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

童话世界九寨沟

Always wondered why young Singaporeans have an aversion to going to China for holidays, dismissing it as a retiree's destination. I think it's got really gorgeous natural scenery at very affordable prices. Check out Jiuzhaigou and it's amazing scenery- it's got pristine forests, stunning lakes, beautiful waterfalls and majestic snow-capped mountains, all in one place. These pics were taken in mid spring; i'm already quite amazed by what i've seen and yet the locals say it's a lot more pretty in autumn where you really can get to see lots of vibrant colours...hmm, i can only wonder. Oh well, in any case, doubt i'll come here again, as all the locals i've spoken to say there's a place that's a hundred times prettier than Jiuzhaigou. They call it Yading- the 'last Shangri-la', and it's situated in the tibetan region of china. That's where i'll be going in future, just gotta beat the altitude sickness...

Primeval Forests abound

Lots and lots of pretty lakes

Crystal Clear Waters

Maybe it's the Tiger lake

Another lake

卧龙海 Sleeping Dragon Lake

Panda Lake? Long Lake? Too many, i can't remember

Maybe it's the mirror lake?

树正群海 Shuzhen lake group

New Useful Links Section & 'Singapore Chic'

I've got a new useful links section! 5 new links.

Couch Surfing project, Hospitality Club & Global Freeloaders.com let u stay for free at a member's place when you travel around the world- Cool! Of the 3, my favourite is the Couch Surfing project coz of its snazzy interface and security measures, but the Hospitality club has more members. I just hosted a great Lithuanian couple, Arvydas and Jolita(check out the picks in my new 'Singapore Chic' Blog) through the Couch Surfing project, and am currently hooking up with couchsurfers in Greece for my trip in June. Try it- it's fun and it's a great form of cross-cultural exchange.

Igougo's a website offering independent traveller reviews. I wrote a couple as well. Check them out under 'ExtremeWanderlust'. Also, don't forget to check out my new blog on Singapore.

白い世界 - East Hokkaido in Winter

Finally, after a long while, pics of my own. Staying in Akanko for 3 weeks really gave me lots of time to explore the many nice places in Eastern Hokkaido and to find just the right time to take photos of them, well, at least most of them. どぞ...見て下さい. I'm quite proud of them, and it's going to be at least 2 months before i can take pretty photos like these again.

阿寒湖 - Pier on Lake Akan

霧の摩周湖 - Mysterious Lake Mashu

屈斜路湖 - Migrating swans on Lake Kussharo

雄阿寒岳 - Mt Oakan

冬の弟子屈 - Teshikaga

タンチョウ（丹頂鶴) - Japanese cranes

釧路湿原 - Kushiro Marshlands

森 - Forest along Akan Lakeside

Note: Eugene in Akan-ko, No pics for February

Sorry guys... no pics for march. Can't upload my pictures here, i'll put them all in when i'm back in March- just imagine a totally white (and oh so cold) world...

Enchanting 白川郷

Ying made a trip to Shirakawa-go. As expected of her, she took tons of nice photos(check out her clip)... it's making me really really excited about flying off to Hokkaido. 3 more weeks to go- can't wait. Also, i think i'd better start taking more photos to put on my blog soon; it looks like more than half of all the photos in my blog are taken by everyone else other than me... gee...

Winter Wonderland

Gassho-style thatched-roof houses

The 3 famous cottages

Looking back at 2005

Dragostea Din Tei

Let me digress from my theme a bit - My colleagues were crazy over this today and i just can't resist posting this in my blog, so here we go, altogether now! (In case you're asking, it's a Romanian Song)

MA-IA-HI

MA-IA-HU
MA-IA-HO
MA-IA-HAHA

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Christmas Light-up

It's Christmas season again! Carols, presents, Christmas shoppin', pretty lights - it's the season to be jolly! Sadly, this year's Christmas light-up at Orchard Road does'nt seem to be all that pretty. Sporting a classic red and green theme, it's really quite lacklustre when compared to the gold or the blue and silver themes in the past years. Moreover, having giant M&Ms wearing santa's clothes just does'nt do it for me at all.

Sigh... it's making me reminisce about the wonderful Luminiari light-up at Kobe that i saw last year. Prettiest Christmas light-up i've ever seen, i think photos can never do justice to it. There's just a certain sense of awe and... and... and magic that overcomes you when you walk under the entire stretch of the brightly-lit street, only to find yourself ending up in an enclave where you're surrounded on all sides with more of the intricately designed lightings. It really is an experience that makes my entire trip to Japan last Christmas worthwhile.

Wonder what it looks like this year- must be just as pretty, if not prettier, i'd reckon.

Luminiari at Kobe - Prettiest light-up i've seen yet

It's a long, long road

loss of words to describe its magnitude - immense?