Journal of Life

Nothing is Permanent

2012-02-13T20:00:00.002-08:00

It's sort of a relief, to have seen this quote from FB on last night.

Although I'm awared of this for a long time, sometimes I will forget about it. So, I must always remind myself of this from now on.

Everything in life is Temporary.

So if things are going good, enjoy it because it won't last forever.

And if things are going bad, don't worry.

It can't last forever either.

Seriously, I think it will be a blessing to whom that acknowledge this fact of life. Enjoy while you still can !

Reunion Lunch @ CNY2012

2012-02-03T04:16:00.001-08:00

My my, it's CNY time again. As usual, we flew back to Malaysia on the new year eve.

Lucky we this year, husband could manage to confirm 4 seats in the 1630 flight. Without worrying, we were pretty easy & relax this time.

We arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before departure time. Since it's still very early, we went to T2 to take our reunion lunch.

Not too long later, those starters were put nicely on the table. We didn't order much cause we were actually, still quite full of a brunch.

I like Kimji, I always do.

Although they look hot, they aren't actually.

I like Korean's appertizer, for they look nice & taste nice.

After this, it would be a long travelling to "home", hopefully we could reach home before 12 midnight that day. Sigh.

Son's all time favorite, Kimji-ra-man, me too.

Wishing everyone a long life, like this ra-men.

So yummy.

Wishing everyone a happy Dragon Year too.

After lunch, we still have some time to wander & take photos around the airport.

See you in Malaysia ya...

Waterfall, Peculiar Rocks & Sea

2012-01-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

The time was nearly 4.30 pm when we left Jiufen.

The driver asked if we would like to go to a sea side to see some rocks, or she could drive us to the night market directly. Since the time was still early for dinner, we asked her to take us to the sea side then.

On the way to sea side, somewhere around Ziqiang Bridge and Zhang Mining area, we stopped over a waterfall site, called Jing Gua Shi Waterfall (Gold Waterfall).

When the heavy rainfall of the Jingua Stone area flows into the copper ore and iron ore and out, a golden waterfall is formed.

There is nothing else to see at this place except the waterfall. So, we left the place 5 minutes later. Our car rolled down the hill slowly. 10 minutes later, the driver stopped her car at the sea side where we could get to see some beautiful rocks.

The place is called NanYa Peculiar Rocks.

Ok, the giant rock behind is sort of peculiar.

These layered, sandstone rocks have been eroded into peculiar shapes by a combination of water and wind. The rock contains icon oxide, which causes the colorful streaks.

These are indeed very beautiful rocks...

While I was still on the top to admire the beautiful rocks scatter all around the sea side, husband & sons have gone down to the beach already.

Told them I would go down to join them after I've done with my business.

The colorful rocks had created such a beautiful picture, everything is so well-blended.

The further end is a spooky sea we were about to go after this.

One of the beautiful rocks down there.

I then turned my eyes to admire the scenes on the other end of the beach.

I simply love the shapes & the colors of the rocks.

They are the most beautiful rocks I have ever seen.

The English translation contains not much info as in the Chinese version. Glad I can catch up both of them.

Ok, enough of shooting. I then decided to go down to join husband & sons. Parents-in-law didn't want to walk down the path which is narrow, plus steep. They prefer to stay on top and wait for us instead. I just let them be.

Actually, it's like eating a piece of cake to go down to here, took me only 2-3 minutes.

This time, I get to see that peculiar rock from its foot to head.

By the time I walked near them, I saw William was chasing after his wooden gun, which had dropped into the fast flowing water....I was very excited to see this.

End up, daddy had rescued the gun & brought it back to him safely. Isn't he look like a hero?

I'm happy to see that they are such a good company to each other for most of the time.

The bowl-shape small rock he had picked, that he brought it home too.

I looked around the area and continued to look for beautiful rocks.

This one is the most beautiful. At first glance, it looks like one of those popular angry birds.

Its side look.

Vincent said he had had some good time here. Well, he always had some good time at the place where water & rocks exist.

Ok, it's time to go to see the other side of the beach now.

The rocks at the other side, they look like buns to me, so inviting....

After 20 minutes, we walked up to the top & joined the parents and our driver.

The driver cum tour guide said we should go to the other side and check for another rock worth seeing. So, we followed her.

the rock surface leading uphill is kind of cute...

When we stood at the hill top, our tour guide pointed at those rocks below and asked us what was the thing we get to see?

