Our final day in Hong Kong was a race to see as much as we could. 🙂 We began early in the morning after we checked out of our hotel with another Star ferry ride back over to Hong Kong island. Which, by the way, cost $4.40 Hong Kong dollars for two of us to cross one way. That works out to just over a quarter ($0.25!!) each. What a deal for a romantic boat ride!
The first stop for the day was to the Ocean Park. This is a large combination amusement park and oceanarium.
Here is the view from the gondola as we go from one half of the park to the other.
Once we arrived at the top, this is the view that greeted us. I was really struck by the sheer number of ships that were coming and going. It’s a great perspective on just how much commerce is conducted on and by Hong Kong.
While we didn’t partake in any of the amusement/theme park rides (it just didn’t compare to any of the Six Flags parks), we did see some fascinating and well done displays.
Even in the pictures, these jellies just look surreal…
I am still a fan of watching rays swim through the water. Such grace and elegance.
This is perhaps Anna’s least favorite sea creature, the Moray eel.
Of course, there were two Giant Pandas lounging. We learned that they spend 41% of their time resting, 55% eating and 4% doing other things. Apparently, we came during the 41%.
We next headed down to Stanley’s Market. Yes, I know we had already been shopping quite a bit, but hadn’t bought much. We mostly enjoyed wandering among the myriad of shops.
After we were totally shopped out (and now carrying a few bags of souvenirs :-)), we hopped a bus to the city.
We were headed to the Victoria Peak Tram for the highly touted ride up to the peak. The tram has been in operation since 1888, so it’s been around for a while. Nevertheless, we made it safely to the “top.” When we arrived, we found a shopping mall, several restaurants and lots of people. Since we wanted to reach the actual peak, we still had 30 minutes more hiking.
This is a view from the ride up.
We heard the sunsets were very nice from the peak, and while a little hazy, this one did not disappoint us.
We had worked up a healthy appetite during the day. We found a very nice, romantic restaurant right on the peak as well.
We ended our Hong Kong experience with another light show. This time, our vantage point was from the top of Victoria Peak (just over 1,800′ above sea level). With over 6 million tourists a year, this is the largest tourist attraction in Hong Kong.
The show was yet again, spectacular.
As you can see, it was a little cold for us thin-blooded people from Guam.
From there, it was back to the airport to await the 4 and a half hour flight back to Guam.
Hong Kong was a nice introduction to Chinese culture. It was a unique blend of the east and west. It helped that there was still a strong British influence and everything was in English and Cantonese (interestingly, not Mandarin as the rest of China is).
It was another great trip and one that we won’t forget anytime soon!
We can’t wait to experience more of the culture when we go to mainland China this spring.
–Jim
Month: February 2006
Hong Kong — Day 2, Light show and Big Buddha
Ok, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish my “real time” posting of our Hong Kong trip. However, thanks to everyone who let me know they appreciated the effort. 🙂
The Hong Kong skyline at promptly 8:00 PM every night is punctuated with a dramatic and beautiful light show. Many of the buildings participate and have a choreographed show that is accompanied by music (broadcast on the radio). We watched from the Avenue of Stars where the music came over a public stereo system and even though there was a bit of a crowd, made the display quite enjoyable (albeit chilly).
Here are a few shots from the show.
This is probably my favorite shot…
After the light show, we took the venerable Star Ferry across the channel to Hong Kong Island. We spent the rest of night exploring the plentiful night life on the island.
Early the next morning, we got up and took the MTR (Mass Transit Rail) to the neighboring island of Lantau. We were going to see the “Big Buddha” as the giant statue outside the Po Lin Buddhist Monastary is reffered to.
It sits over 80 feet high and rests serenely atop a large hill and commands an impressive view of the surrounding country.
If you wish to go up and examine the Buddha, there are 260 steps that lead the way…
As we got to the top, we came face to face with a larger than life bronze Buddha. In fact, this is the world’s largest, outdoor, seated Buddha (of course, I don’t know where a larger indoor, standing Buddha is…)
Here is an array of pictures from around the top. I hope you’ll forgive me for including more pictures than I normally do (and causing this page to load even slower than it normally does), but there were so many important perpsectives that I didn’t want you to lose.
Here we are looking back up at the imposing “Enlightened One.”
After our time there, we went back to the hotel, then out to a very good Indian restaurant for dinner with some British friends we met in Hong Kong.
It was quite a lively discussion at the dinner table. 🙂
Then, back to the hotel for some well deserved rest.
The next day would have many more interesting sights and sounds to experience.
