Sparkling Pearl River at Night in Guangzhou

After an hour drive by bus from Nansha where we had APCCAL Expo 2011, finally we could reach the pier in Guangzhou. The scenery from the pier was very beautiful, so many boats with colorful lights were going through the Pearl river which was the third largest river in China. It's already very late for dinner, so we didn't have enough time to take pictures from the edge of the river.



Entering the cruise we welcome by four beautiful young girls in lovely white dress playing western music with violins. With three decks in total, the ship can hold 250 visitors. The first floor featured a coffee house and a small ballroom provided buffet dining. They also provided red wine in each table to accompany the meal. Because we were starving, we started to take meal without waiting for any further instruction.


The boat starting to sail after all of us finished eating. The cities at both sides of the river were very illuminated with colorful lights which made the scenery more magnificent. Some bridges were also decorated beautifully with the twinkle lights. After having dinner all of us were spreading out of the boat, busy taking pictures.


A Chinese style banquet hall on the second floor of the boat, there were also 4 beautiful girls with traditional Chinese red costume playing traditional music to entertain the passenger who ate on the second floor. A sightseeing platform on the third floor were attracted some of my friends to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. The night cruise is even more fascinating under the sparkling lights, some of the lights were reflected on the river.


Views along the Pearl River in Guangzhou City were charming and gentle. Historical sites and unique architecture scattered along the Pearl River were numerous and were a goodly reflection of the Guangzhou culture. It took around two hours for the cruise trip, it's a good option for you to enjoy the night scenery when you visit Guangzhou.

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Renowned Emerald Lake

Our first lake visit during Rocky Mountains tour was Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada. The lake which was one of the premier tourist attractions made me stunning with its beauty of vivid Emerald-coloured waters. Fine particles of glacial sediment, also referred to as rock flour, suspended in the water caused the remarkable emerald color.



A wooden bridge would brought us to the hiking trail circuits, the hike around the lake, clocking in at about an hour, is one of the least strenuous but most rewarding in the park. Emerald Lake Lodge, was on the edge of the lake by the bridge, provides local accommodation. A couple was paddling a small boat/canoe when we took picture. During summer canoe rentals are available while in the winter, the lake is a popular cross country skiing destination.


An incredible breadth of geological features can be viewed from the lake, the Michael glacier, an avalanche slope carpeted by meadows where moose often graze which were created a beautiful frame to the lake. It's fall season, so the grass and bush on the hill looked more colorful. It's also enclosed by mountains, Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain which showed snows on their peak. The lake's low elevation and its moist produces a unique selection of flora. Wet interior forests, such as western red cedar, western yew, western hemlock and western white pine could be found here.


The first European to set sight on Emerald Lake was famed guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. The lake had an impression on even the most seasoned of explorers who enjoyed the rare, peaceful beauty of the scene.


On the other side of the wooden bridge where was a small waterfall in distance, flew from river to the lake, the water color was not emerald. Anyway the scenery was still beatiful, decorated by the falling branches on the lake and the influx pines surrounding the lake mirroring beautifully to the water. Its picturesque look was made me wanna stay longer, unfortunately our tour leader was not allowed it as we still had agenda for some interesting places to visit. If I had a chance to visit Canada, surely I'll love to enjoy this place again.

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Glacier Discovery by Heli in Skagway, Alaska

My mother, sisters, friends and myself, 7 of us, were joined Norwegian Star Cruise for 7 days to Alaska. One of the optional tour that we took from the cruise, was Glacier Discovery by Helicopter at Skagway, it cost US$300, but it's worthy with the beautiful scenery that we could see and enjoy. Skagway is a town with a population of less than a thousand in south-eastern Alaska. Actually we were interested in choosing sled dog adventure, unfortunately it's not available anymore at that time, it's only available until 2nd Sep 2011.



The cruise has berthed at Skagway pier since morning, we reserved the tour at 11:30, so we had brunch in the cruise while waiting for the time to assembled. The weather was not good, it's cloudy and raining. We had prepared to wear long john and winter coat, as we would walk on ice later that must be very cold and windy.


The crew brought us to a room for safety briefing, we had to wear safety vest with orange color and also put on special shoes to walk on ice. It's very effective, we didn't need to put off our shoes, just entered our shoes on the special shoes, as if the special shoes wrapped your shoes. A helicopter contains of 6 persons, we're in the same heli with a friendly couple from Philippines.


