tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29783054673808527002024-03-06T10:31:53.402+08:00Liz & Doug After WorkA record of our post-retirement life - a move from Raleigh after 30 years, a condo in Indianapolis, a planned relocation to Kuala Lumpur. and travel throughout SE Asiabogordoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792393055519702004noreply@blogger.comBlogger260125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-92197350558802755782014-04-10T20:22:00.001+08:002014-04-10T20:22:15.349+08:00Tasmania - Travel Notes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Based on our friends' comments about their recent trip to Tasmania to hike and see wildlife, we decided to go there 12 days. Our recent routine has been to identify where we want to go (country or region), search the web for a domestic travel agent, and ask for proposal. We request budget accommodations (usually ** or ***) and a tour that covers wildlife, historic sites, and any scheduled musical or dance performances. We specify that we don't want any animal rides. Tasmania is not South Asia and booking through a travel agency would have cost a small fortune.<br />
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<b>Accommodations:</b> Tasmania is a state/island crammed with small towns and national parks. We contacted a travel agent to arrange our accommodations. We stayed in self contained units - kitchen/sitting area, two bedrooms (one with a double bed and the other with two bunk beds), and bathroom. All the units were clean and relatively well equipped. The knives were usually dull. We stayed at Discovery Holiday Parks in <a href="http://www.discoveryholidayparks.com.au/tas/macquarie_harbour/strahan">Strahan</a>,<a href="http://www.discoveryholidayparks.com.au/tas/cradle_mountain/cradle_mountain"> Cradle Mountain</a>,<a href="http://www.discoveryholidayparks.com.au/tas/launceston_tamar_valley/hadspen"> Launceston</a>. and Coles Bay (<a href="http://iluka-holiday-centre.tas.big4.com.au/">Big4 Iluka on Feychinet Holiday Park</a>) and in Stanley at <a href="http://www.stanleyseaviewinn.com.au/">Seaview Inn</a>. All the holiday parks had self contained units, sites for tents and campers. They were surprisingly quiet and private. At Cradle Mountain we saw wallabies and at Launceston and Coles Bay parrots. We particularly liked Seaview in Stanley with its good view, better kitchen, and speedy Internet!<br />
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The picture below from Coles Bay suggests the layout of the Holiday Park facilities with its self contained units and trees. All had laundries and barbecue areas. Over all, the parks were a well maintained campground.<br />
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For our non-hiking portion of the trip we stayed at an airbnb between Port Arthur and Holbart. The location and b&b suited us. We recommend selecting a place based on host's write up and guests comments. No place is perfect for everyone. We were happy with our choices - although an entire vacation of interacting with hosts might have worn us out.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset at Primrose Sands (location of our airbnb)</td></tr>
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<b>What we did</b>: On driving days we seldom took hikes (the only exception was Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain). After checking our first stop was the local <a href="http://www.startwithi.com.au/centres.html">travel and information centre</a>. Typically, they were well stocked with free brochures, but the best resource was their staff. <br />
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We would tell the staff what type of walk we were looking for (6-8 km) and they would make recommendations and give us basic trail maps. Undoubtedly they make the same recommendation over and over, but we would never know it. They were consistently friendly and engaged. They were a good source for restaurant recommendations and knowing the local IGA's hours (they close early).<br />
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Our "Bible" was the <a href="http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=1315">60 Great Short Walks in Tasmania</a>, available at information offices and on-line. For the most part the trails were well marked, and the signs gave estimated times to the end of the trail. We came in consistently slower than the time estimates, but we expected that when we started. We found that the time estimates in the Blue Mountains were closer to fiction, but that may have been due to poor signage.<br />
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In Port Arthur we only went to the historic site. I had thought that we would have time to go to the <a href="http://www.tasmaniandevilpark.com/">Tasmania Devil</a> Conservation Park, but we didn't. At site overlooking Port Arthur information signs told about facial tumor disease that threatens to wipe out the devil population.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlooking Port Arthur</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A place for everyone at<br />
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In Hobart we stopped at the Cascade Brewery, but decide to skip its <a href="http://www.cascadebreweryco.com.au/#/brewery/tours">tour</a>. The brewery tour was AUD 25 with a sampling of beer. Its cafe was crowded; apparently the brewery is a popular weekend site. We did go to Hobart's other must-do activity - the Saturday Market. It was worth the hype. Broad rows with stalls selling a bit of everything: snacks, whiskey (with tasting), honey, leather goods (Doug bought a belt), and so on. Also, a fair number of buskers with limited talent. </div>
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We arrived at the market around 10 and left a few hours later went to the Female Factory which left us little time to explore the town and its other activities.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buying apples</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard to resist, but probably not meant for a cold climate</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think that they have been doing this a long time<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cascade Brewery</td></tr>
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<b>Food:</b> To manage our budget and preserve our waistline we prepared most of our meals. We brought an insulated bag, which allowed us to stock up when we found a large grocery store (Launceston and Burnie). We forgot to bring spices, but most of the stores sold Indian and Asian spices that could be added to chicken. They weren't bad and Tabasco sauce helped if something was dull. The one airbnb place fed us - and we were spoiled with excellent home cooking. Stanley, Cradle Mountain, and Coles Bay had the smallest stores with limited selections. Our best meal out was the oysters and mussels at<a href="http://www.freycinetmarinefarm.com/"> Freycinet Marine Farm.</a><br />
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<b>Telecommunications: </b>At the Melbourne Airport I purchased my mobile service at the most convenient locations.....in the International Terminal. I was told the by the service provider that they covered 97.7% of Tasmania ("It's part of Australia you know"). But Tasmania has a small population mostly in small communities and a couple of urban areas. So most of Tasmania was not covered. Telstra is the major mobile carrier and has the most coverage in Tasmania, but that is no guarantee. Internet service was slow and not widely distributed. Many towns have libraries and free internet may be available, but not wifi. We did not visit the "American Consulates" better known as McDonalds to see if they had wifi. We also skipped Starbucks.<br />
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<b>National Parks:</b> Over 40% of Tasmania is covered by National Parks. It is possible to purchase a two month parks pass for AUD 80. If you are traveling by car and have two or more people it can be a cost saving purchase. It does not apply to some of the historic parks. Best value was the Port Arthur park fee. But remember in Australia...nothing seems to be free and bargains for few and far between.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-30910123045140302432014-04-05T15:56:00.000+08:002014-04-05T15:56:13.543+08:00Historic Prisons - Tasmania and Sydney<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As Americans we knew that Australia started as a British penal colony, but few other details. We added substantially to our knowledge while in Tasmania.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prison at Port Arthur - being rehabbed</td></tr>
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Most convicts had been charged in Great Britain with robbery or a similar crime - men might be transported after several arrests, women after one. The males transported to Australia had or learned skills important to its development.<br />
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In Tasmania we visited <a href="http://www.portarthur.org.au/file.aspx?id=2524">Port Arthur</a> and the<a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/F/Female%20convicts.htm"> Cascades Female Factory</a>, which respectively housed men and women who had re-offended in Australia. A visit to both contrasts how male and female convicts were treated and the resources spent to develop these historic sites.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.portarthur.org.au/">Port Arthur Historical Site</a> was probably our best travel bargain (except for the free tour of the Botanical Gardens in Sydney). The $35 AUS/person ticket included a harbor and foot tours. We skipped the former to have lunch (a reasonably priced cafeteria with lots of choices). As part of our tickets we received the name of a former prisoner and our visit started with visiting an exhibit that told his story. Our inmates' biographies reinforced two themes: most were convicted of theft and learned skills while at Port Arthur.<br />
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Next we joined our walking tour. Our guide was Colin - he moved us from place to place and told us stories of prison life and the prisoners - much better than trooping from building to building. Shortly after their arrival inmates were typically assigned to hard labor, perhaps as part of a logging team. Inmates who did not cause trouble could be trained in trades needed by the prison community or to help with the development of Australia, e.g., ship building.<br />
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The complex included a<a href="http://www.portarthur.org.au/file.aspx?id=7157"> Special Prison</a>, similar to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_State_Penitentiary">Eastern State Penitentiary</a> in Philadelphia. Its inmates lived in total silence except during chapel services. Each day they had an hour of solitary recreation. It seemed less harsh than Eastern State because of the church services and the men seemed to have access to more reading material than just a Bible.<br />
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The grounds involve a lot of walking. We spent four hours and could have easily stayed longer. We enjoyed the Government Garden, which was still in bloom, and watching the bees at work. We visited the convict-built church which could accommodate 1000 persons. It was gutted by fire in 1884. Nearby was St. David's Church, an active Anglican Church, that was built after the prison was closed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A busy bee</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two busy bees</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prison Church</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside St. Davids</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meredith, Guide at Female Factory</td></tr>
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The next day we went to Cascades Female Factory in Hobart. What a contrast. Women sent to the Female Factory had a shorter criminal record than the men at Port Hobart. When the women arrived those who had exhibited good behavior on their way from England were immediately available for domestic service. The women who hadn't behaved as well and were guilty of minor crimes or who had been promoted from the "criminal class" were assigned to tailoring duties. Eventually these women could enter domestic service.Women who had caused trouble on the voyage from England or at the factory, or who were repeat offenders were assigned to the criminal class and they did laundry for the Factory and locals. (The details of who was assigned to the criminal class and for how long vary, probable due to the limited research on the women convicts as opposed to the men.) The skills the women were taught were appropriate for domestic service, and unlike the Port Arthur inmates schooling was not available. The Factory was overcrowded and conditions were grim; 80 percent of the babies born at the Factory died within a year.<br />
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We learned the above from the Factory's brochure and our guide. The site has had little rehabilitation. It consists of only 3 of the 5 <a href="http://www.femalefactory.org.au/visit/yard-1">original yards</a>. We arrived about an hour before a scheduled tour, but the site had too little information to make just wandering worthwhile. So we waited for the tour. Our guide Meredith filled in the blanks. I left with the impression that the women were warehoused until they could be moved into domestic service. Also, women were needed to help increase Australia's population. Marriage after entering domestic service apparently was not uncommon. When I asked about food (unlike Port Arthur the factory did not have a garden), I was told that the women were fed gruel. At Port Arthur the food wasn't great, but it did include protein.<br />
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The Female Factory site has fewer resources than Port Arthur. A visit of an hour is probably sufficient, but it is valuable to contrast the treatment/opportunities given to the men. Meredith insisted that the women were provided a better future than they would have had in industrial England. So did the men, but recogonizing women's worth outside the home and domestic work was over a century away.<br />
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When we were in Sydney we went to Cockatoo Island to see an art exhibit, which gave us an opportunity to visit a 3rd prison site. Our walk along the <a href="http://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/visit/convict-trail">Convict Trail</a> was a spur of the moment decision. There were a few signs, and remember observing that the daily rations contained far more protein than the men at Port Arthur. A few guards were around, but their task did not seem to include answering tourist's questions.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-42380062780860255682014-04-05T15:55:00.000+08:002014-04-05T15:55:36.945+08:00Touring Sydney? Remember the Botanical Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As we headed back from our first full day in Sydney we decided to pop into the <a href="http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/welcome/royal_botanic_garden">Royal Botanical Gardens</a>. It was large, peaceful with signs "please walk on the grass." A sign at the Garden Shop announced free tours given every day (except Christmas, Boxing Day and Good Friday) at 10:30. We went the next day. The tour, given by volunteers, was so good, that we wished that we were staying longer in Sydney to take one or more tours.. Each volunteer focuses on a favorite part of the garden, so each tour is different.(Plus repetition helps me remember.) We regretted that we hadn't investigated similar tours in other gardens that we had visited (especially in Sri Lanka).<br />
