Hong Kong

I had been wanting to visit Hong Kong for a long time & was finally able to pull it off! It was great blend of Asian & Western cultures. I ended up staying in the New Territories area with a Couch Surfing friend.

One of the most popular attractions, Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, is located on the mountain behind the Shatin Pai Tau Village.

Many Buddhas adorning the climb to the monastery & temples above.

On the climb, each Buddha has its own distinct appearance.

The walls of the monastery are lined with thousands of little Buddhas.

The Buddhas continued on the other side of the monastery as well.

A Buddha reaching towards the sky, while the main attraction stands in the distance.

An elephant statue angrily stares across the courtyard.

One of the five temples, with incense sticks placed in an urn.

A large blue dog with a Buddha mounted on top.

Smoldering incense sticks presented as an offering.

The nine-story pagoda for which the monastery is most known.

The ferry ride across Victoria Harbor was quick, but we timed it out perfectly as the sun was setting!

We took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island. I barely did anything to edit this picture!

Same with this photo, the colors were perfect!

A panoramic night view of Hong Kong, Kowloon and Victoria Harbor from Victoria Peak.

Here are some of the Couch Surfers I met in Hong Kong. Dan & Andrus are the two other fellas visiting from Estonia. Yan, Hong Kong resident, stands in between them.

Yan was an absolute great host! She even taught me how to play the Nintendo Wii! She destroyed me every tennis game! Months later, I went to visit a friend in Busan, S. Korea. We played a Wii tennis game, & I was the first person to defeat him! Thanks Yan for teaching me the ways of the Wii!

Notice any pattern of missing numbers? Sorry the photo is of poor quality, but hopefully you'll be able to still see it well enough.

Hint? Email me for the answer or the reason behind the absent numbers.

Thailand - Bangkok

Back in Thailand!!! My travel agent suggested that I take a three day layover, between New Zealand & Hong Kong. She said it would save me, literally hundreds of US dollars! Gee, let me think. The Thai people are some of the nicest people I've ever met, & it saves me money? The answer was obvious. I met some new friends this time & really hope to visit them in the near future!

Loha Prasat.

From the top of Loha Prasat, looking towards the temples below.

A slightly different view from the same balcony.

On the other side of Loha Prasat, you can see how many different temples arise from the city below.

Panning down for a closer view of the area.

A few Buddhas can be seen while descending through the temple.

It was a perfect day for walking around the city & viewing the sites!

I'm not sure what this temple is called, but I admired how the sky & temple looked together.

On my walk, I crossed the Klong San Sap.

This gentleman was nice enough to let me take his photo. He was planing a 2x8 piece of wood. I wish my camera could have detailed more, but he was too darn quick!

I'm trying to figure out if this photo was really taken from where my memory serves me. I believe it was taken at the base of Golden Mount Wat Saket. I think my Thai friend disagrees with me. Yet, she was kind enough to tell me that this was a memorial of sorts for the deceased.

At the beginning of the stairs, the trickling water was a calming invite. Can you see Buddha hiding under the top shelf?

After reaching the top, you could negotiate a number of different angles for great photo opportunities.

The temples continue below.

I decided to live it up this time & get a place with a pool! I think I threw out about $15 USD/night for a nice room & this roof top.

Quite a few foreigners frequent this area, Khao San Rd.



I was happy to see this car! Especially because I never see them in S. Korea, or at least the island I'm living on.
I now admit that I've recently learned how to edit photos. So, this was an edited product of experimentation. I was going for an old school vs. restored look. I'm not sure, did it work?

This is another edited photo. Yet, the only alteration I made was to change the background to B&W.

New Zealand - Part 4

Auckland

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city & has an estimated population of about 1.3 million. This equates to about a quarter of the total population of NZ. It's on the northern tip of the North Island, & it's placed amidst a landscape of water. I only had the opportunity to stay for a couple nights, but I was lucky enough to stay with a Couch Surfer who lived next to the highest natural point in Auckland!

A beautiful, but cold winter day in Auckland.

This photo was taken from Mount Eden.

Mount Eden is the highest natural point in Auckland.

From where I stayed, it was a short walk to this volcanic crater on Mt. Eden.

Mt. Eden stands at 196 meters (~643 feet) & the crater is roughly 50 meters (~164 feet) deep.

The volcano erupted several times, the last being about 60,000 years ago. It resulted in leaving a series of craters around Auckland.

From the top of Mt Eden, you can see a panoramic view of Auckland! This view is looking southeast towards some of the other craters.

There's nothing like relaxing without a care in the world. Well, not quite without a care...

Flying out of Auckland provided these clouds for the viewing.

New Zealand - Part 3

Dunedin

Founded by Scottish settlers, it's a town of about 120,000 & it's the second largest city on the South Island. This is the place I eventually want to call home. I did a lot of research prior to visiting Dunedin, so I was really curious to see if it panned out to be what I expected. It's by the ocean with hills surrounding the city & rivers & mountains nearby! It's perfect! Well, it could be a little warmer during the summer, but hopefully global warming work in favor of this.

Railway Station

The town was full of historical architecture.

St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

Fortune Theatre

First Church

This structure was located on one of the street corners.

St. Paul's Cathedral with the sun beginning to peer through the opposite side of the church.

A short walk up Stuart Street will put you in the Town Belt.

Looking at Otago Harbor & the ocean just beyond it.

Roslyn Village, an area above the Town Belt. This is a photo of some of the shops on Highgate.

Back in town & at the coastline, a quiet esplanade awaits.

St. Clair Esplanade, basically taken from the same spot as the above photo.

I'm not sure what this cove is called, but it's just south of St. Clair.

Seagulls, enough said.

A quiet walk along the ocean.

St. Clair Beach

Looking back towards the esplanade.

Speight's Brewery is in Dunedin & claims to be the "Pride of the South." This tap is on the outside of one of their buildings & delivers free water from a well deep below the brewery.

Inside the brewery. Yes, I had to do the tour.

Malt sampling table.

Ahhh, the tasty reward at the end.

They even let us pour our own glass of Speight's.