Vacation on Big Island, Day 7

Last full day on the island, we decided to go for a long walk. After checking the map, we noticed a state park on the other side of the island and decided to go there for a day.

The waterfall sure is beautiful. But I am afraid that is as good as it gets. There are no hiking trails around here and you cannot get to the bottom either. So much for all the preparation we made for the hiking.














We arrived home early than expected so we decide to sit outside and enjoy the sunset one more time.













We figured out how to work with camera to offset the brightness of the sun and took another one, which is even nicer with the shadow of the trees.















Last night on this nice island, we were just relaxing by the ocean, wishing we had one more week to go.

Vacation on Big Island, Day 6

Capt. Cook

We rented a kayak and paddle ourselves to this place, which is only accessible through the water. We also rented snorkel gear and had a lot of fun there. Shane even got a chance to swim right on top of a turtle for about 3 minutes! Too bad our camera was not water-proof so we didn't dare to take it with us.

Vacation on Big Island, Day 5

Heard of green sand beach? There is one on the Big Island. We heard from a co-worker, saw it on the Big Island map, read it on the tour guide.

Instead of going to farmers market to taste all the tropical, exotic, cheap fruits, seeing how macadia nuts are processed, we decided to find this place. so we walked, wanna quit, walked,
saw a lady who did quit, walked more, ready to give up, walked...






There it is! A secluded area with green sand! Not many people know about this place, or they just simply give up for walking about an hour.














The warning sign said precisely that you can't take sand home. What we got out of this? Sun burn, near dehydration, dirty foot, and satification!

Vacation on Big Island, Day 4

We decided to take a little break and stayed in town that day. In the morning, we had an exciting parasailing experience.













In the evening, we went to a Luau up north. Here is the photo that I took when they digging up the cooked meat.














The hightlight of the whole evening would be the this one. These are the shots that I grabbed from the film that I took.

Vacation on Big Island, Day 3

Wash up the dirt and sweat from the volcano exploration, It is time for some water activities.

Pier of Kona coast. Later on, we learned this is a great snorkeling place as well. Actually, you can see some of the tropical fish near the shore without getting wet.









Since neither of us was good swimmers and scuba diving is not an option, we took the submarine tour to get deep into the sea.

The sunk ships always gather lots of fish in the sea.


Later in the afternoon, the boat took us to snorkeling.

Vacation on Big Island, Day 2

View from our condo patio we stayed. June is the rainy season. The sky is crystal clear and blue in the morning, and clouds start to built up in the afternoon, and clear again during the night.











Hawaii Volcano National Park is two hours away from Kona. It is on the east side of the island.

Our goal for the day is to hike to where that "big hole" is.










Lava tube cave is where fluid lava has flown over the surface. This is the largest and most vertically extensive lava tube in the world. Only a small portion of this lava tube has been developed for tourist. With a flashlight and some snacks, you can start an advantage and explore the remaining on your own. Too bad we didn't bring our flashlight which is safely packed in our suitcase.













1920's lava. Pile of rocks indicate directions. Without them, we won't know where we are going in some cases.

There were not many foot traffic on the lava and in the rain forest. Most of the sightseeing areas are accessible via car.

Vacation on Big Island, Day 1

From June 3rd to June 10th, we went to Big Island, Hawaii for a week long vacation. Big island, as stated in its name, is the biggest island in Hawaii, and still growing in size.

We arrived in the afternoon, and this is the Kona airport. Later on, we learned that there is at least three airport on the Big Island.

It is pretty unique how the waiting areas are constructed. With the tent like buildings with open end, palm trees and exotic flowers, we feel like stepping into a tribal environment. Well, ignore the big airplane and the noises of course.








Once we settled in our condo, we enjoyed delicious Hawaiian BBQ and smooth Macadamia Martini with the ocean view, and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

See the Lei we bought in the airport, only costs $4. The aromatic scent of the lei is bit strong for Lianxin though.

Castle Rock Hiking

Castle Rock is one of our favorite state parks around Santa Cruze Mountain area. Even though it is an hour away from where we live, we still manage to visit it from time to time.


Saratoga Gap trial has a good mix of features. We enjoy the view of mixed evergreens and redwood forest and the breezy air around us.















A breath taking view of the endless Santa Cruz mountains.










There are many rock formations in the park. The caves and pockets are carved due to the weather.














Along the trail, you get to climb some rocky slopes, which are fun as well



















Wildflowers are everywhere. We believe this one is a family of orchid.

Luo Dai Village

During the labor day holiday, I went and visited my father in Chengdu. Two of us took a day and visited a little Hakka village close to Chengdu.