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As we walked to the garden show we saw a display <a href="http://www.creativespirits.info/australia/new-south-wales/sydney/botanic-gardens-cadi-jam-ora-display">"The invasion."</a> It told the story of the Cadjgal, a story that left no question of the incredible damage to the aboriginal cultures by settlers, more correctly identified as "invaders."<br />
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The garden conducts <a href="https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/welcome/royal_botanic_garden/gardens_and_domain/wildlife/Bird_research">research on ibises and cockatoos</a>, which are easily seen in the garden..<br />
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Our tour guide pointed out the strong webs made by the <a href="http://australianmuseum.net.au/golden-orb-weaving-spiders">golden orb weaving spiders</a>. Here are two views of spiders and there webs. The second picture shows a "golden" web.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus">Eucalyptus,</a> which are native to Australia, are the country's dominate tree (there are over 700 species in Australia). Its leaves are the sole food source for koala. Note the bark shreds on the tree pictured below. Mature eucalyptus grow a new layer of bark annually; the outermost layer may be shed in long strips or as flakes.<br />
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The pride of the garden is the <a href="http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/plant_info/wollemi_pine">Wollemi Pine</a>. Until 1994 this tree, which dates back to the time of the dinosaurs, was thought to be extinct, Now it even has <a href="http://www.wollemipine.com/">its own webpage</a>.<br />
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As I wrote this page I relied on Google to make sure that I had correctly identified the various trees. When I Googled "Bottle Trees" I found pictures of trees decorated with bottles or bottles that look like trees. Below is the flora version. The tree stores water in its trunk, which gives it its bottle shape.<br />
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Another blogger identified the tree below as a "holm oak," but I could find any information to verify this. Another website identified it as a fig tree, which seems right.<br />
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<span id="goog_1050911707"></span><span id="goog_1050911708"></span>The garden also has lovely flower beds and lots of roses, some still smell like roses. We also enjoyed the <a href="https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/welcome/royal_botanic_garden/tours_education/self-guided_tours/art_and_memorials">statues </a>spread throughout. We identified with "autumn," and "winter."<br />
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We took a tour of the Opera House and ate at the fish market. We took a 9:30 early bird tour of the opera house at $35AUS per person. Backstage tour is available, but more expensive. I imagined that if we went to hear a symphony or opera we would cherish the sounds beginning with hearing the orchestra warm up The seats in the various houses had no center aisle. (Once we were in Gamage Auditorium at Arizona State and had to literally climb over seats to escape a abysmal dance performance.) The Opera House has several programs going on at any one time. If something appeals it should provide a more satisfying experience. (We chose to see "Once in Royal David's City" at the Belvoir Street Theatre - a good choice.)<br />
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We went out of way to get to the Fish Market. It isn't convenient by bus. We had asked about recommendations as to where to have fish and the fish market was recommended. (Our internet access was poor to checking blogs for advice was out.) The fish market had loads of fresh seafood and fish, but the cooked choices were more limited. From reading reviews on the Internet - some people liked it and others didn't. I didn't.<br />
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We stayed at a bed and breakfast (no breakfast!) at Camperdown. We finished our eat-in breakfast food on Saturday. On Sunday before we headed to the airport we tried the nearby <a href="http://www.bionsociete.com.au/">Bion Societe</a>t. What a great note to end our stay in Australia. The owner, Greg, warmly greeted us even though it was 7:30 on a Sunday morning.. (We figured he was the owner as we watched him check the silverware.) I had soft scrambled eggs and toast with herb butter and Doug had a bacon and egg brioche burger. If we weren't leaving town we would have come back the next day to explore more of the menu and enjoy the ambiance.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-37397570295369778192014-03-29T22:02:00.000+08:002014-03-29T22:06:57.260+08:00Surprising Finds in Sydney<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><span id="goog_47738941"></span><span id="goog_47738942"></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />By the time we reached Sydney were a traveled out. We hadn't done any planning and left it to the city to expose itself, and as we walked this walkable city we enjoyed the unexpected.<br /><br /><br /><br />If you are reading this before 15 June 2014 head to the New South Wales Museum to see <a href="http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/afghanistan/">Afghanistan Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.</a> The small exhibit encouraged visitors to spend time and appreciate the ancient artistry. In one room each of six cases contained the surviving gold ornaments from the graves of a chieftain and five young women. They were buried around 100 BCE.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MwKmrpULeSg/UzaXJHk-S2I/AAAAAAAAF4k/4vgkgNohBrA/s1600/DSCN1147_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MwKmrpULeSg/UzaXJHk-S2I/AAAAAAAAF4k/4vgkgNohBrA/s1600/DSCN1147_edited-1.JPG" height="158" width="200" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A crown from one of the graves</td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br />As I recall the glasses pictured below dated from the 1st - 2nd century CE were found in a store room.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2VrV-yDsLBo/UzaX479-QbI/AAAAAAAAF4s/y4K4KskFjTw/s1600/DSCN1144_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2VrV-yDsLBo/UzaX479-QbI/AAAAAAAAF4s/y4K4KskFjTw/s1600/DSCN1144_edited-1.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My image of early Swiss hunters</td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aGKXmcyGWTw/UzactqsAsxI/AAAAAAAAF48/O2sBA4M_u48/s1600/DSCN1141_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aGKXmcyGWTw/UzactqsAsxI/AAAAAAAAF48/O2sBA4M_u48/s1600/DSCN1141_edited-1.JPG" height="320" width="127" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Begram 1st century CE</td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br />At the museum website you will see more pictures of the items and the Journey of the Treasures with its text and videos about protecting the collection. Our $10AUS was well spent, and the Internet has allowed us to continue to revisit the exhibit and its origins. Next stop for the exhibit is Perth in July.<br /><br /><br /><br />What brought us to the museum was the Biennele of Sydney that ends on 9 June. After viewing the Afghanistan exhibit we called an end to our touring. We had been two Biennele sites which were okay, but not memorable. The non-memorable is not exactly true on Cockatoo Island there was an <a href="http://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/19bos/artists/steiner-lenzlinger/">exhibit of gym equipment</a> that used the equipment to move various objects made from found items. (Here is a <a href="http://youtu.be/aPtMJCNf-oQ">13 second video </a>of Doug using the rowing machine.) Another exhibit was a <a href="http://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/19bos/artists/randi-katrine/">recreation of a Danish Village;</a> its houses had human features. The Cockatoo Island exhibit included many videos - not of interest to us.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V6ex0vPWqBY/UzaqBW4DLlI/AAAAAAAAF5M/gTc98KPrFzk/s1600/DSCN1033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V6ex0vPWqBY/UzaqBW4DLlI/AAAAAAAAF5M/gTc98KPrFzk/s1600/DSCN1033.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All those days at the gym paying off</td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5szr8rLas2E/UzaqRC2LHzI/AAAAAAAAF5U/Xy3oLyABRJ4/s1600/DSCN1040_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5szr8rLas2E/UzaqRC2LHzI/AAAAAAAAF5U/Xy3oLyABRJ4/s1600/DSCN1040_edited-1.JPG" height="320" width="273" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The reward to using an elliptical trainer was a dancing skeleton<br /><br /><br /></td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UrnhvJN5fsI/Uzas5zkIViI/AAAAAAAAF50/U2qISnknxxg/s1600/DSCN1026_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UrnhvJN5fsI/Uzas5zkIViI/AAAAAAAAF50/U2qISnknxxg/s1600/DSCN1026_edited-1.JPG" height="320" width="192" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I have no idea when a cockatoo was last on <a href="http://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/about/history">Cockatoo Island.</a> In 1839 it was established as a penal colony. A decade later a dry dock was built, ship building started in 1870, and the ship yard closed in 1992. After the prison was vacated a girl's reform school was opened. Later neglected boys were on a ship school on the island. Similar to what we learned in Tasmania, the girls were largely neglected and trained for domestic service; the boys received schooling and were trained for various professions. The island has two trails: the convict trail and the maritime trail. Even without an art festival the island is worth a visit. (The above link is more informative than many.)<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-puLbISqgK8k/UzbNMN4f88I/AAAAAAAAF6M/2WnxgvZ6DWI/s1600/DSCN1023_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-puLbISqgK8k/UzbNMN4f88I/AAAAAAAAF6M/2WnxgvZ6DWI/s1600/DSCN1023_edited-1.JPG" height="198" width="320" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A chance to experience large machines face-to-face</td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br />As we left the Sydney tourist office we saw a sign for the Discovery Museum. I assumed that it had some sort of geological exhibit. Since it was free even seeing rocks wouldn't be so bad. Instead we learned the history of <a href="http://www.therocks.com/">an area of Sydney</a>, the Rocks, including an aboriginal community, the Cadigal, that lived in Sydney. It was the first time on our trip that we saw more than a few words that aboriginal people had lived in a given area. We told the receptionist how much we liked the museum and she told us about efforts to document some of the 200 plus aboriginal languages before they totally disappear. The museum provides insights into an important piece of Australia's history, which seems more hidden than its history as a penal colony.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eI_9nQheACQ/UzbOjEulaMI/AAAAAAAAF6Y/uIfPqPemhKQ/s1600/DSCN0979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eI_9nQheACQ/UzbOjEulaMI/AAAAAAAAF6Y/uIfPqPemhKQ/s1600/DSCN0979.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-72194312434439119402014-03-25T13:08:00.002+08:002014-03-25T13:08:36.026+08:00Coles Bay: Best Tasmanian Hike and Oysters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had visions of <a href="http://www.colesbay.com.au/colesbay.php">Coles Bay</a> as a bustling beach community filled with seafood restaurants. Clearly, I had done no research ahead of time. With a permanent population of 200 the village had a few restaurants, two small grocery stores, and one gas station (very expensive and does not open until 9 am - If coming from Launceston stopping at Bicheno to fill up on petrol and buy groceries may be a good idea.)<br />
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To organize our next day's hike we went to the <a href="http://tassie.org.au/freycinet/">Freycinet National Park</a> visitors centre. In addition to the ranger's suggestions and a brochure with information on the park's trails we picked up a book on the park's flora. It was only $5AUS - a price and content to suit our needs. It added for our experience - I wish that we had found a similar publication earlier. (We looked - they just aren't available.) This was the last of three Tasmanian National Parks that we visited....and our $80 AUS Tasmania parks pass paid off.<br />
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We decided on Wineglass Bay via Wineglass Bay Lookout estimated to take up to 4.5 hours. We took 4, better than usual for us. (Over the course of the trip we became less sure if the time estimates reflected reality.)<br />
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As we neared the lookout we stopped to admire the lounge chair built by architecture students in 2000.<br />
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At the lookout saw this wallaby "entertaining" a crowd. Everyone was on their good behavior - they only observed the wallaby and talked to him. When he got tired of this gig he quickly hopped into the forest.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Wineglass Bay Lookout.</td></tr>
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All sort climbed the 250 meter altitude change to Wineglass Bay Lookout: hikers with boots and walking sticks, Chinese tourists carrying umbrella to shade themselves from the sun, and beach people in sandals or flip flops. There was a constant stream of hikers but not enough to be annoying. We enjoyed receiving thumbs up from the Chinese tourists.<br />
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We read the sign warning us that the Wineglass Bay trail was steep. This trail was not crowded as 95% of the hikers stopped at the Wineglass Bay Lookout. We continued on glad that we had walking sticks. Like the other Tasmanian trails steep trails were tiring and required attention to keep from slipping, but not dangerous. (Although many of the trails could become very slippery if they were wet.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These rocky steps go on for a long stretch</td></tr>
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Eventually hikers coming in the other direction reported a flat area ahead. They were right. Soon after we saw our reward. Totally worth every step.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our reward - Wineglass Bay</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of a top ten beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bird nesting on beach, his/her partner was guarding nearby.</td></tr>
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Although we heard many birds along the trail the guy below is the only one we were able to photograph.<br />
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The return walk was easier - easier on my knees and no worries about stumbling - but tiring.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great hike - glad to reach the end of the trail</td></tr>
