Oahu

swimming with turtles in North Shore

crash into me during sunset

sun-soaked perfection

a distorted reality in the waters

"it's the Black Pearl!"

A two week retreat back to our home away from home in Hawaii.

Some highlights and things I did:

Swimming with sea turtles

Giovanni's

Snorkeling at Waimea Bay

Beach hopping in North Shore

Sunset Beach

Kayaking at Kailua

The Black Pearl docked at KoOlina

Beach bum

Playing my guitar every morning

on the balcony with an ocean view.

San Francisco

I've been to San Francisco since I was little and I never fell in love with this city until a few years back. I want to do touristy things in San Francisco because I've never really seen any of the touristy attractions. I've gotten off to a start because I saw The Golden Gate Bridge myself for the very first time. Mist surrounded the Bridge and the Golden Gate looked like the postcards I had seen. The Golden Gate is exactly how I imagined the bridge to be. Every time I think of the Golden Gate Bridge, I want to watch Homeward Bound and Vertigo all over again. I'm not the type who admires bridges, but the Golden Gate Bridge stands all glorious in my mind. I can't wait to see The Golden Gate's sister bridge, Seto Ohashi in Japan this winter.

"the buzz of the city, as we settle in its majesty"

-Vanessa Carlton, San Francisco

Sydney

Sydney Opera House & Bridge

dreamy sailboats & yachts

Manly Beach

I stopped shortly in Sydney before heading home. I went there last year so I covered most of the sight seeing. This time I went to new places, Balmoral and Manly. I wish I could have stayed longer. I can never get enough of the Opera House and I still need to see the Paddington Market. I'll be back, Sydney.

Some highlights and things I did:

Park across Sydney Harbour Bridge

Balmoral Beach

Harry's Chili Crab

Manly Beach

JB Hi-Fi

Cairns

zebras swim in water

deer antlers and spaghetti

taking pictures and scuba diving all at once

Captain James Cook once set foot here.

a walk through the rainforest

Scuba diving in The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most adventurous and daring things I've done in my life so far. My first descent scuba diving was one small step for other adventurers and thrill seekers out there, a huge step for someone like me who was afraid to submerge their entire body in the ocean for more than five seconds. Scuba diving in the ocean, seeing coral reef, floating and getting lost in all sorts of directions is a surreal breathtaking (literally) experience. Seeing the biodiverse ecological life swimming around you is almost an out of body experience, nothing is holding you back and you see an entirely magnificent different world. When all kinds of fishes swim before your eyes, you realize you're not alone in the ocean and the ocean doesn't belong to you. Being there was unbelievably incredible, better than any aquarium trip because you're in the aquarium and you realize all of this is real.

I journeyed back in time on the train to Kuranda Village, a period before World War II. The train looked like a historical trip back to the past. I imagined if everyone had been wearing vintage clothes, I would have believed I was in a scene in an old photograph.

I have a journal cover with the quote, "just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it turned into a butterfly." The Butterfly Sanctuary made the quote even more sense once I saw these caterpillars and rather large cocoons, only later turning into graceful, fragile winged species.

There's a beach at Cape Tribulation, a place Captain James Cook once ventured and broke down and I walked on those same grounds. Pebble sized crabs crawled beneath the sand, a bank near the shore lurked crocodile territory, a vinegar station and warning signs made me aware that life is very much alive on that corner of the earth. Never so much until then, I was almost convinced I arrived on a primitive and forgotten island, some sort of Treasure Island.

On the crocodile hunt, I didn't see any killer crocs, but as dangerous as crocs are, I would have to say crocs rule! (And no, I'm not talking about the gardener's plastic shoes with holes in them).

Some highlights and things I did:

John Butler (well, posters of his tour)

Tim Tam gelato and Milo ice cream

Scuba diving in The Great Barrier Reef!

Train to Kuranda Village

Butterfly Sanctuary and cassowaries

Cape Tribulation

Rain forest walks and crocodile hunting, crikey!

