This is our pool and jacuzzi which is on the roof of our building... 76 floors up.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
CARD-POST
This is a CARD-POST.
I have created this 2 in 1 art-card/post-card and they are now available for purchase either individually or in a set of eight.
For more information please visit:
www.mtbphotography.blogspot.com
I appreciate your support and welcome any comments.
Thank you.
MTB
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
"IMVUBU"
This is the vessel IMVUBU (top). Kathleen and I have been "boat sitting" while our friend Mark is away visiting family and friends in South Africa. The two bottom photos depict our view from our "dinner table" which is located on the back deck. If you "squint" at the bottom photo you can see the IFC building (K's office tower) and "central" Hong Kong in the distant background. Notice the air pollution that hovers over HK... unfortunately, squinting is not necessary.
This marina is located in Discovery Bay on Lantau Island.
Thank you Mark!
PAPER SNOW
I loaded Kathleen's umbrella up with a half pound of white confetti the other day and placed it by the front door and waited for rain. A couple of days later the rain arrived. When she left our flat with her umbrella in hand, I quickly grabbed my camera and positioned myself in the open window 25 floors up. I watched as she exited the building and headed to the corner to hail a cab. When she reached her cab hailing destination she opened her "protection" and alas a small blizzard covered her. I have to entertain myself somehow... :).
Sunday, May 10, 2009
CARLEN CORBETT :)
We (Kathleen, Phyllis and I) went to Phuket, Thailand for a few days of fun in the sun. We landed on Wednesday morning and headed to the Twin Palms Resort at Surin Beach. On the way we saw an elephant being transported in the back of a truck... a first for me. We eventually got to the resort and settled in. The girls enjoyed the pool while I went out and scouted the area. While surveying the beach I ran into Luke Condo Remmers, Mudt and Jack the dog as they cruised "the boardwalk" of Surin Beach on the surf mobile. I had not seen LCR in 25 years and it was great to see him again and catch up for a few hours while we consumed some Sarin beers beachside. After a while the girls joined us and we all talked until the sun went down. LCR departed around 8p.m. or so and the three of us had a tiki torch lit dinner on the beach. After dinner we headed back to the resort and went swimming for a bit and then went to bed.
Overnight and back in California we received word via our Blackberries that Carlen Corbett Rhodes was born (7.2 lbs, 19.5 long) at 11:12 a.m. The next morning I awoke early and headed to the beach for early morning photos (see top photo). That day the girls had a shopping adventure and I went with LCR to Kalim Beach for my first surfing lessons which were provided by Luke. After a short lesson on the sand I grabbed the board and headed for the water. First attempt... wipe out! Second attempt... success! Third attempt... success! Fourth attempt... success! Then while preparing for my fifth attempt I was stung by a jellyfish on my ankle and chest. I survived obviously. After a great afternoon at the beach I departed for Sarim beach and had a massage on the beach (1 hour=$8usd). I met up with the girlies soon afterward and we all had dinner and then headed back to our room. Next day we chartered a small speed boat and explored the islands on the east side of Phuket Island. This was a great experience. Phyllis and I walked through a small and long cave which opened up to a pristine lagoon. We saw things like an iguana, a toucan bird and several brilliant colored fish while snorkeling in the coral reefs. We got back to the resort quite late and had dinner. The next day was our last and we basically enjoyed the pool and met up with Luke briefly on the beach. Oh yeah, I got another $8 massage. We then departed for the airport to head back to Hong Kong.
ISLAND HOPPING
TOP: Exploring water caves.
BOTTOM: James Bond Island (The man with the golden gun - 1974).
ISLAND HOPPING CONTINUED
We chartered a small speedboat for a day and saw and did some amazing things.
LCR
This is Luke... I went to Woodside High School with him 25 years ago.
He has been living on Phuket Island for about 5 years now. He teaches the locals and island hoppers the skills of surfing. I find him to be one of the kindest people I have ever met... truly a supreme soul.
