Heart Of India
Posted On Saturday, December 18, 2004 at at 12:00 AM by AlvinIn the heart of India, we took time to savor a few memorable scenes. These include the bare-feet families in Rajastan castles, the tasty sweet from the street sweet carts, the hard-working Indian women in the fields and of course the ever-present ox carts pulled by the always-reliable ox.
The Amritsar Golden Temple in Punjab
Posted On Tuesday, December 7, 2004 at at 11:58 PM by AlvinWe took a Northerly turn after we left the Agra area and headed up the Punjab Province. We arrived in Amritsar, the province's main city and found the city a pleasant chaos, much like other Indian cities... We made our way to the Golden Temple, our main reason for coming this far up North, and as was the rule, we made sure we covered our heads when we entered this sacred temple and it was truly an inspiring religious site with many dedicated worshipers. It was a gloriously sunny day which made the lake and The Golden Temple shining like a giant piece of jewelery.
The Taj Mahal - Truly Stunning
Posted On Monday, November 29, 2004 at at 11:57 PM by AlvinFrom a distance, the Taj looked like a sparkling clean spaceship which had just landed in the middle of the Agra slums. To see the Taj from the front would certain move anyone to tears (and joy) of the romance that entailed. We took a auto-rickshaw to the back of the Taj and the reflection of the romantic icon made a wonderful picture.
Orccha - A Little Indian Town
Posted On Monday, November 22, 2004 at at 11:55 PM by AlvinWe passed the interesting town of Orccha where there were exotic looking castles and we had lunch by the river. We camped near a river at the back of the famous palaces which were very photogenic. The town was not so big and we had a relaxing time chilling out and did some major cleaning of our well-worn clothes. Also, we took one of the best pictures of our Indian adventure.
The Holy River - Ganges
Posted On Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at at 11:54 PM by Alvin
We spent time both during the evening as well as the following dawn on the sacred river of Ganges. The atmosphere on both occasions were magical and very spiritual. The rickshaw drive from Varanasi to the sacred river in the evening definitely was a shocker as the mad driver meandered his way through dark alleys. At one point, he was dragged out of his vehicle by the policemen (he made a rude gesture to a car without knowing the car belonged to the Police Chief, bad call...) and he was beaten by the mighty wooden staff...
And There Was Beauty !
Posted On Tuesday, November 9, 2004 at at 2:08 AM by AlvinWe moved on to the friendly village of Chitwan and engaged as most visitors did, in a few elephant-centric activities such as riding them, bathing them, feeding them and most importantly, ducking out of their trampling ways.
Also we met the character of the village - Beauty, a teenager hippo abandoned by her clan and got herself an early taste of independent life roaming freely around the village and became the top village attraction. Nobody could resist the charming Beauty in her full glory of armour skins - and there was Beauty - take a look at the pretty girl !
Also we met the character of the village - Beauty, a teenager hippo abandoned by her clan and got herself an early taste of independent life roaming freely around the village and became the top village attraction. Nobody could resist the charming Beauty in her full glory of armour skins - and there was Beauty - take a look at the pretty girl !
Colorful Kathmandu
Posted On Sunday, November 7, 2004 at at 11:49 PM by AlvinTook some time to adjust to the high altitude, thin mountain air as well as the choking pollution in Kathmandu. Apart from the constant spitting from the locals, we actually found Kathmandu very interesting and colorful with the many temples, markets and religious ceremonies. We had our fair share of kofta, vegetable mo-mo (Tibetan dumpling) and nan bread. Over the few days we spent in this city , we spent each day walking (!) and visited some fascinating sites like atmospheric Dunbar Square, ghettolike Thamel, the out-of-this-world temples of Patan, the town of Pashupatinath with the unforgettable stench of the cremation Ghats by the Bagmati River and the nearby mountain of Nagarjun. We will head for Pokara in the next few days.
Taipei - A Trip Down Memory Lane
Posted On Saturday, June 12, 2004 at at 12:10 AM by Alvin早安台北 ! I spent many happy Summers in Taipei when I was a kid and coming back after some 20 years, it seemed that not a lot had changed - still packed with friendly people, delicious food shops, world-famous book stalls and memories of familiar streets from younger days. However, it was much more humid than I had remembered for the middle of June.
We stayed near the eye-catching world-famous landmark, Taipei 101, reputedly the tallest building in the world. Taipei 101 had a very appealing design where the subtlety of the lotus flowers symbolism was complimented and strengthened by the solidness of the stainless steel material used; very inspiring. However, strangely enough, the areas around the base of Taipei 101 were very much deserted and were not as crowded with shops and urbanity as I had imagined; so it was actually quite nice to sit around the base green park area with a beer and look up to its stunning beauty.
We also spent time climbing Yang Ming Shan (陽明山) and were absolutely soaked with sweat half way up and we visited the National Museum (故宮博物院) that housed numerous priceless Chinese artifacts such as water color paintings and ancient metal wares; we also ventured further afield to the port city of Dan Shui (淡水) during our short visit here. Now I really know what it's like walking in a steam room all day long.