Almost at the same time, sons and I exclaimed in high pitch : It's a FISH !

OMG, what happen to it that made it looks so much like a FISH?

From high place, some look like a pig, some look like a sea shell...none of them look like a rock to me. Haha...

After seeing the peculiar rocks, we drove a bit further to see the peculiar sea somewhere nearby.

That's called Yin-yang Sea, as the water is permanently a mix of 2 different colors (yellow & blue).

It was initially believed that the sea color was the result of pollution from Taiwan Metal Mining Corp's smelting activities. But, over 10 years after the company had stopped its activities, Yin-yang Sea still exists.

Scholars then speculate this geology has a large amount of pyrite that, after millions of years, it has formed Fe3+ which can't dissolve easily in water. This forms iron ion floating particles when it flows into the sea, resulting in the strange sight of the Yin-yang Sea.

As a chemistry student myself, I can comprehend and accept this explanation. I think this make sense too since this place is rich in heavy metal content.

However, our driver told us a totally different story about the sea. She said local people believes that the 2 different color was formed due to the influences of spiritual energy from its surrounding. She then pointed to those many beautiful "houses" of the deceases, built along the hill side everywhere. She said their soul constantly floated in the air, and this can be reflected in the color of the sea water. Believe it or not?

The driver then pointed to the "Thirteen Level" which is just right behind us...It scared me a bit, cause somehow, I had related it to "Eighteen Level" spontaneously.

The so-called "Thirteen Level" is actually a copper smeltery built along the hillside. the plant has 13 levels, hence the name. The abandoned plant is a popular spot for singers in Taiwan to shot their music videos.

By the time we had wrapped up all the attractions around this region, the time was nearly 5.30pm by then. The driver said we better go off to the night market somewhere near Keelung Town.

The size of Keelung Night Market is much smaller than Taipei's Shilin Night Market which we have gone the night before. I find the food variety here is a little bit different from Shilin's though.

Since everyone was hungry, we settled down at one of the stalls that offer local dishes. After I had placed 4-5 orders, I found that the foods might be too much for us. Without any delay, I told the man to cancel one dish, but that guy gave me "black" face again, he didn't say ok or not-ok either. I had sort of expected he won't accept my cancellation at all. Well, I was right.

This was the 3rd time in a day, I had had some unpleasant buying experience with the Taiwanese people. Frankly speaking, I very dislike the way they do business, for they like to force people in buying.

After dinner, we were all tired and wanted to go back to the hotel for a hot shower. We left the place at around 7pm.

Before leaving, we took a pee-break in this temple. As told by the driver, this is the only place in the night market where we can pee or poo. Good to say that the condition of public toilet in Taiwan is generally clean.

Well, husband and I didn't retire our day in the hotel room when we went back to Taipei anyway. We ditched the kids in the room, and walked to the town again. The kids are happy with our decision too, cause they really prefer to watch movies in the comfortable room than walking on the crowded streets out there.

JiuFen (九份)

2012-01-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

After leaving YehLiu Geopark, the driver drove us to our 2nd destination, called Jiufen (九份). We planned to spend a long afternoon time in that town.

The area also provides spectacular views of the harbor and the Pacific Ocean below.

Our driver parked her taxi at the foothill. She said we should walk into the town via the oldest street in Jiufen instead. OK, from here we start....

Jiufen is a mountain area near Keelung. During the first years of the Qing Dynasty, the village here housed 9 families only, thus the village would request "nine portions" every time shipments arrived from town. Later, Jiufen ("nine portions" in Chinese) had become the name of the village.

Jiufen was a sleeping fishing village until the early 1900's when gold was discovered in its hills. It reached its peak of mining activity during the Japanese occupation around the time of World War II, and actually had captured allied soldiers to work in the mines.

Gold mining activities declined after World War II, and the mines was shut down in 1971. Jiufen quickly went into decline, and for a while, the town was mostly forgotten as a ghost town.

Jiufen received a new wave of attention after a few popular movies were filmed here in the early 1990's, particularly after the release of A City of Sadness [悲情城市]. The nostalgic scenery of Jiufen as seen in the film, as well as appearances in other media, had charmed many people into visiting this town.

For the beginning of the 90s, Jiufen experienced a tourist boom that has shaped the town as a tourist attraction. The tea houses were then restored and tourism has reinvigorated the local economy with hundreds of tourist shops, handicrafts, and artist's studios.

