I was in Kuala Lumpur for a conference. We were located in the south of the city centre and there whilst there was lots of entertainment in the evening there was not an opportunity to see the city. The last day gave me that chance and I headed into the city.

Traffic everywhere
Parts of the city were heavily built up
Monorail commuters
Motorbikes everywhere
Yellow Shutters

Unfortunately I had not been able to book a visit to the top of the Petronas Twin Towers. Instead I took pictures of the area outside the Towers. At night the area surrounding them teams with people. There is a light and water show with the Towers acting as an impressive background to the many people gathered there. On the last day whilst deciding what to visit, I read in my guide book a comparison between the Twin Tower experience and the Menara tower which is just as impressive. On balance it said the the Menara Tower experience had the edge, so I headed there. There are many photographic opportunities to be had as you wander around the city and in in spite of the bright sun, there was a mix of beautiful buildings and large open spaces to photograph. Access to the Menera tower was not difficult and after a 30 min wait we were up to the top with terrific views of the city including the Twin Towers. The highlight of the visit to the Menera Tower was a glass sky box which was off the edge of the top. A weird experience seeing the drop under you feet but also great fun.

Menara Tower
At the top
Skybox looks scary
Some people were well prepared.
A great view of the Petronas Twin Towers

Following the Tower we made our way back to the Central Market and strolled around the centre of the city. Moving about was relatively easy once I understood the monorail system which provided scenic views of the city.

Central Market
Stores Galore
Inside Central Market
Clothing
Trophies, mugs, photo frames
Feet and Shoes
Caligraphy
The City River
Some KL locals

Whilst there was lots to do during the long days of the conference, we were entertained royally by our hosts. On both evenings of the conference we had dazzling concerts.  The first was orchestrated by the dental students and the second had professional entertainers. On the second night the violinist, Joanne Yeoh, lit up the room with her virtuoso performance. Joanne is well known in Malaysia and has released several recordings. She looked very striking with her blue dress, short hair and modern violin. Her violin playing was incredible and captivating. Here are a few photographs of her performing on the evening.

Captivating music
Joanne Yeoh
Beautiful stage effects
Lights on

Vancouver is a beautiful location for a conference, and it was my third visit to the city, previously visiting in 1999 and 2009. Therefore, as the year was 2019, I was due my usual visit 🙂  We had some down time prior to the start and my post doc, Marco and I wandered around Canada Place before heading off for the Capilano suspension bridge. 

Canada place has the iconic sails and every day there was a different cruise ship in the dock.

Canada place with cruise ship in dock
A sail from Canada Place

Twenty years ago the Capilano suspensionbridge and the associated park was very quiet.  Not now.  It is a major Tourist centre with both a tree canopy and cliff walk.  Both of these were spectacular and made good use of the natural resource.  The trip over the suspension bridge was a slight worry.  There was a high volume of visitors and the picture shows the large number of people who were crossing at the same time. The statistics are awesome 450 feet (137m) across the valley and 230 feet (70m) above the Capilano River.  If you are scared of heights it is not the ideal sightseeing tour.   The movement of the bridge did provide a photographic challenge as it was never still.

Indian carvings
Pine needles
The suspension bridge with people
North American Kestrel

On the other side there was a canopy walk in the trees although my photographs do not fully represent the views that you were able to see.  The light was difficult with both dark and bright areas.  It was much easier to take photographs of beautiful birds of prey including a North American Kestrel.  One lady was reprimanded for getting to close to the birds.  “They do bite” said the handler!   We also successfully completed the cliff walk which took us out over the canyon. 

We then caught a local bus back to the bay but stopped on the North Shore where we captured postcard views of the city through artwork in the grounds of the local park.

View from the North Shore
A tangled art work with the city in the background

It was back to the conference and after the opening reception we caught taxis to Seasons in the park. The restaurant was in the hills high above Vancouver.  It was possible to catch the light as the sun was setting.  Thank you to the British Dental Journal for the opportunity to see and photograph Vancouver from a different angle

There was a conference in London Docklands at the Excel centre.  London in July is normally hot but with the current heatwave the temperatures were reaching 32 degrees Celsius.  Travelling by Tube and DLR to Excel was exhausting.  The conference was not bad and there was a lot to learn with many networking opportunities.  Having my camera with me always allows me the opportunity to catch the early morning or late evening pictures.  I carry a Sony DSC-RX100M5 with a 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 zoom lens with me at all times and it proves to be a highly versatile camera.  Some of the pictures were taken with my iPhone as well.

First sight of the Sun over the Excel centre

Moon rays over the Spillers building on the Royal Dock

Yellow Sail across the water

Looking down from the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge

Surreal view of the inside of the Excel conference centre

Framing the sunrise over the docks

The Golden Hour of a Sunrise

View of the O2 arena from the Gun

Canary Wharf at night

Sunrise and clouds reflected over the docks

Looking Eastwards with London city airport to the right.

The last chair at the conference

So many lights and reflections

The path to dreams

Clocks – Canary Wharf