Pearl of the Orient, & Macau

Never thought i'd go for a shopping trip, but i did anyway. Fortunately, even though i've always preferred places of nature over a sprawling metropolis, Hong Kong is truly an impressive city, and just the views alone contribute much to make it a worthwhile trip. The landscape planning of Hong Kong island is really excellent, and the night scenery nothing short of spectacular. Our day trip to Macau was no less fruitful as well. With all the new glitzy and glamorous buildings built to support the casino industry, i'm beginning to see why it has overtaken Las Vegas as the city which generates the most casino revenue.

Hong Kong, the pearl of the Orient

The Harbour seen from Victoria Peak

Bright neon signboards hang above the busy streets

Little Portugal in China- The Largo de Senado

Admiring a 'picture' of the ruins of St Paul

The upcoming Babylon casino

Macau Fisherman's Wharf & the immense Macau-Taipa Bridge

Underwater Paradise

Pulau Sipadan- a place that is on every diver's 'must go' list. While october is not the best time to go in terms of visibilty, i was not the least bit disappointed by the spectacular underwater vistas off the tiny limestone island. The vibrant colours of the amazingly rich marine life surpassed almost all of the images that i've conjured of a true underwater kingdom. Swarming whirlwinds of jacks and baracuddas, schools of huge bumphead parrtofish, frequent sightings of sharks and turtles, a myriad of colourful corals and gigantic seafans, i could go on forever. Moreover, it was turtle mating season! Green turtles at every corner, some swimming around looking for a willing partner, some courting, some catching a little rest before their next 'vigorous' session- I even saw a pair actually doing it! Forget the fast and the furious, young things! The adage 'slow and steady wins the race' sums it up here. In fact, i hear it takes up to 24hrs on average. Oh how i envy them...

The Legendary Pulau Sipadan

Can't stop the chorus of 'Under the Sea' playing in my head

World of vibrant colours

one of the barras gasping in astonishment as it saw me

School of angelfish swimmin' by

Whirlwind of Jacks - Cool!

Green turtle in 'mid-flight'- how graceful...

Courting turtles, so cute- how can anyone like turtle soup!?

Sharks' fins- difficult choice...argh, stop messin' my head!

By the way, i found Nemo *smile*

Old World Splendor

After surviving a stampede in Budapest, an overnight train ride across the Czech border and even snow in the Tatras while wearing a T-shirt and single pullover, Behold!- Eugene I, Prince of Geylang, Heir to the House of Leaw, is finally back to post pics on our 18 day Eastern/Central Europe trip! Travelling from Hungary to Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland before our final destination in Lithuania, this wonderful trip really gave us a good glimpse of the opulance and grandeur of an age where aristocrats and religious leaders ruled empires and held total dominance over all society. With the exception of a few nature stops along the Danube river, the Vtalva and the Polish Tatras, and a good lesson on the evils of humanity at Auschwitz, i think we've easily made a couple of years' worth of visiting splendid castles, palaces, cathedrals and abbeys. There was just so much history coursing through my veins that i could'nt help but hear some classical pieces (Bach?) in my head each time i walk through all the old town streets. Think i need a break from Europe... seen too many churches and too many white people... wanna go see something different like the Pyramids in Giza, or Istanbul, or Angkor Wat, or flower fields in Furano, or a hundred other different places...

Fisherman's Bastion at Buda, Budapest

Hungarian Parliament at Pest, 2nd largest in Europe after London

Close-up shot of the Hungarian Parliament

The immense Hofburg by night, Vienna

Stift Melk, Grandest interior of any religious building i've seen

Baroque Theatre in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

I've got to step in to give a brief explanation at this point, coz this theatre really got me awestruck. Dating from as far back as the 2nd half of the 17th, this is the most well-preserved baroque theatre in the world, with original costumes, props and equipment still intact. Yet, the most amazing thing is the special effects that this theatre is able to deliver given the technology that was available. For one, optical illusion on the stage setup was used to make its depth look very much more than it really is, and to make it even more convincing, kid performers wearing miniature versions of actual costumes act in the background while the real adult performers stay in the foreground. Check out this site for more special effects used in the theatre:- Cesky Krumlov & its unique theatre