At present, Jiufen is a renowned tourist attraction representative of Taiwan. Besides the foreigner, the place also draws many tourists from Taipei during the weekends.

The town of Jiufen is built into the side of the hills slightly inland from the Pacific Ocean coastline.

All of the houses along this street are very old, except this one. From the appearance of the house, I guess the owner must be the richest man in this town.

Apartments that built on steep hills are very common in Jiufen.

A Cat Club, perhaps?

A remembrance as being a famous gold town once before...

There wasn't many people walking on the streets, occasionally we did see a few tourists passing by us.

The time was not early, but some shops still in asleep...

A few shops did open, but they are not fascinated one.

For a brief moment, I wondered why we were here for?

After we bent a corner, the scene starts to look differently....

From here, I wasn't awared this is one of the many tea houses in town.

Yeap, it's Jiufen.

My mood was elevated when we reached here...Instantly, I felt its charm, and I like it.

Influenced by the Japanese, many tea houses and inns sprang up and flourished in town until the closure of gold mines in the early 70's.

I insisted we should take a group photo in this special place. Also, I wanted to stop the nonchalant cycle of the parents for a brief second.

Waved husband to join us in the photo as well.

The main area of interest to visitors are the town's historic commercial district which is covered by two pedestrian street.

Tea houses had dominated this hill street.

And this Ah Mei Tea House is the most prominent one amongst the all.

It's such a nice place to sip a cup of tea...

Anyway, we didn't interrupted the driver cum our tour guide, let her continue to bring us to the restaurant which she had highly recommended us for lunch. Well, here we are.

We were leaded to a table at the balcony side. The view & the chill air is spectacular.

Too bad it was peak hour, and the restaurant only served several set menu. So we thought might as well just order 3 sets for sharing, then we could eat whatever that interest us when we walked into the town later on.

But the waitress had given me some hard time when I placed the order, said we should have ordered each of us 1 set instead. The bitchy side of me just refused to do so for the reason (1) most of the foods on the menu that we wanted to order are not available (2) I hate to be forced when it comes in buying, ok.

Seeing me not given in, the waitress had to give in instead. Ha..

Luckily, the foods came quite good. That had soothed my emotion, and we have some relaxing time taking a long lunch at the restaurant since then.

After we paid the bill, we continue the walk into town. Ah Mei Tea House which is just opposite our restaurant is so eye-catchy.

Since the others had walked up so fast, I have no time to find out if they serve any hot dish besides tea?

Also, it's not the right time to stop here for a tea break either.

Another tea house that had captured my attention.

Despite the others had walked quite a distance away, me & the boys decided to walk in the tunnel for a quick adventure. Apparently, the tea house is hidden deep inside the other end of the tunnel. So cool...

The Historic Commercial District of Jiufen consists of a series of stores and restaurants running along Jishan and Shuchi Streets, which are built into the side of the coastal hills and considered a must-see site for visitors.

The area is known for its collection of historic businesses, eateries, and teahouses, allowing visitors to relive the past while sampling local specialties and purchasing handicrafts and other knick-knacks.

Ohh...looking at the name of the tea house, had given me a thousand kind of imaginations, just like dreams in life.

The deco in that tea house is very interesting, how could they be so nonchalantly seeing this?

Look at all of these pledges they had given for their foods, no preservative, no additives...Seriously, is that true?

Anyway, these foods are simply not our cup of tea lah...

I was totally fascinated by the tea house. Gosh, really have the urge to go inside there to enjoy a long tea break. But wait, where is the gang?

One of the souvenir shops...

Another tea shop..

So cool...living here can slow down my life for at least 10X.

Due to shower rain, we didn't make a detour to that direction.

So, we just continued to walk straight from one end to the other.

There are numerous things to eat in Jiufen, for example, fishball soup, yuyuan (taro balls), dumplings served hot or cold with sweet bean, and mochi are all widely available. The sheer number of restaurants can be a little overwhelming though.

The "manufacturing plant" is set up in the shop as well. It's fun to stand there to watch them making their product on the site. Too bad my gang didn't seem very interested in it either.

Grandma Lai's Yuyuan (賴阿婆芋圓) at No.143, Jishan Street, is the most famous one for its taro balls. Yeap, that's the one.

That's the taro balls from Grandma Lai's, the taste & texture are both good. I like it.

All sorts of fish balls are very famous too.

