I've flown in and out of Detroit International Airport's McNamara Terminal plenty of times, but I've never seen this tunnel to get between concourses before. If you happen to fly with one of Northwest's code share partners (Delta, Continental, etc) into or out of Detroit, you might see this colorful tunnel. It goes from the A terminal to the B and C terminal. The colors change behind the curved glass behind the wall and you can hear sounds of a rain storm while you ride the people mover. Probably not the best sound in an industry that can be affected by weather.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 6:36 PM

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but it may also make you salivate. Saturday morning, a few of us went to Zingerman's for breakfast. I decided to go with the breakfast B.L.T.: Applewood-smoked bacon, Vermont cheddar, lettuce, tomato & mayo on toasted Bakehouse white bread. Topped with an over-easy egg.

Mmm...heart attack!

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Photos, Travel at 5:25 PM

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This weekend, we took the annual trip to Ann Arbor to watch Michigan Football. The weather on Friday was a little daunting and I wasn't sure we would make it out of NYC at all, but to my surprise, we were only delayed about 45 minutes.

The game was great, and a tale of two halves for Michigan. In the first half, Michigan turned it over 5 times and had only 63 feet of total offense. Yes, that's right, they only had 21 yards! By the end of the half, Wisconsin was winning 19-0, a margin that should have been much, much larger. But the second half, Michigan finally got things going offensively. They managed to piece together the biggest comeback in Michigan Stadium history, fittingly on the day they played the 500th game at the Big House.

It was yet another awesome game that I've witnessed at Michigan Stadium. Ahh, memories.

Much larger version of the photo here on flickr.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Sports, Travel at 5:39 PM

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This weekend, Shannan and I went down to Virgina for Jason and Elena's wedding. Not only was it a perfect day for the wedding (not too hot, not too humid), but it was a super fast and casual wedding. No long ceremony and I got to wear shorts. That's the perfect wedding in my book.

Not so perfect was the occasional flyover by F-15s (even though I thought it was awesome).

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Photos, Travel at 12:45 PM

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Jessica and Chanse didn't actually get married in this tiny chapel, but the larger chapel in the same "complex". The Old Towne Grove Chapel was much more picturesque though.

Posted by tien mao in Film, Illinois, Photos, Travel at 5:25 PM

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This is what it looks like when you're looking up while laying on a beach in Jamaica. Well, at least the beach I was on. I think I had a frozen beverage in my hands too.

Posted by tien mao in Film, Photos, Travel at 6:08 PM

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This was the view of the sunrise from our hotel room in Ocho Rios. It was shortly after 6 AM local time (7 AM in NYC).

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 8:13 AM

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It seems like all I do when on vacation is go to a beach. Blame Shannan. While the temperatures in Ocho Rios and New York were similar today, it looks like they aren't at all similar the rest of the week.

We'll see how frequently I update this site while in Jamaica.

Posted by tien mao in Travel at 6:09 PM

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A lesson from his Aunt Shannan.

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Illinois, Photos, Travel at 6:09 PM

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I've got a lot more images from their wedding, but I have to sift through them all. I especially like this image that I took. And because Shannan loves her brother so much, we're going to tag along on Jessica and Chanse's honeymoon.

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Illinois, Photos, Travel at 2:48 PM

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This past weekend, we went to Illinois for a wedding. Little did we know, we would be traveling on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Because of crappy East Coast weather on Friday morning, we missed our connection in Chicago and spent the night there (many thanks to Whalen and Brynn). Early Saturday morning, we finally made our way to Peoria for the wedding only to return to Chicago and NYC on Sunday. Way too much flying for a short weekend.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 11:02 AM

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In continuing the whole image manipulation thing with Lightroom, here's a photo from last year's trip to Hong Kong. You can see a similar picture on flickr.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 5:15 PM

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Remember Paradise Island? That tiny sand dune that is somehow called an island?

Well, we finally developed the underwater pictures from snorkeling in the Dominican Republic. Man, those underwater cameras kind of suck, huh? I'm not sure if it was the camera or the developer, but there were some pictures that had some issues. Oh well.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 11:13 AM

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There's nothing quite as tasty as a fleece glove to young Colton.