So, until then.
–Jim
Hong Kong — Day 1, Kowloon
This entry is a first. I am writing and posting pictures THE SAME DAY. 🙂 I know that’s how this site is supposed to work, but rarely do we take a break with enough time to sort the pictures, resize them, AND post the text. So, hopefully, this more timely approach will help alleviate a little of the time burden.
OK, so, here’s what our Hong Kong experience has been thus far. For those of you not familiar with the area, here’s a map of China.
We arrived late last night and checked into our hotel. We promptly fell asleep, despite intentions of wandering around the hotel to get our bearings. Oh well, it was a good night’s rest for today’s walking tour, at least.
Our hotel is in Kowloon. Here’s a map of the Hong Kong area, so you can get a better idea of the area.
Hong Kong was turned back over to the People’s Republic of China back in 1997 (after 99 years leased by the British), but it certainly still retains many western (British) aspects (streets named Waterloo for example). So, while this may not be like “mainland” China, it is certainly a unique culture.
We began our day on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong’s homage to it’s film industry and stars. Here I am trying to be like the venerable Bruce Lee. Pretty good impression, huh?? 🙂
Ok, so the statue looks better without me making a fool of myself in front of it…
Anna’s hands are almost as big as Jackie’s.
The harbor afforded interesting juxtapositions of old and new:
From there, we wandered along Nathan Street and came across this unique statue:
Then, over to Kowloon Park. Perhaps since it was a Saturday morning, there was a large group gathered to do what appeared to be Tai Chi. We stayed and watched for a while. Anna was really tempted to join in, but didn’t.
Another vestige of British rule.
Our big event for the day was shopping. We stopped by the Jade Market, the Ladies’ Market, and several other smaller ones. In fact, the whole area is absolutely packed with shops with just about everything imaginable for sale.
We also sampled some of the local food. It was a little scary at first (and sometimes hard to communicate what it is and what we wanted), but it was quite tasty in the end.
So, we are now in the hotel room resting up for tonight. We’re planning to watch the light show (many buildings on Hong Kong Island have lights on them and there’s a nightly show … supposedly, it’s the world’s largest regular light show). Then, over to Hong Kong island for dinner and perhaps see how the night life is over there. 🙂
Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to update you with the story and pictures from that!
Until then.
–Jim
Double Reef — hike with CGOs
Well, we decided to go for another hike this past weekend. So, we offered to all the Company Grade Officers (CGOs … this is what the Air Force calls its junior officers in the ranks of lieutenant and captain) that we would take everyone down to the Double Reef Beach.
So, our weekend started out as it usually does here on Guam. We did a 5K race first thing on Saturday morning. Since it was the weekend before Valentine’s day, they had a couples race. It was a normal 5K, with the twist that each couple ran a relay 5K (meaning one ran a 5K, then came back and tagged their partner for the second 5K). It was a nice change and a lot of fun.
After our warm up in the morning, we met up with everyone. Although there are well over 100 CGOs on base, only 10 hardy people dared venture into the jungle with us. Perhaps our reputation of taking the long and hard way has preceded us. 🙂
Well, regardless, we didn’t have much trouble getting down to the beach. It’s a very pretty and secluded beach. Since the only land access is through Navy property, it limits the number of visitors.
When we got to the beach, pretty much everyone was ready to jump in the water and cool off after the steamy hike through the jungle.
Here’s the view we found when we got to the beach:
About half the group decided to go for a long distance snorkel. The other half explored the shoreline and ate a light lunch. Here we are enjoying a little food.
A couple more shots of the beach. As you can see, the trees have grown out over the sand. They were probably straight at one time, but the wind and weather have caused them to list slightly. It’s nice to be able to hide in their shade though.
Here are the snorkelers … if you look close you can see someone with their head out of the water.
We stayed and played in the water for quite a while. In fact, so long that half of the group had to part ways and head back up the trail to attend an awards ceremony that was going on that night. Everyone else joined Anna and I for a continuation hike a little further down the coast. This time, we were hiking on the coral mantle. Since the tide was almost at high tide (and it was about a full moon), the water was quite high. As we traveled, we’d have to stop for the waves to come in and go back out so that we could pick our way through the coral, and not get swept out to sea. Not to worry though, the waves weren’t too strong, so there was little real danger. Just slow going.
Eventually, we reach a small cave that looked very inviting. It was the same cave that we explored the last time we were at Double Reef beach. This time we came prepared with underwater flashlights though, so we could see what was around us.
Here’s what it looked like:
Our destination on this part of the hike was a natural arch. Here’s a picture from under the land bridge.