The street have so many shops vending the most famous country snack of Jiufen, so many historical items are well reserved too. Such an interesting place.

After trying a few local snacks, my tummy was all full...

Yet, when I saw this, I couldn't resist to buy one. It taste very good too.

If I have more space in my stomach, I would have eat this...

and this too...

Ah...we have a similar glass apple tree at home too, just that our apples are red.

Kid of old street.

Ok, that seems to be the end of old street.

Apparently, we exited from the most popular entrance, located near the bus station.

I did enjoy some great time wandering around Jiufen old streets. I'm sure will miss its charm, and will certainly recommend it to whoever that want to go Taiwan.

YehLiu Geopark

2012-01-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

The next day, we hired a private taxi driver to chauffeur us to northern part of Taiwan for whole day. We think this would be the most convenient & comfortable way for the elderly.

The taxi driver came to pick us from the hotel at around 9am. Then we headed straight to north coast, Keelung region. After 1 hour plus, we arrived at our 1st destination.

After 10-year plus had passed, this was the 2nd re-visitation to Yehliu Geopark for husband & I. This time, we re-visit the place with our sons & parents, how time does fly...

The gang...

The Camel rock, it also looks like the figure of a snail.

Yo, let's go...

Soon entered the park, sons were attracted by the pot holes lined along the shore. There are nothing too special inside the holes except the frog's eggs.

Still the same YehLiu Geopark that I remember...

except that there are too many tourists visiting this place compared to last time, and 90% of them are from mainland China.

After 15 min walking, the parents wanted to take short break already.

The tourists never break in the line and thus, it's hard to get pictures without any strangers clogging my view finder.

So like a layer cake to me...yummy.

Well, just got to accept the fact as it is...

The Geopark can be divided into 3 areas. The first contains mushroom rock & ginger rock, as well as cleavage, pothole & melting erosion panel. On top of that, the famous candle shaped rock & the ice cream rock can be seen in this area too.

Situated in the midst of mushroom rocks...

This park is also famous for the ginger-rocks everywhere along the shore.

Ginger here...

ginger there....ginger everywhere.....

There is also honeycomb rocks around, that had prompted me to think of ginger-honey drinks.

Another famous are those sea-candle rocks (燭台石).

What a formation, they really looks so much like candles...

like a voyage on Mars...they were actually walking across the Melting Erosion Panel.

Son posed in front of the sea-candles, I like it.

He's too.

Ooops, that mushroom head had fallen down...

One thing I dislike the most about tourist group from China...their tour guide simply used a loud speaker in narrating. The noise pollution that they have created is very irritating indeed.

Everywhere are tourists...

If they were allowed to go into the water, I think the place will be packed too...

Soon when husband walked to that point, he was waved back by the guard. He kept complaining after the "shoo".

The potholes that sons like a lot.

That rock looks so peculiar.

This too.

Such a distinctive feature of the cape with hoodoo stones dot its surface.

Only the mother of nature can create this.

The second area is similar to the first area, where the mushroom rock & the ginger rock are the main focuses, only they are fewer in numbers.

The famous rock in this area is the Queen's Head, Dragon's Head rock, etc. Gosh, people need to queue up in order to take a picture with the Queen's Head. No way we gonna line up like this just to take a picture with a rock. So, we simply walked pass the Queen.

Statue of Mr. T.J. Lin.

Son was standing on the Speed Testing Stand.

We skipped the second area and walked slowly towards the third area.

The third area is the wave-cut platform, several rocks of grotesque shapes and sizes that are incarnated as a result of sea erosion can be seen in this area, including the 24-filial piety hill, pearl rock and Marine Bird Rock. The third area also includes the major ecology reserve of Yehliu Geopark in addition to the said rock landscapes.

Another peculiar rock formation at the sea shore.

A giant bird-like rock is situated near the entrance of wave-cut platform while its formation is due to the impact of weathering.

It is said that a Netherland-owned sailboat was shipwrecked on the offshore sea of Yeahliu and floated to the front area of Lover’s Cave. None of the crew in the ship survived, yet a little bird was standing on a rock and kept whimpering for help until it died. As a result, the rock was named after Marine Bird (Bird of Sailing) in memory of the little bird.

From here, we walked back to the second area...

One of the pedestrian bridges...

Another pedestrian bridge..

Mazu Cave.

