Trapped in Purgatory

88 Suzhou

2007-01-18T00:41:00.000-05:00

I won't go into how much I miss the friends I met while I was in China. I hope to see everyone again, one day, somewhere.
Left: Victor. He was my first Chinese friend. Very friendly and quiet. He was my first impression of Chinese and I'm so glad I was lucky enough to meet him.
Right: Amy, Nana, Vivian. Three close girls who I always joked around with. They helped me a lot with my Chinese. We went to Xi'an together and had a blast. Amy made a huge difference as I hung out with her a lot and we talked a lot of shit. Nana was a joker, funny and never a dull moment with her. Vivian is very caring, someone who's real and with a very kind soul.

Left: Jacky. He is very outgoing and talkative. He was a great friend who taught me Chinese culture and politics. We always had a constructive exchange on world issues, cars and what not. I will definitely meet him again because he will be in San Francisco later this year.
Right: Jin Du Kun. He was the guy I hung out with the most....wish he was here in TO. What a guy...

Left (bottom): Song JungAi - Korean girl I met outside my dormitory. A little jumpy at times but a sweet sweet and funny girl. Funny.
Alicia - From Indonesia, she was sometimes hyper but always funny and fun to be with. She'll turn your cloudy day to a sunny day.
Inge - Also from Indonesia, she was the more serious type but always there to enjoy the good times with us.

Right: Miyuki, Me, Sophia.
Miyuki - Always wondering and complaining about her boyfriend. We always make time to bond on life issues and such.
Sophia - Korean housewife/interior decorator. We always meet at Starbucks for coffee and just talk...talk. I would try to teach her English.

Left: Piao Zhi Ying, Li Zheng Tai.
Piao Xiaojie - Basically my little sister. Funny kid and always picking on her boyfriend, Li Zheng Tai. Always funny but poor Li.
Li Zheng Tai - My class rep. He was like the hyper active kid on the block. Love bikes. Drinking. Watched DVDs. We did so much together.

Right: Ralph. German from South Africa. Cool guy. Cool stories. Funny guy. Always wandering around my dormitory for some reason;)

From left to right:
Carlos - From the Philippines. A friend that will be there for you, period.
Sayaka - From Fukuoka, Japan. COoooool person. She helped me pick my girlfriend's present.
Ken - Something against a certain Taiwan president. Funny strange. Always something witty to say.

I may have missed a few so sorry to those I missed.
Everybody I met in China has taught me something about life. These are the life experiences that I wanted to learn but at a cost: I am now departed and I miss them very much. The times we had together were amazing. No words can describe my joy.

However, we will meet again. That is for certain!

Pan Gate (盘门景区), Suzhou

2007-01-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

One cold January day, some of my classmates and I went over to Pan Gate for some sightseeing. From left to right: Li ZhengTai, Piao ZhiYing, Song Jung Ai...
Great crew.
Pan Gate is an ancient water-land defense system south of the city. The large park offers many gates, Pagodas, waterways, and park land. However, temperatures below zero which hardly occurs in Suzhou put a damper on things.

We had a crack at the bow and arrow. As a wannabe archer, I did horrible with these shoddy bows--these bows were not meant to defend Suzhou, I'll tell you that!

Group pictures...ho.

You haven't been to China if you didn't take their public buses. These things feel like they'll fall apart anytime, rattling to the next stop. Full manual, the drivers turn off the engine as they approach a red light to save fuel. There are no lights inside the bus and most do not have A/C (we talking about 40C in the summers!) During the day, the bus is packed. Having been delayed due to long distance buses breaking down, I have yet to enjoy a similar scenario with their local buses. However, buses in the large cities are newer with more amenities and as the rest of the country gets wealthier, newer and newer buses will be introduced. Until then, hold on tight!

Hangzhou - 杭州

2006-12-31T23:00:00.000-05:00

December 30.
Almost done the updates but only five months late...haha.
Ok...short and sweet (because I want to finish this off and I forgot a lot of stuff.)
Hangzhou (杭州). "上有天堂，下有苏杭" --> Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou. A beautiful city, personally I think more pretty than Suzhou. Only one hour away from Shanghai, this city is a must visit for those who are in the area. This is one city that I would not mind visiting again.
Above: West Lake (西湖), the main tourist area.

More pictures of West Lake.

Yeah, as you can see we spent most of our time around West Lake. Such beautiful scenery calls for great companions--Song Ai and Jin Du made the trip all the better. Thank guys...I really miss you guys and the times we were bumming around Suzhou.

The hostel we stayed in was very accommodating and friendly--they let us stay without presenting our travel permits while the our original hostel refused us. In China, you must present your ID and visa to stay at hotels and such--well, I had mine which should be enough but sometimes they don't like bending the rules. Anyhoo, lucky the original place kicked us out because this hostel was so much nicer and it came with a cute kitty cat.

Nice to see some Yunnan trinkets so far East...

The area around Hefang Jie (河坊街.) Lot of stores and food. The food here was quite interesting and good. Oh, Hangzhou is very famous for their food--we did not have stomachs big enough for the variety of foods that this area had to offer.

MTB race@Suzhou， Qionglong mtn (穹隆山)

2006-12-31T09:45:00.000-05:00

December 17. First race in over a year but it really wasn't much of a mountain bike race. It was a 4.5km climb up one of the few "mountains" in Suzhou on paved roads. Boy am I out of shape! I came in 23 out of 30 something which is a total disappointment for me considering I've done much better in the past.
The race was separated between road bike and MTB with a total of about 100 riders. One thing that surprised me was the number of female riders present--I never would have imagined that this kind of sport would be popular among Asian females--rarely do I see Asian females in MTB races back home. The weather couldn't have been more perfect (Suzhou tend to rain a lot in the winter)--clear skies but just a little on the nippy side at -4C.

Although there are a billion bikes in China, the actual biking scene is still fairly young. Road and MTB bikers are rare but the numbers are increasing rapidly. As well, those who are real bikers, are quite hardcore and actually ride their bikes (unlike back home where many purchase fancy bikes for show.) Brand names like Trek, Cervelo, Specialized, and Giant (very popular in China) are quite expensive compared to Canada so this sport will be depressed until the country gets wealthier.

Big thanks goes to my class rep, Li Zheng Tai, who loves bicycles more than I do and who got me into this race. He also convinced the Trek store by Ganjiang lu to lend me a Giant bicycle for the race. Thank you Trek dian! If you ever need bicycle equipment, they have a good selection of Trek stuff. As well, Silverbikes on Shizi jie has a very good selection of many brands of bikes and parts. They are both very helpful and very friendly.

谢谢大家！

Xian: More of

2006-12-31T09:09:00.000-05:00

Unlike many cities who decided to tear down their walls for progress, Xi'an decided to restore their wall to its past glory. The 14km long wall complete with a moat circles around the city. A leisure stroll will take approximately 3 hours to complete or it will take one hour to bike around it (bike rentals are available on the wall.) The view from the wall ain't the best due to the constant construction and the perpetual fog/smog/dust/* in the air.
Top Left: North Gate.
Top Right: Southeast tower.

Left: Train station by the North wall
Right: The foggy wall.

View of Chang'an Lu (长安路) by the South Gate.
Right: A big ass drum at the Drum Tower (鼓楼). Every hour there is a smallish performance on the drums.

Huaqing Hot Springs (华清池). Huaqing has been enjoyed by a large succession of emperors and other important figures. It was made famous when Yang Guifei, one of the four legendary beauties of China and Emperor Xuanzong's concubine, was allowed to bathe here.

Left: Lotus Flower Pool, aka Imperial Nine-dragon Bathing Palace built for Emperor Xuanzong.
Right: For 5mao (7cents), you too can wash your hands or drink from the same water Yang Guifei bathe in.

Left: In 1936, Chiang Kaishek as well, bathe here and in the process set up his headquaters at huaqing against the CCP; however, he was captured in a coup known as the renown Xi'an Incident (Yang xiaojie wasn't overly fond of him.)
Right: The royal (public) bathroom. One of the prettiest washrooms I ever saw, not to mention one of the cleanest in China.

Mt Lishan (骊山). Nothing much of a climb (1-2 hours) and nothing much of a scenery due to the thick blanket of fog/smog; however, since there were nobody, it was a peaceful climb.

Xi'an was a wonderful trip, made better with some good company. Too bad we didn't have time for Huashan (华山). Next time I will organize a Chinese Mountain tour and visit the great Huashan.

Thank you Amy, Vivian and Nana. 多谢.

Xi'an: The West

2006-12-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

Western Xi'an consists of less famous attractions but nevertheless interesting. The Famen Temple not only houses dead bodies, but also an extensive collection of relics reputed to hold more historical value than all of Hong Kong. The pagoda holds in its vaults, four of Buddha's finger bones (sarira) and the crypt possess over 1000 sacrificial objects preserved for over 1000 years. The downstairs vault lined with white stones and gold decorations is quite beautiful.

The Tomb of Princess Yongtai. A rather simple tomb for the young princess who was reportedly beaten to death on the order of her grandmother Wu Zetian because she was gossiping about the empress's indulgent lifestyle. Wu Zetian was the only female emperor and her bloody ascend to the throne was filled with controversy and heads.

Qian Tomb (乾陵). The burial ground of the third Tang emperor and more famous, for his wife Empress Wu Zetian. The long but pleasant walkway is lined with sculptures of lions, animals and people. From afar the mountainside mausoleum resembles the shape of a sleeping beauty, of Wu herself. The Tomb lies in the interior of the mountain and is yet to be excavated. A Wordless tablet placed before her tomb is so later generations could be her judges.

Xi'an: Terracotta Warriors - 兵马俑

2006-12-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

We only wanted some drinking water said the farmer as he continued to poke at a clay statue of what would be one of the largest archaeological finds in human history. Constructed in 221BC by the Emperor Qin Shihuang, the vault contains over 7000 life-size warriors and horses in battle formation. The underground empire guarded by his terracotta army crumbled with age and pilfering--the weapons are all mostly stolen and each warrior is a big huge jigsaw puzzle. Each warrior is unique up to the face and takes approximately one year to reconstruct. Most of the site is still being excavated while the emperor's tomb has yet to be opened. There is a total of three vaults of which the first one is the most widely seen on postcards/TV/newspapers.

The first vault and the largest.
Right: why are those guys facing the wall? hmm...

Third vault. Nothing much except for a pile of rubble; it will take them years to crazy glue those guys together. However, on display are a few well preserved specimens, including Qin-era weaponry.

Right: Second vault. Small vault but houses a well preserved chariot.
Left: Replica displays of a typical chariot during the Qin Dynasty.

Terracotta Warriors are everywhere. Terracotta cigarettes and a Terracotta statue standing guard at the McD's. I should have bought one to guard my house.

Xian - 西安

2006-12-31T08:34:00.000-05:00

December 1.
Once the capital city during a long procession of dynasties up to the Tang Dynasty, the city was one of the world's wealthiest, largest and most sophisticated until it was sacked by Tibetans in 783. The East terminus of the Silk Road is here. Under the grime that has plagued many Chinese cities, one will find much history and artifacts that this once glorious city has to offer.

Left: Lamb and mutton (羊肉泡膜) at Old Sun and Family Restaurant (老孙家饭庄), a Xi'an speciality. First you have to spend a good 10 minutes breaking down the bun into small tiny pieces. Afterwards, you add the soup/meat of your choice. Not bad but there are many other foods in Xi'an which are much better, like the 西安肉夹馍 bun.
Right: Xi'an is home to a thriving Muslim culture. The little tents is located in the Muslim Quarter. Good and cheap food located in there. For the first two days all we ate was lamb. Eventually we had to find some pork and beef.

Big Goose Pagoda (大雁塔). Contains a huge collection of Buddhist scriptures brought to China from India by Xuanzang whom travelled great distances along the Silk Road.

No rain but these ladies decided to dance in the morning with umbrellas. Occurs frequently.
Right: View from the Bell Tower (钟楼) located in the center of a major intersection.

Left: The Drum Tower (鼓楼) illuminated at night.
Right: City Wall, a fully restored 14km wall that runs around the city.

The 17 hour train ride on a hard seat. Rough night, felt like lopping my legs off after 5 hours. However, those who don't have seats have to stand for the 17 hours, sit on their luggage or do as one guy did, laid a bunch of newspapers in a corner and slept on the floor.

Macau - 澳门

2006-12-31T01:15:00.000-05:00

October 31.
The Las Vegas of Asia. There are more casinos in Macau than there are 7-11's--every corner, ever street you will find some sort of machine to donate to the local triad (governments included.) The city has turned into an entertainment resort sporting everything and anything, including F1 races, go cart races, extreme adventures, gambling (of course)--basically anything you want to do whether it be relaxing or it involving adrenaline. Macau has definitely done a excellent job at attracting tourists.
Above: The Ruins of St Paul's. Burnt down in 1595, 1601 and again in 1835, only the front facade stands today. (Anything to do with the city's offerings?)

Portuguese-style egg tarts. I must have ate six or more of these babies in one sitting--I could have ate more easily...easily.
The Macau Tower at night. Some of the things one can do: can climb the mast, bungy jump, sky walk around its outer perimeter, and of course gamble.

Casinos...money...casinos. I came out ahead in the end but I'm not a big gambler.

The old city or the shopping district. Awarded the third most beautiful city districts of China by the Chinese National Geographic.

Chinese without firecrackers? We decided to buy a strip for good luck.

Hong Kong, again.

2006-12-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

October 29th. Back to Hong Kong to attend my cousin's wedding and to act as tourguide/translator for (another) cousin's American husband. If you never experienced Chinese wedding rituals before, you will find it a treat--although I have seen it many times on TV, it was my first time participating in one. To make a long story short (cuz I'm lazy)...In the morning the groom and co picks up the bride; however, it isn't as easy as knocking on the door. The bridesmaid and co try their hardest to prevent you from picking her up. Usually it involves large sums of money and services--kind of like bargaining for that fake LV bag in Shanghai:P I don't know how much my cousin had to shell out but I do know we had to wear a bra (haha, no pictures there:P) and parade around the block; drink their special cocktail which made me feel sick for a couple of hours; and eat their specially prepared buns. After what felt like hours of bargaining, we finally got in to see the bride and shortly afterwards, the tea ceremony. The reception is of a typical banquet; however, there were less games than I was accustomed to with other receptions.

Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛). The world's tallest seated bronze Buddha in the world sits on top of the hill in Lantau Island.

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Everytime I visit Hong Kong, I come here to visit the cranes and the flowers. It is also a nice place to relax and to get away from the HK ruckus.

Fresh seafood just fished in. Choose what you like and they'll pack it for you. No need to explain how tasty it was.

Monkeys in Kam Shan Country Park . Beware, these hissing little critters will gang up and attack you for your food, no kidding. Right: Temple of 10000 Buddha's--continuously being watched by Buddha as you climb the 431 steps to the peak for a glass of soya milk.

Nanjing - 南京

2006-12-30T14:44:00.000-05:00

October 3rd: Said my goodbyes to Mikey. National Holidays. Like any long holidays in China, train tickets are hard to come by so I had to settle for the slow, stuffy, smokey, crowded, dirty, litter-filled hard seat train to Nanjing. A ride that should have taken three hours from Shanghai, took almost six hours. Hung out in Nanjing for four days with my cousin, his girlfriend and her family. Great to be able to chill with the cos before school starts.

One of the capitals of ancient China, it was the first and only city south of the Yangzi River to preside over a united China. In the early half of the 20th century, the city ruled a fragmented Republic of China led by Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. The city has moved on but has not forgotten its turbulent past. Nanjing, also known as Nanking, houses scores of historic sites. Nanjing was also made famous in the West after the WWII atrocities came to light. Too many stories and too much history for me to handle.