Our friends Andy and Jen:
The plants even grow in precarious places…
Here we all are after the hike.
Well, it was another fun hike through the jungles of Guam. Next up is a trip up the highest mountain in the world … Mt Lam Lam.
Ok, so it’s only the highest if you measure from the bottom of the Marianas Trench (35,798 feet below sea level). So, if you add to that the 1,332 ft ABOVE sea level that Mt Lam Lam soars, it’s much higher than the mere 29,035 feet that Mt Everest stands. That will be our next hiking destination.
We’ll keep you all posted on how it unfolds.
Until then.
–Jim
Lonfit Waterfall
This weekend has mostly been about spending time with each other (since Anna and I were apart for entirely too long). However, what weekend would be complete without a little adventure.
So, we talked our friends Mark and Samantha into going hiking with us.
We decided to go on a medium difficulty hike. Our choice was a 40 foot waterfall in the center of the island called Lonfit Waterfall.
This was very close to another waterfall (that also happened to be the first hike we went on here in Guam, called San Carlos Falls).
So, without a whole lot of difficulty, we made our way down into the valley where the waterfall was. It helped that there was a pretty well established trail though.
When we got close, we heard a lot of talking, so we knew there were already people there. Once we got down to the waterfall, we found a group of about 10 Japanese tourists who’d also hiked to the falls. They were very nice and were just about to head back as we arrived.
Here they are headed back up the hill.
And here I am on the falls. 🙂
Here’s everyone else. As you can see, no one else wanted to play in the water.
Once we hit the river, that became our trail for the rest of the hike.
We also went in search of the swimming hole further up another branch of the river. The Japanese group also went looking for it, but told us they couldn’t find it. So, we headed down hoping that we would be able to find it.
Eventually, after hiking through the river for while, we came upon the swimming hole (I think the Japanese group just didn’t go far enough up the river).
It looked very inviting (since we were hot and there was a rope swing). However, two things kept everyone out of the water.
1. The mosquitoes were voracious (I killed three simultaneously
within a square inch on my shoulder)
2. There was a 4 foot fresh water eel swimming around in the
pool. While I HIGHLY doubt he would have bothered us, he was
big enough and scary enough that no one wanted to get close
enough to check.
So, instead, we took a couple pictures and turned around and headed back the way we came. 🙂
Here is everyone by the water’s edge (the eel didn’t stay around long enough to get his picture taken).
Here’s another local resident of the jungle (a Banana Spider).
Here we are after the hike. As you can see, we got a little dirty, but that’s half the fun!
Another fun hike with great friends.
Until the next one…
–Jim
Gingras Family Visit Part 4–Fishing and Hiking
So, as the counterpoint to diving underwater to watch the beautiful and unique wildlife, we instead geared up a large boat, stayed on the surface and threw lures in the water to entice the fish to eat them, so we could in turn reel them in and eat them.
Perhaps that’s a little over-simplified, but it was fun, nonetheless. Nothing like being at the top of the food chain. 🙂
Ok, our morning was spent on a large and very comfortable boat. The Captain took us out in search of primarily Mahi Mahi.
First up to catch a fish was Michael. We had 4 lines in the water, so when a fish was on one line the other three were brought in. The crew worked very efficiently to make sure all we had to do was sit in the fighting chair and reel in the fish. That sounds a lot easier that it is though. These are large game fish and don’t come in without a fight. Granted, a Mahi Mahi or Tuna is no Marlin, but it’s still a great fight.
When Michael brought the fish close enough so that we could see it, I was really surprised at how beautiful it was. Such a vibrant blue. I’d never caught a mahi before (or even seen one in person).
When it came next to the boat, the crew again impressed me with their efficiency. One directed it in and got the door open and the other gaffed it and brought it directly into the cooler. If you have a weak stomach, it could be a bit of gruesome site, but the process is still fascinating.
Here’s Michael with his spoils. Unfortunately, the color fades when the fish dies, so it’s not nearly as pretty, but you can see what they look like (if you’ve never seen one before).
Next on the docket was me and a fish. Mine was rather elusive. It took lots of line out and was fighting hard. When we finally got him in, it was a football sized tuna. Perhaps not as impressive as the Mahi Mahi, but a good little fighter.
Dad was the final fisherman to get one. He also brought in a nice sized Mahi Mahi.
Well, after 4 hours, we only brought in 3 fish, but we had a great time doing it.
Here are some other shots as we enjoyed our time on the boat.