The second area is near the coast, rocks that developed into 4 different kinds of formation can be seen, such as elephant rock, fairy's shoe, earth rock & peanut rock. The aforementioned are parts of the layers featuring special shapes as a result of being corroded by sea water.

The peanut rock.

The most well-known is the "The Queen's Head" (女王頭), an iconic image in Taiwan and an unofficial emblem for the town of Wanli. As time pass, the neck of the Queen's head is getting increasingly thin that no one is allowed to walk near to her now a days.

The other side of the Queen's head.

The Arch Rock.

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Me and Queen's Rock (1997)

Me and one of the mushroom rocks (1997)

A Short Trip to Taiwan

2012-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

The trip to Taiwan was made out of husband's filial piety to his mom, on her 69th birthday in last Oct. It was a 4D3N free-and-easy trip, hope the parents could have some fresh moments in Taiwan.

Our hotel room. Gosh, I have forgotten what's the name of that hotel lo, just remember it's located right in down town, next to a famous bakery shop.

There are 2 queen size bed in the delux room. Son's bed is at the other side of the room, just opposite ours.

The view outside the room is not pleasant though. But since we would be outside most of the time, that's not a major issue here.

As long as the room is pleasant enough, that's fine to us.

New Members

2012-01-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Here, I want to welcome those new "members" that had moved to our house since last year. I think they will probably stay in our place for quite some time...

Year End...Year Starts...

2012-01-02T03:25:00.000-08:00

The end of a year and the beginning of a year has always been a special moment to me...

I have started to usher the new year a little bit earlier & longer this time. Precisely, my holiday was started 2 days before the Christmas & was ended 2 days after the New Year. Husband & the kids are the same too. All this can only be described in one word - FABULOUS !

May this year be another BEAUTIFUL year to all my loved one & friends.

Hotel Villa Luisa

2011-08-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've almost neglected this batch of photos taken from our hotel in Rapallo, called Hotel Villa Luisa, which worth a mention here.

Since the hotel doesn't have a family suit to offer to the 4 of us, they gave 2 individual rooms to us with no extra charges. Furthermore, the hotel provided free parking lot for us. How generous of the owner.

Although the rooms are not too big, they are very homely.

I love the furniture & decoration, very classic, very Italian feels.

Son's room was just next door. Both of our rooms are connected with an interior door.

Feel very homely.

The small pavement at our front door.

The owner is an Italian man about our age. He told us the hotel was actually started by his father and he is slowly taking over the hotel from his dad now.

I can see that he is a very hard working man. Whenever we were in the hotel, be it in the early morning & late evening, he was there to greet us. Also, he seems to involve intensively in the hotel's daily chores. He even mixed the coffee for us & boiled the hot water to fill in son's cup noddles etc.

I'm not saying Italian ppl are not hardworking, but we hardly see any Italian ppl works so hard and humble like he did. For this, I really respect him.

Although the hotel is only rated as 3 stars (we heard that it's because of no internet connection & restaurant), the owner had provided a very pleasant accommodation which worth a lot more than this.

The open dining area is more than comfortable for us to sit there to take a long breakfast.

Other public area in the hotel is very lovely too, just like HOME. Too bad I didn't bring my camera along when I wandered in the hotel the other day.

They have also planted some orange trees in their front yard.

Some tables & chairs are put there casually for everyone's liking.

In summary, the hotel is simply a charming one. It got her own style, just like her owner.

Video - San Fruttuoso

2011-08-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

San Fruttuoso

2011-08-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

Every vacation will go to its end eventually, and San Fruttuoso is it.

Unlike the other coastal villages, we didn't get to see colorful houses along the shore. Instead, there is only an irony white abbey located in the bay, dominant the whole San Fruttuoso.

Abbey of San Fruttuoso of Capodimonte is a religious building. To me, the Abbey is no less beautiful than other colorful houses which we have seen all this time.

The other part of San Fruttuoso.

Somewhere near the abbey on the seabed is located the famous statue of Christ of the Deep, placed there in 1954. Husband think we would need to hire another boat to go there for a look. So, we didn't.

Near the abbey, there is a bathing beach, with a part of free access, a bathhouse, bars & food place for the tourists.

The abbey regularly hosts classical concerts and light music. Imagine a concert held in this place, so cool !

The rugged coastal line.

We disembarked the boat from this small pier.

It's a very beautiful beach down there.

The boys said they want to join the rest of the ppl to dip in the sea.

