the great wall, mutianyu, china

day two in beijing began by visiting mutianyu

to climb the great wall and admire the view.

the wall is uneven, hilly, big and wide

in one of it's many towers you could easily hide.

an amazing structure to be experienced first hand

trailing along northern china's mountainous land.

summer palace, beijing, china

as soon as we arrived in beijing
we went to lake kunming
to visit the summer palace
a beautiful place without malice

lilly pads

signs along the paths up the hill of longevity

pagoda

marble boat on lake kunming

moon festival, tai hang, hk

in honour of the mid-autumn festival each year,

a 70-metre fire dragon scares away all fears.

meet in tai hang close to causeway bay,

wait for the dragon to appear, lighting the alley way.

watch the dragon's head turn around

and watch the body pass,

be sure to wait to the very end

and see the tail turn very fast!

once the dragon has disappeared down another street,

run very fast with the crowd so you'll be sure to meet,

the dragon on another road,

it's amazing how they carry the load!

watch many people snap pictures with each other and the dragon,

while others carry fire-lit lanterns

or heavy drums on wagons.

many lanterns hang all around victoria park,

it's amazing none of them spit or spark!

guinness's world record was made with lanterns placed like a fish,

taking a picture together was matt's favourite wish.

there were many more lanterns, like these made to look like flowers,

with an evening like this, one won't return home sour.

hockey tournament, kowloon, hk

evan plays hockey
let's see team usa win
season tournament

movie locations, penang, malaysia

anna and the king
the one with jodie foster
was filmed in penang

our trishaw driver
took us to see the places
we went back again

our trishaw driver

this street was used for scenes from downtown siam

the house used for exterior shots of jodie foster's house

in the jungle, penang, malaysia

one overcast day we went to penang hill,

to sneak a peak at the view and enjoy calm and still.

after looking around we decided to walk,

to the botanical gardens of which we'd heard a lot of talk. 

we began the 5 kilometres across and down,

when a downpour started - we thought we'd drown.

we waited the storm with some locals under cover,

chit chatted about the economy while monkeys began to hover.

the rain subsided, we finished our climb,

down hundreds of stairs to a scene sublime -

a troop of monkeys came out from the trees,

swarming around garbage cans like a colony of bees.

they walked right among us unafraid, on their quest,

until they found food, after which they would sit and rest.

view of the cable car track

view of penang

a millipede - seen on our hike

penang jungle

waiting out the rainstorm

from trees to red sand

we climbed many of these tree stairways

the monkeys!