the sweetest puppy in the world

this is Bear, a doggie that i'm fostering until we can find her a good home. she is ssoo smart and cute and gentle ... i wanna adopt her!

a coupla costa rica pics ...

yes, that's me ... yes, i'm wearing a silly hat ... :P

the sunsets were SPECTACULAR each and every day ...

there's a storm abrewin' ...

... on saturn

some pics from my trip to ireland

(click to enlarge)


the cliffs of moher

moher, you say!?

inishmann (aran islands)

hey zeus!

each morning we stop at starbucks on our way to the mexican border, and each day they ask me for my name so they can write it on my cup and call me when my drink is ready ...

well, i hate it when these mega-chains try to be homey by asking my name, so i give a new one each time. since we're in a spanish area (and it's a fairly common name), i thought to myself: "wouldn't it be funny if ...



"jesus, your venti pumpkin-spice latte with soy is ready ..." LOL

tiger hill ...

china daze i ...

on my first day in Suzhou, i walked around and explored the sites nearest my hotel. my first impression was "wow, look at this infrastructure!" newly paved tree-lined streets, a separate lane for bikes and scooters, and sidewalks and street lamps full of character ...



my next impression was "wow, it's impossible to find anything here if you don't read mandarin!" i was trying to find the "Changlang Pavilion". the concierge at my hotel had given me the basic directions, but once i arrived in the area i had no idea where to go. now, i'm used to being in foreign countries and dealing with other languages, but what i haven't dealt with is a completely different alphabet! in a western country i would simply look for the building that said something like "Changlang" ... but here, "Changlang" is represented by three chinese characters (best described as "a T talking to a J", "a man standing beside a cross with a box on it", and "a big-ass storm approaching my house from the northwest"!! ;) so, while trying to find this place, i mistakenly walked into a public park (lovely, but not it), a private compound of some kind (a woman in uniform promptly whisked me away), and, of all things, a large karaoke bar. d'oh! i finally found it, and it was beautiful:




next was a lovely chinese garden, "the master of nets garden". i was even lucky enough to overhear (and inconspicuously follow) a french tour guide for the last half of his tour, and an english tour guide for the first half of his:

censorship?!

i just arrived in china. my impressions so far are few, but i'll share them with you:

- the behaviour of the chinese, in my culture, could be classified as "rude". my travel agent somehow had me on a small chinese carrier, so i was the only non-chinese person on the planes (yes, she also made me transfer in Xaimen ... and delivered my ticket to me less than 12 hours before i departed toronto ... but i digress ...) i had an aisle seat, and to my excitement i was seated between two buddhists, at least one of whom was obviously a monk (i think the other was as well, but his clothing was more peasant-like.) well, in an aisle seat i realized that the chinese don't have much of a problem invading the personal space of others. i was half-sat-on multiple times, hit (hard!) with various pieces of luggage, and at one point literally punched in the nose, ALL without apology or inquiry as to my well-being. i tried to withhold judgement ... it's a cultural thing, right?! then during the meal (this in business class) two men behind me had a belching contest. and when each plane landed, i seemed to be the only one that recognized deplaning etiquette ... in fact, i had to ENFORCE it by blocking the aisle (and the belchers) as the people in my row "exited" (i could say "shoved past me", but that would deflate my sense of heroism ;) okay, enough complaining ... i mean, look at this snack they gave me, and what a (wierd! but) nice sentiment:



... awww! ... but then i saw what it was:



... and where i come from, THAT ain't respect!! LOL

- from what i have seen, the economy here is growing at a feverish pace! on my drive from Shanghai to Suzhou, i literally saw THOUSANDS of new condos being built, along with the modern infrastructure to support them. the centralized planning astounded me aswell: a hundred of the same apartment building on one block, then a thousand of the same house on the next block, and so on. and something strange that i noticed from the air: many (say, 25%) of the roofs here are blue! (from high in the air i thought "wow, lots of pools") heh

- and lastly, the reason for the title of this post: i have broadband internet access from my hotel room, but i can't read any blogs on this site! (and yet i can post) censorship? someone on blogspot pissed off the chinese government perhaps? i'll see if i have the same problem from work next week ...

alrighty, time to start my day ... and figure out how to explore a city where no one seems to speak engligh (it took me a couple of seconds to realize that the receptionist was saying "hello, mr. walker" as i arrived ... oops!) ciao my loves ...

pagoda me ...

so how’s about a real update? (now that i’ve had some fun!)
saturday was great!! i hired a driver for the day and he took me to all of the major sites on the island.
first were two buddhist temples –one burmese, the other thai. the first was very peaceful and a wonderful start to my day ... beautiful statues everywhere, the sound of monks chanting in the background, and an interesting series of paintings depicting the life of “the” buddha.


the second was kitch ... a huge buddha laying on his side (“the third-largest reclining buddha in the world”, no less!), and places to give monetary ‘offerings’ in return for financial prosperity and sucess ... not what buddhism is about, imho.
after a brief drive around some other sites (an old british fort ... “yeah, we have a few of those too”), we stopped at Snake Temple. now this was interesting: a buddhist temple full of venemous snakes who are kept docile by incense. a bit of a tourist trap, but i got some great pics and a video of five snakes crawling over my body as i laughed nervously ...
the next stop was cool; a kind of zoo where i got to feed 160-year-old giant turtles. i also found a friend in a white parrot that liked to say ‘hello’ and dance for me ... in return for some neck rubs, that is! so cute!!


next was Kek Lok See. now, all week long my class had asked me when i was going to “Kellogg Sea”? ... “Galaxy”?? ... “Quay Looksie”??? ... i just smiled and said “maybe this weekend?” hehe. but it was beautiful! a huge buddhist monastery built on the side of hill, featuring a 120-foot-tall buddha (i prefer my buddha standing, thankyouverymuch!) a large pagoda, and many other beautiful structures.


next we drove to the north of the island. on the way, my driver stopped at the side of the road and as we got out of the car dozens of wild monkeys started walking towards us!! “they know me”, he said as he took out two large bags of peanuts so we could feed them! amazing!! they came right up to us and took the peanuts from our hands, staring into our eyes the entire time to judge our intentions. a few of them had baby monkeys clinging to their undersides aswell ... adorable!!!


a little further on we stopped again at the side of the road. more monkeys! 8(D) these guys were much more wary of humans (the first group lived near the botanical gardens and so were used to the attention.) they prefered bread to peanuts (i have no idea how my driver knew this) so we threw bread-ends to them like frisbees and they showed acrobatics in catching them ...

(to be continued ...)

where am i, exactly?

"Penang", says the dragon! ;)
(click to enlarge)

so i grew a beard

apart ment truthes

i have a cricket. it lives behind the wall of my bedroom and sings to me. i think it is lonely.

i haven't been outside in almost two days. i think i am lonely.

everything that falls on my tiled floor shatters into a million pieces.