Zhongshanling (中山陵). The grand mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen resides here. Dr. Sun and his revolutionary cause is widely respected by all Chinese so a mausoleum befit for a king was built in memory of him. The site has become a pilgrimage site for thousands of Chinese--it is said that every Chinese must visit him at least once in their lifetime.

The area around Fuzimiao (Confucius) Temple (夫子庙). The street is closed off to vehicular traffic and turned into a shopping district. The riverbanks are lit up like so many riverbanks in China are.

Zhonghua Gate (中华门). A very well preserved piece of the old Nanjing wall built during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The gate is grand and smartly built, one of the more magnificent gates I've seen during my travels in China. The observation platform provides a panoramic view of the city.

The Yangzi River Bridge (南京长江大桥). This would be the second bridge built to cross the great Yangzi. The first one was built with the help of Soviet engineers. When this bridge was to be built, Soviet and Chinese relationship was cooled off, so this would be the first fully Chinese built bridge across the Yangzi. The top level is for cars and the lower level for the trains--when you take a train to Beijing, Xi'an and anywhere West along this route, you will cross this bridge.

Left: Wangji dan (旺鸡蛋). A Nanjing speciality. I don't need to explain but it was cooked, not alive. The eye kept on staring at me while I chucked this thing back. It tastes a little like a salty yolk. I didn't find it any special.
Right: Hairy crab (大闸蟹). The famous Shanghai hairy crab (actually, it's a speciality from Suzhou but who's counting.) This was good. Good. Very good.

Big thanks goes to my cousin and his girlfriend's family for showing us around. It was great seeing my cousin again--who knows when we'll meet again. Well, back to school.

Sichuan: Leshan (乐山)

2006-12-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

The Big Buddha (大佛). Standing at 71m tall and carved into the red sandstone, it is the world's largest stone Buddha. The Buddha was built during the 7th century and his expression still remains to this day despite wear and tear on other parts of his body. The hike around Lingyun Hill (凌云) reveals many other Buddha statues.

Reclining Buddha, or as we call it, the chilling Buddha (no disrespect)

The bridge to Wuyuou Temple (乌尤寺) of which we didn't go to.

Sichuan: Chengdu (成都)

2006-12-30T12:35:00.000-05:00

The city of Pandas, or as Mike would put it rubble. As the city rumbles into a developed, 21st century city, the air quality gets worse and worse. We didn't really explore the city that much since we rather chill at a bar away from the traffic and rubble. The one day we got out we saw the Pandas at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Center, the Wenshu Monastery (文殊院), walked across People's Park (one in every city) and got lost trying to find Du Fu's Thatched Cottage (杜甫草堂)--we instead found a park in memory of the Three Kingdoms Culture.

Lazy Pandas. Eat, sleep, eat sleep...hmm, sounds familiar.

A couple of poor pandas were displayed more openly than expected.

Panda everywhere. Taxi cabs logo is a panda, these traffic posts have panda logos...I should have a panda tattooed on my forehead.

Sichuan (四川): Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟)

2006-12-29T03:04:00.000-05:00

September 25th.
Above Left: Long Lake (长海)
Above Right: Five Flower Lake (五花海) Famous for the sunken trees.

One of the most famous attractions in China set against a picturesque backdrop of waterfalls, snow-capped peaks, and forests. Located in the Minshan Mountain Range, the park is famous for their iridescent turquoise lakes caused by the refraction of the minerals it contains. The Y-shaped park can only be discovered by foot or by using their "low emission" buses--this is their attempt at trying to keep the park clean, beautiful, and easily accessible. The entrance price is quite expensive, as well as the hotels and restaurants in the area--your typical tourist trap.

The park is beautiful; however, we believe it is a little over-hyped. We had really high expectations after looking at postcard photographs and hearing of what others had to say. As Mike would put it after getting off at Long Lake, 'it's like a mini-Banff.' We initially planned for two days at the park but instead stayed for only one--it took us around six hours to visit all famous areas. I am sure hiking through the park would be much better but as they close the park at sunset, one must leave the park by then.

One of the most exhilarating plane rides of my life. The flightpath to the airport flies between snow-capped mountain ranges--I never seen a mountain so close to the airplane before! Sichuan Air, it's the only way to fly.

Left: Primeval forest (Old growth forest)
Right: Five Colour Pool (五彩池) This pool has five distinct shades of blue. It is the most colourful of the lakes but it's the size of football field.

Nuorilang Falls (诺日朗瀑布): The falls is over 30m tall and 320m wide. Not the most thundering of falls. The blueish taint is of my doing.

Pearl Shoals (珍珠滩): The most famous attraction of JZG. The waterfall rushes between trees and flowering bushes. It is certainly an attractive sight.

On our bumpy 12 hour bus ride to Chengdu, we encountered a Yak and some guys hauling pipes.

Jiuzhaigou is beautiful but I can think of many other places which are much more unique and beautiful. By all means, visit if you have the chance but don't go there with huge expectations, and expect to fork out a pretty penny.

We decided to pass up on huanglong (黄龙), located two hours away, simply because we were a little disappointed with the JZG hype. They say that some think huanglong is more beautiful, while others disagree. We decided not to risk it and instead check out the pandas.

Shanghai, once more

2006-12-29T02:19:00.000-05:00

September 19. Who better to be arrested with other than Mikey, in Shanghai. Or at least confused at where to meet up. After some hours of waiting at the airport for him due to some awesome planning of ours, we finally met up with a couple bottles of Tsingdao at the 'bros.' Every night a bottle of Tsingdao in hand to numb us to sleep after a day's worth of playing frogger--great to be able to buy beer at the corner store for 50 CAD cents a large bottle. Mikey's buddy, coincidentally was in town too and boy did we painted the town. What a guy. Too many moments to count and too many moments we should forget. Shanghai with Mikey.

We broke the bank on these couple of beers ($6 CAD) when we went to Suzhou for a visit--actually, so I can finally register for school, one month late.

The ancient city, Yuyuan Gardens (豫园)

Yuyuan's famous Steamed buns at Nanxiang (南翔馒头店). The place is always crowded. There are different levels of pricing, the cheapest being waiting in line outside at the take-out window to the more expensive seating rooms upstairs. The xiaolong bao's were delicious, some of the best I ever had. Two thumbs up. Although the crabmeat baos were a little more pricey, they are so worth it.

Happy National Holidays! Zhongshan Dong Lu in the Bund was closed off to vehicles for the days long celebration. It felt like all of China was here. You should have seen Nanjing Lu--elbows to elbows.

The Shanghai subway system. Their system is very similar to the subways in HK: the trains are more or less the same, terminals, turnstile, and even the character fonts are the same.

The world's fastest production train: Maglev. Made by Germans, the train will whisk you to the airport from Longyang Lu station in less than 8 minutes at a blistering speed of up to 431 km/hr. It was damn fast but too short--they plan on extending this train to the train station (smart move) and building similar trains to Hangzhou and Beijing. To attain such speeds, the train runs on electromagnets so it's near frictionless.

As tourists we will always find some things a little off-the wall. For example, the spidermen cleaning the windows on this highrise. I believe there are better and safer methods to accomplish this task.

Bicycles are everywhere, people use them to commute, to carry their groceries home, and to climb mountains; however, these guys decided to carry bags load of Styrofoam. I've grown accustomed to these kind of sights but sometimes it is still mindblowing at what a bicycle can do.

Thanks Mike for your wisdom. Thank you for your bro and family for taking us in for the two weeks. And cannot forget big thanks to the nanny.

Nagoya: Arimatsu - Shibori

2006-12-26T04:04:00.000-05:00

Keiko didn't really know what to do in Nagoya. We could have visited Nagoya castle but I already saw Osaka castle; however, as Yuta pointed out, Nagoya castle is different in that it has golden horns. Anyway, we decided to go to Arimatsu to check out Japan's ancient dyeing process and their handicrafts. The whole dyeing process is done by hand and requires patience and lots of skill as these two oba-chan is demonstrating. The products range from kimono to scarves to tableware. It was fascinating seeing their old hands work the fabric so fast.

Festivals is a big Japanese tradition in every part of the country. Here, they parade three puppet floats down their main street. The puppetmasters can control their puppets to do almost anything, including writing and dancing.

Left: Nagoya's famous eel rice.
Right: Nagoya's famous Miso ramen. They provide you with a bib because slurping the ramen will generally cause a mess on your nice white shirt.

Thank you Keiko. It was great seeing you again, hopefully we will have more chances in the near future.

Nagoya

2006-12-26T03:57:00.000-05:00

Nagoya, Aichi. The manufacturing centre of Japan--Toyota their biggest corporation is based here. Expo '05 was held here. Yoshi and gang (Mayumi, Minori, and Akane) lives here. Keiko also resides here. It would be one of the most emotional moments of this trip because I haven't seen Keiko for over two years and Yoshi who simply is a great guy. And as a bonus, meeting crazy Yuta of Hiroshima who is studying in Nagoya--stayed sober this time around.

Nagoya tower. Every city needs a tower to attract kaiju.

Yoshi in his ride. I never in my life would have thought that Nissan manufactured a stationwagon, especially one with wood paneling. This ride is simply awesome. It is SOOOOO him! I am still in shock. The Cedric boasts a V6 EFI engine. The dashboard and the controls are pretty much late '80ish. The vehicle was never exported to N.A., not sure about other countries.

Yoshi and I love our scotches so I had to try it while I'm here. The 'Suntory Royal 12 years' was not bad, just a little dry for me.

Izakaya bar by Yoshi's hood. Japanese style BBQ. Good food. Great friends...and alcohol...ahhh, heaven.

Crazy Yuta. Too bad we didn't have enough time to bar hop but it was great seeing you again. Thank for driving me around in circles.

Thank you everyone for showing me around the city. Next time I hope I can give you advance warning of my arrival so we can use our time together better--apologies for my late notice.

Kyoto

2006-12-26T03:43:00.000-05:00

Didn't stay long this time around as it was a stopover before heading to Nagoya the next day. Met up with Sae who treated me to a typical izakaya bar (Japanese bar.) The food and beer was good but the company better. Met some new friends there. Thank you Sae!

<--The temple where Sae's brother works at as a priest/monk (don't know how they call it over there.)

A fountain to wash your hands.

Nara

2006-12-25T10:34:00.000-05:00

Once the capital of Japan in 710 A.D., the city was modeled after Chang'an (known today as Xi'an.) The city is filled with temples, shrines and large parks which can all be visited on foot in a day. Hooked up with Miki, my tourguide for the day, whom travelled all the way from Gifu.
Deers are allowed to run amuck in the parks, walkways and outside the temple. Feed them and a flock will surround and chase after you. If you don't have food, they ignore you but watch out for the landmines.

Todaiji Temple: The world's largest wooden structure which houses the great bronze Buddha.

I found this statue a little freaky; however, rub his body part where you require healing and you shall recover from your illness. For example, rub his head and you will recover from your Alzheimer's?

<--Big bronze Buddha.

This huge wooden pillar has a little hole at the bottom. Crawl through it and good luck will be bestowed upon you. Lucky I lost that beer belly.

<--Kasugataisha-taisha, I think.

Sake!! -->

Big thanks to Miki who guided me around her future city. And Congratulations;)

Osaka

2006-12-25T06:06:00.000-05:00

Osaka. The second largest city in Japan. Been here before but this time I'll be staying for a few days to visits friends while Satoko stayed back in Fukuoka. I must have something against big cities because again, the city itself offers nothing really special for me except for food.

The Glico dude running is one of the many billboards in Shinsaibashi, the busy busy shopping district. It's even a happening place at night.

Met Daisuke and Erina who I haven't seen in more than a year. Erina I met the day she left for Montreal and never saw again until today. It was sure nice for the both of them to make time for me. Thanks guys. We went for Takoyaki (octopus fried balls) for lunch, a Osakan speciality which I was craving for. The other speciality is Okonomiyaki (pancake) which I had for dinner. mmm, good.

The first night I stayed at a capsule hotel--one of the cheapest alternatives in expensive Japan. It was not bad. Upstairs there was a spa so I can soak in the hot tub. The common room has a communal TV lined with comfy chairs. It felt a little weird being with a bunch of middle-aged men (no females allowed.) The sleeping quarters is clean and although small it was comfortable enough for me. A small TV set and a radio to keep you busy (if you want to be really busy, they have a free AV channel for all your personal needs.) Ain't bad for 2500Yen. The next night I stayed at a Youth Hostel for the same price. The hostel was no different than other hostels I stayed in, except that they have a curfew: 10pm. I couldn't take that so next night I went over to Kyoto. The hostel there also had a curfew--looks like I won't be staying in any of Japan's hostels.

Met Keiko of Miyazaki for lunch and to take a look-see at Osaka Castle. Big castle. It was a surprise and coincidence that I met her because she was visiting for a few days as well. No drinking that night, however.
Besides the castle, the only site I went to was Umeda Sky Building. The two towers are connected by an observatory deck which is accessible by a long escalator suspended outside. The two long arms connecting to the circle are the escalators. The building provides a 360 view of Osaka.

Aso-san (Mount Aso), Kyushu

2006-12-25T04:35:00.000-05:00

The world largest active caldera located in Kyushu (a two hour drive from Satoko's place.) There are five peaks in the caldera of which the highest, Mt Nakadake peaks in at 1506m. The caldera itself is located at an altitude of 1095m with an outer rim total circumferential length of 128 km. There are seven towns and villages inside it. There wasn't any hiking involved for us but it is a fairly popular hiking area--a few have perished in the past because Nakadake got angry.

This would be my second time in a caldera but nothing compared to this size. It took me awhile to realize if I was inside the volcano or outside and I kept on asking questions, 'That's the inside of the volcano??'

The summit of Mt Nakadake. I believe the sign says he hasn't gotten angry for 18 year, 9 months and 2 days. The sulfur concentration here is really high so when it's over the limit, tourists are forbidden to visit the peak. I didn't smell sulfur that day--sense of smell must be shot from living in China.

Due the Nakadake's emotional instabilities, shelters are built along the rim so when he does erupt, you can take shelter in those little huts. The huts were built after some hikers were killed by raining debris. Right picture is Komezuka--it's like a perfect cone.

Due to the volcanic activity in the area, the Aso area is very famous for their hot spring. Of course I had to get a taste of Aso-san. Japan is one of the leaders in environmental technology so they got Aso-san to help out a bit.

Fukuoka & Yame

2006-12-25T02:56:00.000-05:00

August 25. My next stop would be Kyushu in Japan to visit Satoko. I always believed that she lived near Fukuoka but little did I that "Yame" was a good 1 1/2 hours away and there are no trains to this area--unheard of in Japan!

We stayed in Fukuoka for a couple of days. It's a nice city and a little different from the other major cities in Japan. People act a little differently, look at little different and dress differently. It's less busy in Fukuoka compared to Osaka and Tokyo--more relaxing here. Once in Japan I had to visit a shrine so we went to the shrine located in Daizafu, the area's largest temple. Like most shrines one have to wash their hands before entering. The little signs are of people wishes, good luck and what not.

Yame. It's a small town. The action is all in the pachinko parlours, the local department store (Youme Town), and a teenage store that sells videos, games, toys, and other paraphernalia. I never understood why small towns have a billion pachinko parlours; must be the fact there ain't much to do in the countryside. Yame is famous for their tea--it's one of their tourist attractions.