My mother and my sister were lucky, they're sitting at the front seat beside the pilot. We had to wear a headphone for communication among each other. It's still raining hard when riding the heli, so it's very difficult to take clear pictures without water spot on the heli's windows. It's also cloudy, so the scenery could not be seen clearly. Anyway we kept trying to record the scenery from above. It's impossible to open the window, unless you would get wet and the pilot will get mad at you :-) We could see a beautiful landscape from above. A large lake among the ice mountains, also some melting glaciers which created some streams flowing down the mountain. When glacier decayed, it would bring all materials with them.


After 20 minutes riding heli, we reached the glacier where we could step and walk on it. Two crews stayed there in the tend, waiting for the visitors. They had prepared the stick and raincoat for the guests. Lucky because my winter coat would get wet under the rain, and it's impossible to bring umbrella on the glacier. The glacier was not really white, it's rather dirty with sand and soil, it's not as white as we saw from from far distance.


I had to wear my gloves to keep my hands warm, the raincoat pocket was torn, so I could not put my camera inside it. My camera was kept in my coat pocket inside the safety vest. My hands were numb, I could not press the camera button when wearing the gloves, so I must put off my right glove. Only a few minutes I could do it, my numb hands could not use anymore to take picture, and I had difficulty to take and return the camera into my coat's pocket. Lucky that my sisters still could take some pictures for recording our memory. I kept blowing air from my mouth to my hands to keep it warm.


We walked on the glacier, seeing some incredible holes. The hole seemed so small but it was very deep. We could not find them if nobody guided us to the place, because it's not obvious from far distance. The hole formed various shape, it's exquisite, the wall illuminated blue color, sometimes water flew through the hole. The guide said that glacier absorbed only the blue color. When he threw a big stone on one of the big hole, the 'boom' sound was echo when it reached the bottom.


There was also a small stream with a very lucid water, you could drink the water because it's clean and fresh. I didn't dare to try it, because my hands were still numb, the water must be very stonecold. My sister said it's very fresh, she tried it. Forty minutes seemed very short, we had to come back to the post as the heli would pick us up soon.


Walking on the glacier was fun. It was really worthy as the experience was priceless and the memories will last forever.

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Unique Chocolate Hills at Bohol

Bohol is a prime eco-cultural tourism destination. My friend and I rented a car to reach one of the most famous tourism place in Bohol, the Chocolate Hills. Spread over the municipalities of Carmen, Sagbayan and Batuan, the Chocolate Hills is the province's signature attraction. They were similar to giant mole hills, consist of more than 1268 hay cock hills with heights ranging from 40 to 120 meters spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres. They are covered with grass, which, at the end of the dry season, turns chocolate brown seemingly endless rows of chocolate "kisses" hence the name. From this color, the hills derive their name. When I arrived there, the hills are green, because it's not a dry season.



On the way, we stopped by at a photo corner among the kiosks selling souvenirs. There was a giant screen with chocolate hills picture. A photographer with digital camera were ready to take our action who stood right in front of the backdrop picture. He gave us a broom, first I didn't understand what it was for. He asked us to act as if we rode the broom, and jump as high as we could. Amazingly we were like Harry Porter who could fly with the broom among the hills. He had a small printer, we could select which pictures we would like to print, it cost 100 Peso per piece. The paper quality was not too good, but the idea was quite bright.


Two of the highest hills have been developed and provided with facilities such as a restaurant, hostel and view deck. We went to one of them, entrance fee was Php 50.00/person. My friend has been visited a few times, she prefered to wait me in the park area than accompanying me to reach the top. The very long stairs were discouraged me of tiring walk to the viewing deck, but my friend pushed me to go up, she said it's worthy to see the scenery from the deck. The driver was kind enough to follow me climbing the 214 steps of the observation hill, to take my picture. I had to stop a few times before reaching the top, to take a rest, catching my breath.


There is an explanation on a bronze plaque at the end of the stairs. My friend is right, the scenery from the viewing deck was very remarkable. As far as my eyes could see the scenic panorama of Chocolate Hills. At the edge of the deck, there was no fence, but the scenery was very beautiful. You had to be careful to take picture, don't jump as the land was very narrow, and the ravine was very steep and deep, it would be dangerous if you slip.


The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion. Self-published, popular web pages present a variety of fanciful and less credible explanations about how these hills formed. The most commonly accept theory is that they are the weathered formations of a kind of marine limestone on top of a impermeable layer of clay.


In the middle of the viewing deck, there is a wishing bell among trees, you could make a wish by throwing a coin and ring the bell.


Going down was easier than going up, it's getting dark already. At the parking lot, I went to the toilet, as our journey back to town would take around 1-2 hours. There was no water at the closet, you had to fill the bucket with water from outside the toilet. It seems the water was very difficult to get there. The restaurant was also very quiet, I did


Formed centuries ago by tidal movements, the hills are considered as a National Geologic Movement. The Chocolate Hills is another contender to become one of the natural wonders of the world.