Brisbane

Streets Beach. A beach in the midst of a city.

City Centre. I can't get enough of these buildings.

Office for lease. I want this to be my space.

a gorgeous skyline view

night scene after I got off the ferry

tortoises rule!

Brisbane is the faraway city I've been searching and dreamily waiting for. The colourful modernistic structures, Streets Beach at the heart of a metropolis, markets and all terrain, outdoor recreation park across from the skyline have made me believe that Brisbane has been waiting all along for me to find this city.

I walked through the botanical gardens, learning the difference between the types of vegetation all over the world. Now I know the difference between ferns and palm tree doppelgangers. There were indie rocker fashionistas at the City Centre, dressed in style I aspire to. The Cultural Centre with all the museums lined up in one place, where I met Ron Mueck's life sized characters is something I could never forget. I only wish I took pictures, only it seemed creepy at the time.

On the train to Beerwah (1 hr 15 min) to Australia Zoo, we passed by The Glass House Mountains. I want to go back there and actually stop to capture the landscape. At Australia Zoo, I instantly fell in love with all the animals, especially the Aldabran tortoises. I petted a baby alligator, fed a joey, fed an Asian elephant and hugged a koala. I felt Steve Irwin's legacy. The Australian Zoo emphasizes on conservation of wildlife. In part, I now feel responsible for caring for and protecting wildlife. I have so much enthusiasm for wildlife.

Some highlights and things I did:

Hop on and hop off city bus

Lookout from Mt Coot-tha

China Town

South Bank: Streets Beach

Stop No. 17 city lookout

Brisbane Mormon Temple

Botanical gardens

Museum of Modern Art: Ron Mueck

Australia Zoo (near Brisbane)

between the flags

Besides the store, I'm fascinated with the idea of swimming between the red and yellow flags. I've never seen flags on the beach until Australia. The flags are warning signs, marks signaling a place of safety in the waters. I took these pictures while walking along the shore in Surfers Paradise. The sand storm abrasively brushed against my legs, the wind, dust and short-lived rain made the beach a perilous place to be at the time. But behind me, there was a woman sitting on the sand, watching the nature of all this. There's that phrase about being able to dance in the rain. But after that day, I knew there was another meaning, a whole other side of being in the rain. It's being able to stand through a sand storm and swim between raging seas. There were a few swimmers in the ocean and I wondered how anyone could swim under such conditions. The beach bum part of me is inspired by nature and these flags.

Surfer's Paradise in Gold Coast

ocean view from our balcony

billowy clouds and dreamy waves

The freshest tropical tasting fruit farm you could ever imagine.
a rainbow over the rainforest

In Gold Coast, I fell in love with real honey, pitaya, architecture of apartment complexes, markets and the mad, endless white raging waves in the ocean there.

Some highlights and things I did:

Warner Brother's Movie World

Tropical Fruit World Farm

In between New South Wales & Queensland

Springbrook National Park

on this tuesday, i'm twenty in twenty-ten

photo via tumblr

Happy Birthday to me! I can't believe I'm 20 already. Over the bunny hill and a fifth of a century old. June 29 is a good day and to all who share the same birthday as me. Happy Birthday out there!

::a list of happiness (pt. 2)

I never thought this day would come and yes, I'm definitely jumping for joy. Summer is finally here and I'm off to start my adventures.

Also, being the listographer that I am, I wanted to write another happiness list.

1. Writing on graphing paper and seeing my own handwriting on the pages.

2. Libraries (the printed word)

3. My classical guitar, which I'm still in love with. (it's probably been eight years now)

4. The sound of a guitar in open C tuning. John Butler has inspired me.

5. Conversations in a living room.

6. The thought of sleeping in the next day.

7. Laughing with friends and family.

8. J because he's rad, my ideal and first-rate at everything.

9. Playing for a Save Darfur charity event this summer. (I've never been to the Farmer's Market)

10. The colour spring green, apple green, bright green. Just green in general. It's my new favourite colour, I've decided.