Its been a long time... I shouldn't have left you...

Not a lot to report on my front. I am headed to Qingdao to visit my sister on Friday. The city is known for beer and seafood apparently. Liz works on Saturday so I will be on my own (likely taking photos and partaking in seafood and beer). Beijing has been hazy the last week or so which should last the majority of the summer, until the sandstorms start. Awesome!
I went and got a haircut over the weekend. It was expensive by Beijing standards but I think it was worth it, you be the judge:


Alright, enough of that silliness. Kia threw some photos of her trip to Alaska on her picasa web album here
I decided to try to post more regularly, perhaps about music or some other non-travel related topic to break it up a bit. Also, I pointed this out to my dad but for everyone else's benefit you can now find my blog advertised in AdWords when you do searches, specifically "Matt Lewis" or "Matthew Robert Lewis", I couldn't afford "Matthew Lewis" probably because of that stupid Harry Potter kid. Damn.
Anyway, hope things are well with everyone. Drop me a line.

Mo' Hong Kong, Mo' Hong Kong, Mo' Hong Kong

Things are going pretty well in Beijing. I can't believe its already been a month. Looking forward to heading out to Qingdao to visit Liz in a few weeks and Kia is planning on heading out towards the end of June. Also, I should be back in California for a week or so in July for some work stuff for those of you who want to catch up in person.
So a few more photos from Hong Kong last weekend. These were taken during the day. We took the tram to the the top of Victoria Peak which offered some great views of the Hong Kong skyline.
First some photos just walking around the financial district.



The tram up was extremely steep. The angle doesn't look as intimidating in the photo as it was in person.


Naturally, at the top of the mountain was a gigantic mall.


From the outside it looked like a radar dish - kind of.


The view from the platform on top was spectacular though.


I swear I brought other tshirts with me to China but for whatever reason I am always wearing this one in photos.




Chao and Yiteng.


Kency and Yiteng.
So I am officially out of photo trips to post. I will have to put some extra effort in this week and actually post something more substantial than snapshots.

From AK to HK

Last weekend I went to Hong Kong with some coworkers. I had to handle my visa situation which was surpisingly easy. The rest of the time I spent touring around, shopping and eating. Took some pictures too. Check 'em out.


We went out the first night to Kowloon to view Hong Kong island at night. They do a light show where they light up the buildings to music. It was pretty weird. It kind of reminded me of the water show in Vegas at the Belagio.



Bruce was there.


The Jacky Chan store was totally in full force.


Went shopping afterwards in Kowloon after the light show and some dinner.


OK, thats it for now. As always more pics are here.

So What Else Is New...?

More a question than a statement. Just finished watching Band of Brothers (again). Pretty awesome show, if you haven't seen it yet watch it immediately. I need a haircut but I am afraid that I might go in and come out looking like this:


Depending on who you ask, this might not be a bad thing. I gotta work on my Mandarin....

Some more pics from last weekend, this time the Forbidden City. Went with Kunan again it wasn't quite as hot as the Summer Palace and surprisingly it was even less crowded.


Here is a picture of Kunan doing what I can only assume is the Captain Planet salute ( I can only hope that wikipedia has a good picture of Captain Planet doing the salute as wikipedia is blocked in China)


Some random pictures of the Forbidden City:


There is no way they use that boat for anything other than photos - looks pretty good though.



After the Forbidden City closed we went to this park and walked to the temple at the top to take some photos.


Shot of the Forbidden City from the hill.


Facing the opposite direction from the Forbidden City.


When we walked down the hill we found people singing in various choir groups throughout the park. This was the largest one. Kunan is in there somewhere getting a closer shot. I was a bit sheepish.



At the park exit they had a little bonzai garden which was actually pretty nice.


That's it for now. Drop me a line if you have a chance. I hope all is well with everyone.

Been Busy

(I don't know who that lady is....)
So I haven't posted much lately but I have been taking tons of photos and took a trip out to Hong Kong last weekend to work on my visa. I have pictures from a few touristy things in Beijing and Hong Kong and I will post them all over the next few days.
Here are some pictures from the Summer Palace in Beijing.


It was about 100 degrees out and crowded with people


The view was great from the top of the peak even if the skyline was a bit hazy.


I went to the palace with my friend Kunan who is in town from Malaysia right now.


Some more shots from the top of the peak.



A couple more shots from across the water.
The aptly named 17 hole bridge.


The scenery was nice but pretty obviously man made to aid in framing photos. The rocks below bordered on styrofoam.