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Our hike finished we were ready to test out the <a href="http://www.freycinetmarinefarm.com/">Freycinet Marine Farm's</a> oysters about 5 km before Coles Bay proper. Well, Doug was - I have no fondness for oysters. He rated these oysters the best of our trip with Stanley at 2nd best and then Sydney. Doug ordered his oysters by the dozen and made the mistake of not returning the next day. I had a generous portion of mussels with lemons. I more or less ignored the lemons because the chili sauce on the table was addictive. We now understand fully the meaning of "tuck in".<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to tuck in and devour the oysters</td></tr>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-12893870034510454802014-03-24T15:51:00.001+08:002014-03-24T15:53:12.028+08:00Launceston: Politics and Hikes <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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First, some political theater from Launceston. The sticker below was on a vacant shop window. As we took the picture a couple kept looking at us, but didn't ask what we were doing. The state elections were four days off (the Greens lost seats), so they may have assumed we had an agenda. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The business? "Cash advance centre" IMO not a loss</td></tr>
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Further on we saw an advance polling place. We walked in and talked with an election judge about voting in Tasmania. Voting is mandatory (AUD 250 fine). All Australian are registered as voters at age 18. Within Tasmania on Election Day (always a Saturday) you can go into any polling place and vote. <br />
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Campaign ads include a statement of who paid for the ad and the name of the spokesperson. Direct attacks on individual politicians (by name and without permission) by political opponent can result in a criminal conviction. Parties can run ads against a specific politician (see the picture on the left - markedly more negative than any other ad that we saw), but it appears limited to the State Prime Minister candidates. Advertising ends two days prior to the election. <br />
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And there is true political theatre, a satirist ran as <a href="http://fastfreddy.info/">"Fast Freddie"</a> and campaigned on killing off the iconic Tasmanian Devil, turning the top 300 meters of Mt. Wellington into a duty free zone, and other "outrageous" policies to address Tasmania's problems.<br />
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The helpful staff at Launceston's Tourist Information Center suggested hiking in <a href="http://www.launcestoncataractgorge.com.au/">Cataract Gorge</a> that was short drive out of town. We had no trouble finding the gorge; it is a major recreational area with well manicured lawn, peacocks, and a swimming pool. After the long Rocky Cape hike we wanted something less stressful. The name alone of the Zig Zag Track was enough to keep us off that trail. The Duck Reach Trail sign suggested that we might have a challenging walk. We were wrong. The trail was good with a sturdy fence between the trail and the gorge. A hiker we met on later hike accurately described it as a pleasant walk<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tight squeeze</td></tr>
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The construction sign was to cordon off work being done on a lookout, not to signal a premature end to the hike. We walk around the fence and continued on to the <a href="http://www.hydro.com.au/node/1004/duck-reach-power-station-museum">Duck Reach museum</a> housed in the area's first power station. The museum described the process and impact of introducing electricity to a community and the process used to generate electricity.<br />
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The pipe pictured below was the end of a 850 meter tunnel drilled through rock to provide water to the power station.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only wildlife we met on the trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view from the trail</td></tr>
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Next we went to the <a href="http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=4118" target="_blank">Tamar Island Wetlands Center</a>, which was one of our favorite walks. A boardwalk took us through the wetlands - no climbing or walking on stony surfaces. The brochure was far superior to others that we had received. It told us what to look for at numbered points on the trail. It pictured the most common birds in the wetlands and we saw many. We took pictures of unfamiliar plants to ask the volunteer staff if they could identify them. The walk, the brochure, and the conversations with the volunteer staff made the walk memorable.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perhaps a marsh harrier - it wasn't about to give us a close look</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bindweed - a threatened species in Tasmania</td></tr>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-61830420958038544192014-03-20T18:55:00.002+08:002014-03-25T13:21:07.704+08:00Stanley: A Great Place to Chill Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Why was Stanley on our itinerary? None of our many tourist pamphlets did not mention it. Once we checked into the <a href="http://www.stanleyseaviewinn.com.au/"> Stanley Seaview Inn</a> our questions disappeared. Our unit was roomy and comfortable with Wi-Fi (first for us in Tasmania). Our balcony overlooked a pasture where 18 sheep grazed; in the distance we could see the bay. As soon as I turned my camera on the sheep pictured on the left looked up, kept me in her gaze, and nudged the one on the right to get picture ready.</div>
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We went to the village center to make a dinner reservation – a good idea on a Saturday night in a small town with few options. As we strolled past the 19th century cottages on Stanley's Heritage Walk the term “tidy town” came to mind. At village had two blocks of shops and cafes. The gift shops were pleasant and free of junky souvenirs. On Saturday afternoon the foot traffic was light, and by Sunday it had nearly disappeared. Not only a tidy town, but a bit of a sleepy one.</div>
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At dinner Doug had lobster, but it was served cold, same as Prince Edwards Island in Canada. I had "river trout" that looked and tasted like salmon. No complaints, just unexpected. After dinner we walked behind the town cemetery to see “fairy penguins” (<a href="http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Eudyptula_minor/">Eudyptula minor</a>) that come to a rocky beach to roost. To avoid predators the penguins come after dark. So not to spook the penguins our flashlights were covered with red plastic. I did take a picture – there didn’t seem to be ill effects, perhaps because we were alone and there wasn't lots of flashes.</div>
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The next day we went to a Rocky Cape National Park to take the Rocky Cape Circuit Walk. We accessed the trail at Route 227 and combined four trails routes (the trail to Postman’s Pass, the Inland Track to Tinkers Lookout, Brandfordia Spur to Cathedral Rocks and the Coastal Trail back to Postman's Pass) for a total of 8 km. The hills were beautiful (think <i>Sound of Music</i>), but trudging on the gravel path scarcely inspired singing. The Brandfordia Spur Trail was seriously overgrown and we had to be careful not to lose site of the trail – not a popular walking path. In fact we saw no one hiking and no other cars in the car park at the information sign near Burgess Cove. The day was windy, but once the wind stopped the flies came out. The signs said that the hike would take 2.5 hours. We took 4, about what we expected. The views were good and the hike was never dull. We appeared to be the only ones on the trail that day.</div>
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On our way to Stanley we stopped Burnie’s <a href="http://www.discoverburnie.net/what-to-see/makers-workshop.html">Makers’ Workshop</a><u> where u</u>p to 36 artists and crafters share work space. Of the artists who were working on the Saturday we visited were a paper folder, a paper maker, a fiber artist, and a bead maker. We talked to <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ritchie Ares Dona</span> the paper folder. He uses discarded materials to make various objects. The work takes patience, attention to detail, and vision to transform “rubbish” and create art.<br />
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In addition to the artists the Makers Workshop houses a pleasant café and tourist information. The staff at tourist information were particularly helpful. It was they who alerted us to the fairy penguins in Stanley, and SteamFest 2014 in Sheffield. They even gave us a red transparent paper to put over our flashlight when viewing the penguins coming in at night.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-52387992032496361052014-03-11T15:45:00.000+08:002014-03-11T15:45:16.599+08:00Cradle Mountain Tasmania<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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At Christmas friends went to Tasmania to trek on the <a href="http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=7771">Overland Tra</a><u>ck</u>. Their enthusiasm was contagious even if their stamina wasn't. They convinced us to spend more time in Tasmania and to fit in a lot of hiking. Our planning started with Cradle Mountain in the <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/181">Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area </a>and the beginning point for the Overland Track. It was the most remote area of our trip, and we were advised to buy our provisions before we came. We stayed at <span id="goog_1298692274"></span><a href="http://cradle-mountain.tas.big4.com.au/">Discovery Holiday Park</a>; its small provision store (it had milk but no fruit juice) that closed at 6.<br />
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On our way we spotted a sign for a scenic view. Given the line of cars parked by the side of the road we assumed that stopping was worthwhile. It was. A short hilly climb took us to the <a href="http://www.apstas.com/Vale_of_Belvoir.html">Vale of Belvoir</a> an ecologically valuable grassland that was inhabited by aboriginal people 18,000 years ago. Our views included a river, mountains, foliage and grasslands.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Background center - Cradle Mountain</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for autumn</td></tr>
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The benefit of traveling in Australia at the beginning of fall is that it is neither too cold or too hot. Some flowers and plants still are in bloom. At the same time we missed the orange glow of Cradle Mountain's autumn foliage and the hills filled with spring wildflowers.<br />
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Cradle Mountain is a large expanse of a temperate rain forest, which has been invaded by foreign plants. Some trails included long board walks; they cover fiber optics, water and sewage lines. We could stop to admire the vegetation instead of watching where we placed our feet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Board walk at beginning of Crater Lake Walk</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pandani (looked like yucca to me) </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three different foliage snaps</td></tr>
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We took two walks: <a href="http://short-walks.com.au/tasmania/dove-lake-circuit/">Dove Lake Circuit</a> (6 km) and <a href="http://www.realtasmania.com/topic/761-%234-crater-lake-circuit-cradle-mtn-np/">Crater Lake via Wombat Po</a><u>ol</u> (8 km). The Dove<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dove Lake</td></tr>
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Lake walk was relatively level and bug free. We took 3 hours for a 2 hour hike - lunched, watched large birds that we couldn't identify, and took pictures. The Crater Lake walk was hilly in sections and had more scenic variety. One rocky outcropping (just before Wombat Pool) was particularly dicey. Younger nimble hikers didn't hesitate a second in scrambling down. Both trails were well marked and easy to follow. The signs give a time estimate instead of distances - in our case the time estimates were aspirational.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crater Lake</td></tr>
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The trails were totally trash free. Undoubtedly the result of consciencous hikers. But on one walk we followed this ranger as he picked up stray tissues and other debris.<br />
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At Wombat Pool not a wombat was to be seen. This was hardly surpising since it was midday. Much of the wildlife is nocturnal and we're not!<br />
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<span id="goog_2132875927"></span><span id="goog_2132875928"></span>Since our accommodations were in the forest we saw wallabies as dusk. As we left a kangaroo crossed the street in front of us. Too fast for a picture, besides I found it hard to believe that I wasn't watching a Disney Cartoon.<br />
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A few logistic notes: During the day Cradle Mountain has free shuttles to take visitors in and out of the park. The stops are at the various trail heads. On the Dove Lake Circuit a few signs pointed out the foliage. I didn't take notes or pictures. I assumed that there would be pictures of the common foliage and animals at the Visitor Center. There weren't. The large birds at Dove Lake had a distinctive call, but we found nothing on the birds of the park nor a ranger to ask. Park rangers and private companies offer guided interpretive hikes. The ranger led hike was $35 for two hours, so we skipped it. As for nocturnal animals I suspect that our accommodation's camping areas would have rewarded a patient, alert camper.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-21504693537132447022014-03-08T12:02:00.000+08:002014-03-08T12:02:23.034+08:00Montezuma Falls Trail (West Tasmania)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our plan in for our holiday in Tasmania was to take
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At Montezuma Falls the trail follows the route of a tramway that was built to carry ore from mines to smelters. The 4 km trail is rated as easy –its path is wide with a compact surface. As we entered the forest the line “This is the forest primeval” (the first line of Longfellow’s Evangeline) echoed through my mind. It was no forest primeval. Rather the entire forest had been destroyed to make way for the tramway. </div>
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This 100 year rain forest is thick and lush.
The vegetation along the path was dominated by three major tree species
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Behind this mossy rock was the sound of falling waters. I turned on my camera's record function, but the result was such you will get more enjoyment from imagining the scene. </div>
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Despite the description the path wasn’t always easy. We occasionally ducked under a
fallen tree. We navigated muddy spots. Then we read on a sign “only 15 minutes
to the falls and worth every step.” Good thing, because a few steps later we
had to work our way through a thicket of branches that ate into our 15 minutes.
