Falko's Spot

Catch Up!

I apologise profusely for not writing in such a long time. More than half a year!
What has happened? Well, over the next few posts I'll catch you up!

First things first, the major event of the last half year was my trip to Thailand during the month of February. Here is a photo summary of the fun in the sun.

I stayed on only 2 islands, Koh Tao and Koh Pha Ngan located in the Gulf of Thailand on the East side of the southern Thai Peninsula - just north of the better known island of Koh Samui.

Many gorgeous sunsets were to be seen on Koh Tao, as I stayed on Sairee beach facing due west. I must have taken 50 sunset photos, of which I'll post just one:

One of the reasons for the trip was to meet Jia Jia (though we were no longer boyfriend/girlfriend by then), and here she is standing in front of a sky so beautiful, it looks fake. But it's not! I swear!

And here are a few more Koh Tao beach photos:

Then it was off to Koh Phan Ngan where I stayed on the beautiful and relatively quiet Ton Nai Pan Noi beach.

But unfortunately, my cheap bungalow was right next to a combination rooster farm, dog breeding center and nightclub - or at least the noise that assaulted me as the night progressed made me feel like I was. So I decided to try to get a good night's sleep and splurged on my last day to stay in a beautiful, secluded and much pricier (comparatively - it still only put me back $80 for that one night) bungalow.

It had a tree growing in the bathroom!

And a commanding view from the balcony...

But why so beach obsessed? Well, because this is what I left behind in Montreal, and then had to return to:

Montreal winter in February is really at it's worst - extremely cold, snowy, windy (making it even colder), dark, pretty miserable sometimes. So Thailand was a welcome respite from this. Sadly, winter isn't even over yet here in mid-April, but the coldest is over and spring is in the air!

Well, that's it for now. Soon I'll post more catch up news - I promise :-)
Ciao!

North Korean Restaurant

With the project on the last stretch, a good number of the people are leaving Shanghai to go home (like me, in 2 weeks). So, as always, there are goodbye dinners, goodbye lunches, goodbye brunches, goodbye benders. This weekend was our goodbye weekend for Derek - my roomate for the past 3 months. After a good stint here in China, he left for San Francisco on Sunday. Here are some pictures of the fun and games:

To start with, supper at a North Korean restaurant. Fun and crazy food like:

Sea Urchin - actually not too bad because the inside was mixed with some kind of egg stuff.

Dog - again, actually quite yummy (a bit fatty). I have no hang ups of eating "cute dogs" because I think lambs and rabbits are even cuter than dogs, yet I eat those... I can sense mom (a vegetarian) cringing right now. hee hee.

It's hard to see, but this "Long Life Liquor" has in it's list of ingredients "Penis of Fur Seal". Yummy!!!

The costumes at this place were also pretty funny:

Oh baby, you can really make out the beautiful curves underneath this, um, bell-like fashion statement.

Every now and then, a bunch of the waitresses would go on stage and sing songs written by Mr. Kim - the fearless dictator of North Korea. Can't say he's much of a composer, but he does have millions of faithful (if periodically "reeducated") followers.

Here are our 2 tables (front and back right). Note the heaps and heaps of food revolving on the lazy susans. Lots of yummy stuff!

David busting out his drum skillz.

And Derek gettin' down.

It's sad to see Derek go, but now I have someone to visit in San Francisco - one of my favorite cities in the USA. Have a great time in San Fran buddy!!!

Big news! Well, big for me, at least...

I have successfully changed my flights for my trip home, and everything is confirmed. I will be leaving Shanghai on October 4th, flying to Vancouver first (arriving at 12:40) on the same day (I'll be travelling back in time!)

I'll stay in Vancouver for 12 days - I hope to go to my parent's cabin for a week or so to see what trees look like and hear birds sound like. :-)

On October 16th, I leave Vancouver to fly to Montreal, arriving at 21:59 on the same day. Remember guys, 21:59. Not 22:00. I'm happy the airline gave me an extra minute in Montreal. I will be sure to use it wisely.

So mark your calendars! Falko will be back soon!

Huang Shan Scenery
(Yellow Mountain Scenery)

My previous posts were just a tease. "What's so great about this Yellow Mountain place?", you asked yourselves. Why are so many people there? Well, here (finally) are the shots of the mountains themselves. I have many more, especially since all my friends were taking pictures as well, but these my best ones. Enjoy!

A close up of the right side of the previous shot, showing a mountain formation that resembles a hand holding a paintbrush.

Huang Shan Chinese
(Yellow Mountain Chinese)

I thought that our little trip would be a great way to get away from it all. Get away from the crowds, see a little nature, relax and listen to the birds. Unfortunately, the maddening crowds follow you. There were thousands of people on the mountain. Many of them noisy, creating queues even on the nice mountain paths.

Some were very happy to be there.

Some were not happy at all.

Actually a fairly common sight. I wonder what game they play. That weekend, groups of guys would break out the cards at every opportunity.

The biggest heros of the day. _Everything_ that is needed on the mountains is carried up by these dudes. And would you think they'd put some of the heavy stuff on a gondola, and then have these guys carry them around once it reaches the top? Nope - the porters start at the bottom of the hill, while lazy tourists are wisked up by gondolas in relative comfort. Unbelievable. To wit: he is carrying 3 propane tanks (most likely full) and a large bag of water bottles.