Postcards from the edge

Bago pa umiral ang aking katamaran, bago pa manlabo ang aking pang-alala sa king Chinese adventure, ise-share ko na ang ilang photos na aking kinuha. hope ya enjoy viewing these as I enjoyed taking these shots. 

This is the gate to the Forbidden City or otherwise known as the Palace Museum. Ganyan talaga sya kalaki, lending truth to my theory na lupain talaga ng size queens ang China.  

Nung i-upload ko ito sa Flickr, ang caption ko dito ay "every home should have these". Door Lions po ito, and ideally placed in the main entrance of Chinese houses. Of course, these lions should be in proportion with the house they are guarding. Kahit po sila size queen, nag-iisip din naman sila, noh! 

One of the many throne rooms. This apparently belongs to the emperor. The empress her her own throne, in another building! Pero aminin, ang building na ito ay nasa likod ng building ng emperor. Na-realize ko tuloy, pag pala empress ka, lagi mo tanaw ang puwitan ng emperor. Mwahahaha! 

This was taken in the imperial garden, which is filled with flowering plants, ancient trees and a number of these huge gazebos (or pavillion daw, sabi nung literature). By the placements of these structures, I imagined they served as rest stops for the empress and her huge entourage when she's walking around this equally huge garden.  

When I saw the bark of this particular tree, two words came into my mind: SLEEPY HOLLOW. Aminin, nai-imagine ko na lalabas dito si Christopher Walken sakay ng kanyang kabayo. If you look at it longer, you can almost see a face peering out. Awooo! This tree is said to be more than 300 years old. 

This is the Temple of Heaven. This is not part of the Forbidden City but the grounds surrounding this temple is said to be 4 times the size of the Forbidden City. Most of it is just trees and gardens, though. This massive pagoda is at the center. May religious function ito nung panahon ng hindi pa komunista ang China. The Temple is wooden at wala raw ni isang pako! Super wooden joints ang drama. Made me remember my wish to be a carpenter. 

This is the Summer Palace, where the royal family retreats pag di na nila ma-take ang init ng Beijing during summer. The Empress Dowager (my idol) was said to have supervised the building of this massive complex, which embraces a beautiful lake where freshwater pearls are abundant. This was taken from a boat I took to cross the complex. Masakit kaya sa paa lakarin, noh!? 

A closer view of the Palace, which is not open to the public. At saka, kahit open siya, matarik ang hagdan paakyat sa kanya! Hindi ko pinangarap akyatin ito on foot. The Empress Dowager was said to have used the Chinese army's entire war supply of silver to use as flooring of this palace. O di ba, ano'ng laban ni Mrs. Marcos sa kabonggahan?  Ayun, natalo tuloy sila sa giyera. Hihihi!

A view of the beautiful lake in the Summer Palace complex, kasama pa ang kamag-anak ni Grandma Willow. Ayun si Pocahontas, may payong na pink!

Parang ang haba na nito. I'll post the next photos tomorrow. Abangan!