Aaron and Lyle are getting a foot massage here…. they guys turned the bucket sideways so their feet could fit!

Today I am in Asia.

Tomorrow I will be in America.

Gotta love how easy international travel is.

I was visiting Dan, Wendy and their new baby Alex in Brisbane.  I’ll be posting  more photos of that soon.

Last week, Jon’s grandma Creta broke her hip.  The next night, his mom Jenni was knocked down by a door caught by a massive gust of wind.  She broke her collarbone, fractured five ribs, and punctured a tiny hole in her lung.  I’m going home tomorrow to help out, and Jon will come next week.

All of the photos were taken from Joris and Dagmar’s balcony.

Hong Kong has an “Avenue of Stars” modeled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Dagmar and I walked down it (sweating profusely all of the way. )  A group of Japanese schoolkids asked me to take their photo a couple times – they were pretty cute.  We also had high noon tea at a hotel overlooking the harbor.

When coming back from Cheung Chau Island, I had an idea to go to Macau for the evening.  Ferries run all night, so after we got back we cleaned up and headed to the international ferry terminal.  We met Adam, ate sushi, went to the VIP room at the Sands (thanks Adam!) and taught Esther how to play Liar’s Dice, then went to the Grand Lisboa Hotel to check out the “shark tank.”  The next day Esther and I went to the Venetian and ate at Fat Burger (yum.)  We then went to the old part of Taipa, to the A-Ma Temple, and to the ruins of St. Paul.

I counted the stamps in my passport – this was my 10th trip to Macau!  It was the first trip that was entirely for fun though.

Esther and I took a ferry to Cheung Chau Island.  We ate at what the guidebook called a local seafood place (we agree, seemed very local and cheap), then rented bikes and rode around a bit.  It was HOT and we were just soaked with sweat.  There are no cars allowed on the island, so the “road” is really just a sidewalk and the hills were horrendous!  I wasn’t sure if I was going to make some of the hills in the heat.  Some of the interesting things we saw there: grown-ups riding bikes with tiny training wheels, the steepest and most crowded cemetery I’ve ever seen, and the steep, winding sidewalk/streets of the town itself.

The Peak has the infamous view of Hong Kong.  Wow – it’s been a year since my only other trip to Hong Kong.  Here are the Peak photos from then.

What do you think of the fisheye lens?  It’s totally a novelty lens, but I bought a big new camera bag so I have room to lug around a couple more lenses than I usually do.

Last week I spent four days in Hong Kong.  My friend (we went to school in Sweden together, then visited her in Belgium and last summer she came to Shanghai) Esther’s sister lives there now, so Esther came to visit and so did I!

These photos are from Stanley, which is known for it’s market.  We weren’t that impressed with the market – it seemed similar to any other Chinese one!  We did find one shop with very unique clothing, original designs silk screened by the owner.  We both bought clothes there.  The waterfront was nice though.

(Click on any of the photos to see them larger.)