Got kissed by the fishes

It has been a while since I have last blogged, but I have been very busy with my family life and traveling. One of the place I traveled recently was Cozumel. It is an island off of Cancun Mexico in a Caribbean Sea and it is known for its great scuba dive spots. I do not scuba dive, but was rewarded with many colorful fishes just off the docks and beaches. I wanted to photograph these friendly fishes and I was throwing bread to gather them near me. I thought it would it be great to capture them feeding out of my hand. Great idea, but when the fish started biting my fingers trying to get to the bread, not so good idea. One actually bit down hard enough that I started bleeding in open water. I realized that it could be potentially dangerous as there are sharks that are known to swim in these waters.

The painful bite from a fish came out like it had kissed me, but don't be fooled by it, it really hurt....

St. George's Cathedral

When I travel I make a point to visit at least one church, and if time allows I go to the service and Cape Town was no exception. St. George's Cathedral is known as the People's church, and it was central in the fight against apartheid and at the time many people gathered to listen to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other speakers. Since English was not the only language the service was conducted in, the person next to me helped me find my place in the program. This person had the prettiest lavender fingernails that I had to take a second look.. He was... yes, he was dressed very dapper. Little later, a young black couple came in and sat on my other side. They were very serious and followed the sermon with an intent look on their face, but very kind expression. This church was like the melting pot of the Cape Town, where all different race, black or white, or whatever came to listen to the service...I knew that AIDS is a big problem in South Africa, I don't know that statistics, but many families are raised by a single parent because of AIDS. The service talked about how Jesus healed Lepers with his hand. While AIDS will not be healed by our beliefs we can help heal the victims' hearts with our prayers. It was very moving service...

My travel to Cape Town, South Africa

I was very fortunate to be able to travel to Cape Town, South Africa in October. For the next month or so I would like to post my wonderful and exciting experience of traveling solo to the other side of the earth. I had some anxious moments starting from arriving into the foreign country at midnight to an empty airport, having couple of huge baboons jumping into the rented car to steal bag of potato chips, huge Rhino with long horn charging at the jeep I was sitting in, but I also had many wonderful memorable moments.. By far the best experience was just being able to talk to the warm and very welcoming local people.. I did see that South Africa is still very much divided racially, at some instances I was totally ignored (I am Asian) until upon hearing my American accent, I instantly became Okay because I am an American.... but overall, It was a fantastic trip and one that I will never forget.....

So I hope you will enjoy my journey to Breathtakingly Beautiful South Africa .....

Photo above is of rose garden at Company Garden with Table Mountain at the back ground.