We have no idea how to go to the other side of the beach, if not by swimming? End up, we didn't bother to go there.

Before going down to the beach, we walked up the hill for a quick tour. 5 minutes later, we set foot at the front door of the abbey.

The abbey was dedicated to San Fruttuoso of Tarragona, bishop and saint of the Spanish, whose ashes are kept in the abbey.

Comparing to the heat waves out there, inside the church is so cool that I almost wanted to take a nap in here.

A big sea shell that was sold at a small hawker stall outside the church (cost around HK$ 120-140).

Actually, we have seen this shell for so many times and was so tempted to buy it, but didn't. Later, we found this shell in a shop in HK, sold at HK$ 40 only.

We followed the only path and walked up the hill a bit further....

There is nothing much to see around this place, just the backyard of the church.

One doesn't need an expert to tell how old the church is....the church was built in 13th century, more than 800 years ago.

Ok, we have walked to the opposite side already.

The abbey as view from its left side.

A touristy restaurant situated at the mid level, which has the only advantage to be in San Fruttuoso. We heard that the food quality is medium but the prices are really too high for what we can get. Well, I guess that's normal.

We by pass the restaurant and walked down to the beach side.

As soon as we have settled ourselves under a shade, William couldn't wait to take off his clothes and ran straight to the beach.

Looking at the glaring sun, I was really worried that he would get sun burnt. But he looks so happy out there, so we just let him be.

With the experiences he had had on the day before, he seem to enjoy swimming more this time. I guess he had slowly get use of the salty sea water.

Vincent is the same too. He dare to swim to the deeper part and seem enjoy it very much. Just that we need to keep 2 very close eyes on him as we saw no life guide around here.

While the boys were playing close to the shore, I free one of my eyes to sweep around the beach.

This handsome young man must have thought that I am a journalist or what? Haha...

Some were gambling under the big umbrella.

Some were sun bathing...

When I saw my boy sun bathing himself like this, I really laughed out.

20 minutes later, we made them get out from there. I checked their body carefully, and relieved to find no sign of burning. The only logic explanation I could think of is the cold sea-water had lower down the temperature fast, so they don't get burn.

On the ride back to Rapallo, William was so tired that he felt asleep on my lap.

We were by then, all so exhausted that we felt content to stop the trip just right here.

It's a wonderful family vacation, and I feel very lucky and grateful for having the chance to visit to all those lovely places. Also, thanks to hubby who had made this vacation a successful one.

Portofino

2011-08-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

From Santa Margherita, it only takes about 20 min to bring us to our 1st destination, Portofino.

Even from far, I was impressed by the beauty of Portofino....

Our boat was approaching the harbor slowly...

I really think that Italian are very good in arts. From castles to churches to village houses, they never failed to impress me.

Portofino is known as the resort of the rich and famous, but there is much more to see here than just the people. This place is a picturesque, half-moon shaped seaside village with pastel houses lining the shore of the harbor.

The beautiful harbor.

This place is so picturesque that every photos I had taken look like a picture.

The boat had stopped here and so we get off from here too.

Along this street is shops, restaurants, cafes and luxury hotels.

A very friendly tourist had offer himself to take a family photo for us.

He even care enough to take another shot for back up. Both also very good. Thank to him.

The sea water is crystalline green that wanted to dive in for a swim (no way, just kidding).

Some luxurious yachts were parked at the harbor.

Who's Anastasca II?

When I strike mark-6 later, I will consider buying a yacht like this to pamper myself, my family & my friends.

In order to avoid the crowds, we didn't go to the town center straight away like most of the tourists did. Instead, we walked to the opposite direction to explore this place first.

We looked up and saw a castle sit atop the hill, so we decided to walk up to take a quick look of it.

The view we get to see when we almost reach the top of the hill, breathe-taking-heavenly beautiful.

After 15 minutes, we reached the castle that sits atop the hill overlooking the village. The castle is vacant now a days.

The entrance to the castle.

First, we need to pass through a garden.

The garden outside is more like a fruit garden, not many flowers though.

Some of the trees inside the garden.

There is nothing too special about the castle and the garden, except this is a good place to overlook the village & its harbor below.

We took a short break at the top, then started to walk down the hill....

10 minutes later, we were back to the sea level again.

A local fisherman was painting his boat.

The time was 11 am, a bit late for breakfast & a bit early for lunch. And brunch doesn't seem popular here.