As we came back into the harbor, the crew filleted our fish for us. For part of the tuna, we enjoyed a little sushi. It wasn’t yellow fin tuna, but it was quite tasty. There’s nothing better than taking your catch from the sea and in a matter of minutes, fillet it and eat it raw (with a little soy sauce and wasabi of course). Yum. 🙂
Here’s our party and crew back in the harbor.
Next stop was back home to cook up some of that tasty fish. Michael helped make a delicious meal of the fillets.
After we had our fill of the fish, we packed up our gear and went North for a short hike to Hilaan beach (AKA Shark’s Hole and Lost Pond).
On the way there, we stopped by Two Lover’s Point. Here’s a picture of Julie and Michael there.
Here is everyone hiking on the beach.
Julie, Michael and I ventured into the jungle in search of Lost Pond (it’s not very lost if everyone finds it, is it??). Unfortunately, like many trails on Guam, this one had about 10 different branches going off it. So, we took a couple wrong turns and found ourselves in very think growth with the pond nowhere in sight. However, we did come across a number of coconut crabs (a land crab that eats primarily coconuts and is considered a delicacy here). Since none of us were wearing the right gear to be trail blazing, we turned around and headed back to the beach.
Since I couldn’t let the jungle beat me, I decided to go back and make sure I could still find this lost pond. I did, but as usual, the mosquitoes were voracious, so I didn’t savor the discovery for very long!
We stayed out on the beach until the late afternoon, then hiked back to the car.
Here’s another shot of the beach.
After this picture perfect day at the beach (which also happened to be New Year’s Eve), we returned home. That evening Anna and I went to a New Year’s party for work and everyone else stayed home, packed up and got a good night’s rest for the very long journey home the following day.
Early the next morning, we took everyone over to the airport and said good-bye. It was a great visit and we really enjoyed having them come see our home in Guam. Not just anyone would travel halfway around the world just to come say hi!
We can’t wait to see them again soon!
So, until the next adventure.
–Jim
Gingras Family Visit Part 3–Christmas and Diving
Once the whole Gingras family was together, we decided it was time to celebrate Christmas together as a family. It was the first time in three years I had been able to join everyone so it was a treat for me to be there. Last year, Anna and I were here in Guam (and unable to make it home) and the year before, I was deployed to Kyrgyzstan over Christmas.
So, here are a few pictures from that night.
My Mom made herself right at home and treated us to some delicious meals while she was here!
Of course, the big event was opening presents. As you can see, Julie gets rather excited when she opens her presents (this was a new lunch box … she teaches 3rd grade, so now she’ll be the envy of all her students with this spiffy new one!)
Here’s Michael checking out his gift.
Anna trying on her pretty new bracelet.
This is the chaos that ensued after the presents were opened. In fact, since we don’t have a very large condo, it’s pretty much indicative of the state of our place while we have guests! Sorry Mom and Dad. Hope you didn’t mind the clutter too much! 🙂
Well, we also took everyone out on the dive boat while they were here. There is some of the best SCUBA diving in the world on Guam. Ok, so it’s not Palau, but it’s certainly better than most other places we’ve been! They (I don’t really know who “they” is exactly though) say that Guam is better than 80% of the diving in the world. I would have to agree with that assessment (at least from our perspective).
Here we are all geared up. Anna, Michael and I were the only divers. Mom, Dad and Julie all stayed closer to the surface and went snorkeling.
We were fortunate and on the first dive saw 2 sharks. Both small, one white tip and one black tip, but only our 4th sighting in the wild, here on Guam.
Both dives we did were drift dives. So, while we were underwater, we’d just let the current push us along and when we finished, ascend up to 20 feet below the surface and wait three minutes for the safety stop. While doing that, we’d inflate a long orange tube (called a safety sausage) and let it rise to the surface. That way, while were below waiting for our safety stop to finish, the boat captain could see our sausage and motor over to pick us up. If the group stays pretty close, it’s a fast process. If not, it takes a while to pick up spread out groups of divers. Both times were about average for us. 🙂
Here’s what we look like in the water waiting to be picked up.
Well, that about does it for this post. Next one will have the counter point to SCUBA diving. That is deep sea fishing.
–Jim
Gingras Family Visit Part 2–Underwater World
Ok, so this entry has pictures from our visit to Underwater World. Since I don’t have a good underwater camera, these are actually the best shots I’ve gotten of the submarine fauna on Guam.