Satoko doesn't live in Yame, she lives another 1/2 hour away. Her house is located between a mountain and a river. There are rice patties and farms surrounding the area. The local bus if you manage to catch it comes twice a day (I only saw it twice in the two weeks I was there.) In order to ease my boredom while Satoko was at work, her family lend me their bicycle. Sometimes I would ride to Yame (1 hour or so ride) or I ride around the country side looking for something, anything. It was quite relaxing. Knowing I'm not local, the locals usually say a friendly hello and I return konnichiwa myself. One time an old lady stopped me and started a conversation with me--well, it was more like a one-way conversation.
I decided to ride up the mountain rode with the 3-speeder. Outta shape. All that hiking didn't help at all--maybe I should lay off the cigs. The road ended at a dirt trail where I'm sure my 14" wheeler would not survive--how I wished I had my mountain bike at the time.

If you ever watch anime, you must have seen giant evil spiders at least once. Biking though Yame's Star attraction park, I came across this spider. It was the size of my hand--largest wild spider I ever saw and so colourful.

It's a well known fact that there is much bowing in Japan. While riding my bike I saw a little girl crossing the street. After crossing, she turned around and facing the cars bowed. How surprisingly polite. What a difference to the push and shove I experience everyday in China.

Food. I love Japanese food. This is Fukuoka's famous ramen noodles. It was good, best ramen noodles I ever had.
One strange dish I had was sashimi horse meat. The left is the raw meat, middle raw tongue and right is raw horse liver. Sounds sick, eh? But it was good. Another strange dish was the sashimi chicken--yah, sounds really weird and although good, not as good as the horse.

HK: Shek Kip Mei - 石硤尾 (Shixiawei)

2006-12-24T22:01:00.000-05:00

The district in HK were I spent my first three years of my life. Considered the poorer parts of town, it is now undergoing reconstruction and regentrification because these buildings are about 30 to 50 years old. This is HK's version of public assistance housing but more recently now consists of mixed private and public housing. Left picture, the right building is were I was staying with my grandma. It is slated for demolition in eight years. The building across the street has been closed off and will not be there the next time I visit HK.
Right, the view from her window.

This is the hallway inside. It seems endless, just like a scene from those old HK movies. The apartment--there used to be like seven people living in there but now only one:(

Someone was kind enough to leave a chair on the bridge. The market located below the apartment. It smells in there--of fish, chicken etc. It doesn't meet government standards so will have to be moved and improved when they tear down this building.

<--Last time I visited HK, there were still lots of people. Now it's been abandoned and will be demolished to make way for a new housing complex. The building's main visitors now are photographers and artists.

Hong Kong - 香港

2006-12-24T06:49:00.000-05:00

One word: Typhoon. Got stuck at Shanghai Pudong airport for a good five hours. When we got the go ahead to fly, we had to take a detour to Xiamen to wait out the storm in Shenzhen. When Shenzhen gave us the okay, Xiamen was experiencing a large thunderstorm so no go. We finally took off and arrived in Shenzhen at 11pm, a good 12 hours late. Lucky I flew to Shenzhen because no flights were landing in HK airport that night. Anyway, found my way to HK and lucky for me Lilo and her family took me in for the night. Thank you:D

Hong Kong. Been here enough times. This would be my home away from home for three weeks during my summer holidays in August. Attitudes appears to have been improved from the last time I was here. This could be due to many factors; for example, the booming economy and as my cousin would put it, humbled by the rich mainlanders. However, ignorance is not totally lost yet. There were some who, when I told them I was studying in Suzhou, asked me: 'they have TVs there, computers, cars...etc.' And yes, not all Chinese are farmers. Modern China is catching up fast so better watch your back.

Hong Kong famous skyline. Above, the street filled with the neon lights and the streets cluttered with the double decker buses.

I spent a lot of time wandering, visiting museums and such. To the right are shoes made from real human hair. It's art ok. The right picture is of typical Hakka people farming. Although the Chinese government considers us as Han people and not of a minority group, my family and I will still consider ourselves as Hakka.

The HK Wetland Park is a newly opened attraction. It is the the government's attempt at preserving the green space in HK and to educate citizens the importance of marshes and other waterways. Right is the train to the magical land. I didn't enter the park for many a obvious reasons.

Many believe HK is simply a concrete jungle but HK offers much green space and hiking opportunities. This is Lion Rock named because from afar the peak looks like a lion. It really does, believe me. The hike was a piece of cake compared to Tiger.

Seven years ago, Lilo and I wanted to hike up Lantau Peak but it was way too hot and humid. This time around we were more prepared. We started the hike at 12 midnight and arrived at the peak around 3am so we can catch the sunrise in the morning. When we arrived at the peak, there were only like 10 of us; however, by morning there must have been over 100 people--it was like a circus up there.

Big thanks again for Lilo in organizing the hike. She must have been agitated after all these weeks of me bothering her.

Shanghai - 上海

2006-12-24T01:31:00.000-05:00

August 4th. HOT and HUMID. Temperatures must have broke 40C easily. Back to civilization...Chinese civilization. The two weeks in Yunnan was a blast and certainly unforgettable...until the day I suffer from Alzheimer's. Met up with Satoko in Shanghai. She wanted to get a taste of China. If one would ask her about her thoughts, she would first talk about the wonderful washrooms here. Frankly, I haven't got accustomed to it too so when I know I'm taking a long distance train or bus, I don't eat nor drink beforehand. This would be my first time in Shanghai for a prolonged period of time, even though Suzhou is located only one hour away.

Shanghai is your typical modern city in the construction phase. There is a new building rising every day. Personally, I don't find it that much of an interest unless you plan on shopping or partying. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice city but I prefer chilling in the back country.

The Bund. If you ever look at a picture of Shanghai, this is the street. The above skyline picture is taken from here too. The 1.5 km waterfront allows for a good panoramic view of the New Pudong area (where the TV tower is located) and Zhongshan Dong Lu. Really pretty at night.

Nanjing road. This is their shopping street; hence, the gazillion wandering people. Seems like every city in China has a shopping street devoted of cars, bikes and other vehicles--Suzhou has one, so does Kunming, Qingdao, Beijing etc...

Having an interest in aquatic animals, we sauntered over to Shanghai Aquarium. Nice exhibitions and very informative. The underwater aquarium walkway is really cool with sharks, tortoise, fish and water. What I like was how they try to educate patrons on the cruelty and the unsustainablity of shark fining--a dish highly loved by the Chinese. As well, they educate the environmental damage done to China's waterways from overfishing, habitat destruction, and large-scale hydroelectric dams. Too bad the petting shark tank was closed that day;) Being a SpongBob fan, I had to get a picture of one of his favourite hobbies: Jellyfishing.

Not all of Shanghai is of skyscrapers. There is the Old Chinese City that is a favourite for tourists and Shanghai'ers alike. Hmm..Starbucks. Guess they needed their mochachino fix back in the day too.

Suzhou. Had to show Satoko the place I currently reside in. We went over to Zhouzhuang (周庄), one of the four ancient cities of Suzhou (one is Tongli which I mentioned earlier, another is xitang (西塘) where MI3 was filmed.) Personally, I think Tongli was much better.

Minus the washroom horror, Satoko had a good time in Shanghai and I'm sure many will too, including Mikey. Right? ;)

Yunnan: Deqin (德钦)

2006-12-24T00:29:00.000-05:00

The last place on our itinerary. We came here to catch a glimpse of Meilixueshan mountains (梅里雪山) and the Mingyong Glacier (明永冰川). The Kagebo peak measures in at 6740m and has yet been conquered by humans due to the perpendicular cliffs and unforgiving weather (a few have tried but perished in the process.) The glacier is located at 2700m and it is the world's lowest-altitude glacier. The postcards of this place is awesome but when we got there, rain clouds were forming threatening our hiking plans for the snow mountain. If you look closely enough, you could see the glacier. The haze is the rain.

The clouds parted a bit to reveal one of the snowcapped peaks. We doubt that it is the infamous Mount Kagebo.

Feilai Monastery (飞来寺), a small monastery offers a sweet panoramic view of the valley and the mountains. There was really nothing in the vicinity where we stayed at. Where there are Tibetans, there would be these colourful flags hanging. I figure I should find out what they really mean one day.

The next day it was raining heavily so we had to forego our plans of hiking up the glacier and Yubeng Village (雨崩村.) We caught the next bus leaving for Zhongdian. Maybe we should have stayed because the American who became our companion during the bus ride informed us that the next day was clear (I bumped into him again in Kunming three days later.)

The bus ride to Deqin from Zhongdian is filled with awe-inspiring sights from snow-capped peaks to river rapids. The road offers steep drops so for safety reasons, it's a very slow and bumpy six hour ride. We were lucky enough that a few photographers convinced the bus driver to stop at the Jinsha River bend (金沙江大拐弯) by Benzilan.
The road takes you to a peak of 4292m. It's cool to see the treeline. I finally felt AMS here and at Deqin. Nothing serious but couldn't really walk and talk without gasping for air. However, this did not prevent me from lighting one up;)

That ends our trip in Yunnan. It was a great trip. Big thanks to buddy Lilo for her companionship.

Yunnan: Zhongdian (中甸), Shangri-La (香格里拉)

2006-12-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

Paradise. Utopia. Made famous by James Hilton with his book 'Lost Horizon.' The Chinese government officially declared Deqin Prefecture, including Zhongdian as the lost Eden--they even changed the name of the city from Zhongdian to Shangrila. Lots'o controversy surrounding this move of which I won't go into.

Peaceful city. I imagined that it would be a city surrounded by mountains with an awesome scenery. What we found was a city under renovations (like every other city in China) for the mass tourists. The old city is being rebuilt and it is newer than the "new" city. However, it's a peaceful city filled with many friendly faces. We had to get out of the centre to discover this utopia.

As tourists goes, Zhongdian was not as touristy or busy as Lijiang but I'm sure they are lining up. Above, is the Songzanlin Monastery (松赞林寺), a miniature version of Potala Palace--it's really not that small. One of the more beautiful monastery I ever visited.

The day we arrived, we were lucky to catch the Yi Torch Festival. Kids running around the city with flaming torches doesn't sound safe but it was sure fun. One grandma gave us one of their torches so we too can pounce around dangerously with torches in hand. After the procession, they all throw their torches into a big bonfire. Where's the marshmallows? Afterwards, we had to drink water from the temple's fountain--something I do not fully understand.

Where there are minority to be found, find a square and you find them dancing. Such a carefree and free spirited group. Youse gotta love them.

The lakes and other places of interests were too far for us to visit--partly due the fact that public transportation is scarce around these parts. We travelled to a place near Napa Lake (纳帕海) for some horse riding. My first time so I may look a little uneasy.

The scenery wasn't as spectacular as some other areas but it was a tranquil, peaceful couple of days here in Shangrila. Afterwards did I realize why this was "utopia"...it was a very relaxing, carefree, enjoyable time I had there.

Yunnan: Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡)

2006-12-23T09:16:00.000-05:00

The highlight of the trip. Legend has it that a hunted tiger leapt across the stone abyss to escape its pursuer. The gorge lies where Haba Snow Peak (哈巴雪山) and Jade Dragon meets, divided by the great Yangzi River. This would be a two day hike--a real hike unlike the endless stairs you see in typical Chinese mountains. Also, the trail will mostly be untouched by Chinese tourism--the tourists stays near the base while the foreigners/backpackers travel the high route. The highest of the peaks rises up 5600m but our hike will only take us up to around 3000m.

The hike they say would be extremely challenging but it wasn't until we got to the lower gorge was it a real challenge and treacherous. On our way up we met a couple from Norway who would be our companions for the two days. The scenery is simply amazing, period. I'll let the pictures tell it to ya.

On our way there it was raining heavily so we thought we may not be able to hike it since every report is against hiking up the gorge in the rain. Even the bus had some issues-- bus breakdowns are very common in China. The rain subsided during the hike and Sean's wife told us it was safe enough--She and Sean knows everything about the gorge.

The high path was tough, hiking up almost one kilometre was strenuous especially for me who don't do much hiking. However, there are no rewards for doing nothing.

The horse must be used to waiguo ren because it moved out of the way to let us pass before heading off to his/her merry way.

We stayed overnight at Halfway Guesthouse who, albeit a daughter who was having an episode, were very accommodating and friendly.

When we reached Tina's Guesthouse by the road, we kind of took a wrong turn and headed down the lower river trek. The river trek is a must go as you see first hand at the ferociousness of the Yangzi River. The scenery is as spectacular as the river itself. However, the river trek is in my opinion the more dangerous of the trail--one slip and you will be floating to Shanghai. Furthermore, there are many "toll gates" to keep the trail clean and for improvements--a real piss off if you ask me.
This place is a must if you love to hike and to get away from the Chinese tourists. Apart from Huangshan this is the place to visit. They plan on building a hydro dam here but resistance has been tough. Nevertheless, the Chinese may push through with their master plan so visit it before it disappears.

Yunnan: Lugu Lake (泸沽湖)

2006-12-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

Situated by the Yunnan-Sichuan border, sits a lake with many villages consisting of Tibetan, Yi, Pumi, and Mosuo people. The villages, we were told from our outdated tourbooks, were suppose to be traditional and nearly untouched by the Chinese tourism factory.
However, most of the old villages has been torn down to make way for development and progress. Nevertheless, it was a nice quiet getaway. What makes this place interesting are the Mosuo people who practice in "walking marriages" in which husband and wife stays in their respective maternal homes and often have more than one partner.

A family roasting a pig on an open fire. Looks good. We tried their other bbq stuff from chicken to beef intestines. Good shit.

The bus ride from Lijiang was long but breathtaking. The mountain scenery is gorgeous but the roads not so because frequent landslides, bad drivers and bad road conditions makes it treacherous trip sometimes. The twisty 18 turns was a wonder in itself, nevertheless.

Yunnan: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山)

2006-12-23T08:26:00.000-05:00

Still in Lijiang (well to be exact, we came back to Lijiang during the last leg of our trip.) Jade Dragon can be seen from almost anywhere from the town--it is their famous mountain afterall. Well, we didn't go up it because we thought it was too expensive so we instead went to the mountain next to it in order to get a better view of the Dragon. Jade Dragon is over 5500m high and even with global warming, the caps are snowy year round. At that height many will experience AMS or acute mountain sickness--for me it was minor but you can see many tourists sucking canned air like it was free or something...air that's free, what a concept.

On our way back we asked the driver to stop to check out the limestone water terraces or what I would call mini-Baishui tai (白水台) because I missed it when I was in Shangri-La.

Yunnan: Baisha (白沙)

2006-12-23T04:39:00.000-05:00

A little town nestle on the outskirts Lijiang, they said there was a nice small village known for its frescoes of Tibetan-Buddhist, Daoist and Han origins. There wasn't really much to see to tell you the truth. We did find the FAMOUS Dr. Ho who, a Daoist physician is credited with saving many lives with his miracle shampoo...umm...tea and drugs. He shows you a gazillion newspaper clippings, letters and fanmail. A cool dude and a must visit if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.

On our way to find a Monastery, we encountered a retired Naxi musician. He invited us to his house for lunch and showed us his musical past. Now this is mingling with the locals. Wow.

Yunnan: Lijiang (丽江)

2006-12-23T03:44:00.000-05:00

One of the main reasons Yunnan is a hit with the tourists. As Chinese city goes, this is by far my favourite city. Lijiang is a very beautiful city, the old city that is. The city is fill with character consisting of rich mosaic ethnic minority groups--from the Naxi to the Tibetan. The only drawback are the crowds but one can easily lose their way in the maze of streets to find peace and rewards. Many foreigners lose themselves here for days, months and even years--this is how much a person can grow to love this city.
An
earthquake destoryed most of the old city back in '96 but it has since been rebuilt so the "old" city is, well, not so old.

