Precious Jasmines: January 11, 2015 - Wetland Park Hong Kong

Hong Kong Wetland Park is one of my favourite places to hang out on weekends.

It is an oasis of fascinating biodiversity - from crabs and mudskippers to dancing dragonflies and a patchwork of butterflies. This is also one of the most important locations in the world for migrating birds, with thousands using the park as a rest and refuelling stop on their way north or south.

Upon checking the weather forecast and found it to be fairly favourable but partly cloudy, I left Lohas and took the Green Line station to Prince Edward. I was glad I decided to venture out to Wetland Park today. This will give me the chance to get away from noisy, hectic and bustling streets of most Hong Kong downtown areas.

From Prince Edward I transferred to Red Line to Mei Foo. I boarded the Purple Line afterwards to Tin Shui Wai and finally took the 705 706 Light Rail to Wetland park. A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition!

It was almost lunch time when I pass through the ticketing entrance and decided to stop by at the park's cafe for a quick lunch. I ordered myself half Spring Chicken with Rice.The chicken was braised in soy sauce, rise wine and star anise before being roasted to crispy perfection - very Cantonese Style. Since I hadn't had any proper breakfast, I was able to quickly gobbled them all up with milk tea. It was an earthly, deeply satisfying meal.

Later, on my way to Wildside Walk, I visited the Mangrove Boardwalk first. It was low tide and I was able to see a glimpse of mudskippers, snails and lively fiddler crab. The latter seemed intimidated by my presence and it quickly scurried down its muddy burrow as I passed by.

When I finally arrived at my favourite spot, I could see the familiar curving trails of the boardwalk coupled with wildlife and the sounds of nature. I was partly mesmerised by the expanse of seagrass that swayed merrily, like a dance as the cold crisp wind blew into every corner of the park. There is really nothing much to see here except lush greenery and wild birds but it is always peaceful here.

I took out my camera from my back pack and started to set it up with the tripod. Since this was going to be a Landscape Photography, I brought with me my Canon EOS 6D with lens 24 - 105 F4.

As I wanted the images to be crisp and sharp, I adjusted my Fstop from 14 to 22 depending on the scenery. My ISO Level was quite minimal at 100. I also used a .8 ND Filter and coloured lens filters to create these images.

Here are some them which I have posted here. I hope you will enjoy them!