36-Meter Buddha Statue

Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum is situated north east of Kaohsiung City. The buildings there are very Tang-Dynasty-ish. There is a Buddha statue 36 meters high. It's the largest I've ever seen.

Longyin Temple, Ali Shan

Longyin Temple is stunningly beautiful. When we got there in the late morning, they were celebrating with fire crackers. There is a long hanging bridge high up in the mountain. The locals claims that if a couple walk on the bridge together, their love will last forever. So of course we had to hike up there too.

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake is probably the most famous lake in Taiwan. As a Chinese growing up in China, I read about it when I was in first grade. Over thirty years after I read about it, I finally get to see it. It didn't disappoint at all. The water are clearer than I expected. It was storming season, so there were clouds and mists among the mountains. That gave it a mystical feeling. 

The mountain view in early morning from my hotel balcony.

There is an island in the center of the lake. It's a sacred place for the aboriginal people here.

The pagoda was built by Chiang Kai-Shek to commemorate his mother. 

I was following a tour group, so there were not much activities other than going on tour yacht. Next time I go to Taiwan, I'll just go here without tour group. I heard there are foot trails around the lake. That will be something I would like to do.

Yeliu Geopark

Yeliu Geopark is about 40 km drive from central Taipei. As its name implies, it's a geological wonder. Being so close to the city makes it very popular travel destination, even for the locals.

The coast is very rocky. I can imagine the violent waves during a storm here.

A very odd rock formation. This place has a lot of these kiss chocolate shape rocks.

A giant rock shoe.

A giant right hand.

Liberty Square and National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

We arrived Taipei in the afternoon. I couldn't sleep in the airplane, as always. With a transfer in Beijing, that made it 24 hours without sleep. Despite my desire to just crash on a bed, I knew better. I needed to fight the jet lag, that meant not going to sleep until night time. So we went to Liberty Square to see the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

This is the arch that marks the Liberty Square. The text says Liberty Square now, but it used

to say something else. Something about great China. It was changed around 2007.

The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in at the opposite end of Liberty Square. There is a

big sitting statue of him in the middle of the hall. A museum dedicated tohim is at the lower levels.

Roof of the memorial hall.

Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of Republic of China during World War Two. After the world war, China was plunged into a civil war between Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist Party and the Communist Party. Eventually, the communist won the war on mainland China and Nationalist Party along with all the remaining army had to retreat to Taiwan. They vowed to return and retake the whole China. They never did.

This is Chiang Kai-Shek.

His car.

His guards.

NYC Whales & Dolphins Watching

We no longer have to drive to Boston to go on a whale-watching cruise any more. There is American Princess Cruises right there on the Rockaway in Queens New York. I found out about it last year and finally get to go with my family to see the whales.

The cruise went around the Rockaway Peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean. We were able to see the NYC skyline at all time, but not a single sign of whales. We cruised around some giant schools of fish along the shore. The marine biologist on board insist that the whales should be around since we were literally floating on the seafood buffet for whales.

We finally gave up on the whales, but we did met a big pod of dolphins feeding and jumping around. At least we got something. I shot over one thousand photos of them, but only get to keep five. These critters were fast. I only managed to catch their backs and tails. Next time I'll just bring along a camcorder. At least I can catch the actions.

On the background, it's New York City skyline.

That's Verrazano Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island on the background.

We were right outside New York Harbor, so there were many container ships sailing about.

This is a big group. There were at least 30 or 40 of them playing about.

Here's another shot of them.

Seagulls keep following our ship, probably hoping to catch some discarded food.

This is the ship we rode on.

There were tons of fish swimming about, but no whales came to eat them.

My son loved this old sailor for some reason.