Naxi (and tourists) dancing in the main square--They do this everyday, every night, rain or shine.

The famous Black Dragon Pool Park (黑龙潭公园). I swore the postcard picture looks different.

Locals and tourists alike playing a singing game. I never did understand the game but it had to do with someone starting off with a song and then the other side has to match it with another song.

The Naxi culture are reportedly the only people today who still use hieroglyphics.

Yunnan: Dali (大理)

2006-12-23T03:14:00.000-05:00

Met up with a buddy from HK who I will be travelling in Yunnan for the next two weeks. Spent a day in Kunming and then off to Dali. We decided to take the "sleeper bus" and damnit, was it weird. I was thinking it would be like your typical greyhound bus or the ultra comfy Brasilian long distance buses but instead we found ourselves in a bus filled with bunkbeds.Weird shit. However, it was a cool experience. Never a dull moment travelling in China.

Dali is a nice city, an ancient city unlike the concrete jungle of Shanghai--just what I was looking for. We rented a bike to take in the scenes.

The above picture is of the Three Pagodas (三塔寺),

The shopping street...everybody has to shop.

Lake Erhai.

Yunnan (云南), Kunming (昆明)

2006-12-23T02:52:00.000-05:00

I haven't updated this blog for months but to me it seem like years. Travelling around China tired me out a bit so I'll keep my posts short but with (hopefully) more pictures. Lets start off with Yunnan, well known for its eternal spring because the weather is spring-like all year round. Nice place. Pretty place. A must go in my opinion.

Yunnan (south of the clouds) is located in the SouthWest bordering with Tibet, Vietnam and Myanmar. It has many wonders from snowcapped mountains to dormant volcanoes to rainforests. Sadly, we won't have enough time to visit the latter two. It is also where many of China's minority people call home. We will follow the NorthWest path to Deqin, a city next to the Tibetan border.

Started in Kunming (昆明) and went to the Stone Forest--a little overhyped but my friendly companion from Japan who I just met made it a pleasant day. These limestone pillars jut out everywhere in every which direction. As with any rock in China, many are supposed to resemble something--whether the formation resemble an animal or...a rock, let your imagination go wild.

The Jiuxiang Scenic Area (九乡风景区)is not as well known and it should stay that way. Pretty looking caves but there were so much human interference that it might as well be an amusement park. The one directional path you must take does not allow for exploring.

Huangshan - 黄山 (Yellow Mountain)

2006-05-28T05:16:00.000-04:00

“五岳归来不看山，黄山归来不看岳”
听说如果去过黄山，其他的山就不用去了,因为黄山非常漂亮。
上个周末我们去爬黄山了。黄山真得很美。那儿有很多奇怪的石头和松树。每块奇怪的石头都有一个故事. 此外还有很多石头长得像人手或是像手机，像鱼，像龙等。我觉得它们像是从天上掉下来的. 因为黄山的土壤营养不够丰富，黄山的树长得很慢。每棵树都有一千年左右的历史了。在山顶我们住了一个晚上,因为我们想看日落和日出。第二天因为别的人太累了，只有我们三个去爬了天都峰--黄山最陡的山峰。真难爬! 有时候我以为我爬不到山顶了,因为我有一点恐高征. 但是最后我登上了最高点,真得很值得一爬,因为那儿的风景真的非常漂亮啊! 如果有云海，我觉得更美的风景。爬完以后我们非常累, 浑身酸痛. 即使如此,如果你来中国, 我还是建议你一定要去黄山.

They say once you visit Huangshan, you do not have to visit any other mountain because it is that beautiful. Huangshan is not one of the five "wu yue" great mountains in China; nevertheless, the mountain is magnificent and beautiful. The Chinese quote above roughly translate to: "you won't want to visit any other mountains after seeing wu yue but you won't wish to see even wu yue after returning from Mt. Huangshan."

The mountain is reknown for the strange trees that grows on the precarious cliffs and the strang rock formations. The famous tree above is called the Stretching Forward Pine Tree and is over a hundred years old. Due to the relatively poor soil conditions, trees grow very slowly so a three foot tall tree could very well be around 100 years old. The trees do not grow upright but instead in all sort of crooked directions and the branches usually only grown on one side. The roots of these trees are many times longer than the trunk for added support and have adapted very well to the stressful conditions.

Open up your imagination and you will see that many stones will resemble a figure of some sort--they look like people, animals, birds, and other objects. The above picture looks like a hand while another rock looks like a cellphone. As well, each rock has a story associated with it, as if the gods themselves strategically placed these stones on display.

If you ever see a picture of a Chinese mountain with clouds surrounding the mountains in a "Sea of clouds" or 云海, it can very well be huangshan. The weekend we went was clear, not a cloud in sight so we didn't get to see and feel the cloud sea. It's a shame really but at least it was comfortable. The guide told us that such fine weather is hard to come by at Huangshan--only in a few days per year that it is this clear.

Drawn to the majestic Huangshan, five of us joined a tour to see if the above quote is true. It was surely beautiful and awe inspiring. I can't put it to words as how pretty the rocks, the trees and the scenery is so you better go see for yourself. We took the cable car 2/3 up the peak. Yes, we were lazy but the cable car itself was an adventure in itself as it sometimes swing wildly forward and the scenery you see on the way up is a prelude of what's more to come. The cable car does not reach the peak so a three hour hike was required to reach the tallest peak, also where our hotels were situated. Along the way we would stop at strategic locations to take pictures--Do Not step back, so the guide told the group. It would be an interesting picture though:D The stairs to the peak was relatively easy but nevertheless tiring especially when dealing with the heat and crowds. Oh, as well as the porters who carries up to 100kg of stuff up and down the mountain. Taking supplies up the mountain by cable car costs too much so there are a number of porters carrying supplies up and down the mountain--one guy was carrying a 27" TV. As a bonus, we got to see UN Chief Annan Kofi who happened to be visiting the mountain as well that weekend. He waved to us as I was being shoved aside by his security staff--the nerve of them.

The hotel we stayed in was far from a five start hotel--let's just say it can't even compete with some hostels. It wasn't a big deal since we would only be staying there for less than seven hours as we have to wake up early to watch the sunrise. Watched the sunset while eating our dry rations. Nice and relaxing until it got a little chilly. Next day around 4am, a mass of tourists hiked to the peak to watch the sunrise. It was as if the gods themselves were goning to show up--kind of like a cult following.

No show...but the sunrise was pretty. Time to leave and hike back down, but before that we had to conquer something first: Heaven Capital Peak (天都峰), at 1810m it is not the highest peak but it is the steepest. Apparently, a tourist from Taiwan perished just a month before and the trail is often closed due to its dangers. From our group, only three of us attempted the climb. It was damn steep! At certain points, I was on all fours and was kind of concerned I would be blown off the stairs. The only thing to hold on to is a rustic chain, rope or rocks in the shape of handles. Once near the peak, you have to cross the Carp's Backbone (鲤鱼背) which is a narrow rock ridge with straight drops on both sides. The rope handles are so low that you can easily miss it and along with a misstep, you can very well be swimming with the carps. Added to the dangers, by the time you reach the Backbone, you are so tired that it is very possible to take a misstep. As they say, no pain, no gain. How true because the view from the peak is quite beautiful. As well, we experienced a mini-cloud sea.

The locks on the rope are just that, locks with people's names written on it. It supposed to be a promised or something of symbolism...or just to say, 'I've been to Huangshan!' The locks are everywhere on Huangshan, not just at the peak.

The rest of the trip down was not very eventful. You can see how steep some of these stairs can get from the last picture. Kim had a tougher problem climbing down than climbing up. Amy was jumping down the stairs like a rabbit. I was just walking leisurely down taking pictures of their expressions.

Huangshan is a definitely must, highly recommended. I will check out Huashan, a wu yue mountain, in the summer to see if the quote stands.

Simatai Great Wall - 司马台长城

2006-05-14T03:08:00.000-04:00

在我小的侯我有两个梦想。其中一个是爬中国的长城。我七年去前去过一次长城，但是我不太满意。因为我跟旅游团去的，我们没有很多时间爬长城，欣赏景色。所以我们只去了八达岭。那儿人太多了，而且那里的长城已经被重新修过。我不太喜欢。
这个“五一”长假我又去了北京，但是这次是我自己去长城的，我去了别的地方，叫司马台。因为我是“五一”最后一天去司马台的，人不太多，不拥挤。我可以安静地爬长城和拍风景照。司马台有一部分修复过，但是也有很多烽火台没有修复。从那儿，你可以看到一些历史的遗迹。中国古代的建筑师很聪明，他们建造的长城和周围的景色都非常漂亮。遗憾的是最高的烽火台关了。如果可以爬上去，我可以看到更美的风景。
我对这次旅行很满意。如果有一天我可以爬全部的长城，我当然想试试。

Visiting the Great Wall was always on top of my list of priorities. Climbing the whole wall--7200km--is almost impossible due to the fact that many parts of the great wall has suffered from nature's wrath, not to mention a few dozen wars. Sections of the wall around Beijing has been restored for the benefit of the people and government coffers. Two of the most famous--Badaling (八达岭）and Mutianyu（慕田峪) --are where all the tourists head off to because these sections are closests to Beijing and has been restored to their past beauty. Having been to Badaling seven years ago and not very satisfied due to the number of tourists and the new brick work, I ventured over to simatai instead. Really, I wanted to head off to Huanghuacheng (黄华长城) but I heard that most of the wall has been closed off because it's crumbling apart. Simatai has been restored somewhat with railings and such, as well a cable car to take you 2/3 of the way up. I took the cable car but it was really a waste because there is a nice paved road that will take you up to the wall--don't bother with the cable car if you do visit. However, most buses will only give you around 3-4 hours to discover so if you want to spend more time on the wall, take that into consideration.

Simatai was outstanding, period. Words cannot describe the beauty and my feelings. The beauty of the wall, in my opinion, was beyond that of Badaling. Because this section of the wall sits on top of a high hill/cliff, the scenery is magnificent. Due to the relative lack of people, I was able to sit on the wall peacefully and reflect. Also, I was finally able to take photos without having heads in the way. It was too bad that the wall leading to the highest point was blocked and guarded off due to the obvious dangers--many have perished climbing the sectioned off part of the wall. I am sure those turrets would be so much more glorious. Parts of the wall sports a 60 degree climb so it gets a little tiring and dangerous at times. I figure MTB these parts will not be of the best interest. The Chinese were simply amazing back in the day to built something like this.

Although not the most visited of the Great Wall sections, there are many hawkers targeting tourists. One lady followed me up to the wall and kept on following me trying to sell me a book. Saying no didn't work nor did trying to walk faster. Eventually, I caved in and bought the book since I wanted to buy a photographic book of the Great Wall and I wanted peace.

This section of the Great Wall is a definite must if you like to see the original wall and to stay away from tour groups. I am finally satisfied and joyous I made the long trip to simatai.

Beijing (北京)

2006-05-13T17:03:00.000-04:00

Less than 24 hours of flying back from Qingdao, I had to tavel up to Beijing to meet up with my cousin and Naila. During "wuyi" holidays, you'd be lucky to buy tickets of your choice so I had to settle with the slow local train to Beijing--21 hours! The train ticket I bought was a "hard" sleeping berth so I was able to "sleep" during the ride. Each section has six beds, three bunks on each side--this was like a prison. The price varies according to which bunk you buy--the bottom bunk is the most expensive and the top bunk the cheapest. The bottom bunk becomes a communal bench during the day and it's not as safe for your belongings. The top bunk is cramped but probably the safest. I had the middle bunk and had little complaints except for the fact I cannot sit up. Along the corridor, there are seats where you can sit. The sleeping car I was in had no A/C and was quite cramped. When the train stops, it is like a oven! For some reason, the train stopped at around midnight for one hour--it was so hot and stuffy! Eventually, the train started to move and shortly afterwards, I passed out. The food costs a lot and it's far from good so many people bring their own food, usually instant noodles. There is a hot water tank that runs on coal for your drinking and food preparation purposes. All in all, it wasn't so bad but I'd probably go insane if it was any longer. On my way back, I was able to buy the express train ticket back to Suzhou which is only a12 hour ride:D It costed almost twice as much--300Y compared to 170Y--but it was worth it. The express train has real food, A/C, airplane-like service, much cleaner and new...oh, and FAST (it's non-stop and travels at 160km/hr compared to 140km/hr.)

Finally made it to Beijing in one piece, my cousin took me to Peking University. The campus was huge and in some ways pretty. After walking around for a bit and saving some tadpoles left for dead, we went for some Peking duck--we are in Beijing so it's a must, right? It was good, probably the best Peking duck I ever had.

The next day I met up with Naila, my Korean friend whom I have not seen for over two years! We went to Summer Palace together (颐和园) and it was packed! Wuyi strikes again:P The huge garden was basically a playground for the royal family. Usually one could spend a whole day to discover the garden but we got bored after two hours. My cousin took us around Beijing for some shopping and eating--so nice of him. We went to "laowai" for some Yunnan food. This area is a happening place especially at night. One can see Chinese people, old and young, dancing the night away by the lake. On one side, there are fancy bars blaring music from your local bands. By "Wangfujing", the shopping district for your upscale wares, are small stalls that sells your delectable yummy snacks, like scorpions, silk worms, grasshoppers, seahorses and various intestines of various animals. The scropion on this skewer was still squirming:)

Not far away is Silk Alley (秀水市场.) Here you can find anything fake, from your Nike shoes to your Gucci wallets. Name it and you can probably find it faked. I bought a backpack here for 60Y. The lady wanted 340Y but I didn't want to buy it--no real need for one. I tried walking away but she kept on pulling on my arm so eventually, I got it for 60Y. They say the starting price for anything at these places is 1/10 of the asking price.

Beijing 2008 Olympics. Yah. Celebration. Do not go to Beijing during that time. Tian'anmen Square is closed off at night--the reasons for this is obvious.

The air quality is far from perfect as you can see. Blue sky? hmmm...maybe beyond the haze. It's probably like smoking a pack a day. Call it population control or progress, you decide:P

Qingdao (青岛)

2006-05-12T08:59:00.000-04:00

During "wuyi" holidays, I went went to Qingdao with some classmates and friends. Because we joined a "ducky" tour, we didn't have much time to personally explore the city; nevertheless, we did get to visit the tourist spots and savour the local cuisine. As many will know, Qingdao (or Tsingdao) is most famous in the world for their beer. We got to visit the brewery and of course taste tested their beer; however, they do have other types of beer besides the typical pilsner we get back home, like a dark and lite beer. I didn't get the chance to try either but I am hoping I can find it here in Suzhou because you all know how I love my dark ales. Apparently, the secret to their beer is the water from laoshan.

Wuyi holidays or Labour day is really only three days long (Monday - Wednesday.) What they do here is that you have to work/study the weekend before the holidays--yes, that means we had class on the weekend too. For that price, we get Thrusday and Friday off so that makes it a seven day long holiday. During this holiday, everybody either goes home or on vacation so the trains, buses, and everything is super busy. Qingdao ain't a popular vacation spot this time of year but sometimes it did appear that everybody in the country was there. The best time to visit Qingdao is in August for their beer festival:D:D:D

Qingdao will be host to the 2008 Beijing Olympics sailing event as you are constantly reminded in almost every corner of the city. The city hosts a few large beaches but nothing really special in my opinion as I have seen nicer beaches in Brasil. Nevertheless, the coastal city is a pretty city with many German archectiture still alive from the German occupation in the late 1800s. However, as cleaniness goes, it doesn't compare to Suzhou but typical of a Chinese city.
Many a times, you will see groups of brides and grooms strolling along gardens and in this case, the beach. They go in groups to take pictures for their photo albums. As foreigners, we find this quite strange to see so many wedding couples in one spot but it is very common here in China.