We took a pee break in a public toilet, at seafront. It's a cool one.

The crowds have gone when we returned here. So, it's a good time to stroll around at our own pace then.

We bypassed all those seemingly expensive restaurants and walked into the town.

Walking towards the town.

As usual, the main street is lined up with shops, restaurants, cafes. Just that, this place seems to have more galleries than the other towns we have visited.

Also, this town is very classic.

A painter was doing his arts outside a gallery. Vincent was very interested in it, so we stood behind him and watched him brushing for a while.

Then we entered his gallery at a basement to take a look. My my, his gallery is quite a big one, with lots of beautiful painting (mostly oil) displayed in there. We had spent quite a long time to admire his collection. If it's not because the price is too expensive, we have at least bought one of it.

Too bad photography is strictly prohibited, which is understandable.

We left the gallery and continued the walk to the other part of the town. The glaring hot sun had pushed us to want to walk in the shade.

A restaurant with a big ankle outside its front door.

The weather was really too hot, so we took a short water-break at here.

William and his new-born dino, from the egg he had bought from Chamonix town. He carried it everywhere he go since then.

Although his thinking is quite mature at times, he is still a 7-year-old kid after all.

Sons and I.

Vincent is getting more mature too, more aware of his surrounding, which is a good sign.

Husband & I, we have spent time together for 20 years by now. How time does fly.

We passed by another gallery that had one of its painting displayed on the street. Awesome.

Eden Ristorante Hotel, hidden in the side street. I took a peep, and I think it's not cheap.

To our surprise, Vincent had requested we took him to visit the gallery which we had spent a long time just now. So, we made a detour and back to that gallery.

When the woman saw us agin, she thought we were going to buy one of the painting. We told her honestly that our son was very interested in painting, and he would like to take another look of it. She was happy to hear that though she knew we were not here to buy any of them.

We had spent another 15 min in the gallery. Just before we left, I couldn't help to take a picture of a painting that was put along the stair case. We had asked the woman to quote us for a painting which is about this size just now, it cost more than HK$ 33K ! (air freight charges is included).

I have forgotten what's the name of the painter, but judging from the quotation, we think he should be quite well known in the region.

The boat still hasn't arrived, so we have some more time to explore this town.

From our experience...the more we look into a thing, the higher chances we would buy it. Well, it's true again. we had bought some souvenirs from this shop.

While waiting for our turn to get on board the boat, I took some last shots of this beautiful place.

Apparently, this scene is the most frequently painted by the painters in Portofino.

They probably need to take quite a long time to get it painted, but it just take less than a second for a camera to capture it. Both equally beautiful in their own sense, but the price difference is huge.

So, I think only the filthy rich people will buy the painting.

Santa Margherita

2011-08-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

We woke up in another hot sunny day. In fact, darn hot. Gosh...

One thing about the ferry boat, the windows can't be opened fully wide. So, the ventilation inside the boat is not very good under the hot sun. Unless we wanted to get ourselves roasted, we have no other choice but to remain seated inside.

Luckily, the journey hopped from one island to the other isn't very long, plus the good view along the shore, made the boat ride bearable.

Whose castle is that?

15 minutes later, our boat was approaching the 1st town in its route.

I have no idea what this town is called. But it sure looks very colorful and beautiful even from the far.

Needless to say, this must be one of the hottest tourist resorts.

Really very eye-catching.

Another castle on the sea. Looks like these places had been attacked by pirates very often in the past?

Our trip manager said we were not going to get off here, so we stayed.

Getting ourselves roasted for a while on the deck.

While the boat stopped at the harbor to let the passenger disembark, it's a good chance to take some photos from the deck.

Ok, now I know this town is called Santa Margherita.

Sons wanted to take this ride, we told them maybe later.

The boat sailed off when none wanted to disembark anymore.

Again, whose castle is that?

Unknown Villages

2011-08-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

Time was getting late, so we got to skip some of the towns which worth visiting. Furthermore, we felt increasingly tired after visiting 3 town in a rows.

Also, the hot weather had gradually spoil our mood to walk any further. So, we decided to go back to the hotel.

When the boat sailed near to this town, we were very tempted to get off the boat. Anyway, we didn't.

I have forgotten what's this one is called.

These people are like seals, like to dominate all the rocks along the coastal line. Just that seal won't read.

Again, I didn't know what that small village is called. We had simply skipped this one too.