PHOTO FRIDAY: TIBET'S POTALA PALACE

Sunrise at the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, on a cold October morning. It was a fun way to spend our 4th wedding anniversary, as well as our celebration of six months on the road (more on that later). 

The Palace served as winter home of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century. However, fleeing from Chinese invasion in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he is living in exile today.

While the building remains a potent symbol of Tibetan Buddhism, the Potala now serves as more of a tourist attraction than religious center.

FUNNY MONDAY: THE JUMPING CAT MONASTERY

It's known as the Jumping Cat Monastery for a reason. The monks who live here at this Inle Lake monastery have taught the resident felines how to leap on cue through the arms of doubting tourists. And it's pretty unbelievably shocking when it happens to you. No really. It is.  

LIZ SWIMS WITH THE FISHES

If you've ever imagined swimming through a school of thousands of friendly fish, check out this video. Liz literally vanished around the 30-second mark, once the cloud of jackfish engulfs us.

Fish schools like this are part of the reason Sipadan was one of Jacques Cousteau's favorite dive spots. That and the sharks and the turtles and the ridiculous variety of life you can see there.

The video is from our trip to Sipadan Island a couple weeks ago...we finally found internet fast enough to upload it.

Another update coming tomorrow...

BORNEO NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE

We took these photos in a small Chinatown food stall in downtown Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. The man with the rag on his shoulders had just served us an incredibly tasty pork bbq sandwich.

First of all, pork is incredibly hard to come by in Malaysia, a majority Muslim country, so this alone was amazing. 

But then, our waiter moved a few items off a shelf next to the crock pot, including a rice cooker and some knives, and began to play...the piano. And he was AMAZING. Our jaws literally dropped to the floor. He played a beautiful medley for about five minutes, and then got up to clear our plates. 

Turns out, every evening he plays piano at one of the nicest hotels in the city. The restaurant gig is just his day job. 

We felt so lucky to see him play. Kip even left a tip, so he must have made an impression.