One of their main attraction is Laoshan (崂山) . It's not a tall mountain but many people go to visit. It is said that once you climb laoshan, you will have good health or something along those lines. Usually, climbing moutains in China doesn't mean that you have to bring your ice pick or whatever mountaineering equipment you happen to have. They usually have stairs built along the side of the mountains, so it's really just a really really long stair climb. However, it isn't like climbing the CN Tower as the stairs are steep and sometimes treacherous. Laoshan was relatively easy though. The water from laoshan is suppose to be a little sweet but I did not taste it so I wouldn't know. When one reaches the waterfall near the top of the mountain, you see many people washing their feet at the base of the falls--one of the many reasons why I didn't want to try laoshan water. Not only do they make beer from laoshan water, they also have bottle water and a cola named after the mountain--laoshan cola (崂山可乐) which has a ginger taste to it. At the base of the mountain, the street stalls offer many fried seafoods, mostly squids and fish. It is good.

Being a costal city, we were able to sample their seafood. The picture to the left is a sea cockroach or 'lai niao xia' (濑尿虾). We sampled many other seafoods, but this is one of the weirder ones. The taxi driver recommended us to a smallish seafood restaurant. In China seafood restaurants, you pick the seafood of your choice from either a basket or a tank and they will cook or do whatever you want with it. After we picked the fish we wanted and after the waitress smashed the fish on the ground a few times to knock it out, the plate to the right was produced. They made sashimi (刺身) from the fish. The fish was good but the dipping was horrible--it was a mix of wasabi and vinegar. Next time we'll have to bring our own wasabi and soya sauce.

Some of the best foods offer in China are street stalls that are lined up along many streets. They are cheap but good. This dude was making a fried bun with meat filling--xi'an rou jia mo (西安肉夹馍). It was really good but too bad I was too full to eat the whole bun as I had a big dinner beforehand.

Happy Earth Day - 世界地球日

2006-04-22T09:37:00.000-04:00

今天是世界地球日担是一般的中国人没知道这个桔。我觉得中国的环境肥常差。一般的中国人不关心环境，他们只关心钱和发展。环境保护非常重要因为一个差的环境对我们和别的生物不好。（不会写汉子。。。）
如果你想帮的环境，有很多方法比如不要即齐东西和作志愿者。 http://www.gvbchina.org 要中国的环境消息。

大家保护环境吧！

Scooby snacks...

2006-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

今天我和朋友去一家有名的饭店吃狗肉。狗肉非常好吃！肉質很嫩和在你口中溶化掉。听说狗肉对身体很好--我不知道。我很推介狗肉!

Today I tried for the frist time, dog meat. It was delicious, man! The meat was so tender and it just like melted in your mouth, eh! They say it is suppose to be good for your health. I totally recommend it to anybody who would like to venture beyond the cow.
Yes, I know what you are thinking of but to me, it is no different than any other meats. In my opinion, if you a meat eater you have no grounds to criticize me. If you are a vegetarian, then I surely understand your stance and will respect your choice.

Humble Administrator's Garden (拙政园)

2006-04-09T01:09:00.000-04:00

Yet another garden. Bored Yet?

上个星期天我和同学去了拙政园。拙政园是苏州最大的园我想也许是苏州游客最多的地方。这个园林非常漂亮但是我觉得门票太贵了！还有太多人。我看到很多头颠。。。的项票就有头。但是花很都和很多种所以没关系。有时候我们座很长时间看看的外国人--很有意思。。。哈哈哈。

Like most of Suzhou popular gardens, there are many many visitors. Humble, being the most popular in Suzhou, was exceptionally bad because the weather was beautiful and we went on a Sunday--I saw lots of heads:( Nevertheless, the garden was very pretty and astounding. Chinese buildings love the circular entrances. I forget the significance.

For the most part, China is cheap to visit--the food and transportation is cheap and general living expenses are low. However, being a tourist, you will have to pay your dues. Many attractions are expensive--when coverted, it equates to approximately Western standards.

And while I'm on the cost subject (which I will probably say more in my later entries), I have a bone to pick with many of the Western leaders. They are always complaining about low wages here and how people *have* to live off $2us per day. Umm...don't they know anything about the standard of living? They can't compare between apples and oranges. I live off $2cdn per day here. Sometimes more just because I like to have "fancy" food once in awhile since I can afford it. Remember, a orange here will roughly cost, $0.10--how much is it in the West? True, many people here live in "poverty" but so do many in the States and other "Rich" Western nations. And true, many many citizens are poor but there are also many who are rich. Just give it time. Meanwhile, don't let Western leaders give the impression that everybody in developing nations are living off the streets. It is not.

Tong Li (同里）

2006-04-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

Been awhile since I updated the page. I was busy studying...yah...haha.
Anyway, three weeks ago the Chinese club offered an outing to Tong Li which is like 45 minutes South of the school. Tong Li is another one of those historical cities/towns. The ancient city is one of the cities declared the "Venice of the East" (the other city being Zhouzhuang (周庄） which is very nearby as well) because of the watery passages that run through them.

The main gate to the village. It costs 80Yuan for admission but it includes all the gardens and such. Since we joined a tour, it was much cheaper--65Y which included the bus ride and a tourguide who I couldn't understand very well. As you can see there are many many tourists. Packed. The summer will be worse as more people will be travelling. There are just way too many people in China. One time there were four tour groups packed into a foray, each with their own loudspeaker. Along with the 100 or so people, you can imagine the noise.

Tuisi Garden (退思园), one of the many gardens in the village. We love our manicure gardens, ponds, and goldfish/Koi.

The picture to the right is 长庆桥, one of the three most famous bridges in Tong Li: Taiping Bridge (太平桥), Jili Bridge （吉利桥), and Changqing Bridge (长庆桥). Crossing all three (过三桥）in a row is considered good luck.

Tim Hortons' 咖啡

2006-03-12T05:52:00.000-05:00

今天我在桂花公园散步...公园很漂亮但是今天很冷所以不多人. 最近天气糟透乐...很都雨也很冷. 我希望下个周末天气好了. 写汉语很慢和很难!

I'm trying to write Hanzi so don't complain. It is my first time time writing something longer than four characters. I know at least one person who's gonna laugh...I'll get you back when I see you in Xianggang later this year;)

Anyhoo, nothing new because the weather this weekend was pretty crappy--cold and lots of rain. It cleared up a bit today so I took the chance to visit Guihua Park. It is located at the South
corner by the moat. What remains of the parapet is either newly renovated or it IS new--not sure about that. On top of the parapet is another example of Chinese architecture.

A bamboo grove leading to the washroom. I thought it would lead to a little adventure...silly me.

I've been visiting this mega supermarket called Auchan lately for my goods. It is a copy of a wallymart or a Carrefour that sells everything from cheese to DVD players, from alcohol to underwear. I go there to pick up my junk food:D It is super busy like your typical wallymart on the weekends.

Craving for some bacon'n eggs.

2006-03-04T07:40:00.000-05:00

Week one. I've improved my putonghua a bit but still not enough to communicate effectively; however, I am trying a bit. I met some Japanese students, a Filipino-Chinese who is on the same boat as I, a Korean and some Chinese students when I attended their Chinese club. My roommate finally arrived today. He's a old manager at Hyundai who's working here in China. I'm slowly getting settled in here but I need to get out.

Today, I took a stroll around the moat. The inner city is surrounded by a moat (pictures below.) Some of the old city walls are also intact. I wanted to take a walk through the park that circles around the wall but it was closed to the public for some reason. However, I found anouther nice pathway around the exterior. It was a nice quiet place There are lots of development going on, and one can see them continously trying to beautify the city. The walkways and parks looks new or refurbished but ends abruptly at wasteland. I have yet to enter any of the temples saving them for spring--hoping it will be more green and colourful with flowers by then.

The university is big. I am not sure if it is bigger than UofT but it can surely compare. I've included some pictures of my university. The big tower is usually lighted during the nights. I really do not know what faculty the tower belongs to but I figure it is like a symbol of pride to the university. The night bridge picture is not so good because I missed the water but it is part of the moat close to the university. My campus is outside the moat so if the Mongols attack, I will have to swim the moat. The room is spacious and enough for me--better than I expected. I usually eat noodles at night because it is easy to get at the stall close to my dormitory and it is cheap. At the stall, they give you a basket and you choose the ingredients you want in it--the cost reflects how many ingredients you have and what you choose. Dinner usually cost me anywhere from 3 to 5 Yuan, which translate to roughly 44 to 75 cents cdn. It is not the best but tastely enough. Once in awhile I will head over to a restaurant for something better.

Gotta go study these darn initials, finals and tones...and find a place that will server bacon'n eggs, sunny-side up.

More on Kyoto

2006-03-04T07:27:00.000-05:00

I figure some people would like to see more pictures of my trip in Kyoto so I have included some more pictures. Shrines are everywhere, everywhere you look you have a big chance of seeing a shrine, including one that tries to meld with the shopping outlets (shown below.) There were many mini-shrines embedded into new structures--I figure it would be disrepectful if during development, they were removed. We went to one massive temple that was made of all wood. Massive logs. The lanterns have names of business establishments written so to give good luck to.

Lost in transalation in Suzhou

2006-02-25T03:59:00.000-05:00

Lost. Confused. The first day was a feeling of helplessness but heading into my third day, I feel much more relaxed and settled. At least I am not starving to death...yet. So far I have been fortunate that nothing bad has happened to me yet...knock on wood. Anyway, the city is pretty with rivers meandering through the city. Although the water looks very polluted, it does not smell like a sewer:D I see people wash their clothes in it and one dude fishing in it. I can't imagine fish living in the rivers. Nevertheless, the city is relatively clean and the traditonal Chinese architecture can been seen in both new and old buildings. The school is big and the rooms in my residence is newly furnished--probably because us foreigner pay big bucks to be here compared to the locals. Soochow University was very helpful in getting me prepared especially since I can't speak a word of Putonghua.

The city is relatively small compared to the other Chinese cities--it is really a suburb of Shanghai being only one hour away from the massive metropolis. As with any Chinese city cars have the right of way, next are bicycles and then pedestrians. Whenever and wherever I walk, I have to make sure that there are no vechicles aiming for me. I'm getting better at crossing the streets now.

So far I have yet to succumb to fastfood or Western foods...yet. I just point at what I want and they gladly give it to me. Most of the people here are usually kind so I think it was a good idea that I came here instead of a bigger city. However, having said that, there are definitely weasels out there.

Class starts on Monday so hopefully I can learn some Putonghua and meet some friends. Until then.

A day in Osaka

2006-02-25T03:39:00.000-05:00

The second largest city in Japan--quite different from the smaller counterpart of Kyoto. We didn't have much time to taste the city because I had to leave the next morning but it was fun walking around Shinsaibashi and taking in some yummy snacks. After two years, I finally met Hide again. He was the one who help me get going with my life. If it weren't for him, I would not have met so many wonderful people, especially Satoko who was my guide for the four days I was in Kyoto/Osaka.

I always wanted to go to Kyoto and I finally made it this time. Next time I visit will be in October when I have more time and to see the Fall colours. I can hardly wait. But before that, Miike and I have to climb some mountains.

Kyoto in the Rain

2006-02-21T07:56:00.000-05:00

After delays upon delays, I finally made it to Kyoto. Spent two days in Kyoto visiting temples and shrines. Walked quite a bit. Now in Osaka at Satoko's friend's house. Will be here for two days until I leave for Shanghai on the 23rd. Short on time, I leave some pictures for you guys.

Off to a rocky start so far...

2006-02-18T01:27:00.000-05:00

Plane broke down..."maintenance issues." We were stuck in TO for like six hours! On top of that the new plane that arrived to take us to Vancouver had no ground crew...more delays. And as we were about to take off, they realized none of the baggage was on the plane! hahaha... So now I'm stuck in Vancouver for the night waiting for the next flight out. Oh no, it gets better because there is no direct flight to Osaka so I will have to fly to Tokyo and then take a connecting flight to Osaka. I won't be even landing on the intended airport too when I arrive in Osaka.

Oh well, at least we are all safe. The positive of all this is I got to meet some new people--a Japanese tourguide who took me into her tour group, a baker from Osaka, and a Chinese fellow from Shenzhen. Now I'm stuck in the lobby of the hotel with my notebook. Air Canada definitely did not get better after the restructure because the last time I was delayed due to airplane problems, we got better treatment.

Hopefully, it can only get better from now on. Lates.

Start of Da Trip

2006-02-17T01:03:00.000-05:00

Leaving for Kyoto. See you guys soon. Gonna miss this place but I'll be back sooner than you think. Those I will visit soon in Asia, be ready for me. Hopefully I'll have some time to update when I'm in Kyoto. Thank you to all those who wished me well on my trip and those who partied with me during my last days here. If any of you plan to visit China give me a shout! And to those who plan to be in Korea or Japan, lets try to meet up there as well. Later.

Bye Bye

2006-01-16T23:52:00.000-05:00

Today, I handed in my resignation letter. I felt kind of sad leaving since I've been with this company for more than five years and made many good friends--some who feel like family to me. I had good and bad times here but I would have to say the good outweighs the bad although people hearing my complaints would not think so:D My last day at work will be in two weeks. My last day in Canada will be in mid-February and I will be back within a year. Oh, I will be studying and travelling in China for a good part of the year so come visit me in Shanghai if you are in the neighbourhood. The updates to my blog will probably get more infrequent since blogger is blocked by the Chinese.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

Been way too long since my last post but at least I update once in awhile...hahaha. Anyhoo, spent New Year's eve at Chris' cottage. Thanks for the invite. Also, got my car stuck in like 30cm of snow because I was stupid enough to drive into the non-shovelled driveway. Thank you very much for the human tow truck--11 people--to pull my car out :D I've learned a few lessons from my stupidity: snow tyres don't work when the snow is deeper than your car's clearance and tow trucks will not help if the snow is deeper than 3 inches. Oh well...Happy New Year!!!

Keep it real

2005-12-08T22:58:00.000-05:00

The big German teddy bear returns to Germany today. He was such a fun guy to be with--reminds me of my co-workers when we play fight and be immature about everything.

Argh...hrmm...I'm at a lost for words to express myself. I met so many wonderful people these past few months that it saddens me greatly when I know they will be leaving very soon. The world is so small but yet so large in terms of cultures, philosophies, world outlook, and especially in my case, flight times. I will never forget them unless I'm diagnosed with senility.

A few weeks ago, the Russian comedian went back to his motherland. Another great guy. We, along with the German, had intense discussions about our history, world affairs, and our culture. Of course we had to insert some Bush-bashing in our conversation once in awhile or it wouldn't be Canadian, eh! It seems like the Europeans are more well verse with world affairs than my Asian friends. Maybe that is why I enjoyed (and will miss) our conversations. Not that my conversations with my Asian friends are dull!--just different topics.

Thank you Yoshi for introducing me to these two wonderful persons. I do not want to see the day you fly off because I think I may actually need tissue paper.

I've met many good friends in my lifetime...I am sure you know who you are. Thank you.

