowledge.

1. Ask a local
This is something I try to do as often as possible with or without language skills. Remember locals in Asia teach their children how to use chopsticks, they can teach you. It is also a great way to meet people.

2. Just go for it
Go for it. Stab, poke, prod, use two hands. Just try to use them how you think you should and you will likely be pretty close.

3. Eat in touristy sections of larger cities
Restaurants in area with tourists will have a fork.

4. Carry your own fork everywhere you go
Brings something plastic for airline regulations.

5. Eat with your hands
And carry plenty of napkins

6. Don’t let the small things prevent you from visiting Asia
Okay, now go get that plane ticket to Japan, China or Korea!

Written by Devin Galaudet

Feeling at Home, Arriving in Japan

How strange to be so far from home, so very far, and yet, at this moment, it feels like I am blocks away. “It was so easy and the words so sweet,” Regina Spektor sings as her video plays on the television. My phone charger plugs into the wall without an adapter. I am outside of Tokyo, Japan. But in the Radisson Hotel Narita, a convenient to and from airport locale filled with pilots and flight attendants, I could be anywhere. It is both disappointing and a relief.

The flight was long 13 hours. The food was mediocre. Chicken and rice, a turkey sandwich, and pizza just before landing. The drive from the Narita Airport to the hotel was nondescript. The airport property itself seemed vast and circuitous with high barbed wire fences all around. I had dinner at the hotel. Little dishes came one after another with tasty bits of fish and veggies and shrimp. There was hot and sour soup and then a yummy sorbet palate cleanser. Then I had a nice steak and delicious fried rice. And for dessert, tiramisu.

Everyone at the hotel is exceptionally friendly and helpful and kind. I am told that is what to expect here, in this country founded on tradition and respect.

It’s not late now. But I feel strange. Sleepy and a bit disoriented. Maybe it was not sleeping on the plane, maybe it was the three hour nap when I arrived. Or maybe it is knowing that I am so far from home and yet not being able to tell. I am grateful for the comfortable bed and the clean, safe surroundings. But I look forward to exploring the unknown.

Jenny Block is the author of “Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage” (Seal Hardcover, June 2008 and Seal Paperback, March 2009), which has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. She writes a weekly column for the Dallas Morning News publication Quick called “Sex Talk with Jenny Block” (quickdfw.com). Jenny holds both her BA and her MA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and taught college composition for nearly ten years. She writes for a wide variety of publications and websites, including huffingtonpost.com, yourtango.com, American Way, Veranda, the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Voice, edgedallas.com, literarymama.com, Spirit, chow.com, and ellegirl.com.

Written by Jenny Block

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