• Home
  • About this blog

Ricky Leong

~ Random Musings

Ricky Leong

Author Archives: Ricky Leong

Constant reminder of the ravages of war

10 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in Berlin, Germany, history, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Berlin, Germany, history, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

Remembering the ravages of war

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is a singularly unique site in western Berlin.
The older church spire is what remains of the original church, heavily damaged during the Second World War. It has since been restored and its ground floor is a memorial hall spotlighting its namesake monarch, the church’s past, and what it and nearby areas endured during wartime bombing raids.
The spire is surrounded by modern buildings that make up the functional church.
Pictured above are the two belfries, as they appeared on an early autumn evening this September.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Berlin’s Museum Island

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in Berlin, Germany, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Berlin, Germany, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

No filter

This beautiful, striking colonnade straddles the Spree River on the east side of Museum Island in Berlin. This view was seen my visit there this past September.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Finding happiness on the streets of Calgary

08 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in art, Calgary, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

alberta, art, calgary, canada, photowalk, random, urban

What made you smile?

From time to time, interactive message boards like this one appear on one of the posting walls in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood. Two thumbs up to whoever conceived of this engaging piece of interactive art — and the same to all who left a part of themselves behind in the form of a sticky note. These messages were posted back in the spring.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Melting in Paris

07 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in art, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

art, France, Paris, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

Melting building

This visually curious piece of public art keeps the crowd entertained outside the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. Snapped this image on a layover back in September.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Friday night outside the National Gallery

06 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in London, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

England, HDR, iPhoneography, London, night, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

National Gallery

The National Gallery in London was about to wind down its day on this Friday night back in September but Trafalgar Square would continue to bustle for hours to come.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

London’s Tate Modern: Now with a sweeping city view

05 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in London, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

England, London, museum, photography, photowalk, random, tourism, Travel, urban

St. Paul

The previous time I visited London’s Tate Modern museum of international modern and contemporary art, the view you see pictured above wasn’t possible. That’s because the museum only recently opened a building to provide more room for exhibitions, more spaces for other uses, a restaurant and an observation deck allowing for sweeping, 360-degree views of London. (If you plan to go, bring a sweater, as it can get gusty up there.)

Couscous complex

Back inside, warm and cosy, I wandered into an exhibition called Living Cities, which explores how urban dwellers live. It uses photographs, paintings, interactive art and such displays as the construction you see above — a scale model city made of couscous. (I wondered what it was made of when I smelled it. I was surprised to learn my guess was correct.)

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Shot through imperfect glass

04 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in Calgary, random, transit, transportation, Travel, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

alberta, calgary, canada, London, photography, random, Travel

Through imperfect glass

The photo apps on your phone come with fancy filters — not unlike what you see here, from the Hipstamatic app.
But sometime, real-life objects do the job just fine — again, not unlike what you see here, a photo shot through an imperfect airplane window on my way to Europe back in September.
This was snapped from aboard Air Canada 850 (YYC-LHR).

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Ancient duck face preserved at British Museum in London

03 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in London, random, Travel, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

England, history, London, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

Ancient duck face

This figure from Easter Island inside the British Museum in London is thought to have been carved between 1000 and 1200 A.D. Notice how it was rocking the duck face long before it was cool.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Sir Isaac at the British Library

02 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in art, history, London, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

England, history, London, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

This is art outside the British Library in London memorializing Sir Isaac Newton.
The British Library isn’t the most obvious tourist attraction but there are a few noteworthy things to see in the parts of its permanent collection that don’t require a membership.
On the ground floor is a huge room containing dozens of historical documents, including a copy of the Magna Carta, ancient bibles and Qur’ans, books containing the first-known copies of beloved works of fiction, and manuscripts from celebrated classical music composers.
For the philately-minded among you, there is a collection of century-old stamps built into the walls of the ground floor, toward the back of the building.
And of course, there’s a revolving roster of temporary exhibitions. I visited too early to catch this forthcoming exhibition on cartography, which runs from Friday, Nov. 2, 2016 until Monday, March 1, 2017.
There is a lot of seating for reading and studying, as you would imagine.
And if none of those things interest you, you might consider popping in anyway: the facility has a cafeteria/café and there is public wifi (naturally).

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...

Jewels of London

01 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in London, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, urban

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

England, London, photography, photowalk, random, Travel, urban

Eye

A view overlooking the Thames, with the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster in the distance, captured on my visit there this September.

Share this:

  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
Like Loading...
← Older posts
Newer posts →

Greetings

Welcome to rickyleong.com and thanks for stopping by. Pictured in the header above is Calgary’s skyline seen from McHugh Bluff.

About me


Journalist by trade, photographer for fun. I help make multi-platform content at Postmedia in Calgary. Opinions expressed here are my own.

More of my sites

  • View Ricky Leong's profile on LinkedIn
  • My personal Mastodon feed
  • Daily Tusk news links on Mastodon
  • Photos on Flickr
  • Videos on YouTube
  • My columns at calgarysun.com

Image licensing

Most of my photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons License
If you require an image for commercial or other purposes not covered by the CC licence, or if you are in doubt as to how this licence applies, please feel free to contact me: rleong101(at)gmail.com

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Ricky Leong
    • Join 1,179 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Ricky Leong
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d