The Hakkas are a unique ethnic group of "Han" in China with very interesting history. You will find more information about them simply by searching "Hakka" on line. This village, Luo Da, is one of the Hakka settlement in Sichuan province.

After over two hours trip, we were a bit tired and not yet ready to dive into the crowd again. So we find a nice place on top of the little hill facing the town and enjoyed some tea, fruit, along with the nice scene and breeze.










We even took a walk up the hill and visited the other side













OK, now let's get to the crowded street to see what this town is all about.













The Hakkas treat written words as something sacred, to the extend that any paper with words written on it should not be handled carelessly. So here is the tower where all the paper with words being destroyed, by burning.

















Lunch time, as usual, we went for something unusual. Each bow cost about 1 to 2 yuan (one quarter), and each person orders at least two of them. Because of such popular demands, you have to carry all the bowls out ourselves. It is amazing that no one tipped it over and made a mess during the time that we were there.









There were so many customers that the restaurant ran out of tables.

Terracotta Warriors

It is called "Terracotta Army" on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army

Now you know why it is called "Army". It is claimed that every single one of them is different in the dress, complexion, hairstyle, etc.










This is the area where the workers come in during the evening and rebuild the broken warriors and horses.











One of the few that are well preserved. What I am most impressed about this one is how the belly is showing, because according to the description, this is a middle level officer (judging by the shoes, hair and the clothes).













A newly built museum.













This one took quite a few year to rebuild from the discovered pieces. The whole thing is made from Brass.

Xi'an DaYan Tower (西安大雁塔)

Xi'an is an ancient city in China, which used to be the capital of several dynasties. I am staying here on a business trip so the next few posts will be about the places that I go here.

This is the DaYan tower. There are water show every night. This time we were not able to catch it. But I will have another blog post with neat pictures.










At night, many people come here for a walk. It is has a plaza on either (north and south) side of the tower with nice layout. The trees and flowers sure have made it even nicer.










On the west side of the side walk, you can see a few people practice the art of Chinese handcraft writing. The brush is specially built so that they don't need to bend down to write. I believe the handle is empty inside and filled with water so that he can keep writing for a long time.







I chatted with this person. He told me that he comes here every evening and practice. In the end, I asked him to write one character for me and recorded the process. After that, I took this picture.

This character is pronounced "Wu", and it stands for "Dance".

Angel Island Hiking

Angel island is a nice little island in San Francisco Bay, located one mile south of the Tiburon Peninsula. Even though small, it actually has a lot of history. We have been thinking of visiting it for a while. However, because of the ferry schedule, one has to get up early to catch the 10:30 a.m. ferry and take the 3:50 p.m. back.

So we finally were able to reach the ferry around 10 a.m. on Saturday. Wile waiting for the ferry, we went to visit the sea lions. They were mostly sleeping that day, although sometimes you can see them playing "king of the hill" here and it is very entertaining.








Here is me holding the ticket, waiting in the line.













The Mount Livermore is not high at all, making the hiking trail a very easy one. The trail circles the island so you can see the other cities around it.

Here is one nice view of the half-island Tiburon.









It took us an hour to get to the top, where we found a nice spot to have our lunch.













A shot of Ayala Cove on our way back there to wait for the ferry back to the city.

Snowboarding at South Lake Tahoe

Finally I was able to have my first snowboarding trip for the season! As usual, I was able to find a buddy who was willing to go for just two days with long drives. So leaving on Saturday morning at 6 a.m. and we headed to South Lake Tahoe.

Heavenly

Heavenly is one of my favorite snowboarding resorts. You would not be able to know why from this picture because at the time we reached here (11:30 a.m.) it was still snowing hard and blowing strong wind. But I was here and I was happy, even despite all the people! (Shouldn't they be home for super bowl weekend???)







Oh, yeah... Lots of snow and wind. Oh well, fresh powder!












By the afternoon, the sky cleared up! Hey I could really see where I was going.












And this is why I love heavenly. You can see the lake Tahoe almost everywhere from the resort. Unfortunately, the highest point of the resort was closed otherwise the scene would have been even better.











Sierra at Tahoe

On the second day we decided to try out another resort near by, Sierra at Tahoe. It turned out to be great for me because with so few people and so wide slope, I could really practice on my turns.











You can also see the lake Tahoe from the peak. Although I paid dearly for this picture because the only way down was a black diamond run with bumps, lots and lots bumps.











Here is the view from most of the other runs. Trees and lots of snow mountains.

And I was finally tired, really really tired.