Happy Chinese New Year

2/6/06
yes...its the year of the dog...which means my year, the year of the rooster, has come to an end...but i thought you might like this shot of the 100ft buddha and me from taichung in taiwan to help you celebrate and to wish you all the best in in this year of the dog...woof-woof...

Made in Taiwan

2/6/06
more pictures for you to check out...these are from my visit to taiwan to see my friends karen and landon...it's also where i went to my mediatation retreat for ten days...ten days being a buddhist nun...no talking, no writing, no reading, no exercise, nothing but 12 hours of meditation :) it was hard, but AMAZING!!!! enjoy the pictures...
this picture is taken in taichung...one of the larger cities in taiwan...it is of the confuscious temple in taichung...the architecture was incredible and all parts of this building were soooooo ornate :) from the ceilings to the floors...plus, the altar in the center portion was mind-blowing...

here's the altar inside the building....wowowowowow....i was just amazed at how beautiful a building could be...don't you think!!!!

these two pictures are of the place i stayed at while doing my retreat for meditation...on the left is the totami mat i slept on, next to windows because it was soooooo hot...and on the right is the bathroom i used...yes, its a squatter sort of bathroom...but very, very clean....
this shot is of me and the lucky "business" styled budha...it was a great statue and made me smile...now if he would only make me independently wealthy.....hahahahaha....here are my friends karen and landon and two of karen's english students...we went to a friday night market together and i won a remote controlled mini cooper....but of course i couldn't carry it in my backpack...so i gave to landon and karen to enjoy :)

Pictures from NZ

2/6/06 -
hey there folks...you asked for it....you got it...more pictures from my trip....plus, some folks have asked for more ICE pictures...we'll see if i can get some up here too...but enjoy these and i'll work on getting more on the site :)

this shot was taken in Christchruch, NZ, at the Arts Center....i love this place...you can find all sorts of handicrafts and master crafstspeople who do them in this one section of town...very british in architechture and what a cool exhibit this was-using pinwheels....you should have seen it when the wind was blowing....wowowowowowowow

this shot is also from the arts center in christchurch....i love this place...its where a lot of ICE folks chill after coming off a long stint of no trees or grass or kids or such....this is a 3-D sculpture in the air...its really neat :)

the next shot is of me smelling the REALLY BIG daffodil in the gardens in christchurch...it may have been fake, but it was definitely appreciated by a girl who saw no foilage for 10 months :)

this is a great shot of sumner, in NZ close to christchurch...friends of mine, lynn and tom, had a place in the area for a month....can you say re-laxing...gotta love it...although it was a bit too chilly for swimming, but i did get my toes wet later in the day :)

this was my last night in NZ...it was a real quick visit...but i got to have yummy food and yummy, fresh beer at the dux delux....one of my favorite restaurants in cheech...also, i got to hang with some of my cool ice friends...lynn, tom, guy, deb and glenn....it was a great way to end my time concerned with the ICE before heading out to warmer places as a tourist :)