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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Continued recap of my Golden Princess adventure (phew, I am on a blog roll):

I awoke to these spectacular views of the sunrise.




Because the bay in Cabo San Lucas is too shallow, the Golden Princess had to be anchored off shore...

We took a tender to get on shore ... here we are leaving the Golden Princess.

Obligatory shot of Los Arcos

Pretty rocks near Los Arcos

Beach near Los Arcos

On my way back to the Golden Princess -- yep, it was a really short stop, we got off the ship, went around Los Arcos and went back to the ship.

It was a choppy ride at times... but oh so much fun!

Parting shot of Los Arcos from the ship

Sunset

kawaaaaiiiiiiiiii!

All I can do after seeing this picture is scream in a very high pitched girly voice -- kawaaaaiiiiii!!! Japanese for cute! This is the picture of a baby Panda born in the Vienna zoo with his mom! So cute!!!!! Kaawaaiiiiii!!! Gosh I used to make fun of Japanese women for doing this, now I can't stop myself. Lol.

photo courtesy of the Vienna Zoo

Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas Eve

Here is our Christmas eve dinner -- pasta noodles with a east/west fusion sauce. So delicious. Nothing is better than mom's home made food. It's simple, fresh, made with the best ingredients and lots of love! I'd choose it over all the champagne caviar in the world. Thanks mom.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Port Vallarta, Mexico

The first port of call of the cruise was Port Vallarta, Mexico. It is very touristy and somewhat polluted. I could see a ring of smog surrounding the bay and I could also imagine how beautiful it must have been prior to human settlement (though in all fairness it is still very beautiful). Anyhoo, here are some sights and scenes from Port Vallarta.



Two of my favorite pictures -- let's test the waters...

...ahhhhhh! The wave is coming!

Port Vallarta has some interesting, and rather modern and abstract, sculptures...Hmmm... maybe I can make some Mermaid Fin soup out of this... hehe :P

Angel with extended arms -- see my shadow on the bottom?

What looks like the sculpture of a monk at the town's largest church

Tour of a Tequila Factory -- though it looks like the factory was set up just for tourists. I wanted to buy a bottle to bring back for friends -- but the whole thing was so touristy that I really questioned its authenticity not to mention the ridiculously marked up prices...

I liked the mural.

Courtyard

Colorful Cabinet

Land of Tequila Mural
It was a cute factory and all, but too touristy -- we went in, looked around, dad and sis had some free margaritas, and marched right out...

Pretty silver jewelries...

A Chinese Restaurant in Port Vallarta!

Bye bye Port Vallarta...

Cat's Excellent Adventure aboard the Golden Princess

Phew, finally back on land. Cruise was fun, but after 7 days at sea, I was ready to come back ashore. My forefathers didn't abandon fins and develop limbs for nothing :-) But, I must say, overall, the cruise was excellent, big kudos to Princess Cruise for the impeccable service and excellent organization!

Hooray Golden Princess! I took this picture while the GP was parked in Mazatlan -- the weather was beautiful.

Lots of relaxation...

I love my iPod! Thank goodness for my iPod, there was absolutely no internet service (unless you pay a hefty fee for slow satellite internet)... initially suffered from blackberry withdrawal symptoms, but recovered quickly :-)

Lots of food -- it seemed no matter what we did, we always ended up bumping into each other at the buffet place ;-)

And lots of partying!

Friday, December 14, 2007

The love boat...

I am going on a cruise aboard the Golden Princess! Yipeeeeee!!! Vacay!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Happy Holidays!

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Happy Holidays to you all! Love, Cat!

Pretty xmas trees at my office building.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Sex and Drugs and etc...

I am back in the States battling jet-lag... anyhoo, here are some interesting random pictures from this past grand tour of Asia...

happy penis advocating safe sex in Chongqing

Graffiti in Taipei:
Life, Feelings, Music, World
We Weed Freedom
Support the Legalization of Marijuana

Aerial view of Hong Kong airport - so many planes... and so smoggy!

Pastry shop in Taipei -- so much food, so little stomach, why can't we be like cows?

Friday, December 7, 2007

Everyday Life

I usually avoid focusing on individuals in my photography. I feel uncomfortable, a bit like a voyeur. But I managed to sneak in a few nevertheless -- so here they are.

Family outing in Taipei

Bicyclist in Wuhan

Woman selling water chestnuts in Wuhan -- here she is peeling the water chestnuts.

Huh?! Girl with mom in Guangzhou

Day laborers eating lunch in Guangzhou

Two men waiting for the bus in Chongqing...

Chongqing is Beautiful

Chongqing, a city in southwestern China, was the last stop on my trip. I really liked the city. Unlike some Chinese cities, it has character -- it is hilly, borders two great rivers, with plenty of greenery, well organized, not terribly crowded and it's got the best hotpot!

View of downtown Chongqing -- too bad it was very foggy (though thank goodness it was fog and not pollution for once) but this is the point where the mighty Yangtze River and the Jialing River, a tributary of the Yangtze, meet.

Just to the right is where the two rivers meet...

Here is a picture of Chongqing on a clear day I found on the web -- the Yangtze is muddy and the Jialing River is clear, so the point where they merge is kind of like Ying meets Yang.

Temple perched on top of a hill -- it's actually really really high up the hill, I had to use the max zoom on my camera.

This is a cool hang out place. It overlooks the Jialing River. Chongqingers come here to make merry -- eat hot pot, shop for snacks, drink tea, play cards ...

Snack shops along "Main Street"

Getting ready for my hot pot --- hmmm....

It was unbelievably delicious -- the lamb and beef were as tender as can be, the shrimp and fish were fresh from the tanks, the seafood and meatballs were the best I've ever had and the veggies fresh and crisp! Very satisfying meal.

The modern side of Chongqing... A big thumbs up for Chongqing's urban planners -- they've done a good job developing the city but at the same time preserving its unique character.


Floating seafood restaurant on the Jialing River... I thought I'd sneak this one in, it was a beautiful night.