24 to 1 feb 2008, hong kong

星光大道 - my favourite movie artiste and director - michael hui

after 8 years, here we are again...

sk and rodney

Rodney brought us to Tsim Sha Tsui harbour (尖沙咀) to watch the daily 8pm award winning laser show. music was played and the lasers from the commercial buildings across synchronised with it.

a last look at my broken umbrella. it has accompanied me this far since the start of this trip. some parts broke due to big rain and strong wind...

the Wishing Tree (林村许愿树) is now an old tree supported by wooden sticks with no "wishes" on it. before, it used to have many strips of yellow papers with names and wishes written on them. as the tree gets older and overloaded with paper wishes, the authorities decided to protect the tree from falling by removing all the paper wishes and ban anyone from throwing wishes on it... perhaps until it gets well again?

this japanese restaurant (大寿司), located near Shau Kei Wan, offers big and good servings of sashimi and sushis. each person has to spend at least HKD 100 (=SGD 20).

a morning hike up the Dragon's Back with a group of singaporeans living in hong kong

high rise flats and apartments can be seen everywhere in hong kong. houses are relatively small, compare to singapore, and they are generally much more expensive.

minghui, laurien, sk and me, waiting for wanton mee to be served

2008 is the rat year

do not trespass

some doors to the houses were extremely narrow... and the houses were made of alumimium or some kind of metal. can they keep warm during winter season?

dried seafood seasoning - good for making soup base

wedding gowns in the olden days

no fishing, no fishing, NO FISHING!

a day trip out to Tai O (大澳)

Causeway Bay (铜锣湾)

arrived in hong kong after a 11 hours flight from london

18 to 21 jan 2008, paris

Chopin

Jim Morrison - a famous pop star who died in his 20s

walking up to the tomb of a russian princess who died in 1818.

took a stroll into the Cimetiere du Pere Cachaise (cemetry) where many rich and famous people were buried. i was told that it cost a lot of money to be buried here.

the Pompidou

a street performer

the Pantheon

this area looked like a red light district where one can find many strip bars and erotic sex items. the queue outside Moulin Rouge was pretty long. to watch the show with a 3 course meal + champagne starts from about 145 euros, depending on the kind of meal you choose. one can also choose to watch the show only for about 75 euros.

after watching the Moulin Rouge film for the first time with Martin in Liverpool, we have to see the actual place in Paris.

walked up the steep Montmarte Hill to Halles St Pierto Chapelle where one can get a view of Paris

Siene river that surrounds downtown Paris

Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris

remember the Da Vinci Code film? this is the 21m high glass Grande Pyramide outside Musee du Louvre. No, Mary Magdalene cannot be found here.

many says that the best place to buy LV stuff is in Paris. cost about 10 to 20% less than the average market price elsewhere. reason: tax refundable and made in paris.

Champ-Elysees - a major shopping area where all the big and small brands are located. it is a wide straight road of shops. i was told that the rental cost on the left is higher than the right, simply because the sun shines on the left more.

Nourdine, me and Adeline

the daily 10pm light show at the Eiffel Tower... truly amazing

arrived in paris after a 8hours bus ride from london across the English Channel. Nourdine, our CS host, brought us out for the night after cooking us an asian meal, chicken rice. on top of that, he surprised us with a welcome gift: 2 weekend travel passes for paris travel, which cost him 14 euros each pass. what to say... we're really lucky to have met him...