zhangling❤photography

I've heard too many times now the age-old crack about Ottawa and how the only good thing about it is its proximity to Montreal. Now that Ottawa has earned a special appreciation in my heart, I'm a bit tired of the joke. Still, I am thankful at the convenience to Montreal, which I've visited and revisited time and time again. Earlier this month, I got to go again on two separate occasions and was pleasantly surprised once more. It seems like there's never a shortage of something to see, and even places I've been to before will take on new meaning, show an alternate perspective. revisited this spot and got my shot this time!  this ceiling!  walkway under Square Victoria Being in Montreal always makes me feel extra in tune with my creative side. The city's culture is like a giant incubator for creative energies and artistic types. Everywhere I turn, I'm blown away by the talents of fellow creatives. street market vendor st...

I've lamented in the past over how Ottawa doesn't have a real spring season and it jumps very suddenly from winter to summer, usually in May-June, right around the annual Tulip Festival. This year, however, we got some sort of pseudo-spring, with the frequent rainy days and fluctuating temperatures. The weather gods must be smirking down on me with their little practical joke but joke's on them because I was super motivated to come up with cute spring outfits! So here goes my very first Spring Fashion post, whoo-hoo! The theme for the outfits below are two colours that I've had a longstanding struggle to wear: pink and purple. I've mentioned in previous blog posts that growing up a tomboy meant rejecting a lot of pink and purple, that even to this day, I'm finding it a challenge to incorporate both colours into my wardrobe. A lot of historical attempts have always felt a little bit like playing dress up, as opposed to actually utilizing pieces that were a...

Exciting news, everyone! Earlier this week marked the 5 year anniversary of my blog **hooraaay!** It also means I've been in Ottawa for almost just as long, as I moved to the capital a few short months afterwards. I've posted about my activities in Ottawa a couples times in the past but in this special "travel" post, I'll be sharing some newer photos as well as some others that I never got around to posting :) Starting off with some shots I took on a evening stroll by Dow's Lake. yes these are tulips!  Sometimes I genuinely forget how long I've been in Ottawa, notably whenever my Uber driver asks and I'm like, "oh I haven't been here that long, just since -- oh my god it's been like 5 years??" I was talking to my parents a few weeks ago and they asked if I plan on staying in Ottawa forever and if I think it's better than Toronto. And honestly, I get asked this question a lot . Everyone wants me to PICK...

April was a difficult month for both this year and last. Coming out of March being sick, feeling behind and scrambling trying to catch up and make up for lost time...struggling to get back in the groove of things, it just felt like there was never enough time to do it all. Even this blog post, in all its brevity, still didn't manage to make my self-imposed month-end deadline. boat at West Lake (西湖) Meanwhile, last year in 2018, following the events of my last blog post , I had just left my hometown Chongqing and Wuhan and was about to embark on the second half of my China trip. I was really excited because I was about to visit cities that I've never been before and cities in China have so much variability from one to the next, it was almost as if you were visiting a totally different country each time. Of course, nearly right off the bat, I got incredibly sick. So sick in fact, when I went to take a painkiller, I put the bottle of meds I brought with me down on the groun...