not a mile high, not a mile low ©: 01/01/2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Earliest New Year 2013

This year, I experienced being one of the earliest person to celebrate the arrival of new year 2013 in a major city. With GMT of +13, I clocked in the first day at least 24 hours earlier than the last island and people to welcome the new year somewhere in the Pacific islands. New year celebration in Auckland is not as grand as the ones in Sydney and other big cities. In fact almost every year, they only have very low key fireworks display from the Auckland Tower.

Fireworks

Timelapse: Welcoming the first light of 2013, Auckland

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (4)

It is always great to have relatives in the country you visit because they can bring you to beautiful places less well known to tourists. This time in Hong Kong, my cousin brought me to Hong Kong outskirt places like Sai Kung, Shek-O and Stanley Bay. Sai Kung is actually a very interesting place where you can find "水上人" (water people) that live on their boats and trade their daily catch of seafood. There are many seafood restaurants here with huge varieties of seafood to choose from. Or you can simply buy live seafood from the "水上人" and bring it home to cook. Shek-O like its name is a rocky bay area at a secluded place south of Hong Kong island. Here you can find interesting rock features with many bungalows built on the cliffs overlooking the vast ocean. I'm sure this is one of the hot place for wedding photography for the locals because I think it provides a fantastic backdrop. While I was here, there was a couple taking their wedding shots here. Stanley Bay is just another small residential area but with many pubs lining the coast line. People flock here during the weekends to look for drinking hole and also food.

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Related link: Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (3)
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (2)
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (1)

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Mini Travel Log: Macau, China

I am one of those typical naive tourist whom are easily charmed by the beauty of Macau on advertisements shown on TV and billboards. Since young I have always been fascinated by that wall of St. Paul Church ruins. Now that I have seen it in person, it is really just a piece of wall of a typical church. Macau is such a small place, some call it country. The only glitters are the night lights of Macau casinos. Amid these glittering sin towers all over the city, the rest are just run down and cramped apartment houses. This place is heaven for gamblers, a hell hole if you lose all your fortunes in the casinos. Tourist attraction places are limited to a few spots. Unless you plan to blow away your fortunes in the casinos, you can just spend half a day here and you would have seen all of Macau. Many tourists are doing the same half day tour that I have suggested from Hong Kong and Zhuhai.

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Monday, January 07, 2013

Mini Travel Log: San Francisco, USA (6)

I spent my Christmas in San Francisco again. But this time with my lovely wife. We rented a car for Christmas shopping and also to explore hidden places in the city. After watching Ken Block's Gymkhana 5 on YouTube, I have always wanted to go up to that hill for the spectacular night view. This year, my Christmas wish came true.