Sunday Snapshot: Father’s Day

I woke up this morning (morning isn’t entirely accurate…it was 11:30)  to the smell of homemade blueberry pancakes on the griddle.  And that is why I love my dad.  Ok, there are many other reasons I love my father, but his wizardry in the kitchen is definitely something to appreciate.

This Father’s Day, since (A) I was too busy/lazy to go shopping and (B) my dad is notorious for just going out and getting what he needs/wants when he needs/wants it, I decided to plan an outing together instead of going the traditional gift route.  My dad’s thumb is about as green as they get, and he loves taking pictures almost as much as me, so I thought a garden would be the perfect destination.  I also knew I needed to keep moving and get a good dose of sunshine on my first day back.  I did some research and found a tropical conservatory in the city.  We had a lovely (albeit sweaty) afternoon enjoying and capturing the artwork of the creator.

I come by my photography addiction naturally.  However, I did not inherit my dad’s green thumb.  He walked around rattling off the names of plants.  I walked around commenting, “Oooh…that one’s pretty!”

I do know that this is an orchid.  I love orchids.

There’s something about their delicacy and tiny punches of color that just captivates me.

Lucky for me, this garden had a lot of orchids.

Orchid after orchid after orchid…

Tired of orchids yet?  This isn’t an orchid.  I have no clue what it is, but it’s pretty.

Is this an orchid?  I really don’t know.

I know these are orchids.

Ok, this is the last orchid picture.

I know this isn’t an orchid.  It’s a hibiscus, right?

No clue what this is.  Guess I could have read the sign.  Oops.

I wish I could make this a scratch and sniff photo.  Maybe someday in the future, computers will be equipped with some kind of scent sprayer.  That would be kind of cool…and really weird.  I don’t know why I thought of that…my brain is a bit odder than usual when jet lagged.  Anyways, this gardenia smelled amazing.  I wish I could transport it back to my apartment in China.  Something tells me the environment wouldn’t be quite right though.

This would also look nice in my apartment.  Too bad I live about as far away from tropical as possible.

I know this is bougainvillea.  Don’t ask me how I know.  That’s one plant name that somehow my dad’s managed to cram into my brain.  I see a lot of this in Thailand.

And here is proof that it’s what’s underneath that really counts.  I was sitting down to rest from heat exhaustion/it’s 2 AM in China exhaustion when I noticed the underbelly of this plant.  And I immediately crouched down into the most unladylike of positions to capture the leaf.  And I threatened my father not to photograph me taking this picture.  There are some moments that do not need to be captured.

Back at home, we had an amazing dinner…

Grilled steaks and asparagas, grilled by the grill master himself.  Nope, the poor guy doesn’t even get father’s day off.

I’m sure he enjoyed the meal, but I don’t think quite as much as me.  It takes a 10 month steak fast to really appreciate a good steak.