Underwater photos

Taken with Kodak waterproof disposable cameras. I think they turned out well.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bsruaaot.2p15bky1&x=0&y=mv4ny9

Play "spot the shark." In one of them I counted 5.

Chris' Thailand photos

I finally got my photos uploaded and somewhat sorted. Many of them are still not labeled properly so you may not have any idea of where they were taken. Enjoy!

Click here to see my photos!

Some videos and photos

Just thought I'd add some interesting misc photos and videos. I should have the entire photo collection soon.

This video of traditional Thai dance was taken in Santichaiprakan Park, Bangkok. We stumbled across this performing arts festival totally by accident, and saw a number of performances.




Here are a couple of cool panarama photos I took with my Canon PowerShot SD850 IS. Click to enlarge:


They were taken at a temple in Ayuttaya, the ancient capital of Thailand.

Here's a video of the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan.


Stay tuned, more to come.

Finally home

Our last few days in Hong Kong were packed with activities. On Friday Julia and I went to Aberdeen to have dim sum at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. It was awesome food. We ordered about eight dishes and ate everything, much to the surprise of our waiter.


Afterwards we went to Ocean Park, a nearby theme park built onto the site of a mountain. It had really great aquariums including a shark tank, a tropical reef and a jelly fish exhibit.

The park had some really great views of the city, but unfortunately the pollution was pretty bad so we couldn't see much. We thought we might get some good views at night, so we decided to go to Victoria Peak via the tram. Luckily we arrived just in time to see the 8pm light show.


On Saturday Les took us to Sai Kung, their old neighbourhood. There was a seawall that was filled with seafood restaurants displaying many different types of fish and shellfish. It seemed that anything alive in the sea was available to be eaten.Now, after a ten and a half hour flight, we are back home. I felt sad in a way because my vacation is over, but glad to be home. After seeing so many places, I realize how lucky I am that I live in Vancouver.

Family reunion in Hong Kong

We are now staying with my cousin Les and his wife Alecsandra (Ale) in Hong Kong. Les works as an engineering reprepresentative for Rolls Royce jet engines, and has been posted here for the last two and a half years. The last time I saw him was in July 2004 when he was living outside of Lisbon, Portugal. His sons Thomas, 6, and Martin, 5, are very energetic and not at all shy. They have obviously both grown and changed a lot in the last three years. When I last saw them Thomas spoke Portugese and Martin was not speaking at all; now they both speak English fluently (and quite a lot I might add). Alecsandra really enjoys the fact that the Green family includes British, Portugese, Brazilian, Spanish, and Canadians.

Today was Julia's birthday and she requested we go shopping. So Ale, Julia and I headed first to "Ladies Market" so they could look for shoes and handbags. Fortunately for Julia Ale is an expert at bargaining in Hong Kong markets. It is actually quite amusing to watch, because it is all quite dramatic. The vendor will first give a price that is incredibly inflated, then when Ale offers a price at half the amount it is as if she had insulted the vendor's mother. "Ayaa" they exclaim in agony, then "Okay Miss I give you very good price." It can go on like this for quite a while, but I have to admit Ale is very firm. She usually gets a price much lower than I ever could. I just don't have the stomach for it.

Back in Bangkok

After a day of traveling we are now back in Bangkok. We left the resort at about 7:15am, caught a very overloaded ferry to Krabi town, then a flight to Bangkok. Our flight to Hong Kong leaves tomorrow morning so we have just been doing some last minute shopping and not much else. Tomorrow is a national holiday because it is the King's birthday, and we have been assured that there will not be bad traffic jams.

Yesterday we thought we would tempt fate again, this time by swimming with sharks. They were of the black tipped reef variety, so there was no significant danger. Still, we had to stay in groups of at least three people because they have been known to attack. The sharks were between 1 and 1.5 meters long, and tended to stay in schools of three to eight. They were located in surprisingly shallow water - only 1 to 2 meters deep - and were very shy. With a guide we practically had to chase after them. Luckily the water was quite clear because they tended to keep their distance. I think only two or three times did one of the small ones venture close. There was one large shark in particular. It was at least 1.5 meters long and very wide, and even had a couple of remora swimming along side (those sucker fish that you see on TV swimming along with sharks). When this guy swam by we were all very aware of its presense, and direction.

This was a first time experience for both of us and a great way to cap our visit to Thailand. Now on to Hong Kong!

Paradise Found

We survived rock climbing, and two days later are still sore. The class was four hours and included three 10m climbs and a 25m climb. They were all top rope climbs, meaning the rope had already been put through an anchor at the top of the climb. Our instructor was at the bottom belaying (as well as telling us where our next hand hold is). We were taught the basics, like the double figure eight knot, and then sent up the rock face. The first climb was pretty easy, but after that both Julia and I had trouble on certain spots. At one point I fell, and because our instructor Nat was only about 120lbs he went soaring through the air. Another instructor had to run over to pull him back down to the ground.

Both Julia and I gradually became more and more tired as the session wore on. The final climb was about 25 meters, or 75 feet. Julia gave a magnificent effort but could only make it half way. I was next, and after a few repeated attempts (and Nat pulling like hell to get me up) I finally made it to the top of the climb. It felt very rewarding, and I barely noticed my bleeding knees.

Now we are on Phi Phi Don at a beautiful resort called Phi Phi Island Village. It really is paradise, with white sand and clear tourquise ocean. Today we took another snorkeling trip around Phi Phi Don, the inhabited island, and Phi Phi Ley, the uninhabited island. We visited Maya Bay where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. The snorkeling was fantastic. I saw a giant Morray Eel.