Piano Island - Silent Night

34 Lujiao Road, Gulangyu Island


The clouds came from above to make her a wedding gown...

Take the road less traveled and pick up the signs along the way. When you have no expectations, anything that comes along is a bonus. 10 days of adventure, starting from Christmas eve...


Occupying a land area of 220sqm, Christ the King Church was built by the Spaniards in 1917 - Gothic architectural style with beautiful interior designs. Other than being a car-free island, Piano Island is well-known for its churches and embassies.

Clouds made the sunset beautiful.




Christmas eve gathering with stage performances and a huge Christmas tree. hugsss



People-watching.



For the very first time, Christmas carols were in Hokkien. So different yet, so familar.

what a coincidence!

I stumbled across a website that led to another and another and... arrived at this Wikipedia list of "Carfree places". Can't help but notice that my next destination actually coincide (on the same page!!) with my previous destinations!

Gulangyu (a.k.a Piano Island), Xiamen, China
Fort Collin Old Town, Colorado, USA
Melbourne City Center, Australia

Suddenly (!!!!) it became clear! Perhaps, my life project is to set foot on all these amazing carfree places! One after another. And the best part? I don't even need to get a driver's license! haaahaa maybe I should have the list somewhere and start striking out the places I've been to!

i dreamt that i killed a snake, squeezing and forcing the poisonous slime out, then throwing it into a lake. strangely enough, it found its way back and i was staying in this weird 2 storey looking house. whoever i was staying with passed me an axe and i charged desperately towards it and killed it all over again. so gross so gross so gross!!! what's worse was the skull underneath! very disgusting. argh!!!

i _ _ _ _ running, but i bought an expensive pair of shoes - the supposed "right arch" for my over-turn-out feet. so i diligently bring them out for jogs every weekend.

i _ _ _ _ the sight of passing trains every time i jog by that corner, reminding me that life is but a routine, doing the right thing at the right time. nothing more nothing less.

i _ _ _ _ that awkward sound made by soccer players when they kick the ball. see, the jogger's path is in between 2 fields. whenever the ball goes over to the other side, i'm paranoid that the ball will hit me.

i _ _ _ _ people walking their dogs in the opposite direction of me. every time i see a JRT nearing, i lose focus. even when they pass me by, i turn to take a second look. once a wired-haired JRT turned back the exact same moment i did, we repeated that gesture twice. although i knew it wasn't you.

i _ _ _ _ children who park their tricycles and spill their toys along the jogger's path. why doesn't their parents do anything about it? i don't go running into the field or obstruct the goal post so why can't they be more considerate?

today i want to start _ _ _ _ ing the things i _ _ _ _.

Kuching - Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

Orang Utan Rehabilitation

Feeding Times
Morning: 9.00 am to 10.00am
Afternoon: 3.00 pm to 3.30 pm

I love how the orang utans are free to roam. They are trained as "semi-wildlife" - they don't attack humans (unless people get too near) and they are not trapped in an exclosure.





Mother and Child

Kuching - what a sight!

The window view revealed the beautiful curves between the mountain, the sea and the river... S P L E N D I D !





As the car made its way out of the airport, I was so thrilled to see the lamp posts along the way - they looked like birds in flight! With the mountains in the background, I felt close to mother nature again - a feeling that I felt so strongly when I was in Colorado.




The girls were dozing off in the car and all of a sudden, I caught sight of the reflection on the lake. Joey's friend, Dick, was really nice to make an introduction and a detour into the secluded compound. This is the Sarawak State Library (a.k.a Pustaka Negeri) - tucked mysteriously among the trees and sitting majestically on the lake. Dick pulled the car by the road side and I totally forgot about how tired the girls might be and how much the mosquitoes wanted to suck my blood, I was so blown away. Especially with the full moon in sight. I began to visualise how going to the library could be like a walk in the park. I love lakes. I want to come back again.

Good Morning!!!

Off on an adventure to Kuching, Sarawak!!

One fine day at work, Irene exclaimed "Shall we go Hong Kong?!!" She decided that we should have our annual "department outing" - somewhere. To me, anywhere is good! That very night, her text msg said "Bring your passport, we are going to Macau!" haa i DID bring my passport the very next day! Every week of december seems so impossible and january seems so far away. We wanted something to look forward to, soon. What about november? Joey is going back home. Shall we? Shall we? Shall we??

Yipeee!!! We are going for the adventure today!!! The weather is great! I can't wait!! woohooo

Jinhua - Architecture Park

Hangzhou >> Jinhua
By train



View from train window



we finally arrived... it was scorching hot but we never once let the sun look down on us! we went on - one pavilion after the other with our ice-cream tubs in hand!







Partner in crime!



Love my view

Canon City - Fort Royal Stables

1 Block East Of The Royal Gorge Turnoff
Canon City, CO 81212



The weather was so fine and my first horseback ride was just perfect! Uncle Don said that I've always wanted to do this since when I was what, 4 yrs old? haaa so finally, I did it! I love how we were surrounded by mountains and we did not go round in circles! We had a pretty scenic one-hour ride - towards the mountains and away from it.






Uncle Don & Aunt Patsy


Raven & me










Raven is perpetually hungry... just like me. I think we got along pretty well. Although he DID try to be funny and walk me into the bush!!







Trio




You are so beautiful.