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A suspension bridge served as a viewing platform to see Montezuma
Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in Tasmania. Some waterfalls are high,
some are powerful, and some are both high and powerful. Montezuma Falls were
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On our way back we counted off each of the few obstacles we
had encountered. We looked forward to a sign where a hiker had corrected
Forestry Tasmania’s assertion that we were halfway to the falls.</div>
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After our hike we stopped at Rosebery. The center of town
was little more than a block long. The next day we again drove through Rosebery, We decided to stop at its Bake House to buy bread. The bake house was
filled with people having coffee, meat pies or other pastries. No sign of freshly
baked bread. So we went to the IGA grocery.Its modest front was deceptive. It was well stocked. In an area where
shops close early and are far between hungry hikers can easily find provisions.</div>
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Location: We were
staying Strahan. The drive was about an hour to a turnoff just before entering the town of Rosebery. The side road was mostly paved (tarred) for about 6 km when it ceased. We then crawled over a graded rock road to the starting point. Don't do this is a low slung car or large RV.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-4779048751855124182014-02-27T12:00:00.001+08:002014-03-30T13:43:24.957+08:00Gender Responsive Budgeting Conference in Penang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I jumped at the chance to go to a <a href="http://grb-pwdc.org.my/content/display/article/site:brg-param:asian_regional_conference-link:6689">gender responsive budgeting (GRB) conference</a> in Penang. I have had conversations about GRB and whether to include it in training potential women candidates. A few Google searches failed to turn up a clear discussion of GRB; I never read more than a few paragraphs. I am not going to try to do what others (in my opinion) have failed to do and explain GRB. Rather I will describe an approach to introducing an "emerging" topic, in other words a way to organize a terrific conference.<br />
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The conference's local, regional, and international participants represented different sectors and disciplines. I learned something from everyone I met. The first person I met was a professor from a Department of Public Administration in China. She does research on GRB and serves as an advisor to the government. In Malaysia neither departments of public administration nor government-PA faculty interactions are common. Nevertheless, the conference was like being back in my home (USA) PA department. I often heard "outcome based budgeting," "logic models," "monitoring and evaluation" and other terms that I hadn't heard since I retired. I was back in my disciplinary home!<br />
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The conference followed the Malaysian conference "drill." An opening ceremony and conference launch at 9, a tea break (so celebrity welcomers and launchers can gracefully exit), one or two sessions, lunch (1:00 is a favored time), another session, a tea break, another session. After each session the presenters and facilitators receive "tokens of appreciation." In this case small items from recycled materials made by a self-help local project. Dinner may be included; it is usually around 8 (to allow for evening prayers). A typical tea break has a vegetarian noodle or rice dish, fruit pieces, a curry puff or similar snack, and of course, tea and coffee. The tea break allows for networking and building the foundation for future relationships. At this conference a former colleague at USM helped me lay such foundations.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Presenting tokens of appreciation</td></tr>
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The conference had a strong framework beginning with its title, "Gender Responsive Budgeting Narratives: Transforming Institutions, Empowering Communities." Penang's GRB project is two years old, so the conference was more to learn than to teach. What better way to learn than to hear stories? Here is how I heard the stories:<br />
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<li>Session 1: The origins of GRB, how it is implemented, what it has accomplished as told by a UN Women regional specialist, a member of the Kerala's Institute of Local Administration faculty, and an economist and GRB consultant from Austria</li>
<li>Session 2: Designing participation to empower marginalized groups and identify needs as told by a German political scientist and a Portuguese architect and researcher. Giovanni Allegretti's paper deserves a close read; he wrote about going beyond doing more than gathering a group, even a randomly selected one, together to have <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/244362-1170428243464/3408356-1194298468208/4357878-1206561996836/Allegretti-Durban-short.pdf">meaningful participatory budgeting</a>.</li>
<li>Session 3: Case studies from Penang, Kerala, and Korea.</li>
<li>Session 4: Tools to incorporate a gender perspective into the budget process presented by the Austrian economist, a local planner from the Philippines, and a project team head in Malaysia's Ministry of Finance. </li>
<li>Session 5: How GRB is institutionalized in state and local governments as experienced in Penang, Indonesia, and Nepal. </li>
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I found sessions 2 and 4 particularly valuable. At conferences and seminars I usually focus on the most interesting insights and ignored the detailed information, which I later regret. No problem, the conference organizers provided the best SWAG ever, that is, a USP device containing the abstracts, papers, and power points. A genius idea that also showed the seriousness of the presenters in submitting their materials on time. (The abstracts are also posted on the conference's home page.)<br />
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I was reminded of program evaluation (the skill that dominated my career) - a methodology that broke into a thousand pieces or more accurately, a several different, but widely accepted, methods. GRB builds on over half a century of government budget practices designed to spend the public money wisely and reach specified objectives. The critical component of GRB is the explicit attention to women - do women have different needs? do implemented government programs discriminate against women? do government policies and programs impact men and women differently? GRB does not directly indicate how much a government should allocate money to "guns versus butter." Rather it uses a gender perspective to identify needs and impacts. Men are not ignored (although transgendered and LBG persons may be). GRB should pick up negative impacts on men especially young men and a gender lens should identify such gender-specific concerns. Specifically mentioned were issues of under performance of young men academically and in the workplace and methods to get new fathers to take advantage of parental leave opportunities. GRB tries to sensitize participants to look beyond women to consider the perspectives of the disabled, the elderly and other marginalized groups. And returning to my introductory comment about public administration, during the Q & A a presenter answered the GRB was within a government's purview, because allocating public money is a government's responsibility - a reminder of the value of a MPA.<br />
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The conference did not attempt to say "Here is how you implement GRB." Rather participants learned what they should think about in implementing GRB and assuring that it lasts beyond the next election. It was mentioned that civil society groups have a role to play during the time when governments change parties, when some initiatives get lost. Bravo to the women of <a href="http://www.pwdc.org.my/content/home/index/site:pwdc-link:5544">Penang's Women Development Corporation</a>, a part of Penang's State Government, who took the lead in implementing GRB and organizing the conference.<br />
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On the technical side, we saw a presentation from the Philippines where a local government is using a GIS to track budgetary outcomes with data from families in the city. I was amazed to see the information collected, including family planning methods utilized in households, due dates for pregnancy's. The presenter did admit that it was expensive to collect the data items (316) and in the future they will reduce the data collection effort. From an American perspective it is useful to note that people around the world have good and useful ideas....and actually implement them rather than talk them to death. For instance European towns and cities are partnering with South American counterparts to learn about implementation of participatory budgeting....an example of ideas from the southern hemisphere influencing the north.<br />
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To not mention dinner would be a terrible oversight. The evening started with drummers and dancers. Then a group of young people from who had participated in Penang's GRB pilot project in a low cost council flats did a short skit - a talk show where they talked about their projects. The dinner was amazing: a platter with appetizers and small salads, chicken soup, sotong (squid) and prawn dishes, a vegetable platter, a fried fish and nasi goreng, and a dessert.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the dance groups</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young housing residents talking about their projects</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were in awe of this<br />
young dancer's flexibility</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the courses - meaty and tasty</td></tr>
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Near the end of the evening the dancers took the stage and began grabbing partners from the audience - I was caught and did not credit to my year of Bollywood classes. It was great fun and energizing. The following picture does not capture the energy, but it documents an instance of Malaysia's diversity without boundaries.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ24Mn3Q0Ns/Uw6W8e7hTiI/AAAAAAAAFqk/HNNV7WE0jb8/s1600/IMG_20140224_223235_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ24Mn3Q0Ns/Uw6W8e7hTiI/AAAAAAAAFqk/HNNV7WE0jb8/s1600/IMG_20140224_223235_edited-1.jpg" height="320" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am in the center.</td></tr>
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Update: From Penang's WDC <span lang="EN-SG" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.119998931884766px;"><span style="color: black;">To assist you in your journey towards GRB, we have compiled all the full conference papers and the various power points presented at the conference on to the conference website. This includes the presentations at the break out groups and the group reports. You may access this at </span></span><span lang="EN-SG" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"><a href="http://www.grb-pwdc.org.my/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.119998931884766px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">www.grb-pwdc.org.my</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-SG" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.119998931884766px;"><span style="color: black;"> under the section of Conference Papers & Presentations. Please do share the materials with your networks and contacts (28/3/14) </span></span><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-82396123106490113462014-02-20T16:26:00.001+08:002014-02-20T16:26:44.322+08:00A Visit at the National Mosque<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In December, members of the Museum Negara (National Museum) volunteer tour leader in training group had a tour of the National Mosque (<a href="http://www.masjidnegara.gov.my/v2/86-berita-masjid" target="_blank">Masjid Negara</a>) in Kuala Lumpur. The tour was in the morning as not to interfer with prayer times at the Mosque. We were all requested to be appropriately dressed (long pants for men with long sleeved shirts, and women with long skirts and long sleeved blouses with high necklines and a scarf for head covering). We noted that tourists who were inappropriately dressed were provided with robes and head covering during their stay at the mosque.<br />
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Since our group had a planned tour, we were provided with an hour long briefing regarding Islam by volunteers from the education staff at the Mosque. We were also greeted warmly by a staff member of <a href="http://www.islam.gov.my/en" target="_blank">JAKIM</a> (Department of Islamic Development - Malaysia). Following an hour long briefing, we were divided into groups of six for our tour. Local volunteer guides took us on the tour.<br />
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The mosque was built in 1965 and reflects a Malaysian architectural style. The roof reflects an open umbrella with 16 ribs, while the minaret reflect the a closed umbrella. The umbrella has long stood as one of the regalia representative of the Malay Sultans. The mosque was build on land previously used as a church during colonial times but was repurposed for this use.<br />
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The main worship hall is open air and is capable of handling a crowd of over 3,000 people, while the entire mosque can handle 15,000 people. Women can worship in the mosque but in a separate balcony hidden from the main floor by decorative screens.<br />
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Water plays an important feature at the mosque. Several large pools flank the main worship hall, and at ground level ceremonial ablution (washing) areas are present. Prayers are held 5 times a day, but the mosque is most busy for Friday noon prayers. (Woe be to the casual tourist walking on the adjacent sidewalks when the masses come to prayers on Friday noon, the traffic is incredible).<br />
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Adjacent to the mosque on the same grounds is the Makam Pahlawam or Hero's Mauseoleum. Technically outside of the mosque this is the burial grounds for some important Malaysian politicians. We were told that mosques typically do not contain interments.<br />
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Other building nearby are the headquarters of JAKIM (Department of Religious Development), the Islamic Museum, and the Royal Police Museum. Across the street is the old KL Station with its elaborate Mongul styled ornamentation.<br />
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Access for the visitor to the mosque is quite easy. Take a taxi, take the KTM Commuter Train to KL Station exit through the station, take the underground passage across the street. From the LRT go to Pasar Seni, walk on the elevated walkway to KL Station and follow the above directions. A map and pictures is available from the <a href="http://www.tourmalaysia.com/2010/02/07/kl-heritage-trail-masjid-negara-national-mosque/" target="_blank">Tourism Malaysia website</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Visiting the mosque</span></b><br />
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This National Mosque is tourist friendly, but please follow the following rules (Just like you would do when visiting the Vatican, a Buddhist Temple or other major religious center).<br />
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It is important to dress appropriately when visiting the mosque. Men and women must wear conservative attire ( it is best to wear long sleeved shirts and blouses with high necklines, and ankle length pants or dresses, and women should carry a scarf to cover their hair, and men remove their hat). If you come inappropriately dressed the mosque will provide you with long robes and head covering (but they look hot). Time your visit so as not to interfere with prayer times (this is a house of worship, not a museum).<br />
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bogordoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792393055519702004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-73866489585911705352014-02-12T16:27:00.000+08:002014-02-12T16:27:52.171+08:00A local eating place in PJ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As we travel through Kuala Lumpur we eye outdoor eating places wondering how good they are. Fortunately our friends have generously shared their favorites. On Saturday we had a double treat - a new place to eat and a chance to experience <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/345620/lifestyle/food/yee-sang-experiencing-the-prosperity-toss-to-welcome-the-lunar-new-year">yee sang</a>, a Chinese New Year staple in Malaysia and Singapore.<br />
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<a href="http://www.zodio.com/business/direction/119038412">Kam Kim Seafood</a> is off Jalan Gasing (PJ). In front of the restaurant is a large parking area, site of the Wednesday pasar malam (night market). We arrived around 6:30 - plenty of parking. By the time we left it was a major challenge to work our way out of the lot. (Since we hope to return there, we checked on <a href="http://grabtaxi.com/myteksi/">Myteksi</a> and found many taxis serving the area.)<br />