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Flying in the sky - riding hot air balloon in Cappadocia

In early morning around 05:00 o'clock we had to leave our warm room in Cappadocia hotel to chase the sunrise. Cappadocia, the place in Turkey which is unique in the world and is a miraculous nature wonder is the common name of the field covered by the provinces of Aksaray (Nevşehir). The name was traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage.



It's very cold, we went in a big van, picking up another tourists who were interested in enjoying Cappadocia from the sky. I'm still very sleepy, but it would be better riding the balloon before the sunrise. Arriving in the office, we were welcome by hot drink, tea, milk & coffee, accompanion with light snacks to fill our empty stomach and warmer our body. It's very cold, so the beverage and snacks were really helpful to avoid the chill. I could imagine how cold way above the air with the wind blows.


After waiting for half an hour, we had to go to van again, join another group. The shine was about to emerge. We went through some small road to reach the balloon. We saw many colorful balloon were prepared to fly. The crews blew the gas/acetylene on the balloon to bloom, it's from a huge tube such as oxygen tube. It's very hot and there was fire when the gas was blown.


Hot Air Balloon Tour is one of the most popular activities in Goreme. To join the tour, we need to pay US$250/person including the return pick up transportation from hotel to the balloon area. Typically lifting off at sunrise, these rides last about an hour in the air and literally go wherever the wind may blow in the Cappadocia Valley. Our balloon basket could only hold 8 people with the pilot riding air currents much like a boat. To go inside the basket, we had to climb, some staffs were helping us, because it's quite high. In the basket there were 2 rows where we had to stand, we hardly could not move or even turn our body on the narrow space. There were some additional tubes tied to the basket for the fuel reserve.


It's amazing, the sky was almost full of balloon, one by one was started to airborne. Our balloon was almost the last to fly, we could see so many balloon above us. The pilot drove well, he made us get higher and higher up above the other balloons by releasing some fuel. It made us feel superior to go higher than others. Unfortunately if it's too high, we could not see the marvelous landscape of Cappadocia, it looks flat, like 2 dimension object.


The scenery was amazing, floating down the valleys, sometimes quite close to the chimney rocks for around an hour. From above we could see some farmers were drying tea, fruits, etc. for candy, snack or herbs. The sensation of ballooning is very gentle and it's calming effect seems to put the world below into perspective. Rock formations and world-famous fairychimneys drift into view, giving you the unmatched feeling of being above it all. During the sunrise, the sky became red, then brighter, till the sun shine so strong. It became hot, not as cold as we experienced before riding the balloon. To go down and up, the pilot should measure the fuel. He would release it if he wanted to go down, and add more gas to go up.


The relief consists of a high plateau over 1000 m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks. Due to its inland location and high altitude, Cappadocia has a markedly continental climate, with hot dry summers and cold snowy winters. Rainfall is sparse and the region is largely semi-arid. The Cappadocia region is largely underlain by sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and ignimbrite deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago. The rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like forms. The volcanic deposits are soft rocks that the people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches and monasteries. Göreme became a monastic center between 300—1200 AD.


The Göreme Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia, it is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. The complex contains more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels, some of them have superb frescoes inside, dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries.


It's a fantastic ride, if you've ever had the urge to splurge on a balloon ride. After an hour we landed on the ground again. The car who brought the balloon has been standby following our path to land. They brought a table with table clothes. On the table they put the glass, some crackers and traditional champagne toast for all of us to celebrate the success riding hot air balloon, non-alcoholic beverages were also available. A certificate was distributed one by one to the passengers by the pilot. The next passengers were waiting already for the next ride.


Beautiful Cappadocia would be the perfect place to experience the magic of riding balloon, not only for growing wine grapes or its beautiful landscape, but also for soaring peacefully in hot air balloons. There are 15 balloon companies in the region, and they are profesional enough to provide the best service.

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Amazing Virgin Island in Bohol, Philippines

Virgin Island in Bohol, Philippines was very beautiful. I got a chance to visit the amazing island with my kind friend by renting a boat last May 2011. On the boat while reaching the island, we could see the barsand, it's very beautiful white sand span towards the sea from the main island.


If you're lucky and come early, you still could walk on the soft and clean white sand beach. The sandbar would dissapear when the tight is high around 12:00. We berth on the main island, my friend asked me to go around the island, it's not big, but I refused it. I was attempted with the sandbar. If you need water to drink, there're some sellers who also sold seashells in the main island.