It's a shame all good things must come to an end...Or do they? hahaha

A genuine mosaic family

2005-11-18T00:50:00.000-05:00

Beer, good food, great co-workers, and especially, no managers/VPs with sharpened knives makes a great time. We met up with many people that used to be in the original crew for a night of food and drinks, including those who have left our feeding grounds for greener pastures. It was awesome meeting them again to freely talk and be ourselves outside the confines of the State. Mike2 and Jossie brought their significant others, and Alice came with her little friend. Benny drove in with style, pimping in his 7-30-fizzive. We didn't get to the Karaoke bar nor hitting the cougars downtown so next time we definitely have to make up for it. Joe will have to belly dance to the tune of an AK-47 if I have any say in it.

The three stooges: The Smart, The Ugly, and The Violent. Three guys from different background and cultures. When we are together, all hell breaks loose. We hate each other so much that we love each other. It brings tears to my eyes when I think of how lucky I was in meeting such insane co-workers. The rest of the crew are no different; they are great people without falsehood and don't pretend to be something they are not. I love how diverse our crew is both in backgound and ethicity--Bush will definitely declare war on us, espeically the Iraqi...Come get some:D

Oxymoronic fools.

2005-11-14T13:34:00.000-05:00

Okay family, let's all head out to the mountain peak in our earth shredding SUV so we can admire the destructive path that we'll create...

Ever wonder about such commercials? Take an environmentally unfriendly vehicle to visit nature. I'm sure nature just love how you are tearing her up physically, destroying her atmosphere, and lest not forget everything not treehuggerish that involves oil. I most enjoy how they relate outdoor activities with *SPORT* Utility Vehicles. Yes, I really need a SUV to make my hiking or mountain biking trails wider so I will have a less chance of accidentally hitting that damn tree. It's simply wrong if I need to yell out "CAR!" when I'm in the woods! What's so Sports about SUVs?! I have no problems carrying my MTB with my car, nor the canoe, a kayak if I really need to and people?...well, like most SUVs it could carry five.

Family, I seriously do not think our puny SUV does enough damage--look at the pint-sized tracks that it made. Let's get this....

Exposure?

2005-11-06T01:22:00.000-05:00

I started to dabble in the art of photography two years ago. Armed with my dad's old Yashica GSN we proceeded to the portlands of Toronto in the middle of the night. There we shot a cargo ship, the old coal electric power plant, other brown lands in the area and of course the Toronto skyline. The pictures totally exceeded my expectations--first timer's luck. Shortly afterwards, I picked up a Nikon F-80 so I can have a more diverse lens selection. Yes, of course I still use film. A film camera was cheaper at the time and each film has its own characteristics, the later of which I am most intersted in. I still use the Yashica today but mostly for B&W pictures. My digicam is nice and takes great photos but it lacks many functionalities of a regular film SLR. My next project is to resurrect this old '71 Polaroid Land camera. It seems like as technology advances, I refuse the trend and go back further in time. What's next, large format? :P

[There's Miike standing in the middle of Yonge St--we got quite a few stares...and the flying trucks were quite nerve whacking:D]

Once in awhile we would drive aimlessly around the GTA in the middle of the night looking for things to shoot. Sometimes we drive for hours with absolutely no destination in mind. Things we shot were big earth-moving equipments, an oil refinery, farms, dead trees, chemical plants...basically anything that had some cool lighting that would give an errie glow to our subjects. However, as the city evolves and old industrials/brown lands are turned into another condo, we are rapidly running out of places to shoot. It's a shame really. No more freezing our asses in the midst of winter, especially since most of our shots are stupidly long exposure times.

...exposure looks like one cigarette to me. Equivalent to approximately five minutes. That was how we measured exposure in the early days since the exposure in darkness were beyond the 30 seconds maximum in most cameras.

A Moose! Screeech.....

2005-10-10T14:52:00.000-04:00

Paid a visit to Algonquin Provincial Park for my very first time ever. The endless stream of tourists in the area is one reason why I never set foot in Algonquin after all these years living in Canada. However, I can see why Algonquin is one of the most famous parks in the world: it is a beautiful, pristine and serene enclave. The Fall colours were really beautiful and the trail, although short, was one of the nicest trails I ever set foot on. Of the nine of us that ventured up there, there were seven new hikers--although their purpose was just to visit Algonquin Park, it was sweet to have them join us. As a bonus for me and the other newbies, we encountered a moose by the side of the road. Big dudes. The traffic jam he caused was quite a nuisance to some drivers:D

On our way back, a driver decided to stop at the bottom of the hill to make a U-turn. I almost took out his rear but luckily, I was able to swerve into the gravel shoulder in the last second to avoid him. Seriously, I thought we were goners there. If I had hit him I'm sure there would have been other casualities as there was a train of cars right behind me. Anyway, I am counting my blessings for the near-miss. It was partially my fault for not realizing the situation earlier but he should not have done something so thoughtless as well. Please drive carefully guys and think before doing such dangerous maneuvers.

As pristine as Algonquin was, the popularity of the park displayed how inconsiderate humans can become: litter on the trails. Please remember when visiting any natural areas: Take nothing but pictures and memories, leave nothing but footprints. Be courteous to other hikers and let others enjoy the park as how you have enjoyed it. Also, if possible, leave the trail cleaner than you found it--carry out all litter.

"Hiking is sooooo much fun!"

2005-10-09T18:13:00.000-04:00

Last week, we decided to hike around the Elora Gorge. It wasn't so much of a hike as the trail I choose was a flat boring rail-trail. Nice walking path but not really a hike. We then decided to look for other trails and found some short ones that eventually lead us to town. We did some window shopping and had some ice cream. A Hike? HAHAHA. It was Manami's first time hiking with us and she was humourous as always. Her first time out did not fair so well because as she was running towards the pile of snow, she tripped. Poor Manami. Being Manami, she just laughed it off: "Hiking is sooooooooo much fun!" HAHAHA The hike also marked the first outing for my hiking buddy, Parl, after her relatively minor surgery. Glad she was able to join us.

Are you sure about this?

2005-10-08T23:31:00.000-04:00

How in the world can she take your antics, John? 'She just does somehow.' Ahhhh, must be love...hahaha. A good friend of mine just got married today. Nice. He may not show it sometimes but he is one of the kindest and nicest person I know. Of us four mahjonngers, we thought he would be the first one--at least I thought that. Congratulations, man. You deserve her.

What surprised me was that the bride is Hakka-Indian. I am Hakka-Cantonese (if there is such a thing.) There were three Hakkas sitting at my table as well, and so were most if not all of the bride's family. I have never been in a room surrounded by so many Hakkas. To tell the truth, I usually do not mention my Hakka side because many do not know about our ethnicity. However, tonight my Hakka blood ran excited, ecstatic and proud. I know very little about my background, only stories my dad tells me but after a little research I now know so much more about my Hakka heritage. I want to know more now.

Retirement...

2005-09-24T10:26:00.000-04:00

Bones heals slower, flesh wounds heals slower, joints start to ache and the body starts to complain more and more. Ahhh...age. Another permanent scar on the knee, this one uglier than the one I sustained from my first 24 hours mountain bike race. This wound took much longer to heal than the others too. Knees ain't the same anymore--seems wonky these days. As Miike mentioned, we are a rotting from the inside out as age creeps up on us--gotta start being a little more careful...yah right! Where's my Guinness?! :P

My last MTB race, Autumn Epic 8 hours for Luke at Walker Woods, Walker Farm. We lost another "Derailed" member, now we are three but we did a little better than the last 8 hours: we came in fourth out of five teams in our division. First lap was horrible as the blueberry muffin for breakfast and the Guinness from the night before wanted to reverse peristalsis. But the laps after were much better and more fun. The trail was more technical than the last race with lots of switchbacks, trees and some technical climbs. I really enjoyed the race and love the hardcoreness of what's left of the team.

...retirement?! Yes, but as I promised, one more race before I hang the cranks up: The 24 Hours of Moab! in Utah.

Lemmingsexual

2005-09-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

In an attempt to set a trend Yuta once proposed the 4-thumbs up. Looks silly and probably will never catch on but he will try to spread the trend starting with his hometown, Hiroshima. To compliment his trendsetting, I will try to "Canadianize" Japanese by converting their "ne" to "EH!" (Japanese tend to end their sentences with "ne.") Thus, "Umai, eh!" and "Oishi, eh!" was borned which means "Good, eh!"

On another note, I recently learned a new word, "Metrosexual." Wikipedia defines a metrosexual as the following: refer to an urban male of any sexual orientation who has a strong aesthetic sense and spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle. (Or as some would put it, a hetrosexual that acts like a homosexual.)

The opposite of Metrosexual is Retrosexual: a man with a generally poor sense of style -- not necessarily a boor; rather, someone who rejects being finicky about physical appearance.

So in response, I have invented my own word.
Lemmingsexual: A person that follows current trends, many times mindlessly and without thought. These persons will believe that by following the trend(s), they will be accepted--basically, a person who believes s/he is not a unique individual.

My name is...

2005-09-21T22:39:00.000-04:00

Due to the multicultural friends I associate with, many of my native friends have problems remembering and pronouncing non-English names. Furthermore, we talk about so and so but we can never remember the name, compounded by the fact that most times we do not have a face corresponding to the person. However, each person is associated with a story of some sorts--it could simply just be an interest or there could be a funky story behind the person in question. Thus, we have nicknames associated to them so my circle of natives would not get lost so easily. The nicks are not just of my friends but associates of other friends, ie, I may not know them myself. Some nicks are painfully obvious while others are more obscured.

The nicks we came up with are the following--obviously I will not associated the nicks with real names because some of them are somewhat rude and some I don't have the real names: Nurse, Elevator-girl, Tallship-girl, PHD-girl, Chatterbox, Lacrosse-girl, Lush, Whitedude, Snowboard-girl, Jailbait, Co-op, Roommate, Mike2, Mike with 2 "eyes", Jen5, Budgie-girl, karaoke-girl, Sal2, Kyoto-girl, Archery-girl, JD-girl (Joy Division), NYC-wife and Tank.
There are probably more but I leave it as is for now. To my readers, do you know who you are? And if you do not have a nick and would love to have one, ask us and we'll make one for you too:D

Happy Moon Festival!

2005-09-18T21:30:00.000-04:00

Tonight's full moon marks the "Harvest Moon" or for me, the Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditionally, we celebrate tonight by lighting lanterns and eating mooncakes! mmmmmm... Read the stories regarding the festival.

Thank you spaceweather for the moon picture.

Inorganic Organics

2005-09-18T17:05:00.000-04:00

Organic food products are the "in" thing nowadays. Once a niche market, it is now quite mainstream--even my mother has jumped on the bandwagon. It is awesome knowing that organic products are grown with environmental sustainability and sound practices in mind. I do believe the premium that one pay for organic products are worth it to help ameloriate our environmentally harmful farming practices. But...Ever wonder why some of these products are sold in esthetically pleasing PLASTIC containers? Lettuce in an oversized plastic container? Eggs in plastic? Ironic, eh! Sure these containers/cartons are recycleable but the last time I checked, the first "R" in the 4+ "R's" were Reduce! Plastics are some of the most harmful products in our environment; for example, it doesn't biodegrade very well; the recycling value is mediocre and; it uses petroleum to manufacture--and here we are complaining about oil/gas prices! Buying organics are great but THINK before picking up your next "environmentally friendly organic" produce.

I just can't get over the name and the cover of the cereal...hahaha:D And where is my organic toilet paper?

Sayonara Imouto Sae-chan!

2005-09-12T15:26:00.000-04:00

There she goes...back to Hiroshima to continue her post-secondary studies in Shiga. Goes to the same university as Daisuke which really surprised me--it's a small world, man! Did not really get to know her until a few weeks ago but after a few nights and many pints of beer, she became my little sister. Very sweet girl and not as shy as I first thought. It is probably because Yuta's outwardness was always the spotlight which overshadowed her features. Her cheeks are red not because of the alcohol, but the bright star she is. Thank you Sae for your support (you know what I'm referring to) and giving me another light in life. I will miss your dimples!

A new Day...

2005-09-10T09:13:00.000-04:00

Turning a new leaf. Leave it all behind me and look into the horizon. Start a new life based on my values and beliefs. It has almost been two years since turmoil gripped my life and threw it down the gutter. It's time to walk forward...bravely. Be positive. Be confident. And most of all be Happy.

Big THANKS goes out to those who celebrated my birthday with me and to those who extended their well wishes!

Tagged?

2005-09-06T23:20:00.000-04:00

Apparently, there is some sort of game going on and I have been tagged by Alice. Didn't know what it meant at frist but I think I finally do...silly kids. Anyway, here is the question: What are your weird habits?

I love my scotches
When I go on my photography trips, hiking, biking or other random events, I bring three cameras of varying ages, including two or three lens for my SLR
I stare at my ceiling and walls for hours on end
I eat more junk food than real food (chocolate, chips, peanuts, jolly ranchers, cookies, etc)
I talk to my fish
I talk to myself
Being cryptic so nobody will fully understand me
I quit smoking but I love collecting pictures of characters smoking, and forcing my plush toys at work to smoke....is this even a habit???
I have a tendency to draw a pair of eyes on anything and everything.
And I am known as "Destructor" for my uncanny skill in destroying almost everything I touch--I call it quality control.

Soooo.....I guess I'm suppose to tag my buddies now. Ok.

Noriko,
Miike (you will have fucked up habits, I know),
Lilo,
Sam,
JiHyun,
Soo-Kyung,
Mike2 (get off your arse and move)...
What are your weird habits?

Medieval Guys

2005-09-06T21:51:00.000-04:00

Now I know why the hardcore olympic wannabe archers are absent during the weekends. The weekend patrons are of a very mixed sort, ranging from the six year olds to the look-a-like thugs who have no respect for the range. People can easily get hurt by a stray arrow but some of these people just do not get the message. There were guys believing they were safe by shooting in the middle of the field far away from us. Morons. If someone do get hurt, we will lose the only public range in Toronto. One guy accidentally fired a crossbow bolt into the ground--Stupid! These guys do not appear to know what they are doing. On the positive side, I met an AS400 programmer (Gary) who had this really nice handmade long bow--a beaut! The highlight of this dude was that for his arm protector, he used a McCallum Scotch container! That amazed me to the point that I think I will make myself a Glenmorangie arm protector:D

On another note, I have progressed to shooting the 30 yard targets (from 20 yard) with random success in precision and accuracy. The new sight, plunger and stabilizer helped quite a bit. I just need to stabilize my anchor point.

:P

2005-09-06T17:12:00.000-04:00

I made up for my weeks of silence, not that many cared.

It would appear that my Blog has been marked for spam. Bastards! Now I have to enable comment verification. Argh.

Naked beach

2005-09-05T17:45:00.000-04:00

Our farewell marathon for Sae started yesterday at the Toronto Islands. It was Sae and Sandy's first time on the island. Sandy, incidentally is Alice's golden retriever. Keiko and Mie was also part of the party that disembarked on to the islands. Four lovely ladies and me--my own harem as Sae & Yuta described it, hahaha. Actually, I felt more like a school teacher because they are puppies relatively to my age. The girls enjoyed Sandy quite a bit. I am sure Sandy enjoyed the attention and the vast playground filled with green space, people and other dogs. I also had fun with Sandy because he was one of the few dogs I encountered that does not appear to hate me;) and he is a very friendly and cute dog. Thanks Alice for bringing him.

The highlight of the trip was the Hanlan's Point Nude beach.There were many nude people on the beach--much bigger than I thought. I felt very awkward walking through the beach because it seems like we were there as a tourist (which we were!) Most of the bathers were old guys with a few females here and there. The beach main patrons are gays and lesbians. Anyway, it was quite a different scene in semi-conservative Toronto.

