Sunset - A Cruising Couple » A Cruising Couple

6 Ways to Photograph the Hong Kong Skyline

May 222013

It’s no secret that Hong Kong has one of the most beautiful skylines in the world.

Still, I didn’t expect to be wowed by it quite like I was.

Towering skyscrapers, their reflection shimmering on Victoria Harbor, appeared to engulf us on all sides. By day the lofty buildings were a reminder of how many people cram into Hong Kong’s dense living spaces. By night the cosmopolitan city came alive, and its sparkling silhouette provided the most romantic of backgrounds for an evening stroll—a perfect way to celebrate our two year anniversary.

While exploring, we found ourselves stopping in our tracks again and again in an effort to absorb just a little more of the man-made beauty surrounding us. Each vantage point offered a different perspective of the city, mixing old and new, history and progress. Add to that the boats slowly cruising by or the majestic Peak providing a natural contrast to the concrete, and it’s no wonder we were happy to spend hours wandering, cruising, hiking and dining with the view. Of course, taking it all in over a bottle of wine was also a must.

With such an inspiring backdrop, we just had to take about 1000 pictures along the way. (By we I mean Dan. I probably took a whopping three.) We tried to narrow down the photos to include only our favorites, but still ended up with 29 photos. Don’t worry-we then went through one more time to put together the best of the best.

You’ll notice that the photos we chose are not exclusive to Hong Kong’s signature skyline viewed from the harbor on Kowloon (although those are certainly included). Rather, we chose to include our pick of images that display multiple perspectives of the cityscape. Even better, each vantage point can be enjoyed in unique ways.

So here you have it. Our six favorite places to photograph Hong Kong’s skyline.

International Commerce Center

Home to the tallest observation deck –Sky 100– in Hong Kong, the ICC offers breathtaking views of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula. We chose to skip Sky 100 and headed straight for the luxurious restaurants on the 102nd floor. If you happen to be with friends who are inquiring about it for a potential wedding venue *cough-us-cough* you can avoid the high prices on the menu. Alternatively, tea time offers a good value for the location.

International Finance Center

Located on the waterfront of Hong Kong Island, visiting the IFC provides stunning views of Kowloon. Head to the fourth floor-here you’ll find an outdoor area open to the public. For free. Adjacent to the ridiculously priced bar with not-as-good-views. Score. Remember to bring a bottle of wine and watch as day turns to night. Conveniently there is a CitySuper located in the basement. *Note: There is a bit of construction going on in front of the IFC. The better views are actually obtained by sitting farther back. Hopefully they aren’t building an obstruction to this view…

West Kowloon Promenade

Once home to a dockyard, this area is now a popular spot for runners. From here you can see more of the western side of Hong Kong Island’s renowned skyline. Even better, no one comes here, so enjoy the view without flocks of tourists. If we had the time we definitely would have returned here for an evening jog. You just don’t get this kinda view in Hsinchu.

Avenue of Stars

Located in Tsim Sha Tsui, this is Hong Kong’s version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While you may or may not have an interest in Asian celebrities, the promenade still warrants a walk for its location alongside Victoria Harbor, leading up to the Ferry Terminal. Upon the end of the strip you’ll come to the observation deck for viewing Hong Kong’s nightly light show, A Symphony of Lights. It’s quite amazing how the entire skyline lights up in accordance to the song of the night; however, it is a brief show for the crowds it draws. Get there early to make sure you grab a spot up front.

Star Ferry

The Star Ferry is an iconic Hong Kong tourist attraction, but also a mode of public transportation for millions of passengers crossing Victoria Harbor every year. Riding the Star Ferry is as inexpensive as it gets (HK $3.00) and provides a unique perspective of both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Operating since 1888, riding the Star Ferry also offers a distinctly historical and cultural experience.

Victoria Peak

Unfortunately we choose to summit Victoria Peak on the foggiest day we had in Hong Kong. Ordinarily the Peak is known for it’s magnificent panorama of Hong Kong, with China stretching off in the distance. Judging from our glimpse within the fog, we’ll believe it. Victoria Peak also has many walking paths, as well as a famous tram shuttling tourists to the top of the Peak.

