Whale Watching

A few weekends ago, Jason and I ventured out into the Pacific in search of the humpback whale. From February to March every year, the humpback whales travel across the Pacific from Alaska to Okinawa. They spend two months here in the warm waters off Okinawa while bringing the next humpback generation into the world.

We're all set! Bring on the show!

Actually, the rules in Japan are quite strict (as they should be), not allowing boats to get too close to the whales. Not to worry! There was no need to chase these beautiful creatures down. They glided by right in front of our boat as if we had made an appointment with them!

Our captain was determined to find just the right spot for us.

As you can see by the picture above, we were just ONE of many boats out that day.

And like magic, they appeared.

We watched intently to see them spray from their blowhole. That was there way of letting us know they were coming up. By the way, notice how clear the water is. Before the whale has even surfaced all the way, you can see it.
I was determined to get a good tail shot...and low and behold, I did! National Geographic here I come.

This guy was amazingly huge! A gentle giant for sure!

And one last wave before we had to head back to shore.

Jason had to hang on for dear life on the way back...not as relaxed as this picture shows. Our captain gave us plenty of time with the whales. But that meant we had to go 90 to nothing to make it back to our bus on time.

Here's a short video clip I took on the camera. Be forewarned, you might get sea sick watching it (we were bobbing up and down on the waves after all). But, it does give you a pretty good glance of one whale gliding through the water and another surfacing.

We've heard horror stories about others going out on whale watching tours. But our trip couldn't have been better. Perfect weather, perfect sea conditions, perfectly beautiful whales!

Chinese New Year Parade

The big event for Chinese New Year was the PARADE. Notice the crowd of people all making their way to the parade route. The parade is noted as being international, having floats and performances from around the world.

Since this is truly a once in a lifetime experience, we signed up for a tour (and I use the word tour lightly) that would ensure we had a spot along the parade route. It ended up being well worth it b/c we had seats in the stands (and it didn't break the bank either!).
Here we are gearing up for the big event.


Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the video to upload. I'll keep trying. Check back just in case it eventually works. The video is quite entertaining...Michael Jackson, Santa Claus, and a stop at the YMCA!

Star Ferry

We were told that taking the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor is one of the "Must Do's" in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it was rainy and cloudy. So the ride across wasn't as spectacular as we've heard it could be. But in spite of the weather, we were determined to do it anyway.

All Aboard! We're ready to cross the harbor.
We road the ferry over to the convention center. This is us along the harbor. Notice the hazy buildings in the background.

In front of the convention center is the statue of the Forever Blooming Budhha.

In case someone comes along and isn't sure of the rules for this area... you're not allowed to do any hawking (spitting) and you cannot hang your laundry out to dry on the walkway along the harbor. I guess you need to be very specific.

Another shot of the harbor

And Kung Hei Fat Choi, or Happy New Year!

A Peak Into Everyday Hong Kong

After we returned from Lantau Island, we decided to check out the escalators to Mid-Levels. Our tour guide on day 2 told us that this was the perfect peak into Hong Kong Life for just the right price (free!).

The first glimpse into the Mid-Levels.
The Mid-Levels is an apartment area located above the financial district of the city. The government built this escalator system to convince people living in the Mid-Levels to "walk" to work rather than driving to work. Although we saw many people on the escalators, our tour guide told us that the system did not provide the results the government had hoped for.

We passed by many interesting places...including a local market.

Here you can see several typical apartment buildings.

And just as the tour guide explained...you see directly into typical Hong Kong life.

bikes, plants, laundry and all

This escalator system is considered the longest escalator system in the world by The Guinness Book of World Records.

Wonder how many tourists pose on the escalator system....and how many locals want to throw them off the escalators???

Chinese Tea

When in Rome, do as the Romans right? So when in China....

After our cold hike up to the Budha, we thought we would thaw out with a nice cup of authentic Chinese tea.

Both of us are all smiles as we get ready to sip away. (Of course if I'm honest we're smiling mostly because the tea is WARM!)

Just as we get ready to take that swig of authentic Chinese tea, we see this....

So much for being in China and doing as the Chinese!

Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island

On our first free day in Hong Kong, we headed to one of the outlying islands named Lantau. It's known for the Ngon Ping 360 cable car that takes you up to the Tian Tan Buddha.

I'm not crazy about heights. I almost couldn't get off the elevator at the top of the Eiffel Tower because there was a crack that I could see through. But because I love Jason SO much....I let him talk me into riding in one of the crystal cars...."crystal" as in everything is translucent.

So, as you can see...here are out feet. Looks like the bottom of the cable car is a weird grayish green color, huh? NOPE...that's water below us (not sure if it's part of the harbor or the Pacific).

This picture makes it a little more clear....see those trees below Jason's feet? Honestly, I was ok with the ride as long as I was sitting. Standing up to take this picture, not so good though.

This spot was our first view of the "Big Buddha."

As if I didn't already know just how far from home I am!!!

At this point, we had finally made it to the bottom of the steps to the Big Buddha. Only 268 stairs to go.

About 1/2 way up, everyone stops to take a picture and catch a breath.

We made it to the top. Here is a picture of the Big Buddha up close and personal (with a zoom lens of course).

We made it to the Big Buddha (that's what most people refer to it as) just in time. We had a little bit of blue sky to start off with. Not long after we made it to the top, the clouds rolled in nice and thick. The wind picked up too. Notice my crazy hair-do.

By the time we hiked back down the trail, the Big Buddha was almost completely covered over.

Here's our ride back down to Hong Kong.

As you can see, our trip back was uneventful. The clouds were so thick that it seemed as though we were in a gray walled car. What a difference a few hours can make!