Manchester...scenes at the Manchester Art Gallery

I love this picture.

Silhouettes of a Japanese tourist and his son.

This was actually taken at the Charles Dickens Museum.
Very poor museum experience. Remind me to tell you about it some time.

One of the biggest draws was this stained glass platelet of... Little Dorritt?
Those looking for the Oliver Twist-er Roller Coaster and Great Expectations Tower Drop
would be sorely disappointed.

Taipei... glimpses

View from a bus. Taipei buses rock.

Note to self, best cheongsams here.

Hong Kong, in living colour

A game of Jianzi was happening next to the French restaurant we were in.
I love Hong Kong's duality that way.

I remember Kuala Lumpur to be like this.
I've seen games like this being played at Jalan Alor and Chow Kit when I was younger.
That's all gone now.

A small printing press next to a couple of office blocks. Now that's what I call hardcore.

So after work, you can just pop by the market for some fresh produce.

Where's Wally?

That's where!

On A Slow Boat To Nowhere: Steamboat On The Mississippi

The last original working steamboat, Natchez, arriving.

As much as it was a pleasant day and the sun was out, 

the wind was pretty strong and the weather was chilly.

The 9th Ward where Katrina hit the worst.

Sights on the Mississippi: The Domino sugar factory is more than a century old and still in operation

The resident jazz band on the Natchez. Made friends with Tommy, the trumpeter, who got me in for free at Preservation Hall where he was filling in for a sick band member.

Tommy is British and came to New Orleans in the 60s to learn how to play jazz trumpet. 

He's stayed every since.

Haunted Swamp, Louisiana

One of the last stops of my Southern tour--at a "haunted" swamp.

Gator trying to keep out of the cold.

What a beautiful swamp.

Caught this critter just before it scurried away.

I guess the only thing "haunted" about the swamp is this graveyard right smack in the middle of it.

People come to pay their respects almost every day. Not sure who's buried here though.

Was on a riverboat like this.

Spanish moss hanging from the trees, very characteristic of the New Orleans and Louisiana landscape.

A model Cajun trapper's house--it looks straight out of Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Our guide is an nth generation true blue Cajun with an accent to boot. 

He's a trapper in his free time.

 Another cold gator.