Mosh!!

2005-09-05T00:26:00.000-04:00

I said two dudes, eh! Well, Yusuke was the second dude that recently left. Hardcore shit such as NIN, Manson, and whatever mom&pop does not want their innocent child to hear Yusuke will listen to. AH! And his girlfriend, Yuko, is just as hardcore as he is. Nevertheless, they are simply the sweetest individuals on Earth. Next time we meet, we be moshing at Kyoto's Gold Temple with vodkas in hand! Rock on!

Bye bye Little Brother.

2005-09-04T23:40:00.000-04:00

Shessh, it's been almost three weeks since I updated my blog. Many things have gone past and is now history. I could say I was too busy to update my blog but I was not. Maybe I lost interest? Or I just felt that nobody really reads my blog so why should I bother? Well one thing for sure is that it helps me remember as my memory is failing at a rapid pace nowadays. All that alcohol can't be good:P At any rate, I will try to update it on a regular basis.

It has been ten weeks since I stopped smoking. Things are progressing well but I still feel that my respiratory system still has a ways to go before I fully recover. Nevertheless, it has amazed me at how far I got considering the stress and my depressive nature. Ok, Ok....I sneaked a few puffs in the last two weeks. But I had to so I can bid farewell to a couple of dudes with respect.

Yuta, who I considered as my little brother left two weeks ago. He is a psycho bitch with a deep character. Very loveable with a huge following--a cult one may say. He's back in Japan to cause havoc there. We will meet on a ski hill next time--me on a snowboard, he on skis, and soju in our hands.

Foodchain...

2005-08-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

6 wks: A moth by the corner of the room is entangled in a web struggling to break free. A spider a fraction the size of the moth circles around it. This is definitely a huge morsel for the diminutive spider. Every time the spider touches the moth , it convulses and writhe in pain as small amounts of poison is injected to its victim. It has been minutes of struggle since it's entrapment--it probably seems like eternity for the moth. The suffering will end soon as the twitching and convulsions diminishes. The spider will definitely have a feast tonight.

Every little bit counts...

2005-08-04T15:08:00.000-04:00

Many have called me a tree hugger but when I look back at my daily activities, I seriously doubt I will win any tree hugging award. Nevertheless, I try to do my best to minimize my ecological footprint. I drive the 32km to work everyday but I carpool. The majority of drivers going my way are single drivers. Imagine if half those cars would carry another passenger? Imagine the reduction in cars on the road, let alone the reduction in energy and pollution. If everbody does that little bit for our environment, imagine the benefits. For example, recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours and reduces pollution by 95%. I don't advocate destroying what society has built and "green" everything as that will not be acceptable to us, including myself. However, we need to strike a balance between our lifestyle and the environment. We need to be conscience of the activites we do everyday to minimize the impact we have on our environment. Remember, we live in a closed biosphere and what goes around will come around to haunt us eventually, if it is not already affecting us.

The future of green is now. Technology has brought us destruction and hopefully technology will save us. Treehugger is a daily online magazine that provides information on modern aesthetic products and services that are environmentally responsible. Some of the products they discover are very exicting and interesting, at least to me it is.

Hockey is Back

2005-07-31T02:02:00.000-04:00

Day 34: I got dragged into playing hockey today by Carl who I did not see for a very long time. The smoker's lung is definitely still with me--I was coughing the wholetime. I haven't played hockey in years and it shows. I could not skate at all! My turns were horrible, I couldn't skate backwards, and I had absolutely no speed. Horrible! Horrible! Oh well, hopefully I will get in shape soon as I plan to play hockey every Friday night.

After a one year strike, NHL is back. Go Leafs Go.

Bambi!

2005-07-26T09:47:00.000-04:00

Day 29: I encounter different characters everytime I go to the archery range. Most notable was a couple in full camouflage gear who dropped by last week--hey, we are firing arrows into wood, not animals! Yesterday I met a dude that just started into the archery business who looks a lot like Bono and a middle-age hunter who has been hunting for 15 years. The latter set up a target of a deer to fire at (no, he was not in camouflage:) The regular attendee was a Korean girl with her dad or coach--seems like he's trying to train her for the Olympics or some sort of competition (Koreans are very good at archery as noted in last summer's Olympics.)

The most surprising vistor we encountered yesterday was a deer. How ironic a deer will be strolling by an archery range, especially in the presence of a hunter shooting at a deer poster! To me it was very surprising that we can see such a large wild animal within the city. I'm sure there is at least a family of them in the Don River parklands now. The hunter mentioned that he had seen a wolf and a fox in the vicinity as well as the typical hares/rabbits. I remember a lost moose found his way into Taylor Creek Park many years ago and had to be flown back up North. Next time we complain about animals in our backyard, remember who was here first and were pushed out of their homes. Not us.

My baby...

2005-07-24T21:07:00.000-04:00

Epic 8 Hours relay mountain bike race at Hardwood Hills. We came in 16 of 17 in our category (4 person.) Not what I was hoping for but we all had a good time. Introduced two newbies into the mountain bike scene. They tried hard and did very well--I am proud of them for stepping up to the plate and did the race, unlike those pretentious posers. The object is to have fun and to discover our limits. The course was fast with many technical turns, a really fun course and short--10.5 km and done in a little less than 40 minutes (the pros did it in 30 minutes!)
'97 Trek 6500 Hardtail, Custom.
Specs:
- 27 speed.
- Shimano XT front/rear derailleur
- XT Crankset
- SRAM 7.0 cassette
- XT V-brakes
- Ambrosio rims (forget the model but they are TOUGH!)
- Acor cartridge bearing hubs
- Rock Shox Indy C front suspension (The only thing original from stock which I will be replacing as soon as I come across a crackhead deal for a Z1 or something equivalent.)
- Ritchey pedals (all that it matter was the colour: red!)
- KORE elite stem and bar
...My precious.

Heineken? Fuck that shit, Pabst Blue Ribbon!

2005-07-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

Day 23. Four days to our race and I think we are ready to take on the big guns. Too bad Matt, our star rider, will not be able to make due to some previous engagements. When biking last night we were welcomed with the sunset in the West behind the trees casting an orangy glow on the near-full moon rising in the East over a field. The moon and the scene was simply beautiful--the perfect picture moment but no camera. These are the times when after the pains, the sweat, and the trek in to the woodlands make mountain biking so worthwhile.

Got sick of Heiney back in the day. Guinness is my poison now--can't beat that shit. I guess Hopper would not be overly happy with my choice of beer either:P
Blue Velvet: a weird, surreal and dark imagination.

Canada, eh!

2005-07-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

Again, Canada tends to make the headlines with some oddball facts. According to 7-11, Winnipeg consumes the most Slurpee per captia in the world. Winnipeg--or Winterpeg as some of us call it--is the coldest city in the world (with a population over 600,000.) It's just mind-boggling that the coldest city would also consume the most slurpee...hahaha.

We can now tag this in the record book with other useless facts of Canada:
- The longest street in the world (Yonge St)
- The tallest phallic symbol in the world (CN Tower)
- Coldest City in the world (Winnipeg)
- Second coldest captial in the world (Ottawa)
- The longest national highway in the world(Trans-Canada hwy)
- The longest bridge in the world(Confederation bridge connecting PEI and mainland)
- The longest coastline in the world
- The longest shared-use recreational trail in the world (Trans-Canada trail)
- The world largest mall (West Edmonton Mall) (not sure anymore)
- Over 80 percent of the world's supply of maple syrup is produced in Canada
- We consume more Kraft Dinner per capita than any other nationality on earth
- Most donut shops per capita in the world
- We use the most energy per capita in the world
- We produce the most garbage per capita in the world

HOT enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk

2005-07-13T00:57:00.000-04:00

Day 18: Passed the cottage hurdle. No cigarettes but I did meet mary-chan:D kekeke... Nasal cavity cleared up alot. Still eating lots of junk food; however, I have supplemented the junk food with yogurt and some fruits to try to balance with the dark side.

In other news today, we are in the middle of yet another heatwave. The temperature rose to 34C on Monday smashing the previous high set in 1949--we set a new high today as well and will probably set a new high tomorrow. It has not rain significantly in Toronto for over a month so the city has issued a water conservation warning to residents, among the multitude of warnings we are getting every day such as smog warnings, heat alerts, and power conservation pleas. No relief in sight. It has been a long time since we had such awesome(?) weather. It took the news reporter 17 minutes to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Crud in, Crud out.

2005-07-04T02:05:00.000-04:00

Day 7. Still smoke-free but doing more second hand smoke instead. They say second hand smoke is worse than frist hand. Oh well...It's all gooood as long as I'm not shoving these burning rods into my mouth...or ass, right? Passed a few tests so far--Yuta cigarettes, being bored, coffee runs with Mike, Durwin's BBQ, my BBQ, drinking, etc--and so far so good. The big test will be this coming weekend at the cottage. The two days of chilling may crack me. Still eating quite a bit more than usual, especially junk food:D Body is still trying to exhaust the crud that's been in the system these past six years.
Excerpt from some dude that quit smoking: " The Effects of Physical Withdrawal: Anxiety, Anger, Irritability, Impatience and Restlessness." Hmm...5 for 5...I'm on a roll.

Blogger apparently broke something; thus, the big spaces on top. They say they'll fix it soon...haha. The thing is that the formatting is correct under Firefox/Mozilla. Time to switch over boys and girls.

Picture is from the book "The book of Bunny Suicides." Pick it up cuz it's a fun read..."Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don't Want To Live Anymore"

No Cigerette and Coffee makes a comatose Y.

2005-06-28T10:05:00.000-04:00

Day two. I'm not sure about this quiting a smoking business. Today, stopped at an intersection on a green light. It didn't occur to me that it was a green until this big transport truck blew past me. WTF I stopped here?! Oooops. Then the usual elevator mess: press down button but didn't step into the elevator thinking it was going somewhere else. The Freudian slip(?): "I wasn't the one who drove you home last night, it was me." I figure a large double double should help me...ahh...Timmys;)
In the two days, I have finished my junk food supply. Soooo...the qewstion: If being smoke-free is so much healthier, is it healthier to not smoke and eat bags of junk food than to smoke and eat much less junk food?
On the light-er side...We are in the fourth day of our heat wave--30+C--and it is expected to last for another 2-3 more days. They say it's the hottest June on record. The welcomed heat has produced a rainbow of colours in the skyline due to the smog and other crud in the troposphere. It's so thick I think I can surf on it! STOP DRIVING PEOPLE!! CAR POOL! TAKE TRANSIT! Until we all start dying off, then us humans will realize our folly...damn we are stupid. How we lived so long as a species is amazing.

I now know why my tobacco cravings are muted recently: breathing this "air" is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day! No sense in quiting really since we're all gonna die from our stupidness.

The Freak-out...QiGong

2005-06-25T04:51:00.000-04:00

A little over a year ago, I decided to join Mike in the practice of QiGong every Friday night (at least I try to...haha.) To those that do not know what QiGong is, it kinda looks like tai-chi but very different. "Qi" means Energy or breath of life and "Gong" means skill. By practicing QiGong, you help improve the function of Qi and in turn maintain good health and ward off disease. QiGong consists of five movements, a "freak-out", and meditation. The movements helps build up your level of Qi. The freak-out (as Mike would call it) is when you let the Qi flow to areas of your body that requires healing. The freak-out looks like someone suffering from a seizure. The mediation is just that--a state of relaxation.

It is believed that regular practice will help cleanse the body of toxins, restore energy, reduce stress and help one maintain good health. Many of those that go to class, had some sort of ailment that once plagued them ranging from car accidents to natural diseases/disorders. After years of QiGong, they now suffer less. QiGong is not the cure-all and never will be; however, the exercise will generally improve health. I don't have any disease (at least that I know of) but I practice it to holistically improve my health. Yes, QiGong is usually meant for old people but I am old:P Besides, it never hurts to exercise.
Here are some information regarding QiGong: The Qigong Institute

"Shaadi ke rishte to aasmaan main buntay hain"

2005-06-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

Attended my friend's engagement party last night--a traditional Indian-Hindu ceremony. It was my first time attending such a fabulous and interesting event. The saree that the women wore were very colourful and sensual. It seems like every colour of the rainbow was in attendance and more! The collage of colours was certainly a gift to the eyes. I always thought that India has a conservative culture but that is not true. The saree I found were quite sexy in nature. My friend explained to me that there is a degree of openess in India, citing one example, the Karma Sutra. As well, one must take account for the heat in India; thus, their attire. This is in contrast to Pakistan and their Muslim culture where they are quite more conservative.

Congratulations Anisha and Sumeet!!
May your life together be like the stars above, forever shining bright.
"Marriages are made in heaven"

Old is In

2005-06-20T09:45:00.000-04:00

As a promise to myself, I have returned to the Yashica. Slapped on my old school flash and it was like back to the '70s. Many were interested in the camera since it was the oldest camera at the party and everyone was using digital, including the wedding photographer. Had some problems with the flash not flashing...gotta figure out why that was happening. Being my first time using a flash on this camera, I hope that all my pictures turned out good.

Update: I stand corrected, the Yashica GSN was first introduced in 1973. That puts the camera older than I! I strongly recommend this camera to those that wants a cheap alternative to a SLR or those awful pesky digicams. They are dirt cheap on any auction website.

'Such is life...'

2005-06-20T01:23:00.000-04:00

Many international students who take ESL are taught idioms and phrases. Many times they ask me of such phrases and while most times I can explain it to them, there are times where it gets me thinking. As well, many phrases I have not heard for a very long time.

Last Friday we had a farewell party for three students and a "going away" party for Nori-P. Flavia will be heading back to Brasil for urban planning(?); Akitoshi back to Japan as a trader; a mexician girl that I never met and; Noriko to sail the Pacific. All are wonderful people and I am very grateful in having them as my friends. I will never forget Flavia's wild but serious nature; Aki's sarcasm and sexual jokes; and Noriko's free and spirited persona. I will miss them dearly.

Good luck in your future endeavours.
We will meet again.

Dagus

2005-06-14T23:18:00.000-04:00

Some people have asked me what my alias stands for. It is actually a name of a small rodent-like (not related to the rodent family) animal native to Chile. The other spelling of "dagus" are degus (more correct), Octodon Degus (Latin name) and degu. The reason I choose this name is because my sister used to have degus as pets in my computer room so when I needed a handle, dagus was the first unique word that came to my mind.

The following are some facts about degus:
- same suborder as Porcupines, Chinchillas, Guinea Pigs, Spined Rats, Chinchilla Rats, and are related to rabbits
- Degus are active during the day, and wander about grazing mainly during the morning and evening hours. They feed on grass, grain seeds, and fruits, and they hoard food supplies in their burrows.
- Like other Octodon species, the Degus is similar to the rat in size and proportions. Its physical adaptations to a subterranean life are a squat body and short neck, a large head, a long tail with brush-like hair at the tip, which it raises slightly when walking, and long whiskers. Hearing and other senses are well developed in this species. The hind legs are shorter than the front legs.
Kawai, eh?

Hurricane Arlene

2005-06-13T23:59:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the hurricane turned tropical storm, it was too cloudy and wet to head up to Panorama for a night view of Toronto with Nori-P. Will try again Wednesday. Instead we went for bubble tea which she never tried before. I went for my regular taro black milk and she settled for Yakult black tea. I was surprised that they even had that flavour...weird. It's a kid's drink but Nori-P being a kid loved it, eh? I haven't had Yakult for a very long time--my parents said I loved it when I was a kid in HK. Don't remember much about it but the drink did indeed tasted like Yakult.

