finding crab

half moon bay

entire bay is protected by jetty

fishing boat selling live crab in harbor

bought a live crab

waves break at reef

this is end of the bay

Monarch butterfly came to Santa Cruz

Went to Santa Cruz to visit seasonal Monarch Butterfly come back from the north. Good weather today, 85F at the beach, clear sky, blue water.. (Click to see pictures big and nice, shot by the good camera)

The BIG bird everywhere...

Good day for water tour..

5days in Hong Kong & Macau

Hong Kong - Pearl of the East

****
The city is bigger than one can imagine, it's virtually a three dimensional city,
lots of up/down walking, even with the help of escalators, there is still plenty of walking.
****

Kowloon side :
Viewing Hong Kong harbor from Avenue of stars in Kowloon
skyscrapers is on Hong Kong island
.


Ferries travel between islands, lower deck cost about $0.25
the upper deck costs more


Humidity is very high, only sea breeze can keep one cool


We wait for the daily light show at 8pm
the grand display no other city can match with



Typical street scene, tall buildings one after other
signs fills the sky, shops fills the side




"woman's street", the only street allows vendor booth,
we arrived too early, no shop open yet


chain jewelry shop can been seen everywhere
mainland people swarm in here buying gold like going starbucks


a few surviving cheap eatery place



Hong Kong side:
the tallest building in HK


most buildings are 40+ stories


convenient walkways connecting high rises in financial district
really feels like living in a futuristic city



all major name brand shops are here
most lower level of big building has a department store like this one
truly shoppers paradise



tram connecting to the peak tower
the highest point in HK island
escalator is also available to mid point, then transfer to tram
doube deck bus goes through residential area and taking lot longer


Peak tower is yet another giant mall



Grand view at the tower viewing deck, it costs $3 to get up here


Kowloon is across the harbor
.

The famous floating restaurant is on quiet side of HK island


since taxi is hard to find in this area, so we did not stay too long



Lan Kwai Fong is the place for bar and night life,
we happens to be here on hollowing night


streets are entirely filled, we decide to follow rest of crowd and leave



LANTAU (DA-YU) Mountain in New Territory

1hr subway + 1/2 hr bus away, sits the largest Budda , its temple and a brand new toursit village


last stretch to Budda is this 200+ stairs,
the entrance ticket also get you a nice free meal at the temple restaurant


Coming down is easy, godola drops 1500ft in 30min
the HK airport can be seen below


Airport bus A21 goes through this super long suspension bridge



MACAU
******
Unlike British to HK , Portugese actually pays rent to lease the land for 400yrs to facilitate shipping industrial. New Macau consists of three islands that are connected by highway and bridges,
******

brand new vegas style casinos are the main attractions, which erected on land fill zone in the middle island


Macau's king of gambling built his casino years ago


then he built this new casino to compete with newer western style ones


old city is located on the first island, not much is changed here


"BIG 38", the remaining of the grand st pablo church, only the front wall survives a fire


center of old town




then , camera ran out of battery...

Trip to Southern Taiwan

Taipei is great for fancy food, and meeting relatives



Revisiting Dan-Shei on a overcast morning


Then we head South to Kaoshone


we remember to check out the famous railroad lunch box



Kaoshone famous love river, it is clean and enjoyable now



giant octopus legs, also shown in TV


celebrity endorsed papaya milk shake stand


brand new Kaoshone subway, grand Mei-Li-Dou station



Love pier, from here to LiouCiou islet, background is the tallest building in Kaoshone, 85fl , we stay on 23th


we try to stay away from big city, so LiouCiou we went,
ferry is cheap and takes only about 1.5hr, summer is peak season and could be very crowded though


islet's harbor is the main gateway, airport is small and schedule not dependable


Typical seafood restaurant, simple but sufficient


scooter is the best transportation, cost 300NT, full tank gas enough to circle the islet many times


fish farm scattered around this coral reef


landmark at islandlet LiouCiou



Replica of Traditional Chinese House
best deal in Kenting (1800NT/day)


court yard


pathway


front door


Ta-Jan peak behind our hotel


decorative B&B in Kenting


freshest sashimi at Nan-Wan, a fishing village near Kenting


at South tip of Taiwan



Kenting night life is colorful


The largest aquarium I can remember



it's nice to revisit Kenting botanic park, our last visit was 30yrs ago


the famous uprise root tree



Hotel Chateau, movie "Cape No 7" took place here,
so we decided to stay here and explore


nice beach, we get to use the catamaran


some balcony room has great views


I swam in ocean


Cape #7 scene area at the hotel lobby


beautiful sunset


another Cape #7 scene


Really, I can swim !




Visiting Taitong (East Taiwan) -

Inside FongLiao train station, used to be the end of raiload


Arrived at national recreational area, still hot and humid


this is the only native we found


exist of the park


TongTai hot spring hotel


bigger spring


smaller spring , but hotter




Visiting the LiouCiou, the Green Island -
political prisoners were kept here before 197x, few came out alive.


newly erected memorial remembering that period of history, prisoners names are inscribed on the wall


looking from inside, showing the only door to outside world


part of memorial


unspoiled coast


Entrance to the ocean hot spring, 1 of 3 in the world,
built in the Japanese occupation period


hot spring pool


Hoover lighthouse, donated by US after local fishermen saved a ship