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Illinois, Photos, Travel at 9:19 AM

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Note the cute reindeer slippers!

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Illinois, Photos, Travel at 5:28 PM

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For the past few days, Shannan and I went to Lacon, Illinois (that's Lacon, like bacon) for Christmas with her family. In addition to gift giving/receiving, it was also the first time that we got to see Shannan's new nephew Colton.

Santa was good to me, because I got some mighty good gifts: a Holga camera, Guitar Hero III for the Wii, a Wiimote charging station, Top Gun (collectors edition DVD), V-MODA vibe earbuds, a copy of The Simpsons Movie, Taboo, a copy of Sneaker Freaker magazine, a nice shirt, another thin wallet (mine is falling apart), and a gift card to Pizza Hut (mmm!). Shannan and I also got a chair, some towels, and a wine refrigerator. Thanks to Santa (and those that act on his behalf) for all the great gifts!!

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Illinois, Photos, Travel at 10:39 AM

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I kind of like the first picture because the camera miraculously captured that stick in almost the exact middle of the picture. But as you can see, the northwest coast of the Dominican Republic has some nice rolling hills to it.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 4:08 PM

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While on the bus back to Puerto Plata, we stopped by a cigar factory (if you could call it that) to inject some U.S. dollars into the economy. Tourist that I was, I bought some cigars to bring home. I'm not that big a smoker though, so who knows if I'll ever get to them.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 3:39 PM

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After snorkeling around Paradise Island and before we made our way to Punta Rucia, we stopped by a little inlet where I took this photo of the insane mangrove trees.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 12:30 PM

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In honor of the Dolphins finally winning their first game this season, here are three shots I took on the way to the Dominican Republic via Miami. In the first picture, you can see Dolphin Stadium on December 1st. That's a day before they lost to the hapless Jets.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 12:46 PM

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After snorkeling at Paradise Island, we took our speed boat to Punta Rucia for lunch before our trip back to the hotels. It's really not much of a town, but the guide told us it's a fishing village, which seemed possible based on the looks of things. We wandered a bit during our free time there and saw a lot of abandoned lots.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 1:29 PM

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Early one morning (we're talking 6:45 early), we took a trip to go snorkeling at Paradise Island. To get there, we had to take a bus to a "speed boat" (a small boat with a 75 horsepower engine on it) to this thing they called an "island". It's essentially a sandbar on the coral reef but the size apparently varies depending on the time of year and tides. Despite the pathetic "island", the snorkeling at Paradise Island was a great time. On the island, they have some huts, light snacks, and refreshments. Thankfully when we got there, no other groups there. By the time we left, the island was packed with people. The only shitty part of our trip was the weather. It actually rained a few times while we were there (including once when we were in the water) which actually proved to be somewhat cool. Also cool, dolphins swimming alongside our boat en route to the sandbar.

Eventually, I'll have some underwater pictures from snorkeling. Who knows how they look though.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 1:05 PM

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I think the number of photos that I took on this trip reflects the amount of things Shannan and I did. I only walked away with about 100 photos (many of which I will delete), which means that we didn't really do that many activities during our week away. Most of the time we spent at Sun Village Resort & Spa in Puerto Plata (Cofresi, to be precise) was either by the pool or by the beach. I don't even think I took my camera to the beach once. The resort was kind of sprawling, which you can see from this photo on their website, so you had to walk about 5 minutes to get to the beach and walk up a fair amount of steps to a couple of the restaurants. If it wasn't for all that walking, I'm not sure how much more weight I would have gained during the trip.

Pictured here are the views of the ocean from one of the pools, the view east towards the mountains around the resort and one of Sun Village's many pools.