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Swee Lan ordered a new year's meal of yee sang (raw fish salad), venison with ginger and spring onions, lettuce braised in garlic, and sweet and sour fish.The real treat was yee sang, which we had read about and seen on the news. Now we had a chance to enjoy the new year's ritual and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8MGSdTkcU8&feature%20%20%20I%20c">"toss yee sang."</a> The salad came surrounded by small bowls containing jelly fish and condiments. We started to record (above link 54 sec) when Swee Lan had nearly finished assembling the ingredients, but we captured the tossing while Swee Lan said aloud new year's wishes. (Families and large groups may be less restrained than our performance as first timers.) The salad was delicious. We learned that restaurants only offer yee sang during Chinese New Year. (In Malaysia once a holiday is over holiday foods, such as moon cakes, disappear. Not entirely true when it comes to western holidays - we can still buy discounted Halloween candy)<br />
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We didn't know that venison was eaten locally (it hasn't popped our Bahasa Malay food vocabulary). It is sourced from Universiti Putra Malaysia, a public university. UPM's website subtlety links its deer farm to people's meals: <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #343434;">Unlike zoos, UPM deer farm serves as a research, education, production and for sale." A </span>Google search confirmed that </span>US state universities have similar programs, for example "A university steak to go with that sweatshirt?" <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/us/how-about-a-university-steak-with-your-sweatshirt.html">NYT article</a> about Washington State University's beef sales.<br />
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The four dishes accompanied by small bowls of rice were satisfying (neither too much nor too little food). The food was tasty and Swee Lan told us that the prices were reasonable.<br />
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After dinner we caught up with Peter Young, a former boss and friend of Swee Lan, and joined him on his evening walk. Peter came to Malaysia from the UK 60 years ago as a missionary; he stayed on and is a Malaysian citizen. He was the first Executive Director of <a href="http://www.malaysiancare.org/">Malaysian Care</a>, a Christian social work organization, Later he founded <a href="http://www.unitedvoice.com.my/">United Voice</a> where I met Swee Lan. Before we left he gave us a copy of <i>Peter's Ongoing Pointers,</i> his reflections that are posted on <a href="http://www.themicahmandate.org/">Micah Mandate.</a> We were honored by the gift (one can read its short entries at random), and to have met Peter, a man who has contributed so much to a more just Malaysia.<br />
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Swee Lan, far younger than Peter or I, is a great friend and an inspiration. I wrote about her and United Voice in a blog entry on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2978305467380852700#editor/target=post;postID=6142488618068888996;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=4;src=postname">30 October 2010</a> Currently, Swee Lan works with Malaysia's Department of Social Welfare to promote supportive employment for persons with disabilities. (When I first met her supportive employment did not exist in Malaysia.) Her team trains <a href="http://www.jobcoachmalaysia.com/index.html">job coaches in Malaysia</a>, and recently she offered training in China. Throughout her career Swee Lan's has empowered persons with learning disabilities (same as intellectual disabilities) and facilitated their participation in Malaysia's civic life.<br />
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On our outing we also stopped at Swee Lan's home. She has several paintings done by United Voice artists. If you are in the neighborhood of United Voice drop in and visit the<a href="http://www.unitedvoice.com.my/ep_artgallery.htm"> art gallery</a>. It will remind you that intellectual disabilities are not indicative of other abilities.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-88079200017037019552014-02-08T12:43:00.000+08:002014-02-08T15:34:39.135+08:00An unplanned trip to Paris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our trip was planned, what we would do wasn't. On our flight from Chicago to Kuala Lumpur we stopped in Paris, made a hotel reservation, and planned to see the Eiffel Tower. Otherwise our days (and nights) were open. (Somehow Doug had missed the Eiffel Tower on a earlier trip.)<br />
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We booked at a hotel near Pigelle Station, <a href="http://www.hoteloperafrochot.com/">Hotel Opera Frochet</a> (about <img alt="Euro currency symbol" border="0" src="http://officeimg.vo.msecnd.net/en-us/files/801/001/ZA006048440.gif" style="background-color: white; border-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI', SegoeUIWF, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.003999710083008px; visibility: visible;" title="Euro currency symbol" />117/night). We expected a typical budget hotel, i.e., small room, poor WiFi reception, few amenities, and a bit worn. Instead we had a bright, spacious room with an array of amenities, a mini-bar, coffee-maker, and speedy Internet. (We needed 5 UserIDs to access the Internet - two people 2 kindles, a nook, and 2 computers.) The <a href="http://www.amsterdam-red-light-district-maps.com/France-Paris-Boulevard-de-Clichy.html">Pigelle</a> is a notorious red light district, but Boulevard de Clichy was the only seamy area we encountered.<br />
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There were bistros south of the hotel, but the first night we chose a small Vietnamese shop across from the hotel - unforgettably awful. Our other meals tended to be mediocre and pricey - the price we paid for not doing our homework.<br />
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We went to the <a href="http://www.musee-orsay.fr/">Musee d'Orsay</a> twice. The first time it was closed because of an emergency. We saw no strikers or the police, so the problem must have been more mundane than a strike or bomb threat. The next day it was open. The museum is housed in the former Orsay train station. It is a lovely space to wander and small enough not be overwhelming. The museum website is worth a visit as well<br />
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We saw a flier for the exhibition "Impressions A Montmarte," so we headed to Montmarte to find the <a href="http://www.museedemontmartre.fr/uk/index.html">Musee Montmarte</a>. The perfect museum - easily reached, a walkable neighborhood, and a small enough collection to fully engage. The art, which included Le Chat Noir posters, was as joyful as the one below. We watched a film clip from Can Can - immediately uplifting. The museum, surrounded by a garden, is in a house where at one time Renior and other artists lived.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andre Gill poster - pure joy<br />
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Before we left Montmarte we walked up to the Basicilica Sacre Coeur and snapped a picture of people on its steps. On steps or chairs my image of Paris is people gazing out on the scene in front of them. Still true, but now lots of looking down to check smart phones.<br />
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Walking through Paris we viewed favorite sites and discovered new ones. Our walk along the Seine from the Musee d'Orsay ended at Notre Dame Cathedral. For the first time we noticed the similarity between the cathedral and temples in India - the large central hall, a central alter, side chapels, and statutes both inside and outside.<br />
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We had no interest in the Pompidou's current exhibit. Still it is a pleasure to look at the architecture, enjoy the mall, and people watch.<br />
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This mime provided an exceptional people watching opportunity. Passerbys seemed to be asking themselves "How does he do it?" A feat worthy of every euro he collected.<br />
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A later walk took us to the Arc deTriomphe. Along the way we continued enjoying the parks and broad sidewalks.<br />
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Two full days in Paris. Lots of walking, two good museums, a few tourist sites, and not-so-great food. What would we do differently? Only, better meal planning. Three years in Malaysia has taught us to not surrender to mediocre food.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-60014499482092542962014-01-31T19:04:00.000+08:002014-02-03T15:33:12.770+08:00The Lunar New Year in KL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from our pool (lights blink) twin towers in the foreground</td></tr>
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After memorable lunar new year's spent out of Malaysia we decided to savor KL's lack of traffic and clear skies. Two years ago we wandered the streets of Yogjakarta looking for a place to stay. Doug and I were traveling with Lina.. We had been told that reservations weren't needed. Not true, if is Chinese New Year (CNY). We wanted 2 rooms, but we took a look when a receptionist said he had a perfect room. It was one room with a king sized bed! Last year we were in Laung Prabang. Caravans of families had driven down from China. Small groups wandered through the town looking for rooms. We had reserved a room, but finding a place to eat with available seats was difficult.<br />
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We started today (first day of the lunar new year) at a carnival the National Museum. From a <a href="http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2014/01/13/National-museum-to-hold-monthlong-beads-exhibition/">newspaper article</a><span id="goog_700386376"></span> we learned that it was part of the museum's exhibit "Beads for Beauty." The connection was subtle, and we visited the bead exhibit almost as an afterthought. If you are in KL before 15 February go see it. It is interesting and free. The exhibit included beaded garments, headdresses, and shoes - items produced and worn by different ethnic groups. A person in a ceremonial costume was wandering about the carnival (a <br />
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better gig than the person dressed as Sponge Bob who handed out fliers on Times Square in the middle of the winter).The carnival had a few craft demonstrations, freshly cooked traditional cakes, vendors selling herbs and bonsai and beads. A small group from Sarawak (we were disheartened to see how old they were) danced a<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlz7ko5NgLs"> traditional dance</a>, and a fashion show promoted an upcoming exhibit at the Textile Museum.<br />
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The monkey in front of the wood carver took two weeks to make. The piece he was working on at the carnival will probably take a month. While we watched the only tool he used was a chisel.<br />
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Next we headed to the <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://klscah.org.my/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dselangor%2Bkuala%2Blumpur%2Bchinese%2Bassembly%2Bhall%26rlz%3D1C1TSNO_enUS478US478%26espv%3D210%26es_sm%3D93">Selangor-Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall (SKLCAH)</a> for an open house. We were a bit late, so we missed the lion dance. We helped ourselves to noodles, vegetables, and a potato curry. At Eid, Diwali, Christmas, and Chinese New Year political parties and government officials hold an open house on the holiday associated with their ethnic group. These are come one - come all affairs and apparently can be quite elaborate. Since we aren't particularly comfortable with political Malaysia we were glad to have this opportunity to experience an open house. The SKLCAH is the frequent host of forums and book launches (in English) hat have enriched our understanding of Malaysia and its neighbors.<br />
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Eid, Diwali, Christmas, and Chinese New Year the malls do not miss an opportunity to decorate. A few days after Christmas the malls switched their colors to pink and worked horses into their motif. Since we don't usually go to the major malls we decided to visit at least one. Our purpose was to send pictures to our friends in the US who probably saw the malls jump from Christmas to Valentine's Day. We discovered that pictures can't completely pick up the burst of color. And on the first day of CNY the colorful decorations were complemented by some beautiful Chinese-style clothes on women, girls, and a few boys.<br />
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mall one-ups man?</td></tr>
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Gong Xi Fa Cai<br />
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UpDate: And on the 2nd day of the lunar new year we walked to a friend' house for coffee, cookies, and conversation. A week earlier the couple' families gathered to bake <a href="http://imsohungree.blogspot.com/2012/02/kuih-kapit.html">love letters</a>, a major project, and other cookies.(Their description of the baking marathon reminded me of times when we visited Mingjai in the US and sat around talking and making dumplings.) We talked with three hours - we shared stories from our travels and they told us tales about notorious Malaysians.<br />
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And on the 3rd day we went to a lunch at the home of a Malay friend. Not your typical Malaysian meal - roast chicken, mashed potatoes, assorted steamed veggies, and coleslaw. Not Asian but delicious. A guest asked what the occasion was - the answer "Chinese New Year." A major topic of conversation was Malaysia's current religious/political tensions. There are diverse opinions and beliefs despite the perspective pushed by the powers to be. Later we all went to the home of a Chinese family for cookies and glass noodles with fungus. A lot of conversation - the most amazing one was on death customs. Including Googling to learn how heads are shrunk. We had left home at 2 and returned at 9.<br />
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Today is the 4th day and again we are awed at the potential of Malaysia to bring people together and not in a superficial way. People talk about things that matter and embrace their common humanity<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-26328329449099855742014-01-19T13:28:00.003+08:002014-01-19T17:49:49.248+08:00SuperMum, Super Bakery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are constantly awed by the amazing, dedicated Malaysians we meet. A year ago we jumped at a friend's, Bernie's, invitation to visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SuperMum.Bakery">SuperMum Bakery</a> in Petaling Jaya - a short LRT ride from Kuala Lumpur. SuperMum trains single mothers to bake breads and cookies with the goal of setting up their own businesses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I still drop by to watch the business grow. It is a hive of activity. Workers gather around a table kneading, shaping items, and chatting. Trays of treats to be baked or packaged surround them. Neighbors pop in to shop and visit. It is time to introduce SuperMum to others in Kuala Lumpur.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The food</b>: No matter how worthy the project the breads and cookies must be good. We have sampled most of the 7 cookies, Usually we buy muesli or walnut-raisin bread, pretzels, scones and cookies. (I am a creature of habit. We have yet to remember to try the herb wholewheat bread with rosemary, thyme, parsley and black pepper.) The
bakery maintains a tight inventory, and freshly baked cookies are available for spur of the moment
purchases. Also readily available are muesli, wholemeal, pumpkin wholemeal,
black sesame wholemeal, walnut and raisin wholemeal, lemon milk wholemeal,
sweet potato wholemeal, multi-grain walnut and
soft buns. The target market for the buns are children who stop by after
