New video: July - November 2009

Poor neglected blog. Though I spend more time on Facebook and Twitter these days, I would like to do more blogging and video editing. I also have a large backlog of digital photos to review and print out. Who has time for all this stuff?

Nonetheless, I recently found time to compile a video of highlights from the latter half of 2009. Some are from home in Calgary, but some are from our summer trip out to the BC coast: Boating in English Bay, walking through rainforests to a natural hospring near Tofino, and chasing pigeons at Granville Island. Enjoy.

露意絲湖一日遊Lake Louise day trip: the big hike

星期天終於看到失蹤好幾天的太陽，約了新搬來卡加立的Greg和Amy一家去班夫和露意絲湖。

Gareth想去爬湖邊的一座小山。他上網找了資料，從網站資料上看起來不難的健行，卻快要了我的老命。Gareth也很厲害，背著Fiona爬完全程。Fiona走了一小段，但是路真的很陡，兩條小腿很快就累了。我十分能理解，因為我自己也想找人背我。

到了終點湖邊後，Gareth竟還要往上爬，只有Greg的大兒子Eric願意跟著走。留我們五個人在湖邊苦苦守候，我還得看著在湖邊玩水的Fiona，免的她跑到湖中央。

It was nice weather last Sunday, so we all took a day trip to beautiful Lake Louise in Banff National Park. What an outing!

Just after arriving at the lake. See the snow still hanging on the plain of 6 glaciers in the background.

We took some friends on this trip: Greg & Amy Sun and their 2 kids, Eric and Karen. Greg and Gareth used to work together at ORTV. In June Greg moved the family to Calgary to start a new life as Canadians
View across the lake, and up towards our hiking destination, 3.6 km away: The Lake Agnes Teahouse, via Mirror Lake, and possibly a trip up to the top of the Big Beehive... if we have the stamina
這是走了80分鐘後的第一個小湖：鏡面湖，看到透明的水了嗎？

First stop, 80 minutes later: Mirror Lake. Emerald water, crystal clear. Fiona wanted to go for a swim! Gareth weary from carrying Fiona in baby backpack. She is 14 kg now
The Big Beehive looms above. Will we scale it?
Karen Sun, Vivian and Fiona. Karen has only been in Canada for 3 weeks and is still pulling out the rabbit ears for every photo, Taiwan style -- we think it's cute
Another Sun family photo. The view keeps getting better and better the higher we go
The Canadian Rocky Mountains are taller, steeper and more dramatic than in Taiwan. And the bigger ones have snow on them year-round. The peaks are so barren and cold that no trees grow there, leaving only bare shale and rock
終點站Agnes湖流下的瀑布。

Cooling off at the waterfall just below the teahouse
終點站Agnes湖，有累又餓。

Mission accomplished -- we relax at Lake Agnes, pull out our sandwiches and enjoy lunch
A new friend: Mr. Chipmunk also takes lunch (right out of hikers' hands)
The view over the edge of the waterfall, down into the valley
湖邊還有個茶館

Lake Agnes Teahouse. They really do serve tea in there. We overheard other hikers talking, saying that the staff stay up here for several days at a time, bunking in a little cabin in the trees. Imagine that for a summer job
寧靜的Agnes湖。

A quiet Lake Agnes repose, looking across more crystal waters to even taller mountains
Teahouse and waterfall from another angle
Gareth和Eric開始遠征，又爬了1.6公里。

Lake Agnes is great, but we can't see Lake Louise or the Chateau from here. Some of us have the energy and ambition to press on. Yes, the Big Beehive must be climbed! Gareth and Eric Sun embark on the last 1.6 km up this steep but rewarding mountain
到了山頂後往下看路易斯湖，Gareth覺得不虛此行。

...and what a reward it is! Canoes ply the milky blue waters below, and clouds drift across the valley toward the Lake Louise ski slopes. That's Mirror Lake in the foreground, where we stopped on the way up
The Chateau, beautiful Lake Louise and surrounding mountain vista. Totally worth the climb
Taking the switchback down the Big Beehive, back to Lake Agnes and the rest of the party, who are probably wondering where we are. This is a steep trail
Back of Lake Agnes, walking back to the Teahouse
回程Fiona累倒在爸爸的背後，我也累的只能很勉強的在鏡頭前擠出笑容。

The journey down, about 3:30 in the afternoon. It's Fiona's naptime, so she is konked out in the baby backpack Gareth is wearing
夏日週末的露意絲湖失去原有的寧靜

Back down at lake level. The canoe shop is doing a booming trade in rentals, and some people are even bringing their own boats to row their dogs about in
So peaceful and idyllic. Next time here we may rent a canoe and paddle about. There's the Big Beehive in the distance
到班夫必遊之地，弓河瀑布，就在班夫旅館的後面。父女兩看的出來的累。

We stopped in Banff for dinner, visiting the Bow Valley Grill in the Banff Springs Hotel. Afterward we drove down to Bow Falls before heading home. What a great day, one to remember