And we're totally trend setters. Puerto Plata was named one of the 53 places to go in 2008 this past Sunday by the NY Times: "Puerto Plata, the rowdy beach resort on the Dominican Republic's north coast, is about to get rowdier. Maxim, the racy men's magazine, is opening a 108-bungalow resort on Cofresi Beach, near the Las Vegas-style Ocean World Marina and Casino. Expect the drinking to start onboard JetBlue, which is offering nonstop flights between Kennedy Airport and Puerto Plata next month." That Maxim resort is opening up as part of Sun Village and Ocean World was right next to Sun Village. See, trend setters.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 10:57 AM

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We're back from our vacation in the Dominican Republic and home to a 40° drop in temperature. Believe it or not, I welcome the temperature change. I didn't take too many photos on the trip (another believe it or not) because how exciting is lounging by the beach or lounging by the pool? We did go snorkeling while there, so it's possible there will be some photos of that.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 7:49 AM

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Hey all you faithful readers...I'm away for a week on vacation in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The weather looks pretty nice compared to Brooklyn. Then again, it might be a little too hot for my taste.

Posted by tien mao in Travel at 11:20 AM

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While the food looks pretty good, I don't remember it being all that awesome. It was supposedly an example of the local cuisine in Sun Moon Lake though.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 12:30 PM

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Here's yet another temple at Sun Moon Lake.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 11:02 AM

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Which makes it my...? I was never good at the whole 2nd cousin, 1st cousin once removed stuff. So confusing! That or I'm too lazy to remember how it works.

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 11:47 AM

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Whatever that means.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 8:44 AM

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Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan is the largest natural lake on the island nation (or rogue territory if you wish). Though we ate lunch in a restaurant overlooking it, we didn't spend all that much time at the actual lake. The eastern part of the lake is round (like the sun) and the western part is shaped like a crescent moon, which is how the lake gets its name. I didn't really see the sun-moon aspect of it, but maybe that's because of the haze. There is an island in the middle of the lake that was much bigger before water levels rose when a hydroelectric power plant was built and water was redirected to Sun Moon Lake from other lakes.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 11:17 AM

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I almost think Taipei 101 is like the World Trade Center used to be. For me, the WTC was an anchor in lower Manhattan, something that you could use to navigate if you needed as it was almost always south. It was also there whenever I got off the subway and looked downtown when I was growing up.

Taipei 101 is slightly different as it's not really in one specific area for all people - north for some, south for others, etc.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 10:26 AM

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Wenwu Temple on Sun Moon Lake was originally built in 1938, combining two old temples that were moved when a dam was built. It was rebuilt in 1969 in its current form. The pair of lions (one pictured) are the largest ones in Taiwan. Wenwu Temple is dedicated to Confucius and the ancient Chinese generals Kuan Kung and Yueh Fei.

The historic staircase was originally the only way to access the temple, each step representing a different day of the year. There are 336 of them, including 2/29.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 9:10 AM

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At Sun Moon Lake is a Peacock Garden with more than 200 peacocks. It was one of Madam Chiang Kai-shek's favorite places to go when they would go to the area. I don't think I've ever seen so many peacocks in one place before.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 7:53 AM

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When we arrived in Taipei, it was rather late and my dad and I were hungry. Nobody else was, so we ventured from our hotel to find some food. We found a local restaurant on while walking around that liked serving seafood dishes (as evidenced by the seafood noodles, fried cuttlefish, and clams). The one non-seafood dish we had was stinky tofu.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 8:13 AM

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Onto Taiwan! What better to start the pictures of Taiwan than Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. The CKS Memorial Hall is named after the late Kuomintang leader, who was the first President of the Republic of China after it moved to Taiwan (I'm butchering a little history, but that's essentially right).

There's been a recent movement by President Chen Shui-Bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (opposition of the KMT) to rename the hall the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (the DPP doesn't like anything with ties to the KMT). Apparently the name change was repealed, but the old name wasn't exactly preserved. It was an ugly fight between the two sides, with the city of Taipei (controlled by the KMT) also stepping in. There were times when signs were installed with the new name, but later removed by the city and such other drama. Wikipedia has a nice section about that craziness.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Taiwan, Travel at 10:11 AM

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It's unfair to compare New York City's subway system with that of other cities. After all, it's older, larger, and transports more people than most other systems. Because of this, it lacks a lot of the newer, modern features that are in other cities. This is slowly changing with the new cars on the 4/5/6, 2/3, L and the new R160s that are rolling out, but cars are only part of it. If the 2nd Ave. line is ever built, then NYC will have something that is comparable to that of other cities.

