Almost all means almost all

The photo shows a street view of Lucerne, Switzerland. I just wanted to take a picture of the big Swiss flag, then the photo turned into a nice photo of Swiss street view. A few days ago, one of my acquaintances asked me which city was the most interesting place for me; coz she knew I've been to 26 countries and its so many different cities. However, the question was difficult to answer. I can't choose one city as the most interesting place. I love almost all places I've been to and Lucerne, Switzerland is one of them. I wanna return some time.

The ceiling of Patuxai

The photo shows the ceiling of Patuxai in Vientiane, Laos. Patuxai is a war monument and is situated at the heart of the city. Laotian word Patu means gateway in English and xai means victory, so Patuzai is a victory gate. One of the must-sees of Vientiane. Interior decorations of Patuxai are breathtaking. The ceiling depicts the gods such as Indra, Vishnu and Brahma. I bought a ticket and went to the top of Patuxai. The view from the top was so nice. I spent some time and took some photos.

Come in very handy

The photo shows my hotel in Athens, Greece. When I chose this hotel on the Internet, I didn't know much about the lay of the land, atmosphere and everything. I just checked some review and looked at some photos on the Internet and booked a hotel room. It was extremely a good decision for me. The hotel was located in the heart of the city, right behind the town hall. Very convenient location with helpful staff members. The day before my arrival, the hotel sent me an e-mail how to get to the hotel from the airport. I read the e-mail at a cyber cafe in Pattaya, Thailand. I printed out the e-mail and just followed the direction. It came in very handy. I'd like to back again.

Albino axolotl

The photo shows an albino axolotl. They're kinda salamander, but albino mutations have yellowish skin and pinkish body parts. This axolotl was about less than 15 centimeters long and it sort of looked like a small happy dragon. Lovely. By the way, I took this photo at Siam Ocean World (Thai: สยามโอเชี่ยนเวิร์ล) in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. Siam Ocean World is a gigantic aquarium and is considered Asia's largest aquarium. It's located on the first basement of Siam Paragon (Thai: สยามพารากอน); in front of Siam station of BTS train.

Statue of King Karl X Gustav

I took this photo at the center of the Big Square in Malmö, Sweden. The square had a few must-see sights. One of them was Malmö city hall which built in 1546, and also a beautiful fountain in front of the city hall. The photo shows a statue of King Karl X Gustav; the other must-see of the Big Square. The Big Square was about a five-minute walk from Malmö Central Station. After got out of the station, I started to walk on a hit-or-miss basis, then reached this square. The square was icy at that moment, so I walked on eggshells.

Get sidetracked

The photo shows a part of Vienna, Austria. I took this photo on the massive walking street. It was a very beautiful street lined with a lot of shops and a wide variety of eateries. A lot of people were walking around, loitering around, window-shopping, enjoying a shopping spree and then some. I think the way to enjoy this kind of massive streets differs from person to person. I was just taking a stroll around and took some pictures. Also, I was looking for a place for lunch. When I got sidetracked, I found an internet cafe. Back then I was waiting an e-mail about my round-trip of Germany. When I checked my e-mails at an internet cafe somewhere close to the place where the photo shows, finally I received the one that I waited for a month or so. I asked the shopman to print out the attached document files. It took only a few seconds. In and out.

Eating Sushi dipped in soy sauce

I took this Sushi at my hotel's restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. The hotel had a Japanese restaurant and they served Sushi with a Miso soup. Normally, I eat Thai cuisine in Bangkok, Thailand, but I tried Sushi once with cold Singha beer. The chef and the waitstaff were Thai, but the Sushi place was decorated in Japanese style and plates and utensils had a touch of Japan. I love to eat octopuses, so I enjoyed to have the octopus Sushi. Over all, it was an unique experience. By the way, it's March 11 today. May God bless the victims of that horrible natural disaster.

Niglihawa, Nepal

I took this photo in Niglihawa, Nepal. This is sort of an information board about Niglihawa. The information was written in Nepali and English. According to the literal information on the board, this site is identified with the birth place of Kanakamuni Buddha. I stopped by there on the way to Lumbini from Chitwan National Park. Niglihawa is famous for its ancient ruins of Ashoka era. One of the must-see was a stone pillar with inscription, but somehow I was the only tourist to be there at that moment. It was a boiling hot day.

Look puzzled

The photo shows a view of Paro, Bhutan. Paro has only international airport of Bhutan, but I'd say the city was really idyllic. I flew in Paro, Bhutan from Kathmandu, Nepal. At that time, Kathmandu International airport had a sort of complicated and confusing system to get on a plane, so almost all tourists looked puzzled. When I was looking for the boarding gate, a couple of Caucasian ladies asked me how to got to the boarding gate. I said it was somewhere over there. They also asked me where I was headed. I said I was going to fly to Paro. They asked me where Paro was. I said it was in the Himalayas. They said they had no idea, but thanks anyway. They looked even more puzzled.

Kossuth Lajos tér station

I took this photo at Kossuth Lajos tér (Lajos Kossuth Square) station in Budapest, Hungary. Kossuth Lajos tér is a station of Budapest Metro Line 2 and is located beside the beautiful Hungarian Parliament Building. I got on an escalator after enjoying stunning night view of the Chain Bridge, Buda Castle, the Hungarian Parliament Building and such. I explored the are for a couple of hour or so and got to the station then got on the escalator. It was sort of a long escalator like the photo shows and it took about one and a half minutes to get to the end point. By the way, Kossuth Lajos tér station and Batthyány tér station face each other across the river Danube which means the Metro Line 2 runs under the river Danube. Kossuth Lajos tér is situated on the Pest side, Batthyány tér is situated on the Buda side.

Avenida da Liberdade

The photo shows a view of Avenida da Liberdade (a.k.a. Liberty Avenue) in Lisbon, Portugal. I took this photo somewhere close to Avenida Metro station. This such a beautiful cobblestone avenue runs in between Restauradores square and Marquess of Pombal Square. The avenue is about 15-minute walk long. Baixa district is within walking distance from Restauradores square and its famous tall Ovelisk. My hotel was about a five-minute walk from Marquess of Pombal Square. When I was in Lisbon, I walked on this beautiful avenue at least twice a day.

Gondolas parked at a mooring

A lot of gondolas parked at their moorings in Venice, Italy. Also, the photo includes a long-distance view of St Mark's Campanile in Piazza San Marco. St Mark's Campanile (Italian: Campanile di San Marco) is the famous tall bell tower of St Mark's Basilica. A great view. Gondolas are a popular transportation to explore the Grand Canal (Italian: Canal Grande) in Venice. A lot of tourists from all over the world were waiting in line to ride a gondola to explore the city. Of course I did. It was worth waiting.

Kick the habit cold turkey

The photo shows a package of cigarettes. I took this photo in Ein Karem, Israel. One day in Jerusalem, I asked a taxi driver to take me to Ein Karem. Ein Karem is a little ancient village of Jerusalem and is nestled in a green valley which is full of vineyards. The town itself has a lot of picturesque old churches. Also, the houses are decorated by colorful beautiful flowers. On the return trip to Jerusalem, the taxi driver asked me to take a smoking break. I don't smoke, but I was interested in the package of cigarettes. Something was written in Hebrew. I guess it was a suggestion to quit smoking cold turkey.