5 years ago today, June 2

June 2, 2004 saw:

the trip home. I found a bunch of folks doing Taiji in the airport though, that was pretty cool.

In the holding area, halfway home.

Vancouver mountains

5 years ago today, June 1

June 1, 2004 saw:

a trip to the aviary in hong kong!

Click on any pics to enlarge them...you'll be able to see them better. I didn't put most of them up, they're all awesome birds, but I know I'v ebeen posting too many pics and not everyone is a fan of our feathered friends. Anyway:

This sign explains why there were so many weddings in the park...

playground? garden plaza? taiji court? sports centre? Marriage registry!

More turtles and fish.

Love the sunbathing flippers on this turtle.

Sadly, I no longer remember what this is. (other than it was significant somehow. maybe it made noise?)

I like that this sign asks you to sanitize your soles.

The 'c' denoting which bunk was mine...was backwards. oops.

We went to this bar in 'soho' in hong kong. turned out to have an 80's theme to the soundtrack.

Hassan, Nic, Carlos, (alan hidden) and Che at the bar, singing along.

Carmen and I round out the group. At some point someone stole Hassan's hat and put it on me, at which point everyone agreed that I needed to wear one all the time. Clearly, this advice did not stick.

This may have been the night that Rose went to macau to visit some relatives. She had a really hard time making it back to the hostel in time, having forgotten that macau is technically a different country. Che had a similar issue, he hadn't been planning on joining us in hong kong since he had an internship lined up in Beijing, and as we left for the states he was working on trying to get a new visa, since he had a single entry and didn't realize that coming to Hong Kong counted as leaving China. Oops. Guess that's part of why they have consulates, no?

And with that, I'll leave you with this clip of Che enjoying the music there in "shoho":

5 years ago today, may 31

May 31, 2004 saw:

another beautiful, hot sunny day in Hong Kong...and another shot of the HSBC building.

This city literally shines on when the sun comes out.

buildings match the tropical blue green water!

Contemplative Alan on the ferry.

a great shot of the speed ferries...they literally rise up on those rutter things and out of the water. amazing for speed, probably terrible for the marine life.

the islands on a beautiful day.

The woman on the left was our hostel mate, who's name and details I was proud to have recorded in the long-lost labels...Her name started with an m...possibly Marnie? she was awesome...I ended up hanging out with her a lot during our time in hong kong. I can't remember where she was from...Australia? Austria? Those sound phonetically right and I remember her having a strong accent but not what kind of accent...ah how memory fades so quickly sometimes. She was a cool cat, though. This was taken just before Phil departed for the airport, and the rest of us headed to see the Giant Buddha.

Just in case you needed a reminder that Hong Kong is a tropical place.

I love this picture. I can totally understand how they came to the aesthetic style they did in the region based on this hill. Can't you just see a scroll based on this beautiful mountain? the lines, curves, angles, loose rocks and forest? Awesome.

At the Temple

This is the Largest Outdoor Seated Buddha in the world. (And yes, evidently that is an important distinction...there is possibly a larger outdoor Buddha that is not seated, and a a larger seated Buddha somewhere indoors. )

My hand, covered in incense after lighting some with Alan.

Giant incense to go with the giant Buddha.

The temple

I loved the gold animals that adorned the roof of the temple.

Alan, a practicing Buddhist, very kindly showed us the proper way to move through the rituals at the temple.

Taken from about midway up the stairs, looking back the way we'd come

taken from the Buddha's platform

Me, looking out over the islands on the Buddha's platform.

an airplane taking off, below us.

me, in front of the giant Buddha.

Alan, imitating Buddha.

Giant Buddha from a distance.

Another shot of the giant Buddha from a distance.

That night, we returned to Victoria peak, since Alan hadn't been there previously, and I didn't object because it gave us an opportunity to see the nighttime skyline. Some buildings changed colors.

They were filming something up there, I don't remember what, but everyone was all a buzz about it. (I was going to say all a twitter, but this was before twitter and that could have just been confusing.)

Alan tried to make it seem like he was part of the filming. It partially worked.

And then he insisted on posing with princess Di in the wax museum doorway. I found it creepy.
The tram landing at the peak

Markings on the street, which I would later realize were a direct result of former british rule.

I liked this moth.