The sky on the water

Last weekend, I decided to make like a good student and get my homework out of the way.  I spent Friday working properly so that I could enjoy a leisurely Saturday, complete with dinner at Relish with Eddie and Shirin.  

Because both ladies work on Saturday and I had some time to kill after pole practise in the afternoon, I decided to take a quick walk round the Botanic Gardens with my camera.  The sun was setting, so I didn't manage to squeeze in too much practice but it was lovely people-watching and taking in little details like flowers and the ripples spreading from the poking snouts of terrapins.  

The walk was an impromptu one and I had only brought my 50mm.  I yearned for my zoom lens, especially when trying to take pictures of people.  At one point, I caught a lounging couple laughing at me as they watched me clumsily tail a child across a field. 

I sat on a hillock and watched boys playing captain's ball on the grass.  Their shouts floated over couples on blankets, lying on their backs, forearms thrown over their faces to block out the sun.  In the slimy soil on the fringes of the lake, children squatted on haunches and settled their toes more firmly in the cool black ooze.  They laughed and grabbed each other each time a turtle surfaced nearby, blinking like a grumpy old man.

Eventually, I made my way around the other end of the lake, away from the clamour of people.  When I was younger and we used to visit the Botanic Gardens for walks, the paths were mannered dividers for well-manicured slopes.  Now though, the grass by the lakes has grown tall and marshy and where the shouts of people have become faded echoes, the air is filled with the buzz and hum of marsh birds and insects.

I spent a good half an hour chasing crimson dragonflies and horny-legged grasshopper nymphs round the reeds and got my shoes covered in muck.  It was simultaneously inconvenient and exhilarating, slithering around in the mud and having insects leap scratchily onto my bare legs.  I spotted a serious nature photographer hiding in the bushes.  He had settled himself on a hill with a huge telephoto lens in his lap and was waiting patiently for animals and insects to creep closer.

Next time, with my zoom, I might try a day of doing just that. 

At any rate, the 50mm really shone when it came to flowers, capturing everything right down to the tiny bugs in the heart of a bloom.  I couldn't snap quickly enough, trying to take in every last papery petal.

When the air turned blue, I walked back through the gloaming to Cluny Court to meet Shirin and Edie.

We had a really chilled out dinner with burgers and wine (coffee in my case) and since I had never tried the burgers at Relish before, I was really delighted with the heaps of salad, beef and fragrant truffle fries on the table.

Of special mention, Edie and Shirin's blue cheese, pear and walnut-peanut butter burgers.  There were so crazily-flavoured and yet so perfect that even after I'd polished off my segment, my tastebuds were still delightfully confused.

I was boring that night though, and tried a variation on the Ramly Burger with a patty wrapped in egg and cheese and doused in savoury sauces. 

Predictable, I know, but what to do?  You can't take the pasar malam out of the girl.