Cesky Krumlov with the Vtalva running through- Truly a fairytale town

Romantic Charle's Bridge by night, enchanting no matter how many times u see it

Cloth hall at Rynek Glowny, Krakow

One of the 5 Tarns in the Polish Tatras along the Dolina Piecu Stawow trail

Stalin's Communist Icon- Palace of Culture & Science, Warsaw

Beautiful Lakehouse near Kaunas, Lithuania

The eerie hill of crosses at Siauliai

Journey to the land down under

Finally, after more than 10 years of knowing each other, the 4 of us buds go for an overseas trip together for the very first time. Australia - the land down under! With 2 free stopovers, some 'local' knowledge from Daryl and 15 full days, we set out to explore 3 very distinct parts of this beautiful island continent.

1) Winter in the red centre- dry yet very very cold. With cloud cover and sparesly-vegetated land stretching as far as the eye can see, this is the place to feel the vastness of Australia. While everyone's here to see Ayer's Rock(Uluru), i personally liked Kata Tjuta(Olgas) better, which should make sense, since the aborogines deem it so sacred that they won't even share the creation stories associated with it like they did with the rock.

Typical outback scenery

Just gotta have this pic

"The Apocalypse is near!"

My favourite rocks

View during the 'Valley of the winds' walk

2) Where the reef meets the rainforest- Strictly speaking, that's just at Cape Tribulation, but there really are lots of sandy beaches and rainforest in this part of Queensland,(Cairns & Port Douglas) not to mention that the Great Barrier Reef is always within reach. My day dive at the reef was cut short by a passenger on our boat suffering from a minor heart attack, so i'll be back again someday, the next time for a real 3day diving expedition at the outer reefs...

"Where the reef meets the rainforest, and ME!"

Sunset over the harbour city of Cairns

Two fascinating underwater lifeforms sighted

Parts of the Great Barrier Reef as seen from a plane

3)Victoria Victoria!- Now i think i understand why Melbourne has been touted as the most livable city in the world. Minus the many ugly tram cables, it's really a beautiful, green and modern city, yet with lots of fascinating heritage buildings and superb restaurants. Better still, nature is never too far away, with sights like the Dandenong ranges, Great Ocean road and Yarra valley vinyards just a couple of hours drive away, and ski-friendly alpine mountains an additonal couple more. No wonder Daryl does'nt want to go home.

Dusk at the Alpine mountains- Most colourful i've ever seen

TarraWarra vinyards, regrettably without the grapes

One of the many beautiful Heritage buildings in Melbourne

Melbourne city skyline

Greece part II: Ancient Ruins

If there's only one thing that Greece is known for, it's ancient history. No journey to this ancient civilaization can be complete without a visit to the Acropolis or one of the many ancient ruins scattered across the country, and so, here we have it- pictures of rocks, rocks, and more rocks. We spent days after days under the scorching sun exploring many of the 'must-see' archeological sites. There were just too many, so again, i've only selected a few here.

Big daddy of all Ruins - The Parthenon at the Acropolis

The pic does'nt even deliver 1/100 of the awe of seeing the Acropolis under a full moon

Centre of the world - Ancient Delphi

One of the Naxian lions guarding over the sacred island of Delos

Sunset at the Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion

Minoan vases at the palace ruins of Knossos, Crete

Greece part I: Cyclades

Kalimera! Finally back from Greece - it's such a beautiful place we took more than 2000 pictures. Even after a long long time selecting the pics, i still have to do this in segments, so now here's the first part: the Cyclades. Trust me, some of the islands like Santorini and Mykonos are so gorgeous that anyone who even knows how to operate a camera can take picture perfect shots. The architecture of the buildings and the layout of these island villages just have to be seen to be believed. I'm pretty confident about our photography skills, but seriously, check out the pics below, we've got tons more where these came from.

One of the many blue-domed churchs at Santorini

Disused windmill at Santorini

Hotel Katikies- Prettiest and also the most expensive in Oia or even the whole of Santorini

Shops along the winding labyrinth-like streets of Mykonos

One of the views of Paraportiani Church in Mykonos

Residential area in Paros