TOP: The Surf mobile on Surin Beach. (Luke, Mudt and Jack the dog)
BOTTOM: Summing up the waves at Kalim Beach.
HONG KONG TO PHUKET
"Mom II" arrived on Friday, May 1 at the Hong Kong airport around 11p.m. or so. We all jumped on the express train and headed into Central Hong Kong. Her flight took 15 hours plus with a layover in Japan. The next morning we showed her our hood and gave her a tour of Silver Lakes offices at IFC. That night we took the MTR (subway) over too Kowloon and explored the night market (I got a cool laser pen), ate "some things" and chased it down with some giant San Miguels. After our mystery meal we headed into a massage parlor where the girls had foot treatments. I chose to have a body massage... always pleasant. After I got the ladies drunk and we had our "rubdowns" they said enough and we headed back via a little red taxi to our 500 sf flat. On our journey home however we decided to stop for one last cocktail at the Feathered Boa. The "FB" is a secret bar here that serves strawberry and banana daq's. This was the last stop for the night... really. We have all been living like college coeds on our 25th floor. On Sunday morning, we headed over to Stanley Market, via a double decker bus, on the SE corner of the island. I walked around, watched the Dragon boat races and drank BIG pints Carlsberg's while the girls shopped. 4 or 5 hours later we found each other again... I was feeling grand and they where "high" from their shopping experiences... back to Central we went. When we got back over the hill Kathleen and Phyllis went to dinner and I went out with some friends. Monday, I had a mid-day photo shoot and the girls went shopping and had more spa treatments in and around Central. We found each other again later that afternoon and boarded the Star Ferry to Kowloon to watch the light show from the Inter Continental Hotel. Every night from 8 until 8:20 p.m. Hong Kong harbor has a big "lightshow" which consists of lasers that shine up the cityscape of HK island.
Unfortunately, on the way Kathleen fell quite hard and had multiple abrasions... mainly causing injury to her leg. She gathered herself and hobbled into the hotel where we iced the leg and consumed a beverage as well as a basket of popcorn shrimp. Fast forward one hour... we find ourselves in the emergency room for 3 hours while x-rays were taken... negative. Back to the 25th floor for more coed living. Tuesday morning... Kathleen, determined not to spoil her mothers visit rallies for a ferry ride to Cheung Chau. "CC" is an island about 45 minutes (by h2o) that has no cars, decent shopping, great food and unlimited amounts of cold beer. Phyllis (mom) partied like a rock star... kidding... but she did enjoy the local seafood fried rice. Seashells were purchased in various sizes and colors and soon afterwards we departed on the ferry back to Central. That night, feeling that a good and wholesome meal was needed we headed to our favorite restaurant, the Press Room and ate chunks of beef in various forms. We then hobbled back to our coed dorm room to prepare for our departure to Phuket, Thailand in the early morning.
More to come...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
STREET SCENE
Lijiang, Yunnan, China
Kathleen and I traveled into mainland China for 6 days... the best travel experience we have had to date. The sights were awesome, the people were magnificent and welcoming. We traveled by subway, bus, airplane, another airplane and a taxi which finally dropped us in Lijiang. Lijiang is located in the northwest of the Yunnan Province just a bit north of Vietnam on the map. We stayed in Lijiang for three days and then traveled by car through Tiger Leaping Gorge (the Yuba river on steroids) and arrived about six hours later in Shangrila. Shangrila is located north of Lijiang at around 13,000 ft. The contrast between Lijiang and Shangrila is vast. I would describe Shangrila as high desert with a middle-east feel (although I have never been to the middle-east) that features Tibetan culture, rustic villages, temples, scenic views, chickens, pigs and yaks. A very quiet and peaceful place it proved to be. With that said, the menus feature yak... yak, yak, yak. A must if you enjoy yak! Also, the beer (Dali) is served at room temperature.
I took almost 1,800 photos on the trip. I wish I could post them all but.... enjoy!
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