In Hong Kong, they have platforms that prevents debris/people from falling onto the tracks, modern stations, smooth rides, and you know when the trains are coming. While I do love NYC's subway system (most of the time, anyway), there's definitely a lot that can be improved. Then again, there's a shortage of money too.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:55 AM

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Why eat at McDonald's when you're in a foreign country? Never underestimate the power of air conditioning and the knowledge that they have clean bathrooms.

Pictured here is the red bean pie (not nearly as good as the apple pies at non-U.S. locations or the sweet taro pie), corn (not very good), and a coffee from the McCafé.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 9:49 AM

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Hi above Hong Kong Island is Victoria Peak, the island's tallest mountain at 552 meters (1,811 feet). It's also Hong Kong's biggest tourist attraction, drawing about 7 million visitors a year. Once you get to the top of Victoria Peak via the Peak Tram (it gets to what seemed like at least a 45° angle at points), there's a modern mall (complete with an EA Sports zone and Bubba Gump restaurant) that you walk through before reaching the observation deck at The Peak Tower.

As you can see, the observation deck offers a great view of Hong Kong. It's a shame that it was so cloudy again.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:33 AM

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While you can get to the Giant Buddha in Lantau by car or bus, the newest way to get there is the Ngong Ping Skyrail. It's a 3.5 mile (5.7km) cable car that takes you from Tung Chung station on the MTR to Ngong Ping Village. It's probably the longest cable car ride that I've ever taken and certainly the only tram/gondola that I've been on that passes through two stations where the actual route changes (see map). The ride from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping takes about 20-25 minutes. The skyrail offers nice views during the ride, but they would have been much better if we experienced nicer weather.

Construction on the skyrail started in 2004 and it opened in mid-September, 2006. Right now, it seems like the skyrail is closed indefinitely after an "incident" in June. Apparently, a gondola cabin fell from the cable for no reason. Nobody was hurt and the skyrail remains closed while they investigate the accident.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 9:20 AM

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In case you were wondering, the Mango Madness ice cream cone does in fact taste like mango. It definitely hit the spot on a hot day at Ocean Park.

P.S. - Sorry for the late update, I had about 3" of flooding in my basement because of the wild storms this morning in New York City.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Hong Kong, Travel at 11:39 AM

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I hate the beach. It's hot, sand gets everywhere, and it's hot. Sitting in the sun and sweating my ass off isn't exactly my idea of fun. That said, sitting under the shade in a chair at Jennings Beach on Saturday was surprisingly enjoyable. I still got sand everywhere and it was still hot though.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Travel at 8:48 AM

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Like many amusement parks, Ocean Park in Hong Kong has a tram to get from one part of the park to another. Except at Ocean Park, there are two distinct parts to the park where you have to use the tram to travel from one side to the other. The tram goes small mountains (or are they very large hills) right by the water. It makes for some pretty cool, but scary, views. I can't imagine what would happen if the tram suddenly broke down.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:38 AM

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I would say that most of the buildings in Hong Kong look like these. They aren't skyscrapers, nor are they the neon-lit buildings lining the harbor, but functional gritty buildings that give the city character.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:43 AM

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This was just down the block from Calvin's Grandma's veggie stand.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 9:10 AM

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This purple garbage can is clearly tired of having stuff thrown into his mouth.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:17 AM

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I can't really remember exactly where we got this pizza, but it seemed like a restaurant that turned into bar at night and it was on a somewhat secluded street that had a bunch of bars on it. Nice, right? I think after a few days Japan and a couple more in Hong Kong, I was definitely craving pizza. Pictured is a sausage and olive pizza, which was actually pretty good. I'm not sure if it was good because it was actually good or because I missed pizza that much. If you're so inclined, here's a pizza upskirt.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Hong Kong, Travel at 8:38 AM

