The Moon Blocks The Sun, The Cloud Blocks The Moon That Blocks The Sun

When the earth blocks the moon, they call it lunar eclipse. When the moon blocks the sun, they name it solar eclipse. But what do they call it when the clouds block the moon that blocks the sun? Well, I call it frustration, I mean FRUSTRATION spelt using uppercase. Never mind about the correct terminology because the pictures below will correctly explain why.

Like many enthusiasts, I was expecting a clear afternoon on that 26th day of the month of January, 2009 so that I can have a good view of the solar eclipse. They say this one is particularly rare because this partial eclipse last a total of about six minutes as compared to the usual three minutes of the normal ones. This cycle they say happens only once in about three hundred years. Again, never mind whether I am mathematically or scientifically right or wrong as Wikipedia can explain it more clearly.

I armed myself with a camera from about 4.30 PM till about 6.00 PM hoping for a very clear view but alas, below are only a few images that I managed to capture. Still I consider myself lucky because this time around it is still the monsoon season when dark clouds, strong winds and heavy rains is the order of the season. It will be a long time to come when that natural phenomenon will occur again right above our heads.

And while at that, at around the same time, two friends paid me a visit and they were served with a couple of red wine and a long chat. I wonder if that five litre Stanley fermented grape juice would entice them to make another come back another time. Heh...heh...

Of course this is not a solar eclipse. It's only a celebratory fireworks by our fellow Chinese neighbors marking the coming of the Year Of The Ox which I managed to capture the night before.

What I saw at 4.32 PM as time stamped on the picture.

An image of the sun captured on a puddle of water at 4.37 PM.

Nothing spectacular yet as at 4.39 PM but the sun ray is worth a shot.

Not much happening above head but this puddle gives away quite a beautiful reflection.

This Randolph Aviator sunglass gave me a nice shadow of my dwelling place.

The glitters in the puddle are not gold of course but worth a capture because it happened during a solar eclipse.

Above at 5.11 PM, still waiting for the sky to clear.

And so is the puddle below at 5.33 PM.

At last, my first shot of the lunar eclipse at 5.36 PM.

Another one at 5.39 PM but the cloud is still stubborn.

24 seconds later and still the clouds would not clear.

Last visibility of the eclipse at 5.40 PM and the rest is history.