In an unrelated story, someone started a rumour that Yakult would ward off SARS during the Asian SARS outbreak in 2003. Sales of Yakult in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan rosed as much as 500 per cent. Funny what people will believe these days. Regardless, Yakult is a healthy drink so no harm done: "Yakult is a fermented milk drink made by fermenting skim milk powder and sugar with the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain. This bacterium helps to replenish the good bacteria in the small intestine, ensuring that our digestive system works efficiently and effectively." Keeps you regular, eh?

KinKan Relief

2005-06-13T01:34:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I was invited to Chris' cottage to help out with cleaning and some repair work on his cottage. There were 14 of us doing odd jobs like cleaning the couch, some roofing repairs and picking up the garbage but the main theme this year was fixing up the eavesdrops. This was my initiation year. Lots of alcohol and power tools made a great time. Mike and I arrived at around 4am Saturday morning and the party was still going. We, along with Glen (a retired IT manager/developer) stayed up for the sunrise with scotch in hands before turning in. Saturday started off very hot, sunny and humid but the guys were relentless in their work. Then the thunderstorms rolled in and spoiled it all. The guys even had to postpone their frisbee "golfing." The frist thunderstorm was short-lived so after the storm, the guys continued their work; however, the next one stopped work till the next day. The only positive aspect was the light show: it was spectacular. Mike, Chris and I cooked up dinner: steak, potatoes, beans and salad. Sunday morning, the work continued full-paced to meet the deadline but I unfortunately had to be off early. The guys are awesome. Thank you Chris!

I got eaten alive by mosquitoes at the cottage. My legs are dotted red everywhere because of my scratching--my feet hurts when I walk! Mike, however, got it the worse, like a pincushion. His legs must be burning. For some minor relief, I have this Japanese afterbite concoction called Kinkan. Like Afterbit, it is not very effective but it feels good.

Do not drink and Digicam

2005-06-13T00:51:00.000-04:00

My digicam finally met its demise last week at a party. The rotating lens rotated too much and the wires inside got messed up pretty badly. Good reason to pick up a new camera but I really do love my Nikon (Nikon da best, eh, Nori-P? :P Trying to find a used busted cam on ebay to scavenge parts from it but to no avail--I lost an auction for one. Why would anybody wanna pay $30us for a busted outdated digicam?! I know what parts I need to repair it but I'm sure ordering such parts from Nikon will be expensive. If anyone wanna get rid of their Nikon 2500 at a reasonable price, SCREAM! My new Canon digicam is just not the same...doesn't feel right:'(
The remnants of the poor guy:

Whitewater Rafting

2005-06-08T17:12:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday we went to the Ottawa River to try out some whitewater rafting. Started the trip Saturday morning at 2am picking up the 11 guniea pigs for the 5 hour trip. We arrived just in time for check-in, did the breifing stuff and by 10am we were on our way to our launch point. The weather was perfect: 30C and not a cloud in the sky, simply beautiful. Our rafting guide, named Zander was really cool and energetic. Started off with some lessons and off to our first rapid, McCoy's Chute (class 3 rapid). As we hit the rapids, a wall of white water struck us hard almost knocking some of us off the raft. After a few tries at "surfing" the raft, we decided to jump into the water for a light swim. The water was warmer than I thought but still cool enough to give me the chills after awhile of being in the water. We then proceeded to a few more rapids, Butcher's Knife, Garburator (was wild and almost knocked me off the boat), and Waikiki (I cannot remember all the rapid names) before we stopped for a snack. Here we did some cliff jumping into the rapids below. The cliff was about two storeys high but was nevertheless intimidating--it took Manami a few long seconds before she gathered enough courage to jump. Some people chickened out and I won't mention any names (you know who you are.) After the little break we headed off to Coliseum where we saw a nest of Ospreys in the trees. The two rapids afterwards--Farmer Black's and Dog's leg--were not as thrashing.

All in all it was a experience to remember. I was hoping for more rapids and a lot rougher rapids, however, I was not disappointed and I am sure the others were not disappointed as well. The cliff jumping was a bonus that many enjoyed. We were lucky (or unlucky) to lose nobody on the rapids--some of the other rafts ejected all their passengers on the first rapids and all you see was blue things floating down the rapids (the helmets are blue.) I cannot fully express how wonderful the experience was so go and try for yourself!
Next time whitewater kayaking!!

Ecologically Sustainable Use

2005-06-02T11:48:00.000-04:00

There's been a lot of talk recently in Japan and other nations of resuming the harvesting of restricted whale spieces or increasing catch quotas. Currently Japan whales under the guise of "scientific research" but the world knows that all catch is sold to the markets. If Japan does not get their way, they will abandon the International Whaling Commission and resume the unabated slaughtered of these beautiful species. Their studies have shown that whales are abundant but lest us not forget what happened to Cod stocks in Canada's Grand Bank--Cod stocks crashed and the fishery had to be shut down in 1992. To this day, Cod fishing is still prohibited. The commision has worked long and hard to prevent extinctions of whale species but yet Japan and other countries wants to destory what the IWC tried so hard in protecting. Japan even admited in buying votes in 2001 so they can relax the restrictions but luckily they failed (money can buy anything, eh?)
I am against the practice of whaling but yet, I cannot ignore scientific research in stock supply. However, I cannot totally trust such research because they have been wrong before, it is difficult to measure in our vast oceans and, especially bias reports that are conducted by a bias country. I understand the traditional values whaling have on certain countries but recent history have shown that countries indiscriminatly harvest the beasts mostly for financial gain; thus, the whaling ban was needed. As well, one cannot blame the ban as having an negative financial effect since ecotourism (whale watching) is much more profitable than whaling. The history of whaling goes back very far and there are lots of controversy on the topic. Google it but remember to have an open mind on both sides.
In any renewable resource--whether that be whales, fish, trees, or ecosystems--we need to harvest it in a sustainable manner: "the use of living things or areas within their capacity to sustain natural processes while maintaining the life support systems of nature, and ensuring that the benefits of the use to present generations do not diminish the potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations."

It's a small world afterall...

2005-05-31T23:25:00.000-04:00

Went to meet Noriko after class and bumped into Flavia outside the school. She was waiting for her boyfriend whom is in the same class as Noriko! I haven't seen Flavia for many many months and wasn't sure if she went back to Brasil or not. We caught up on shit and I will probably meet up with her this weekend for a final drink with her. She will be leaving on June 22.

My photography seems to be getting worse. I developed the pictures from the hiking trip, various pictures of Toronto in the Winter, and the fireworks. I could not find one that stood out and wowed me. Every picture was either over-exposed or suffered from bad composition. I definitely need to spend more time in composition. Maybe it is time to go back to my '73 Yashica GSN rangefinder--that camera made me think more. (Nori-P, it is Japanese:P)

On Sunday, we went to the Doors Open Toronto. We only had time to go to one place really: MEC. We took a tour of their rooftop garden. The garden helps control rain runoff, temperature in both winters and summers and it provides greenspace for wildlife. This is something I would love to do as a career--environmentally sustainable planning/development.
I recently rode my bike to check out the regeneration process at Harbourfront Queens Quay West near Spadina. It's an area that adds more greenspace to the city and tries to reintroduce native species back into the area. I am not sure how well the project is going so far but I did see a nesting swan. If only we can see more of these projects come to life, especially East of Queens Quay.

Never judge a book by it's cover

2005-05-26T22:33:00.000-04:00

On the news today, they were talking about how Korean females will get plastic surgeries to improve their looks so they can get a job easier. This is sad. It is bad enough that our society base our views of a person based on their looks but to get a job? That is just vulgar, IMO. Too many times I meet foreign exchange students from Korea or Japan and they would be very concerned about their looks and especially weight. To be honest, they look perfectly fine and they are not overweight; however, back home they would be frown upon for their looks. Being raised in Canada, I may not fully understand the rational behind this but I do strongly feel that this is wrong--beauty is from the inside (in this case, their abilities.)

Mirror reflection

2005-05-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

Ontario is the #1 polluter in terms of lead emissions in North America. Many believe that Canada's environment is pristine with strong laws that protect it. This is hardly true. Canada's environmental policies are very lacking and is way behind the US. More often than not, Canadians blame our Southern neighbour for the pollution that washes up into our environment. We hardly look at ourselves for the root of the problem. This is just human nature--blame someone else for the problem first.

On another note, I had to take my dad to the hospital today because they found a tear in his retina. After many hours of waiting, he finally got his eye lasered to seal the tear. Hopefully, he will recover fully. Getting old is not fun.
The staff at the hospitals work like a dog. The eye specialist was running between two exam rooms and never stopped moving. It is obvious that they are overworked. I am very grateful for the work they do especially in such conditions. Canada's health program needs to be revamped somehow...

The 2-4 weekend.

2005-05-24T22:44:00.000-04:00

Headed off to the archery range on Saturday with Yumiko and Manami. I'm surprised that we didn't lose any more arrows--we lost one arrow. I haven't touched my bow in over five years and boy was I rusty. I definitely have to go more often.

Sunday, went over to Ben's place to throw a surpise birthday party for his girlfriend. She was really surprised and very grateful. Good one, Ben...gotta learn from you:P

We went to Rattlesnake point on Monday to do some hiking. It turned out better than I thought. It's a shame Yukiyo could not make it but Alice brought a replacement, Tanya. She's quite the talkative girl--I don't think she breaths when she talks. It was a cool day but it did not rain--it always rain on Victoria's Day. Someone in the group--Alice, Akitoshi, Noriko, Tanya, Yumiko, Yuta--brought good weather with them (definitely not Yumiko because rain clouds follows her.) The trillians were in full bloom and the vultures were circling for any unfortunate hikers that may fall off the cliffs. We also saw a lone wolf in the bushes, but it saw Alice and ran off--I never saw a wild wolf before. Unfortunately, we did not find any snakes; good thing too because Tanya was hungry for snake stew.

We came back to my house for a bbq. Yusuke and Yuko join us. This also marked the first time I marinated chicken wings--yes, a big achievement:P It was a little too salty but it tasted pretty good (Aki claims it was not salty enough.) It finally rained but for only around five minutes.
After eating, we walked down to Ashbridge's Bay for the fireworks. My first time at taking pictures of fireworks--hopefully it will turn out good. Everyone was delighted with the display but they complained it was too short.
I now have another name for Noriko, "Nori-P-chan" (Seaweed bird)

Chicago and New Order

2005-05-18T22:50:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago Mike and I drove the 9 hours to Chicago to attend the New Order concert as they were not going to have a venue in T.O. The concert was awesome. They played much better than I thought they could. They played three tracks from their newest album, 'Waiting for the Sirens' Call' and many songs from their last album, 'Get Ready.' However, I was most interested in their older repertoire, including some Joy Division tracks. They did not disappoint me. The one song I wish they played was 'Ceremony' but nonetheless, the songs they choose was most pleasing for me. The following is the set list:

Love Vigilantes
Crystal
Regret
Hey Now What You Doing
Krafty
Transmission
True Faith
Run Wild
Jetstream
Waiting for the Sirens' Call
Bizarre Love Triangle
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Temptation

Encore: Atmosphere
Your Silent Face
Blue Monday

However, it was not all fine and dandy in Chicago, being the bane of all cities that Mike and I ever visited. The following highlights the issues we faced.

no USD on me...oops. alrite, Mike has USD.
Decided to head over to the Sears tower before it gets blown up. Tried to park on the street but we had no change. Tried to used credit card but the machine rejected three of our cards. Decided to put in 25cents and hope we don't get a ticket. However, we had to get back by 4pm or the car gets towed.
Went to pay for the Sears tower but the attendant asked for ID when I tried to pay with my VISA card. No problem, I'll just show her my driver's license. Where's my driver's license?!!! Ah shit!! I just realized right there I have been driving without a drivers license for a few weeks!! This is BAD.
Got our tickets and went up the tower. Stayed up in the Sears tower for 10mins taking pictures because we had to get back to the car before 4pm or it gets towed. Lucky for us no parking ticket.
Decided to drive to the theatre and just find a bar to stay for the reminder of the day hoping not to run into more troubles.
$20 parking...argh. Parked the car anyways because we figure a parking lot would be safe. Parked the car and as soon as we were about to jump out, a homeless lady decided to take her pants down, leaned her checks against the passenger car door and took a piss. FUCK! All this while we were in the car! WTF?!!!
Walked around looking for a clean-looking bar because most bars looks dingy and dirty. Found one. We step in to find ourselves in a gay bar. haha. Nevertheless, we stayed for drinks and food. The menu consisted of the "Double-fisted hamburger" and the "Doggie-style beer."
After the concert, we decided to leave Chicago as quickly as possible to avoid more problems. Almost rear ended a truck going at 120 Km/hr because I fell asleep behind the wheel. Mike: "What the FUCK!!" I woke up to see many bright red lights. oops..I misjudged.
Got back to T.O. Got my temp license. Went to a car wash. Sunoco (gas station) rejected my Visa...huh? ah shit, they probably disabled my VISA card for some reason!! The fun never ends.
All this in less than 36 hours...wow. Most people will experience this kind of stuff in a year or possibly even a lifetime, but we are special:D
Last Friday, I tried using the same credit card to pay for Sam's birthday present. "Call for authorization." hmm...it was disabled afterall...hahaha. The lady asked for my bday, address and name...and asked if I was using the card at gas stations on May 2nd in the US. 'Yes, I was." All cleared now! I can use the card again.

The last time we went (1995) we almost got killed three times over. Ten years later, this! ugh....I am never going back to Chicago again.

Rain...

2005-05-16T10:58:00.000-04:00

Toronto weather seems to be very bitchy nowadays. Rain on the weekends and sun on the weekdays is a piss off. I propose that we switch our weekends around...have it during the weekdays so the "weekends" will be sunny. Mother Nature will probably catch on though so maybe random "weekends" may be in order.

Mondays sucks. Got in trouble again at work for something I did correctly. Seems like a broken record sometimes in my company. Oh well, that's just life in the stupid corporate fish-eat-fish world. This place is notorious for stupidity.

Rode my bike to vent off my frustrations at work. Dropped by to watch my friend practice lacrosse. She looked lost in the field; however, she is a good player.

Met a good friend of mine for tea that night to catch up on shit. She told me about things that happened to her in one of her relationships...something horrible which I'm not privy to say. How can a guy do that to her? I wish I could help in some way...any thing to console her. Good thing is that it is over and she is okay but I can see the scars may remain with her for a long time.

Still trying to embed the stupid guestbook into my gallery. Got closer this time but still doesn't work. Argh...I'm about to break out the warhammer.

A blog

2005-05-14T23:34:00.000-04:00

My first attempt at a blog...let see how it goes.

Today I saw Sam, a Korean exchange student, off at the airport. Met the dude over a year ago and became very good friends. Gonna miss the guy--those drinking and smoking nights was unforgettable...or sometimes forgettable. However, I hope to meet up with him in Seoul or HK next year.

We decided to try our luck at getting last minute tickets to the Rock's final game. Lady Luck was unfortunately not with us, so instead we went to a bar to watch the game. Everybody was disappointed, especially Yukiyo. Anyway, the Rock won and a relatively small celebration ensued outside.

Went home for dinner. Dad cooked up some live shrimps. So juicy and tasty. Played with my niece a bit and then past out. Mike called and said something about heading down for Timmy Ho's. I do not recall that conversation.

Finished uploading the pictures from our hiking trip and Sam's farewell/birthday party. Now to upload the much delayed pictures of my scans.