school. (On my last visit I had an onion bun - it could become addictive.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At our first visit we couldn't resist the freshly baked pretzels.They aren't the doughy, salty pretzels sold on the streets of NYC, which we drench with mustard. These were sweeter, wheatier and covered with seeds - a healthy, tasty alternative. We usually toast the breads, which aren't overly sweet. In my opinion they hold there own without butter or jam.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Clare - putting the last touches on the pretzels</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Kumar next to kneading machine (very impressive equipment)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The workers: </b>After retiring Clare and Kumar took baking courses at the Malaysian Institute of Baking (MIB) and opened a home bakery. In December 2012 the Rotary Club of Petaling Jaya (RCPJ) appointed them to run the SuperMum bakery. SuperMum is Clare and Kumar's business where they give training single mothers to develop their skills and self confidence. Equipment and space are donated by the Sun and Petaling Jaya's local government (MBPJ) respectively. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">One piece of equipment donated by Sun newspapers</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Potential trainees walk in and ask about the project. If they are keen, they negotiate with Clare on their training days and times. After training the bakery may offer skilled, involved trainees with part-time work with a small allowance. Currently, 5 mothers with them</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The project </b>Prior to opening the bakery the Rotary club sent single mothers to MIB for training, but the trained women lacked the self confidence to launch their own business. The SuperMum bakery, with its hands-on training, gives the MIB graduates the knowledge, support, and self confidence to go out on their own. The bakery is a joint project of the Rotary Club of PJ, Petaling Jaya's local government (MBPJ) and the Sun newspaper. A <a href="http://www.rotarypj.com/files/2013-2014/PeejayPost_14_-_2013-10-08_high_res.pdf">short review of the project</a> shows the effort it takes to launch a project, and the challenges of working with women who face daily challenges in managing their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Lessons Learned: </b>A community project requires flexibility and persistence. Bringing sponsors, resources, and program participants together is a learning process. False starts are inevitable requiring organizers to identify problems and make needed changes. Coordinating with other organization is helpful The large group training offered by MIB and SuperMums' individualized training worked best in conjunction with each other. MIB provides the foundation and SuperMum helps women transition into managing their own business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After one year the organizers have learned that mothers with older children have more control over their schedule and can make the extensive time commitment baking requires. Mothers with young children may drop out because of frequent conflicting demands. To date the trainees have not gone on to start their own businesses. One issue is working by themselves for long hours. Amarjit, who along with Claudia has been with the project since the start, said that now she does all her family's baking. The project has given her something to do outside her home and work with other women. In the long run SuperMum may end up training women to work independently in a bakery or restaurant instead of starting one-woman businesses. A year is not enough time to see how the women use their training. I'll check back next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Location and ordering: SuperMum is at Gelanggang Skuasy Jalan SS24/1, Taman Megah, 47301 Petaling Jaya Telephone 03-78030482. Open Tue-Sat 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sun 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Ignore Google Maps. It is an easy walk from the Kelana Jaya LRT station. At station take the bridge over the highway. Turn right, walk past the shop houses and a block of residences to Jalan SS24/1. Turn left and walk about 600m. The bakery is in the park on the left, facing the traffic light junction, and with the Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Megah a further 300m away on it’s left. Special orders and large orders, best to call two to three days in advance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is a partial price list so you can plan your trip</span><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-29050646213251130572014-01-08T16:18:00.001+08:002014-01-08T16:18:37.126+08:00A short stay in Strasbourg<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our October trip from the US to KL included a stopover in France. Rather than squander our stay in Paris by sleeping off jet lag we went to Strasbourg. About 24 hours after leaving Indianapolis we were at the<a href="http://www.hotel-vendome.com/"> Hotel Vendome</a> across from the Strasbourg train station. We landed in Paris and then took our train (booked on line) to Strasbourg. We have been to Strasbourg several times and decided to revisit because: it is cheaper than Paris, we like Alsacian food, and it is a walkable city. Having been there before we felt no need to do more than wander, eat, and sleep. We picked the Vendome because it was inexpensive, had good reviews, and easy for jet lagged travelers to spend their time walking and exploring.<br />
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We looked forward to having a tartes flambee (flammenkuechen). We knew more or less where Le <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Restaurant_Review-g187075-d793565-Reviews-Le_Flam_s-Strasbourg_Bas_Rhin_Alsace.html">Flam</a>'s was - a inexpensive source and no worries about being out of them. We found Flam, ate, picked up bread and cheese, and went back to sleep. The next morning we had a 8 Euro breakfast at the hotel. It was better than we expected - fresh breads and rolls, cheese, flavored yogurt, and cereal.<br />
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When we left we had no particular place in mind. At the town square we spent time gazing at the historical carousel. We don't recall noticing it before, perhaps we were more involved in checking out the Christmas market vendors.<br />
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We worked our way toward the <a href="http://www.cathedrale-strasbourg.fr/art.aspx">Cathedral</a>. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_Cathedral">Wikipedia entry</a> is worth reading.) The cathedral was closed during mass, but the singers pictured below entertained a large group waiting to enter. Not pictured is a woman with a cup for money, she was clearly unhappy that they were in her spot. Not to worry, she apparently got her spot back because we spotted the singers later at a brasserie.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to buy a stork (available S, M, L) for our grandson</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_astronomical_clock">Astronomical clock</a> - Christ and 12 Apostles start moving<br />
at 12:30 p.m</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In center panel: St. Roch, St. Maurice, St. Nicholas<br />
Why these 3 together? You can't learn everything<br />
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T<span style="font-family: inherit;">o direct our wanderings we decided to take an <a href="http://www.otstrasbourg.fr/article.php?id_article=212&lang=en">audio walking tour</a>. We would have preferred a guided tour, but there none available in English. We only received the audio set. Brochures are available; I don't remember if the staff member forgot or if the office was out of them. Consequently, we weren't always sure if we were looking at the right building and various details were quickly forgotten. There is a lot to be said for visual reinforcement. Still it was a lovely, worthwhile walk and if we return to Strasbourg often enough we will take the tour again to appreciate more the city's history as told by its buildings. We also took the walking tour while dodging runners in marathon. The local security for the marathon were very helpful in getting casual spectators back and forth across the route through the city.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">St. Thomas Church, the nearly 500 year old "Protestant Cathedral" stands on the site that was used as a place of worship under the patronage of Thomas the Apostle as early as the sixth century. I found St. Thomas' association puzzling since we had visited his alleged tomb in Chennai where he died in 72 A.D. Probably the word "patronage" means something different to the translator than to me. Pictured below is a 16th century <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cOeuOMbo3mVIOC3RcrwQqNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0">tombstone</a> that virtually every Google source went on to say "notable for its realistic depiction of his decaying corpse" and nothing more.<br />
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I appreciated the irony of learning that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_nationale_d'administration">Ecole National d'Administration</a> is a building that was formerly a prison. The graduate school was founded in 1945 by DeGaulle to democratize the senior civil service.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buildings along the Ill</td></tr>
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After the walk we headed back to our hotel stopping for a tarte flambee and a salad at a small restaurant. We saw the building pictured below. Although we know nothing about it, it deserved a picture.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pub perhaps?</td></tr>
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We started our search for dinner by looking for a place that we have eaten at before - no luck. So we began to look with our budget in mind. We had a 17 Euro prix fixe meal (entree, main, and dessert) at <a href="http://www.petite-alsace.com/la-carte-de-menu-de-restaurant-alsacienne-la-petite-alsace.html">La Petite Alsace</a>. Doug's menu included a tarte flambee (last one for this trip) and Choucroute traditionnelle 4 garnitures (sauerkraut surounded with 4 pieces of meat including wurst). It was lot of meat. For my entree I had a salad and then my potato and cheese casserole came with a salad. A day that started with me feel that I had too few vegetables was completely reversed. My casserole was good but a portion half the size would have done just as well.<br />
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Our stay was relaxing and left us ready to explore Paris.
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-983378963423902922013-12-30T20:42:00.001+08:002013-12-30T20:42:13.193+08:00Wedding trip to Indianapolis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We were in Indianapolis for Brendan's wedding. Indianapolis is the un-Kuala Lumpur: incredibly clean, pollution-free air; blue blue skies; courteous drivers who do not speed up when they see a pedestrian.The wedding was a three day party. A Friday night party for out-of-town guests and rehearsal survivors (not as cut and dry as I expected) at a <a href="http://www.indywithkids.com/2012/07/duckpin-bowling-at-action-atomic-bowl-in-fountain-square/">duckpin alley</a>. The adults talked and ate and the kids played or bowled in the lanes. Saturday morning we hosted a soup and bagel brunch. Doug made two delicious, hearty soups - borscht (a Russian language teacher's recipe) and minestrone (Martha Stewart recipe).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The key participants - one of whom was dressed for the occasion</td></tr>
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Our still small grandson was intense as he led the procession clutching on the ring box. He was followed by four nieces dressed in matching sun dress and purple sneakers. The service was high church - lots of smoke, bells, and holy water. The church was filled with an enthusiastic crowd who cheered once they were wed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tKB_jMjLEoY/UsDuMooUNLI/AAAAAAAAFVk/zGmLrKdz71w/s1600/after+wedding+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tKB_jMjLEoY/UsDuMooUNLI/AAAAAAAAFVk/zGmLrKdz71w/s320/after+wedding+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The happy couple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transport from church to reception<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who cares if a party is going on? I captured a flock of favors</td></tr>
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On Sunday morning folks came over to finish off the soup. I made two bagel runs. The 2nd run was a lesson in business planning. Einstein Bagels was totally out of bagels. We found a few bagels at a local grocery.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bagels & soup in our condo</td></tr>
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To avoid being jet lagged we arrived two weeks before the wedding and spent many an hour at the YMCA and the Indianapolis Library, We joined the <a href="http://www.indymca.org/centers/athenaeum/center-news/">YMCA</a> in 2011 and resumed our membership with no extra fees. (The Y is in the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/indianapolis/dasdeutschehaus.htm">Anthenaeum</a>, which was built by a German-American gymnastics club. The monthly tours are worthwhile.) A poster at the Y alerted us to <span style="font-family: inherit;">Germanfest (Click for t</span><a href="http://www.wishtv.com/news/local/hoosiers-celebrate-german-heritage" style="font-family: inherit;">v film clip</a>lederhosen race, although few runners had on either lederhosen or dirndl, and wiener dog races. The wiener dogs are dachshunds - we missed seeing their race. German "soldiers" served as an honor guard. No mention of what they represented. We assumed they wore Hessian uniforms, but the Hessians in the Google pictures are much slimmer<span style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;">.</span></div>
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At NC State University I would say, "I go to the library everyday, but rarely enter the building." I could do the same thing in Indianapolis, but that would be a mistake. The <a href="http://www.imcpl.org/about/">central library</a> is a hive of activity meeting diverse community needs and interests. When we are in town we attend its free <a href="http://www.imcpl.org/events/detail/?event_id=1488">chamber music concerts</a>. Its reading rooms exude the coziness of a traditional library. Its children's library is a wonder with child-level computers for families and tubes for reading, hiding or just chilling out.<br />
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Our condo is across from <a href="http://www.maxineschicken.com/">Maxine's Chicken and Waffles</a>. We heard that it was on a list of the <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/blog/2012/10/americas-most-popular-cheap-eats/">America's </a></div>
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100 most popular cheap eats - so what were we waiting for? It has the feel of a small town cafe with friendly staff. (We chatted with an owner about the challenges of running a restaurant - not a good plan for an easy retirement.) It serves Southern cooking - think Carla of Top Chef.Soon after we ordered we were served fried corn bread with peach butter. Doug had smothered chicken that he loved. I had a tilapia sandwich with 3 large fillets.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our waitress & nieceof the owner (have her name somewhat<br />
perhaps it will show up)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doug's smothered chicken</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">As we drove and walked these two signs caught our eye. The first was on the lawn of a ranch house.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not only bail bonding - gun permits notarized</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Tourist Tip - Our holiday got off on a strange note.</span><span style="text-align: center;"> Doug went to PNC, a large US bank, to change a USD100 bill. The bank teller refused to take the bill saying that the bank would only change bills for account holders. $100 bills is what the ATM in Chicago gave us. We were stunned that a US bank wouldn't accept and change US currency. With everything else we had to do we just moved on without following up. One more piece of evidence that something is seriously amiss with US banks to say nothing of PNC being unwelcoming to tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Let's end with a view from our condo</span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-51991612018070002102013-12-21T17:04:00.003+08:002013-12-21T17:25:26.750+08:00A Stopover in Chennai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We have spent more time in Chennai than in any other Indian city, so we look forward to the opportunity to relax, visit favorite places, and discover new things.<br />
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We stayed at the <a href="http://www.newwoodlands.com/about-us.php">New Woodlands Hotel</a> (everyone we meet who has been to Chennai has stayed there or at least heard of it). We love its South Indian breakfast and thalis. The menu was so enticing that we ate all our meals there. (At lunch and dinner the wait staff is in constant motion - not so much at breakfast. To get breakfast coffee required more than simple hand signals.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Woodlands Courtyard </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thali - still to come rice and a sweet</td></tr>
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Doug wanted to visit the <a href="http://navagrahachennai.blogspot.com/">Navagraha Temples</a> outside Chennai. Unfortunately we didn't have specific information and the tour desk was mystified. With some Googling (not as successful as today) we put together an itinerary of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundrathur">five temples in Kundrathur</a>. We asked to hire a licensed guide; we were told it wasn't necessary. It was! Our taxi driver spoke limited English. No matter, he wasn't familiar with the temples. (We hypothesized that tour agencies have the market on the best guides.) Here are some favorite pictures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanuman sporting IU (Indiana Uni) logo?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doug's been to a Shiva Temple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A library (we dropped in on a meditation/discussion)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An opportunity to advertise</td></tr>
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In addition to beggars in the temples, children offered to have us take their pictures. I usually said no by pointing out that I did not have a camera (true). One woman chided her children, because she noticed that Doug did.<br />
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We had a more satisfying visit to Kapalehwar Temple, a Shiva Temple, in Mylapore, an area of Chennai. A hotel staff member recommended it say that he went there to view the architecture and enjoy the peace. He was absolutely right about the peaceful part. We were sitting and a young man came and introduced himself. He said that he comes to the temple to mediate on the good things that have happened to him and his wishes for himself and others. His few comments will make us feel less hesitant to just sit. At the entrance signs describe the temple and its rituals. It noted that the lingam was not anthroporphic, but rather a "symbol of the form and formless aspects of the deity." Not the story told by our guides in Vietnam and Sri Lanka who equated the lingam with Shiva's penis.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Devotees walking, sitting and queueing<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exotic? Think of the outside of Notre Dame Cathedral</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The temple at dusk</td></tr>
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We took a morning walk to the beach. The stall selling snacks were closed and the ancient amusements were not yet running.