We was lucky, we arrived on the right time, so I still could walk from the main island followed the sandbar almost to the end of the path. It's quite long, I liked it very much, because the sand was very soft, I put off my sandal and asked my guide to take my pictures. When taking picture on the sandbar, as if you were walking in the middle of the sea, because it's only a white sandy line contrast with the blue of deep water.


My friend prefered to ride on the boat from the main island sailing to the sandbar. I really like to walk on the sand, unfortunately my friend asked me to go to the boat for having lunch first. We brought grilled fish and squid from the previous island, because no people living in virgin island. Our guide also brought grilled pork and sausage from the city. The fish and squid was very delicious, maybe because it's cooked from fresh materials.


After having lunch, I wanted to continue playing on the water, unfortunately it's already reached the waist, I didn't want to make my clothes wet, it's a pity I didn't wear swimsuit at that time, so I could not play on the water. I only took some pictures from different angle, it's very beautiful. Because we could not do anything else, so we decided to go back home after another half an hour. If you visit Bohol and you like beach, definitely you have to visit Virgin island before 11:00 o'clock in the morning, so you still have a chance to walk on the beautiful sand bar.

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Batu Night Spectacular (BNS)

Now Batu has a theme park, where people could bring their family to enjoy the ride, food and entertainment. The location is next to Jatim Park II at Oro Oro Ombo village around 45 minutes from Malang. It opens at 18:00, because they have many beautiful lights shining on every corner of the park. At weekend it's very crowded, you should come earlier unless you would have difficulty to park your car. You need to pay for the entrance fee cost Rp. 12.500,- at weekend or Rp. 7.500,- at weekdays.


I went there with my friends alumnus of St Maria Kediri elementary school. Although we're not children anymore, we enjoyed to ride some of the play. You have to pay for each play. Alibaba was my first ride, it's not too scary, just sitting on the bench contains of 2 rows and 2 columns, each bench could accomodate 4 persons. The bench would move slowly in ellipse vertically, then becoming faster and faster. When it's on the top, I tried to take picture, but the result was not good, it's shaking.


The next ride was flying chair, actually I didn't dare to take the right, but my friend convinced me that it's relax and fun. I pushed myself to try it. We sat on the chair with bare foot, because no stand at all for the feet. The chair backrest was also so low, you only could hold on the chain which hung the chair on the four corner. Each passenger sat on the chair one by one on a circle. When it's started, it's quite frightening, because your feet were flying without anything to stand. The movement became faster and faster, we flew on the chair in a circle. It's scary but also fun. When it stopped, 2 of my friends said that they won't ride it anymore, they're dreaded, even one of them closed his eyes when riding it.


There were some other riding that I didn't try such as ski ring road, crazy bike (turn the passenger upside down vertically, very scary), bom bom car, carousel, trampolin, gokart racing and some other play for children. If you would like to see the theme park from the height, you could ride a sky bike contains of 2 persons. You should paddle it to move faster on one rail to go around the park. You could turn the vehicle 360 degree to be able exploring the scenery.


Our next destination was lampion (paper lantern) garden, at weekend it cost Rp.10.000,-/person to enter. There were very colorful and beautiful. We welcome by animal band group lantern at the left side. In the middle there was a shell contains of pearl decorated with fountain and "lampion garden" letter bended above the orange shell. Continue walking through the path, you would find many kind of fish at the left and right of the aisle, such as aquarium. We kept taking pictures on the different decoration.


There was big "LOVE" decoration, my friend wanted to take picture with his wife, to make him look taller he stood on the sidewalk while his wife on the lower road. We took group photo here to express our feeling of our friendship :-) We had to be patient waiting for the street empty of people that almost impossible on the weekend.


Snow white and the dwarf with the castle were in the garden too. My friend's daughter was enjoying to become a model. When I took the scenery, suddenly she had appeared in the middle of my camera focus. She's so fast and her pose was nice to see. There was also a stage with life music from keyboard, and a magician was playing beside the stage. If you are thirsty or hungry, there was cafe which provided food and drink.


A wide pool full of goose, duck and lotus lantern with Eifel tower as the background was very beautiful. There was also some big flowers and tree lantern. A colorful air baloon was the highest lantern beside the Eifel. There were some benches with beautiful heart lantern as the background, it's suitable for the couple to take pictures.


Outside lampion garden, there's also ghost house with guard wearing skeleton clothes. A glass house with maze path was free to entrance. If you want heavy meal, you could have it outside the lampion garden, some restaurants such as Bethany were welcome you or if you want more various food, there was a foodcourt. If you like shopping there was night market, some stands providing toys, clothes for souvenirs, snacks, etc.

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