五彩云南

What an eventful trip! If not for the flight delay which led us to the hellish one night stay at the run-down shack in Kunming that China Eastern put us through, it would have been an impeccable anniversary trip. Banyan Tree Lijiang: Perfect! From its gorgeous surroundings to excellent staff, our Garden Villa (free upgrade) stay was truly divine. Lijiang is truly beautiful, with the Jade Dragon Snow mountain set as its backdrop, and there are loads of side trips that can be made from there: trekking at Tiger Leaping Gorge, Tibetan Culture at Shangrila etc. etc. For Mandarin speakers, this is a wonderful trip that can easily be made and at a pretty low cost. Our rough itinerary as follow:

Day 1: Dayan Ancient Town
Day 2: (Shangrila 2D1N trip) Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangrila
Day 3: (Shangrila 2D1N trip) Pudacuo National Park, Yangtze first bend
Day 4: Jade Dragon mountain - Yunshanping, Baishuihe/Blue Moon Valley
Day 5: Shuhe Ancient Town, Black Dragon Pool
Day 6: Kunming stone forest

丽江大研古镇

美丽的玉龙雪山

黑龙潭公园

大研古镇夜景

虎跳峡

小中甸牧场

香格里拉

藏族小村落

蓝月谷

白水河

玉龙雪山

云杉坪

张艺谋 印象丽江

丽江悦榕庄

束河古镇

昆明石林

Fàilte Scotland (+Cambridge)

This has got to be my longest period of absence on the travel blog - a good 7 months since my last update. God did I work hard during the last six months, had to reward myself with a week in Scotland, (and a beautiful day out to Cambridge) and what a week that was! Our drive in the Highlands was the most spectacular I've ever had- cruising aside heather-clad hills and moorlands, (Aug/Sep only) dramatic cliffs and seascapes, (Isle of Skye especially) picturesque mountains and lakes - this amount of natural beauty should be able to last me till next year. I could go on forever, but I think I'd better let the pictures do the talking...

Rough Itinerary:
* Edinburgh - Borderland Abbeys (Melrose, Dryburgh) - Ayr (Turnberry)
* Culzean Castle - Loch Lomond - Glencoe - Loch Leven - Fort William
* Road to the Isles - ferry to Isle of Skye - Old man of Storr hike

* Dunvegan - Talisker distillery - 3 Chimneys - Fairy Glen - Quirang hike
* Elgol - Loch Coruisk, Black Cuillins - Loch Ness - Glen Affric Dog Falls
* Loch Affric Hike - Glen Morangie distillery - Fairy Glen Hike - Aviemore
* Cairngorms railway - Stirling - Edinburgh
* Cambridge

View of the Three Sisters at melancholic Glencoe

Mid-sized Waterfall at Glen Coe Pass

Perfect setting at the head of Loch Shiel - Glenfinnan Monument

Panoramic views of the seas and Storr Sanctuary

Quirky-looking landscape on the Fairy Glen, Skye

Heather-clad slopes on the Quirang

Remote Loch Coruisk set in the heart of the black Cuillins

Glen Affric - The most beautiful Glen in Scotland

Beautiful twin falls at the Fairy Glen in Rosemarkie

Amazing interior of King's College Chapel, Cambridge

Mathematical Bridge as seen from 'the Backs'

Punts on the River Cam on a bright sunny afternoon

King's College Gatehouse, built in neo-Gothic style

あばよ Business Travel (Part 3)

Last entry on my business trip excursions... not so much to show for 3 years right? Well - what do you expect? - these are working assignments. Company policy doesn't allow for much free time or trip extentions over the weekend (not that it's any good if Veria can't join me) so the only time I have to look around a bit is when customers cancel appointments at the last minute, which, fortunately/unfortunately does happen from time to time. That's all of now, goodbye business travel, hope to meet your acquaintance some time again in the future...

Sydney Tower overlooking some heritage buildings

Well, it is the most famous landmark in Australia...

One ot the many splendid old Cathedrals in Melbourne City

Dinner cruise along Dubai Creek

Admiring the splendid night scenery

あばよ Business Travel (Part 2)

Incredible India! The one country that I visited the most throughout my 3 years. (Darn one page Indian visas took up so many pages of my passport) Hot Curries, unbelievable(-y bad) traffic, opulent hotels beside sprawling slums, overloaded trains, beggers vs super-rich people etc. etc. - Achar! I have a pretty good idea of what it's all about now. Can't say whether I love it or hate it though, I can only say it like the tourism propaganda does - It's Incredible! Be prepared for a sensory overload should you go there. For now, I can only offer some pretty tame photos...

Gateway to India - Mumbai

Corner of Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel (before the bomb blast)

It's not the Taj Mahal, it's Humayan's Tomb - New Delhi

Beautiful isn't it - no crowd at all, they're all at the Taj Mahal

Sunset at the Marriot Beach Resort - Goa

Church & Convent of St Francis of Assissi - Goa

Ruins of Golconda Fort - Hyderabad

Front entrance to the fort

Another view of the sprawling ruins

あばよ Business Travel (Part 1)

After 3 years of business travel, it has finally come to an end. It was nice while it lasted, but well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and this man's gotta work for money now. It might be quite a while before I travel for business on a regular basis again - Goodbye to 5 star business hotels and fine dining, Goodbye to hotel loyalty or frequent flyer mileage points. Hmmm ... Leisure trips that I make in future with Veria are going to take a dip in the luxe factor from now on. Anyway, putting that aside, this posting is a celebration of all the glorious times that I spent as a road warrior in the past three years - Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, UAE, Australia, and of course, most importantly - Incredible India. Pardon me for the quality of some of the pics though, they're mostly taken with my lousy Nokia camera phone. Here's Part 1, a tribute to Japan, where my ex-company headquarters is located.

Hanami - Cherry Blossom Viewing, an all-time Jap favourite activity

Sakura - Truly one of the highlights of going to HQ in Spring

Pretty Clouds of Pink - everyone should see them at least once

Japanese Summer festival

Pachinko! - Possibly Japan's favourite vice (or is it porn?)

Cute-sy tap at Ghibli Museum

东北三省 - 寒冷的世界

Only two words can be used to describe our Christmas/New year trip - Unbearably cold! Yes we wanted to have a white christmas, but this was really more than what we bargained for. -31 degC at its coldest, nothing could prepare us for this. Our bodies were wrapped up like giant bar changs, (rice dumplings) but our feet and hands just couldn't be insulated well enough. Imagine that water vapor could condense on our eyelashes and then freeze into tiny clumps of ice. This was truly the coldest I ever felt though theoretically I experienced similar temperatures at Hokkaido in the winter of 06. They say its because of the Siberian wind that blows from Russia. Also locals say this was the coldest winter they had for a long time, possibly due to climate change. Anyway, here are some of the photos, least I have ever taken on any trip coz my gloves were too thick to control the camera properly and my bare hand couldn't stand more than a couple of seconds out in the cold. Enjoy them, coz I probably will never go some place this cold ever again.

张学良将军's mansion

One of the buildings at 沈阳故宫


Probably China's most Majestic Beast - the Siberian Tiger


One of many Immense Ice sculptures at Sun Island


Same one with a different view

The one reason we put ourselves to the torture - 哈尔滨冰雪大世界

Got to see it to believe it (well we've done it so that's it, enuf)

My favorite piece, The Himeji Castle ice structure