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A walk to the beach passes Citi Centre Mall - it has Atomic Donuts (for a small, sinful snack) and Landmark, a well stocked and inexpensive book store. Fab India is across the street, but it has a modest collection. I much prefer Kalpastree on Cathedral Road (close to the New Woodlands past the Music Academy). (In a shop near Kalpastree we chatted with a clerk about India's problems of corruption and the desire for easy solutions. We could have had the same conversation in KL.)<br />
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And finally a message that could go on many walls.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-86147553584251472072013-12-16T16:30:00.002+08:002013-12-16T16:30:13.319+08:00Bank Negara Muzium - Gallery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I recently visited the Bank Negara Muzium (Bank Negara Museum) with the Muzium Negara Volunteers. I am reminded all the time of the surprises Malaysia has to offer. Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery is located at the Sasana Kijang complex a short walk up Jalan Dato Onn, a quiet tree lined street near the Bank Negara KTM train station. Near by are memorials to former prime ministers: Tunku Adudl Rahman, and Hussien Onn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Now about the Muzium. The muzium has 4 continuing galleries: An Art Gallery displaying the art collection of the Bank Negara on a rotating basis, A Numismatics Gallery, An Economics Gallery, an Islamic Finance Gallery, a Children's Gallery, and a Gallery for temporary exhibitions. I went to the Museum for a temporary exhibit on Maps and Malaysia.</span></div>
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I must confess that I am a map freak. So much so that Liz has been known to throw away all maps collected for a road trip at the first stop, and declare the trip as a map free vacation. Nonetheless, I continue with my obsession with maps. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first map displayed was a replica of a 15th century map based on one created by Ptolemy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ptolemy</span> described the Peninsula of Malay as the source of the world's gold. And described the Island of Borneo as the home of Satyrs, describing what we know as orangutans and other apes living there. Maps in the 14th and 15th century vary greatly in what they display of Southeast Asia. To Europeans, the area was basically unknown.</div>
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European maps of Southeast Asia began to represent our known geography with the Dutch. Java, Sumatra, and the Indonesian island change began to be fully described. The northern and western coasts of New Holland (Australia) were described but the east coast of New Holland was connected to New Guinea. </div>
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As mapping technology progressed, maps became more accurate. Maps became more accurate as the inland portions of the peninsula were explored. With colonizations maps began to display the resources to be exploited (coal, coconut, petroleum, rubber, pepper, timber, etc.) Little cultural information was displayed.</div>
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With the British came modern surveying, and recording of land ownership. This may have been previously done by the various Sultanates and kingdoms of peninsular Malaya, but written records are lacking.</div>
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The exhibit also displays the changes in the technology of surveying. Surveying instruments are displayed, as well as modern GPS devices to determine geographic coordinates.</div>
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The exhibit showed the ethnocentric bias of mapping. Almost all of the maps were those showing the world view of European explorers. There were no maps showing the Malay view of the world, nor were there maps showing the Chinese or Tamil views of the world. Both the Chinese and the Indian Tamils were great traders and must have had maps. I was sorry that these viewpoints were not included in the exhibit.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our gracious guide.</td></tr>
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bogordoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792393055519702004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-44643529106919070232013-12-07T12:14:00.000+08:002013-12-07T12:14:07.255+08:00Long Weekend in Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), Brunei<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The South China Sea from Empire Hotel, BSB</td></tr>
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Last year unable to find a restaurant offering a Thanksgiving meal Doug cooked his own <a href="http://lizdoug.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html">celebratory meal</a>. Good, but with just two of us it didn't seem like Thanksgiving. Our 2013 solution was to celebrate in Brunei with newly arrived US friends. We didn't have a plan. No problem, the US Embassy in Brunei took care of everything. It traditionally holds a Thanksgiving potluck for Americans in Brunei and their guests and our friends had an invitation.<br />
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The Ambassador provided turkey and perhaps the stuffing, The table overflowed with food, including sweet potato casseroles (several), cheeses (always welcome in this part of the world), a tasty bean concoction, and our contributions (scallop potatoes, a tomato and cheese dip, and fruit salad). Some dishes were finished when we arrived and others arrived after we were finished. Lots of desserts, but I don't remember any fruit pies. There were about 50 guests; we were the age of most of their parents!<br />
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As we left I wished the guards "selamat malam." From their reaction I assume expats don't commonly speak Malaysian (also the language of Brunei). Throughout the trip our fractured Malaysian was treated warmly. I told our building guard, who is struggling to improve my Malaysian, that the people in Brunei thought my Malaysian was pretty good. His body language said that they were very kind.<br />
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Our friends' driver (A), an Iban, took us to his longhouse. It had separate sets of steps that lead to the rooms of each family. Between the steps and a family's rooms is a wide corridor. A introduced us to his grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. All were crowded in the kitchen, either cooking for the evening's festival or watching. We were offered and accepted a sip of rice wine - enough to graciously accept the host's hospitality.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making <a href="http://sarawakianaii.blogspot.com/2011/03/iban-kuih-penganan-gift-of-rainforest.html">kuih penganan</a> - so good we bought more at the night market</td></tr>
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Along the corridor was a weaving house, a library, and an exhibit Iban woven items, handmade fabric, and other crafts (for sale).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Corridor - on the left library, crafts for sale, doors to individual<br />
family rooms, pic of sultan who has visited longhouse</td></tr>
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Except for the unique architecture and the residents' kinship a longhouse resembles a village. In the corridor and the yard children played, men repaired autos, and men and women chatted. While the longhouse has 200 residents many live elsewhere and return for weekends, festivals, and school holidays. The outside of some houses were adorned with planes, built out of spare parts. The bodies were from vacuums.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Folk Art, but the dish is real.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">A vacuum cleaner helicopter.</span></div>
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The longhouse was a two hour drive from BSB. Along the way we stopped at <a href="http://jelama.blogspot.com/2012/06/taman-rekreasi-hutan-luangan-lalak.html">Taman Rekreasi Hutan Luagan Lalak</a>. The few people there were walking, fishing, or taking in the scenery - a quiet and relaxing place.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One view from Taman Rekreasi Hutan Luagan Lalak</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A walkway leading to a gazabo</td></tr>
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In our travels through rural areas, we could count on finding small shops and cafes and traveling alongside buses and motorcycles. Not on this trip. Few motorcycles and no buses except near BSB. Midway we stopped at the one shopping centre to buy fruits to take to A's family. When we returned around 1 p.m, and it was completely closed. (Many businesses and all cafes close between noon and 2 for Friday prayers.) Brunei has one of the most unique work weeks: Monday - Thursday, Friday as a rest day, work on Saturady, and Sunday as a rest day</div>
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Night markets are always a part of our trips. Gadong night market in BSB, which is open every evening, wasn't to be missed. It had the usual displays of produce and an impressive array of deep fried foods - not quite up to <a href="http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2013/09/26/eat-up-yall-our-guide-to-new-fried-foods-at-the-state-fair-of-texas-2013/">US state fair</a> artery clogging choices. Our plan to be hunter/gatherers was thwarted by a heavy downpour. We spent too much time avoiding puddles and too little surveying the food for healthier choices. Consequently, we missed grilled foods that are in the market. But the piasang goering was delicious. How did we pay for our purchases, in Brunei Dollars, which the locals sometimes refer to a ringgit (the term for the Malaysia currency which older Malaysians sometimes refer to as dollars.....talk about confusion).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A display of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/travel/a-love-letter-to-a-smelly-fruit.html?ref=travel&_r=0">durians</a></td></tr>
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During our trip we made other short stops. We went to the national and handicrafts museums both were being renovated. At the national museum only the Islamic art, Brunei's petroleum industry, and natural history galleries were open. The handicraft centre had a catalog of Brunei's craftspeople - a valuable resource for scholars and collectors. We drove around the campus of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam with its impressive buildings including a colorful science building (couldn't find a picture). Instead of the familiar dome its <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/56104390">mosque</a> had three parallel roofs similar to a pagoda. The covered walkways were on poles so students, faculty and others could walk comfortably in the rain. <br />
Our host had stayed at the Empire Hotel during his job interview and later during their first days in Brunei - a hotel sure to make one think "I want to stay here a long time." Of course, they wanted us to see the hotel, its beautifully landscaped grounds, and the views. The <a href="http://ruzhiwashere.com/2013/05/24/masjid-sultan-omar-ali-saifuddin-mosque/">Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque</a> is open to non-Muslims except during prayer times. We didn't have scarves with us and it was getting late so we took pictures and headed home. We planned to come back to enjoy a beautiful sunset enhanced by the lights of the mosque (see links for pictures). A rainstorm ruined that plan.<br />
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Our most memorable experience in Brunei occurred as we were leaving the airport. When we thought we had completed check in we asked to pay the departure tax (12 Brunei dollars/person). We had missed that detail and had spent our last dollar. The woman behind us gave us the money, so we could complete check in and go to an ATM machine. We agreed to meet "on the other side" (meaning a few feet away not a more final destination). After immigration I had my eyes peeled for an orange hijab. No luck. Doug asked the flight attendant to make an announcement asking the "young lady who had lent him money to identify herself." Again no luck. We could not imagine how she had disappeared into thin air. But since the money wasn't ours Doug put it into the collection box for Typhoon Haiyan relief (AirAsia matched all donations and the box was packed full of bills). After we disembarked the mystery was solved. Muhammad introduced himself, we gave him the RM equivalent of the Brunei money, and asked about his friend. She was his girlfriend who had come with him to the airport. Their random act of kindness proved that "good people are everywhere." Furthermore we had a chance met a couple who respect and admire each other. We will remember them for a long time and hope that in their lives they experience others' generosity.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muhammad - <br />
No worries for the world as his generation takes over</td></tr>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-32362677303659483262013-11-27T19:46:00.000+08:002013-12-10T12:04:23.454+08:00Visiting a Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) in Kuala Lumpur<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When we saw that the <a href="http://mcgkl.org/">Malaysian Cultural Group</a> (MCG) had organized a tour of a Sikh Temple we jumped at the chance. The particular tour was open only to members. What to do? Join.<br />
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The <a href="http://khabarsouthasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2012/10/29/feature-07">Gurdwara Tatta Khalsa Diwan</a> is located on 2 acres in Chow Kit - a section of the city we had heard about but never visited. As we walked through Chow Kit knew that this was a place to take visitors, at least the ones who don't mind visiting a grittier part of urban Asia. Chow Kit has the city's largest market, but at night the area becomes seriously sketchy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fruits at the market</td></tr>
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Prior to the tour we received a memo with dress directions. No shoes, modest clothing, and a head covering for men and women. A temple member helped the men with their head coverings. The tour began with Mr. Singh, the temple president, giving us a history of Sikhs in Malaysia. (Sihks originally came to serve in the colonial army and police. Currently there are roughly 100,000 Sihks in Malaysia and 150 gurdwara.) Before the tour I knew was that: Sikh men had the last name "Singh," but all Sikh males are Singhs but not all Singhs are Sikhs;" Sikhs didn't cut their hair; and they wear turbans. I now know much more. Some of which we will share here. Of course, any errors are mine alone<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px; text-align: center;">Mr. Singh in his office</td></tr>
