chinese taipei

long weekend in taiwan.. i expected something very much different from mainland china - a vibrant small country striving to
remain independent from its big brother - but if sb threw me out of a plane without telling where we are, I'd say
"i'm in mainland china".. taiwan turned out to be more than similar, perhaps except for full characters on street ads..

More pics at: bendorf's photos on Flickr

autumn sales..


don't even remember the name if this temple, but looks pretty dramatic..


Chang Kai Shek was the man! Driving his bullet-proof Cadillac...


classic chinese scooter combo..


nyc style yellow cabs..


president's palace.. the previous tenant was recently arrested on corruption charges..

how to kill time on mabul?

1) jump from the nearest bldg..

2) smoke some shisha..

3) play with local kids..

4) go to a local wedding and get handsomely blitzed with Filipino rum..

Made in China

Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an "inrun" with a take-off ramp (the jump),
attempting to fly as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give
points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long (260 to 275 centimetres
(100 to 110 in)). Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport, performed on snow, and is
part of the Winter Olympic Games, but can also be performed in summer on artificial
surfaces (porcelain or frost rail track on the inrun, plastic on the landing hill).

polish expedition in yangshuo, guilin

two polish eagles landed in one of the must-see tourist spots in mainland china. guilin mountains.

More pics at: bendorf's photos on Flickr

falun gong in mongkok

falun gong movement holds couple of regular demonstrations/displays focused on violation of human rights in the mainland
china.. below main shopping district on the kowloon side on sunday evening..

muai thai grand prix, hk

manila favorites..

these ones have had the most views and comments in my flickr photostream..
1

2

3

4

manila: part II

this time a b&w batch to make it more realistic and bring some stronger contrast..

manila: part I

welcome to streets of Manila.. the pics below present a very biased view since I was looking for some interesting
subjects and it may leave you with a wrong impression.. in fact, the city itself has been recently developing very fast and
some of its areas remind more of hk central than a ghetto.. but this is much more interesting, isn't it?

More pics at: bendorf's photos on Flickr

mtr

MTR has been providing a way to get around Hong Kong since 1979. Its system extends all the way from the heart of Central
and Causeway Bay to the New Territories and Lantau Island. Its 168.1km of track covers 80 stations on the Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan,
Tung Chung, Tseung Kwan O, East Rail, West Rail, Ma On Shan and Disneyland Resort lines.

happy valley dec 08

back to the horse racing track in happy valley.. horses fast as usual

more photos at: bendorf's Photos on Flickr

hk rugby

that's all what's left from my career of a rugby player.. I took part in 2 training sessions but my knees refused to cooperate..

rugby has been played in Hong Kong as long as horses have been racing in Happy Valley.. early newspapers have accounts of
rugby games played during the late 1870's and 80's

More photos at: bendorf's Photos on Flickr

industry standard

most local restaurants in HK advertise their delicacies by putting them on display...
as disgusting as it seems to be, people sometimes queue to relish the taste of a goose
that spent the whole day in a glass-case

macau

'To the right, boys, to the right!'

b&w feet

LAOS /in Lao language: "Meuang Lao"/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic/

More photos available at: bendorf's Photos on Flickr

local mafia

the oldest temple in Luang Prabang

Nong Khiaw bridge



Akha tribe village

2kg of banana in 2min..