Colours of India

As it's Sunday and the house has been cleaned, the dinner has been made and the cupcakes have been iced, my mind has wandered to travelling. Where next? I recently went on an adventure to Sri Lanka, which was a fabulous experience. My photos of the South West of Sri Lanka can be seen on my flickr feed. That brings us North to India. I stumbled across some stunning photography on the National Geographic website, of India with it's delicious colours vibrantly jumping out. I have copied the captions below for context.

"Women in bright saris crowd together as they walk in a bridal procession in Mandawa, Rajasthan. Rajasthan is the largest state in India—a land of extremes—encompassing steamy forests, dry plains, and the snowy Himalaya."

"Decorated elephants carry tourists past the Jaigarh and Amber Forts in Jaipur, Rajasthan, constructed beginning in the 15th century. The marble-and-sandstone Amber Fort has intricate carvings; the immense Jaigarh Fort once served as a center of artillery production."

"To honor the dead, lanterns are hung from poles stuck into the banks of the Ganges during Akash Deep Puja, the sky lantern festival."

"The hands of a woman in Jaipur are covered with mehndi patterns painted with henna. Trendy in recent years, the lacework decorations are part of a 5,000-year-old tradition of creating designs to ward off evil or declare one’s happiness."

View more at National Geographic

The Standard, Downtown

I endeavoured to stay at The Standard hotel, in downtown LA since it is well known as a design youths mecca. However, my recent graduate budget did not quite stretch to this and I ended up staying at the Wilshire Grand down the road for nearly half the price. I did go and have a nose around though to see what I was missing out on.

I didn't get to see any of the rooms, but after doing research, I found their information graphics to be both user friendly and amusing. I think these signs really capture the spirit of this hotel. It pioneers to be different, to be young, hip and with it as the upside down signage and logo suggests. The Standard hotels want to be seen as the last of the party hotels, still allowing smoking in some of their rooms. This would probably put me off staying there, since I can't stand the smell, especially somewhere you sleep!




Something I didn't expect to run in during my visit to The Standard, was Rudy's barbershop. One of my favourite graphic design firms in LA created the mural for this trendy budget chain and I just so happened to pass it. I took some photos with my disposable camera but they didn't come back, so here are the ones from National Forest's site, which can be accessed below.
nationalforest.com




LA is not a place I can see myself living, but there sure is lots to see and do if you have the money and the know how. It was an enjoyable, fun packed week.

P.S. If you want a really great haircut, you must look up my friend Rayzor on Melrose Avenue:

Gorgeous Hollywood

Golden Gate Bridge

I recently embarked on a journey through California and Florida. My first stop was San Francisco, where I stayed with my boyfriends aunt, Theresa. We walked an awful lot and I got to go to some great restaurants as well as the farmers market at the Ferry Building. One of my biggest achievements in the city was that I walked from the Mission district, through the downtown area and to the Golden Gate Bridge. I took this photograph just before Theresa and I walked over the epic 1.7 mile long bridge (4200 feet).

I have to say that my feet were hurting rather a lot when I completed the bridge and so we took the bus home. But now I can say that I did it. And I have this beautiful picture with the cloud falling over the immense structure as a reward.


Click here for a flickr feed of more pictures from my travels.