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One of our stops in Hong Kong was to the vegetable stand that Calvin's grandmother used to own (Calvin's great aunt currently runs it). While his grandmother is now in New York, the stand is still there. I thought it was a pretty cool, non-touristy stop for us.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Friends/Family, Hong Kong, Travel at 8:22 AM

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Our biggest disappointment when we arrived at Ocean Park was that the panda exhibit was closed! The panda exhibit, which was one of the main reasons we even went, was closed for construction. When Johnny asked if we could get a discount for entry to the park, he was met with a blank stare from the ticket salesperson.

All I could do is take this lousy picture with a panda sign.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 9:22 AM

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Competing for the eyeballs of pedestrians in Hong Kong must be really hard. I can't imagine how much electricity is used with all the signs that hang above the streets in Hong Kong.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 9:07 AM

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While New York City's skyline is famous, it can be argued that Hong Kong's is even more famous. Both skylines are mentioned in top-skyline lists, with either New York or Hong Kong taking the crown. I'm a little biased to New York, but Hong Kong's is pretty nice. One thing's for sure, Hong Kong's is much more colorful.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:11 AM

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You might say that I have a slight fascination with photographing and visiting cemeteries, but I don't really think I do.

This is a photo of Hong Kong Cemetery in...Hong Kong. Founded in 1845, It used to be called Happy Valley Cemetery, but for some reason they changed the name, but not all the signage. I took this photo while on the way back from Stanley on the bus, which is the reason for the reflection of my shirt and the interior of the bus. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the cemetery is essentially surrounded by buildings. Despite the reflection, I still like this photo a lot.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 7:41 AM

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As if a dolphin show wasn't enough fun at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, we also went into the aquarium. There, they had sharks, lots of fish, and some of the animals seen here.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:12 AM

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Our first meal in Hong Kong was breakfast. What did we get? No, not dim sum, but noodles and Hong Kong-style French toast.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:03 AM

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On a plateau on Lantau Island in Hong Kong sits a huge statue of Buddha. In fact, it's so large that it was once ( a Korean one eclipsed it this year) the largest outdoor bronze statue of Buddha in the world. The statue is 34 meters high and weighs a whopping 250 tons. Construction of the Big Buddha started in 1990 and finished in 1993 and I think of it as a huge tourist attraction more than a religious attraction, but that's just me. Lantau Island is also the location of Hong Kong's International Airport and Hong Kong Disneyland.

To reach Tian Tan Buddha, you have to climb up 268 steps. Not fun in Hong Kong's humid weather.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 2:17 PM

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People don't usually go to Ocean Park in Hong Kong for their dolphin show (they usually go for pandas, but more on that later). I can't really blame them, because while watching dolphins jump in the water is always fun, it gets old. Not for all the people in the crowd though - I don't think they've ever seen a dolphin show before. Or seen a dolphin for that matter. The show was packed, with a butt in every seat.

Also amusing, they had a band beforehand that played some country jazz-like music and sang in English. I suppose music is universal though.

Posted by tien mao in Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 8:33 AM

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Let's start the photos of Hong Kong off right! With a beer!

While in Hong Kong, we went to Stanley the childhood town of Calvin's mom. We wandered around a bit and grabbed a pint at the Smugglers Inn, a bar that's "that's very popular with both tourists and expats." It even had its own drunk white dude in the middle of the day! One thing that seems rather popular with bartenders in Asia is the shamrock on the Guinness. We saw them a lot in Tokyo as well.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Hong Kong, Photos, Travel at 9:26 AM

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Okay, it's taken forever, but I've finally worked my way through my photos from the Tokyo part of my Asia trip. Next up is Hong Kong.