To give you an idea of how these shots were taken: Underwater World is a relatively large indoor aquarium. There are three main sections and all of these were taken in the second. That is a large walk through tube under a 10 foot deep aquarium. The animal life is exactly what you find out on the reefs here, so it’s very realistic. Considering the size of Guam, it’s a very nice display.
Ok, enough with the background, here are the shots:
This is a view of the tunnel (the plastic is about 2 inches thick to keep the water at bay in the tank).
A blacktip reef shark (looking back on my dive in Hawaii, this looks pretty much what the sharks there looked like too!).
Here is a porcupine fish. If you look closely, you can see the “quills” lying flat. When threatened, it puffs up (like a puffer fish), but has sharp, unappetizing spikes that stick out.
Our venerable friend, the green sea turtle.
A blue starfish. There are many of these around the island. In fact, our bay has the highest concentration that I’ve found. They’re a very unique shade of blue.
A group of whitetip reef sharks showing off their unique ability (among sharks at least). They are one of the only species of shark that doesn’t need to move to breathe. They can stay still at the bottom without moving and be just fine.
Here’s a dusky anemone fish with his host anemone. If you’ve seen “Finding Nemo” you are all too familiar with this little guy.
Another dusky anemone fish in his home.
This is a lionfish. Here he’s swimming quickly through the water.
This is him stopped in full display.
I know it’s a bit like cheating to use pictures from an aquarium to show you all the fish of Guam, but, hey, it’s the best venue to get it all at once! 🙂
Hope you enjoyed. Perhaps now you’d like to come out and see for yourself?? If you already live here, perhaps you’d like to join us on a dive?
Until the next entry…
–Jim
Anna’s Wisconsin Winter Wonderland
This January circumstances have required that Jim and I be apart for most of it, so I (Anna) will fill you all in on what I have been up to while Jim was “watching the earth be born” in Hawaii.
I took a little airplane ride (20 hours) from Guam to Wisconsin, stopping in Seattle to visit my sister, Susan, and her family for the first time. Susan weaves textiles in the traditional Skakomish (Native American tribe in the northwestern U.S.). During my day with Susan and her youngest son Akea she was preparing for an exhibit at the history museum in Tacoma in which her weaving was highlighted. I truly enjoyed getting to know her and spending some time with her family. I am looking forward to spending more time together in the future. Who knows, maybe we will get stationed in Washington one day.
This is Susan and her youngest son Akea getting ready for our day at the museum.
Some of Susan’s textiles
This is Susan and her incredibly active family
After spending the day with Susan in Seattle, while they were enjoying their 26th straight day of rain :-), I flew over to Wisconsin to reunite with the rest of my beloved family. This trip can be summed up in one word … playing. I spent almost the entire time playing with my niece and nephews and loved every bit of it.
After a few more days of playing, my best friend from Texas (Corree) came up to visit me with her son Perrin. We had an outstanding time playing and she and Perrin got a little taste of life with the Miller/Gingras family. They made it through relatively unscathed.
I got to spend some time with my very pregnant sisters…
Here are the moms all worn out from a day of playing.
And here are my two favorite moms in the whole world (yes, this last comment is very biased)
My favorite niece looking adorable as always
There were lots of other people I visited with on my trip and it was great spending time with each of them.
I absolutely loved my trip home to see so many people I love. I wish Jim could have joined me and I can’t wait to see all of them again in September, plus two new additions :).
XOXO Anna
Gingras Family Visit Part 1–Welcome and Waterfall Valley
This Christmas, Anna and I had the pleasure of hosting my family in Guam for almost 2 weeks. (I know it’s now Feb and I am just posting this…)
Mom and Dad arrived into Guam on the usual Flight 1 from Hawaii. Yes, Continental Airlines has a flight one, and it’s direct from Honolulu into Guam! Forunately, they arrived on the Thursday before Christmas and I had the next 4 days off.
So, we got to go on an island tour (it takes about 3 and a half hours to drive all the way around Guam), to the beach (where the waves were about 10 feet high).
Unfortunately, Mom’s camera was a casualty of the ocean water (on their very last day here … after she had taken about 500 pictures). So, we don’t have many pictures from the first weekend. However, here are the pictures from a hike we went on to a place in Southern Guam called Waterfall valley.
This is a neat little valley that is chock-full of waterfalls. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
It was a nice afternoon hike and a good introduction for my parents to the jungles of Guam.
After the long weekend, I went back to work for a few days, then, Julie and her boyfriend, Michael came to join us from their home in Los Angeles.
We celebrated Christmas twice. Once on Christmas morning and once again when Julie was with us. 🙂
The next entry will have shots of the underwater life in Guam…
–Jim