Gareth's Chinese New Year road trip

Over Chinese New Year Gareth was able to take a road trip out of Taipei. Also in the travel party were Web and David, both from HOP. From Taipei we drove east to Ilan, then down the dramatic east coast to spend the night near Hualien. On the second day we visited Taiwan's famous Taroko gorge for a little hiking, then drove up the winding road to get to Taiwan's high central mountain area. That night we stayed at Wuling Farm, near Snow Mountain. On the last day we checked out the farm a bit, then enjoyed another afternoon hike. We stopped at the Ilan night market for dinner before heading back to Taipei that evening. What a journey! Thanks David for driving, and Web for taking these cool pictures :-)

Driving the Suao-Hualien highway. Quiet blue ocean views, empty beaches, dramatic cliffs


Web, David and Gareth embark on their first hike, the aboriginal Saka trail inside Taroko National Park


Beautiful clear blue water, nestled in a cradle of pure marble

Marble lions keep guard over the bridge

A famous Taroko site, the Eternal Spring Shrine
From Taroko we piled in the car and drove up, up, up to the high mountain range in the center of Taiwan. This area is over 3000 m above sea level. After driving through clouds for the last hour, we broke through the top and were able to see this view, the "sea of clouds" Looking south toward Hehuanshan and Chilaishan, which even had a fair bit of snow on top! The sun was rapidly setting, and Web was starting to feel the effects of altitude sickness Looking back on the road we'd come up on. The tiny mountain town below was lighting up. From here we drove north to Wuling Farm

Scenes from Wuling Farm. Inadvertently we picked a good time to come, because most of the tree blossoms were out

Everything was very colorful and nature-y. The farm contains peach, pear and apple trees

Apart from the nice blossoms, there are many other things worth seeing at the Wuling Farm. It happens to be home to the Formosan Landlocked Salmon, a rare species of salmon that doesn't (can't) journey to the ocean and back. Also Wuling Farm is the favored launchpoint for a hike to Snow Mountain, Taiwan's second-highest peak. We hoped to do a day-trip hike to the east peak of Snow Mountain, as I'd done in 2006, but untfortunately we didn't have our mountain passes in order.

Instead we hiked part of another trail across the valley, which afforded a nice view of the Snow Mountain summit
Web, David and Gareth back at the trailhead

Vietnam Trip, Part 3: Hoi An and area

After departing HCMC we flew north to Danang, in the middle of Vietnam. Our hotel was on China Beach, a popular rest spot for American soldiers during the war. Now there are quite a few fancy resorts in this area Vivian and Fiona take a pretend ride in a traditional Vietnamese fishing boat Here we are in Hoi An town. Hoi An used to be a thriving trade center a couple of hundred years ago. The Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Europeans all came through here doing business. Today you can still find many old houses and relics from that time. A little further down the road from here was the Tan Ky house, built over 300 years agoA famous landmark in Hoi An: The Japanese Covered Bridge. You can see a 360° image of the bridge by clicking here
Vivian and Fiona relax at one of the many streetside cafes. There's lots to do in Hoi An: Shopping, eating, sightseeing, getting clothes made at any of several dozen tailors in the area, cooking classes, boat rides, bike rides, the list goes on and on
Exploring one of the Chinese Assembly Halls. Chinese from Hainan, Guangzhou, Chaozhou and Fujian all came down to Hoi An to do business back in the day. Here's a 360° image of the inside of the Fujian Assembly Hall
Visiting an art gallery. We bought a few simple pictures for souvenirs. The most money we spent was on clothes. Both of us had pants and shorts made from existing items, but made to measure. Even after the labor it was cheaper than buying new clothes back home
Buying some silk lamps from a local artisan. Silk is still a big export item here, and the locals make lamps, clothes, paintings and more out of it
Stopping for a drink at a French villa. This colonial-era house belonged to one of the French leaders in the areaBack in Danang, visiting the Museum of Cham Culture. The Cham people lived in Vietnam around a thousand years ago. Their culture borrowed a lot from Indian motifs, which is where this elephant comes from. The museum visit was a prelude to our My Son expedition. Not far from Hoi An is My Son, the former religious capital of the entire Cham empire. There are still dozens of ancient edifices like these standing today. Click here for a panorama view of the My Son site
Back in Hoi An, enjoying the reflection of shopfronts on the river. With our shopping and exploring at an end, it was time to pack up and return to Taipei

Hike up Kuanyin Mountain

Great fall weather we've been having -- high 20s, sunny, breezy afternoons. On Saturday we went to the flea market at the Taipei American School, then crossed the Danshui River to do the hike up Kuanyin Mountain


We took a steep trail with ropes. Vivian and Fiona climbed bravely. We even think Vivian had an easier time than she would have before Fiona came along. All that baby lifting has given Vivian strong arms :-)
There were five of us in the posse -- Gareth, Vivian and Fiona, plus the Kaiteri two
Looking towards Taipei across the river
Danshui town in the background