This is just the first of many Hong Kong posts to come. We loved the city so much more than we could have anticipated; it was definitely an amazing spot for our two year anniversary. Of course, now that we’re back, we can’t help but start thinking about year number 3. We’re thinking Thailand, but with these cheap flights to Bangkok I’m not sure we can wait a whole year!

What’s your favorite skyline? Have you been blown away by any cityscapes?

Welcome to Bali!

Jan 272013

A bottle of vino and a sunset at Jimbaran Bay? Bali, Don’t mind if we do.

October in Taiwan: A Review in 31 Pictures

Nov 112012

Maybe it’s not all that original, but I seriously love the month of October. Dan asked me to be his girlfriend six Octobers ago; he proposed a lifetime together only two back. Octobers bring things like the state fair and deep-fried snicker bars, pumpkin spiced everything, and jumping in all those beautiful leaves decorating the ground. (Because playing in the leaves is still a normal thing for married couples in their 20′s to do, right?) October in Taiwan has only amplified my love for this fall month.

I think that if it could be October year-round, I would never ever want to leave. I do realize that it is actually November now, but luckily the clear blue skies, decrease in humidity, and cooler weather have stuck around–without adding all the rain just yet. We’ve been quite busy over here, so we thought we would give a quick review of the past month (including a bit of November). There are LOTS of pictures, but stay with us through the whole post to see our exciting news at the end!

Motorcycling into Miaoli County

We started the month off by packing up some book bags and heading into the mountains. While I’m pretty sure we exceeded the 5kg weight limit on the cargo rack, we successfully made it out of the city and into we’re-not-exactly-sure-where. We had intended on actually trekking with our bags up a mountain, but ended up finding an idyllic and secluded location to set up our tent just outside the trailhead for the Smangus Trees (really big, old trees). Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see the trees before the sunset, but we did manage to do a bit of hiking through the mountains first.

Emei Resevoir

This quaint spot outside Hsinchu offers lots of places to cycle, stroll, or drink tea while enjoying the views of the lake and massive Buddha. You might remember our previous picture of the statue taken from afar, so here’s a closer look.

Halloween

This Halloween, Dan and I were a little bit lame and decided to skip all the parties and festivities. However, we did get our fair dose of Halloween. Dan’s Pre-ESL class did Halloween crafts while at Kindy I took my students trick-or-treating at a nearby department store. Are they not adorable?!

Bike Riding Houli

Bike riding is hugely popular in Taiwan right now. We’re hoping to take advantage of all the cross-island paths sometime before we leave, but until we get the time we are forced to stay a little closer to home. Houli is about 45 minutes south of Hsinchu via train. It offers a nice–but very crowded–bike path that is about 18km long and passes a winery, farmland, and lots of cafes and restaurants. We were impressed by the winery for its quaint grounds and interesting selection of mostly sweet fruit wines. Be prepared for selections like mulberry, plum and onion. Yes, onion wine, apparently their best-seller.

Italian Opera and American Fireworks

October 10th is Taiwan’s Double Ten Day, or National Day, celebrating the birth of the Republic of China. As part of the festivities, Miaoli was hosting a month of free concerts and fireworks. We stopped by for the Alessandro Safina concert, and were blown away by the talent of the opera singer we had never heard before. We suggest checking out his song Luna. Following the concert was a fireworks display from an American team. It was a super enjoyable evening and 100% free.

Long Dong

Long Dong is hands down our favorite place in Taiwan. It draws climbers from around Taiwan and even throughout Asia for its isolated climbing on sandstone crags up to 70m in height. There are over 500 routes, with options for sport climbs, trad, deep water solo and bouldering. Even though my climbing skills aren’t quite up to par with Dan’s awesomeness, I absolutely love Long Dong for it’s breathtaking views. Seriously, does it get much more beautiful than this? Okay, well, maybe this.

