The Hong Kong lights glows at night. The many buildings brighten the skyline. From our hotel room we enjoyed wonderful views of the lights of Hong Kong. The rather shabby apartment buildings around us looked different at night. Their shabby exteriors were darkened by the warm lights from the many apartment windows. To get the most enjoyment from these lights, there are a couple of night time activities that show how much Hong Kong lights up. The first experience is…
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Hong Kong Shopping Opportunities
As I stated in last week’s blog, Hong Kong may not be the same as it was nearly two years ago when my wife and I visited. The political situation has altered the calm of Hong Kong. This post is a description of the Hong Kong I saw in July of 2018, not necessarily as it is today. For many years Hong Kong has been one of the major shopping centers of Asia. Under the freedom and influence of the…
Hong Kong Impressions
It was just last summer that Hong Kong nearly dominated the news media. There was considerable political unrest going on in the city. Protestors in Hong Kong were upset with concerns about losing freedoms which they have enjoyed that the rest of China has not. News reports showed protestors invading the airport and shutting down the light rail system. With the daily news reports about significant clashes between protestors and the police, tourism was definitely in decline. Our visit to…
Palm Springs Impressions
This past Christmas our family decided we wanted to do something different to celebrate the holidays. Hawaii was at the top of the list, but it is so expensive to go there at Christmas time. After some discussion we settled on Palm Springs, California. None of us had spent any time there, and we thought we would enjoy some warm, sunny weather over Christmas rather than the typical cold, wet, gray skies of Seattle. While we did stay in Palm…
Autumn in Pinnacles National Park
Pinnacles National Park is a newer national park. It only became a national park in 2013. Perhaps because it is newer explains the reason why many people aren’t even aware of it. While it is located just 80 miles south of San Jose, it is the 13th least visited national park in the United States. Only a little over 233 thousand people visit in a year. Compare that to the 4 million who visit the popular Yosemite National Park just…
Taipei Adventure: Last Days Including Taipei 101
Our last full day in Taipei would finish with viewing Taipei 101, the tallest landmark in the city. (Check out my previous posts on days one, two and three) Since we were going to see Taipei 101 in the evening, we still had a day ahead of us. We decided to check out a different area of the city, Huashan 1914 Creative Park. This is an industrial area turned modern creative center, something that occurs often in the United States.…
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Taipei Adventure: Cat Village and Mountain Town
While day one and day two were all spent fairly close to our hotel. On our third day we would venture further away from Taipei. While researching our trip, my daughter discovered information on an unusual place she decided we should explore. It was a cat village where cats are allowed to roam freely. The town’s actual name is Houtong. Houtong is located outside Taipei, but one can get there easily by train. We hopped on the usual looking subway…
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Taipei Adventures
After spending a few days in Kaohsiung, it was time to go to Taipei. We traveled up by train and arrived in early afternoon. Knowing our hotel was near the main train station, we asked for some directions at the train help desk and then struck out to find our hotel. The streets were crowded so moving around with our suitcases and bags was not easy. It was also windy, and at one point I lost my hat, but a…
Your Money Matters
If you live in the United States or Europe, you are probably rich. While you may not consider yourself rich, your income is likely far above that of many people around the world. We refer to ourselves as part of the first world while those in third world countries struggle. So what happens when a first world visitor visits a third world country? Does it matter how you spend your money? First let it be said that your money definitely…
Is Seeing Enough?
A number of years ago my wife’s niece got married in Paris. It was in May so I was unable to go, but she and my daughter went. They arrived a week ahead of the wedding to have the opportunity to tour Paris, and tour they did. I got reports each night about the churches, museums or other places they had visited and how tired they were after walking all day. They tried to see it all. A few years…