Seen here are:
- The crazy amount of advertising in a Tokyo subway car - they even have ads on the handles.
- A random building in Tokyo's electronics district.
- The Asahi Beer Hall in Asakusa. The building, designed by Philippe Stark, is topped by a "gold flame" that weighs over 300 tons. It's known as "kin no unchi" or "golden turd" by the locals.
- An old school apple pie from McDonald's. Possibly the best thing about McDonald's restaurants outside the United States is the apple pie.
- Bape store
- Takeshita Street in the heart of Harajuku
- Bape store
- A man with a dressed up dog on his shoulder.

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 8:37 AM

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I wasn't actively seeking any street art out in Tokyo, but I stumbled upon these as we were walking around.

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 8:41 AM

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The Yoshinoya chain of restaurants specializes in gyudon (a bowl of rice topped with beef) and is actually one of the larger fast food restaurant chains in Japan. We stopped in one day for lunch and it seemed pretty popular. Not surprising as it's relatively inexpensive and tastes good. I believe that this is just a beef bowl, but I can't be certain as I couldn't read the menu. There was some pointing and nodding going on.

Looking at their US website, they have tons of locations on the West Coast and it seems they even have on in NYC.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Japan, Photos, Travel at 9:08 AM

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All around the park that surrounds the Meiji Shrine are a lot of wonderfully tall trees that shade most of the walkways in the park. It's rather beautiful when you look up while walking in the park.

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 7:42 AM

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In New York City, you get your fair share of busy pedestrian intersections, but you haven't seen busy until you've seen the crosswalk outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo. They use a scramble crossing where traffic is stopped in all directions, and pedestrians can cross in all directions. It's a bit crazy. Especially during busy times. The 2nd photo above is during a relatively crowded time, but the animated gif was early on a Saturday morning when it wasn't so crowded.

Also, check out this youtube video of the crossing.

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 10:31 AM

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Graffiti porn makes sense, but porno graffiti? Maybe it's one of those things that was lost in translation?

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 8:32 AM

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At least that's what I inferred from this kitty litter packaging.

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 8:39 AM

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Back to the Japan Photos!

While we were on the subway one day in Tokyo (I think we were headed to the Akihabara district to look at electronics), we saw this odd statue at the Hamamatsuchō Station. With a little research, I found that it's a Manneken Pis statue. According to Wikipedia, Manneken Pis is a landmark in Brussels with a legend that dates back to the 1100s or the 1300s, depending on which legend you believe.

Like the Manneken Pis statues in Brussels, the one at Hamamatsuchō Station changes his costume throughout the year. It looks like he was wearing a police officer's outfit here.

Posted by tien mao in Japan, Photos, Travel at 8:29 AM

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While the French Quarter of New Orleans mostly escaped damage from Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding that came when the levees broke, not all of New Orleans was so lucky. One of the places with the most dramatic scenes of destruction was the Lower 9th Ward. As you can see, there's still some work left to be done. Some buildings are still abandoned, awaiting demolition.

As we went through the neighborhood, we saw some demolition in progress, some reconstruction, and we could see that some people have returned to the neighborhood. One of the biggest problem the city, and its neighborhoods, faces is that so many residents have yet to return. The city's population was 484,674 before Katrina and, as of March, it was only at 56% of its pre-hurricane population. The lower 9th, it seemed, was at way less than 56% of its previous population. There are tons of empty lots, waiting for families.

I also walked into Alfred Lawless High School, an abandoned school in the ward. Being inside the school, setting foot in Ms. Tucker's bio and physiology class, was very creepy. The rust that covered everything reminded me of our trip to Alcatraz.

Posted by tien mao in Louisiana, Photos, Travel at 9:47 AM

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With its rich history New Orleans is a city with many famous cemeteries. We weren't able to take any cemetery tours because of time constraints and our schedule, but since Neil had been to New Orleans before, he took us to two of the more famous ones.

Our first stop was St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, which was established in 1823 (it's not far from No. 1, established in 1789). This cemetery is close to the French Quarter, but not in the nicest neighborhood. From what I saw walking around, it also needs a little maintenance. Some of the tombs are falling apart and there are bottles and garbage in some out of the way areas. As I was the only person walking around, it was a little creepy wandering amongst the rows of tombs.

Next was Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, established in 1833 by the city of Lafaye