Exploring Beipu

Last time we were in Beipu it was to try our hand at pounding out traditional Leicha. This time was just an excuse to walk around and take some pictures on a beautiful day. The highlight was successfully finding BK, a remote bakery in the mountains that makes ah-mazing bread, with options like apricot apple and whole grain blueberry. The best part? They deliver to Hsinchu, free of charge!

So there you have it. The past month and a half-ish in 31 pictures. We promised if you made it to the end we would have some exciting news for you, so without any further delay, here it is! A Cruising Couple was recently chosen as one of Taiwan’s best travel blogs by Easyvoyage UK Check out their site for a lot of great information from local bloggers around the world, and don’t miss what they have to say about us!

CategoryTaiwan Holidays

Philippines: We Are ONE

Jun 212012

Today is June 21st, 2012. Which means that exactly one month and one day ago we were celebrating our 1-year anniversary while basking in the sun of the Philippines (it’s totally different from the sun in America). And that means that exactly 1 year and 1 month ago we were saying our vows and starting our own happily-ever-after.

Seriously?!!! I realize we live in the future—kind of—but let’s talk about how time flies! I don’t know if the past 13 months have gone by in the blink of an eye for anyone else, but seriously! I guess this is a sign that we’re getting old or something.

Dan and I have so much to be thankful for. We won’t go all mushy-gushy here, but this past year has been the happiest year of our lives. We are extremely grateful for each other, and we feel overly blessed for all the amazing experiences we have had together in only one year. We haven’t forgotten all the help we received in preparation for our wedding and honeymoon, and we will always be thankful for the support from all of you, then and now!

So on to the details of how we celebrated our first successful year as Mr. and Mrs. Moore. One of the great parts about living in Taiwan is our close proximity to beautiful Asian islands (even if we’re always working and not really able to enjoy them to their highest potential). For our anniversary, we wanted a little bit of adventure mixed in with a lot of relaxation. We choose Apo Island and Bohol Island in the Philippines (surprise!) as the perfect destination to meet our expectations. Luckily, our entire vacation went above and beyond our pre-exiting criteria.

Apo Island

Our first stop was Apo Island, world-renowned for its scuba diving. I’m sure the city is lovely, but we stayed outside of Dumaguete at a dive resort only a short boat ride away from Apo. This was a fantastic decision, and if anyone else is headed to the area for scuba diving, you just have to go to Liquid Dumaguete. It’s owned by a couple named Tim and Zoe, and they are awesome— really fun, really accommodating, and could not have provided better customer service in any aspect. We really appreciated the homey feel they gave to the place, and Tim can make some mean cocktails.

Of course, we went to Apo/Dumaguete to dive, so we did. 5 dives in 2 days is enough to make your ears bleed, but Apo Island deserves the high talk that it receives. The dives were gorgeous, and we can confidently say that Apo Island had the best diving we’ve experienced yet. We’re talking Finding Nemo scuba diving here, with walls of beautiful and colorful coral, clown fish frolicking in anemone, sea turtles gracefully drifting off into the unknown, and herds of barracudas stalking the shadows. Unfortunately we don’t have an underwater camera, so you’ll just have to take our word for it. But if not, here is a different dive resort’s video with footage from one of the same places we dove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYi6tnXcqI

After getting our fill of ‘adventure’ interspersed with ample amounts of pruney fingers, it was time to fully stock up on relaxation. For this, we called on the expertise of the Amorita Resort in Bohol.

Oh. My. Goodness.

This place was incredible. We don’t normally stay at places in this price range. Actually, we try to avoid places in any price range at all and just Couchsurf. But the Amorita Resort was worth every penny. Our Garden Villa was spacious and beautiful, equipped with a personal plunge pool, large outdoor shower/bathroom area, and nightly turndown service with dessert. (The chocolate cookies were divine). The in-room massages were fantastic, the restaurant had great drinks and food, and the staff consistently greeted us as Mr. and Mrs. Moore.

And then there was the infinity pool. Wow. We probably spent the majority of our time here, sipping on cocktails and enjoying the view. We were quite lucky to be visiting the resort on a slow weekend, and often we had the ripple free horizon all to ourselves.