Bali

We also recently went to Bali . . . beautiful beaches, yummy food, great service - our brains were mush by the end . . .

Dreamland Beach



Elephant Cave - for the worshiping of Ganesha of course!



Waterfall from our white water rafting trip



Terraced Rice Paddies - and they build them all by hand!





Views from the Temple at Uluwatu





The Most Active Volcano on Bali

Paralympic Mascot

Not as creative as the Fuwa for the olympics . . . and only one mascot for the disabled . . .

More New Zealand

Below are other pics from out trip . . . really a once in a lifetime experience!

Arial view of Queenstown



View while snowboarding down Coronet Peak



View while snowboarding down Treble Cone



The Treble Cone lodge is also home to a group of Kea (pronounced Kia) - alpine parrots about the size of a house cat. They are extremely clever creatures and known for stealing camera cases and hats from the unsuspecting.






From our hotel room



Nerds on horses



Mega Nerd



And in case you thought we were homesick, the ultimate reminder (in the form of a takeout joint the mall)

Welcome to New Zealand!

As some of you may know, we recently spent a week in GORGEOUS New Zealand, snowboarding and taking in natures bounty. Below are a some pictures from a day trip to Milford Sound, which is really a fjord (created by a glacier unlike a sound which is created by the sea). We opted to return to Queenstown via air and got some amazing pics from our tiny plane.

At Mirror Lake



From out tour bus - with skylights across the entire roof!



Pretty river that formed a beautiful chasm (pics of the chasm didn't turn out so good)



Milford Sound



Close up of Sterling Falls in Milford Sound



From the plane











And us with our plane

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Wong Tai Sin Temple is among the most popular in HK so we thought we'd have a look. While not terribly old, it is charming and it is possible to have your fortune read (if you dare) . . . we were too hot to wait around . . . and the government housing in the background did not help!









And a closer look at that government housing . . .

Indian MX....

Umanling's lil' bro and I kicked it HK-style with some euro buddies at the motocross track when he was here a few weeks back...






Most girls like Hello Kitty...


track babe:





the ride back was excellent as lil' UB forgot to use the facilities before we left.


My favorite part of this little exchange:

UB: "Where do I go when I get out?"
Swede 1: "Inside"
Swede 2: "Inside fast"

Summer Fun

We recently hit a local mall with a large water fountain/playground for the kiddies - they were having so much fun, we had to take a couple of snappies.

No Pictures . . .

We thought we'd try something new today . . . a post with no pics . . . we've struggled to capture some of truer representations of HK, like the unique fashion sense - shorts in the office, Eng-rish tees, a borderline obsession with trucker hats (including one that said "what the F--- is going on). This is mostly out of a fear of being deemed stalkers.

We've also been unable to capture the love of fobs, charms and cuties. No purse, no matter how many thousands of dollars have been spent, can exist without some little something hanging off the side. Use of cell phone charms seems to be some type of local requirement . . . again, hard to capture without seeming like a weirdo. And from time to time, the guys even seem to be fobbed to the hilt.

And then there are the "Japanimation" hairdos sported by young men of the the under 22 set . . . there are bangs . . . there are spikes . . . there is frosting . . . but a young man's hair is truly a life's passion around here.

Since we can't show you number of these items, we decided the least we could do is share some of the more "interesting" names we've encountered out here:

- Angel But (f)
- BoBo (f)
- Jeans (f)
- Icy (f)
- Vincy (f)
- Gemini (m)
- Zenobia (f)
- E Laine (f)
- Duki (m)
- Stoner (m)

Kinda gives Apple a run for her money.