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Sikhism is a monotheistic religion. Its temples have no statues, idols, or sacred pictures. The <a href="http://www.sikhs.org/granth.htm">Guru Granth Sahib</a>, its sacred book, is the focus of a gurdwara and the community; it is not worshiped but respected. It has writings from other religions including Islam.Mr. Singh's major project has been amassing 8 kilograms of gold to cover the altar that contains the Guru Granth Sahib.<br />
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We were visiting on the first of a three day celebration of the birth of Guru Nanak, Sikhism's founder. Temple members take turns in a continuous reading of the Guru Granth Sahib. In the prayer room a few men and women were seated. Men on one side and women on the other, but equidistant from the altar. The prayer room can be opened up and accommodate for than 1000 devotees. The gurdwara has multiple prayer rooms that enable members to hold rituals, such as, weddings, at the same time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of an altar; Guru Granth Sahib under the gold cover</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view into the prayer<br />
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We entered a room the contains multiple copies of the Guru Granth Sahib. Members may take a copy for their own use at home. The room was seriously cold. There is a space to the side where Mr. Singh retreats to rest and think. As is true of other places in the temple - the room is not Mr. Singh's private retreat; others can use it as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copies of the Guru Granth Sahib are under the white cover</td></tr>
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We asked about Sikh baptisms and funerals. Mature persons who are ready to maintain a Sikh life style may be <a href="http://sikhism.about.com/od/initiation/a/Amrit.htm">baptized</a>. Sikhs respect all religions and do not proselytize. Still a person may ask if s/he can <a href="http://www.realsikhism.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1248368159&ucat=7">join the Sikh community</a> and be baptized. A MSG member and member of the community said that when her mother died her body was kept at the house for prayers then she was cremated. The temple provides a hearse and clothes and other materials needed for a funeral.<br />
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We sat down for a vegetarian lunch. A gurdwara serves vegetarian meals three times a day. (Our neighbor from India said that from time to time when she was a student she and her friends would go to a Sikh temple to eat.) We were asked to only ask for as much as we would eat (seconds allowed). Lunch was tasty - worth a revisit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch</td></tr>
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After lunch we went to the kitchen and met the chef. Virtually all the kitchen workers are volunteers as are the row of women preparing the vegetables. (Doug just read that in addition to tithing Sihks are expected to give time to volunteer at the temple.) Members also drop off food. Meals are prepared from purchased food and donations.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Menu for the week<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing Vegetables</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kitchen: Old fashion, huge pots and burners</td></tr>
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As we left we saw a white board containing the verse of the day (my term). When a child is born and her/his family visits the temple they will give their child a name that begins with the first letter of the verse.<br />
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The gurdwara is open, welcomes visitors (and diners), photography is allowed. On a typical weekday it is just a series of open, empty rooms. We were told not to hesitate to drop in if a wedding was going on. I wish that I had known this when I saw the temple door entrance pictured below.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wedding invitation (?) in Chennai</td></tr>
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We were happy that we joined the Malaysian Cultural Group. We had a chance to broaden our knowledge of Malaysia and SE Asia and met others with similar interests.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-26307673937615326562013-11-22T12:10:00.002+08:002013-11-23T17:28:20.056+08:00A Day in Balik Pulau, Penang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Lina suggested that we visit a popular laksa place in Balik Pualu - a promise of laksa is a sure way to get me to agree to anything. Armed with the Penang Heritage Trails brochure "Discover Balik Puala: The Other Side of the Island" we set out to explore the town. The brochure lists 39 sites. Ten can be covered in a short walk in the town center; others require a bicycle or as in our case, car.<br />
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The attractive map was primarily conceptual It wasn't to scale and it did not include all crossroads. To get from here to there required patience, a sense of humor, and a willingness to ask locals for directions. We thoroughly explored Balik Pulau as we drove through the same area more than once.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The compass at the left top corner does not have North at the top.<br />
The top two points are "East" and "South"</td></tr>
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Before heading into Balik Pulau we stopped at <a href="http://travel2penang.wordpress.com/tag/jalan-tun-sardon/">Anjung Indah</a>, a rest area on Jalan Tun Sardon, for a panoramic view of the town. In 2008 I stopped at Anjung Indah, but didn't see much then because of the haze and smoke from Sumatra.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Balik Pualu through the trees</td></tr>
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As soon as we reached town we stopped at the market. Lina, who had worked on a project in Balik Pulau, said that it had moved from its central location and was far less busy (a source of concern). It had stalls selling dry goods and typical displays of produce, although one stall had large bags of cloves for RM10 (< USD3), which tempted Lina. In our travels we have seen busy central markets with much social interaction as buying and selling. In Taiping, for example, the food stalls adjacent to the market are filled with retirees, local business owners, shoppers, and families (on weekends). In KL we walk to a weekly night market early to beat the crowds. On the other hand in Kuching the market which has moved out of center city was almost deserted.<br />
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In the town center on Jalan Besar (big road or Main Street) we walked by rows of shop houses. It reminded me of Malaysian towns that I had visited in the 70s & 80s - small stores selling useful things. No boutiques. No row of cafes. A big breakfast and rain kept us from wandering, snacking or taking pictures. We decided to head out of town to find a shop selling <a href="http://www.buletinmutiara.com/bahulu-asli-tanpa-pengawet-mak-tam-dijual-segar-setiap-hari/">kuih bahulu</a> (kuih is Malaysian for cake). We assumed if it sold cakes it might also serve drinks. Kuih bahulu are cakes cooked in a small mold. The brochure describes them as a vanilla-flavored sponge cake.They tasted like a softer version of addictive Stella D'or's products. The shop was open, but it doesn't on Saturday or serve drinks on any day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shop on Jalan Bharu<br />
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In our search for coffee we stopped at a small fishing village. Boats were gathered in the harbor - no sign of fishing on Saturday. The cafe was small and non-descript, but oh the smells. I am not sure what soup/stew was cooking, perhaps it was a laksa. In any case the smells were tantalizing. I didn'torder a bowl, since we planned on a late lunch at Laksa Janggus. I regret the decision, but I will be back.<br />
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At Pantai Pasir Panjang (Long Sandy Beach) we had a chance to enjoy the beach - rocks to sit on and few other people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky view of beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandy view of the beach</td></tr>
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As we headed toward Laksa Janggus we saw a sign for a nutmeg factory. Beyond the sign was a steep hill going down. We debated whether the factory was open and if not, how hard it would be to turn around and get back up. With nothing to lose we headed down. We were relieved to see a row of parked cars and people walking around or sitting in the small cafe. We were at <a href="http://chikhongphotography.wordpress.com/travel/penang/ghee-hup-nutmeg-factory/">Ghee Hup Nutmeg Factory</a>. The factory owners are a family who trace its Malaysian roots back to 1888. We were greeted by the owner/founder and his son. His daughter took us in hand and explained the production of different nutmeg products. We learned that if a female seed is planted the tree produces nutmegs. If a male seed is planted no nutmegs. The factory buys its nutmegs from local farmers. When the factory needs temporary laborers it brings in former employees. Some of these "temporary workers" may ask to work when they can view a favorite television programs as they work.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A short lesson on nutmegs and nutmeg products</td></tr>
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Before we left a group of young people whom we had met at the beach arrived. We asked them if their stop at the goat farm was worthwhile. Their enthusiastic "yes" encouraged to again delay our laksa lunch. The goat farm was the highlight of a day of small delights. Finding the farm was a bit of a challenge - by carefully looking for signs we found one that directed us to "visitor parking." Beside the parking lot was a long hill. We walked up the hill and asked at a guard house how to get to the goat farm - the guard told us we continue walking up the hill (a long walk) or drive up the hill and keep to until we reached the farm. At Saanen Goat farm we were met by a personable, well informed young woman (finishing secondary school) who is the daughter of the owner; she served as our guide.<br />
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The goat pens seemed less oppressive than the dairy farm stalls I had seen in Sri Lanka; being smallish and cute has its advantages. When we arrived the farmer/owner was talking to school children about the goats and giving each child a chance to try his/her hand at milking The children then walked over to the pens and were given stalks of grass to feed the goats. Adults also get grass stalks - you don't have to be child to enjoy feeding a goat. Currently the farm produces milk and a yogurt drink that are only sold in Penang. If they add products it will most likely be mozzarella; I hope that goat milk cheese comes along as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farmer showing children how to milk a goat</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lina with the "pet" baby goat. Age is catching up<br />
with the goat; she may soon lose her status as a favorite</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mural on rest room wall (suggested to us<br />
behind it were attractive rest rooms)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally our laksa at Laksa Janggus<br />
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A prelude to our Balik Pulau adventure was our Friday night dinner at Al Shami Restaurant (Bukit Jumbiuer, Ivory Plaza, near USM). It is a Syrian restaurant. I ordered a lamb dish - the piece of lamb was large and juice. Large enough that I passed a piece along to Lina. Lina in turn gave me some of her chicken. We also had hummus that I devoured.With dreams of finding a source of hummus I asked the waiter where they purchased it. Syria! (We can get hummus in KL but at a price). The food was satisfying and the owners were so welcoming that I wish I could eat their often.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staff at Al Shami Restaurant - come in an meet them<br />
(01114661121)</td></tr>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-89675821503360466522013-11-16T16:48:00.003+08:002013-11-16T16:54:25.368+08:00Travelling in Sri Lanka with a travel agent<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In December 2012 we booked a September trip to Sri Lanka. As the months went by we realized that our trip would be far easier if we relied on a travel agency. First step - we checked websites looking for local (Sri Lanka) agencies. Second step - we contacted <a href="http://www.srilankavacationtours.com/">Sri Lanka Vacation Tours</a> to inquire if it would arrange a 2 person, 15 night tour staying at budget hotels. We didn't hesitate to book when we received a USD1742 proposal. It included: airport pick up and drop off; 15 nights at 2 & 3 star hotels, all breakfasts and dinners, and (most important) an English speaker driver. (Sri Lanka Vacation Tours can also arrange more upmarket accommodations.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damitha (driver), new car, and Mr. Mahesh (owner)</td></tr>
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Mr. Mahesh, the agency owner, met us at the airport. We were surprised; he was quite young (23 years old). In hindsight his age was a definite advantage. He was accommodating and went out of his way to make sure that we had a good experience. He faithfully checked our itinerary to make sure that we saw everything listed. Some days we were more than willing to say "we can skip that." We didn't and we were the richer for it.<br />
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<b>Where we stayed</b>: The tour agency chose the 8 hotels we stayed at. Our favorites were <a href="http://www.lankaholidays.com/holiday-homes/accommodation_details-17932.html">Thilaka Lake Resort </a>in Anuradhapura, <a href="http://www.travelhousesigiriya.net/">Travel House</a> in Sigriya, and J<a href="http://www.jagabayresort.com/">agabay Resort</a> in Weligama. What made these places stand out? Their food. At Thilaka Lake Resort and Travel House we had local breakfasts (a curry at the former and hoppers at the latter) and outstanding rice and curry. I would go out of my way to have their curries again. At Jagabay Bay we had a fresh fish one night and at one breakfast I had a grilled vegetable sandwich. It was good and I welcomed the change. When we arrived at travel we recalled the Adi Yasa in Denpasar in 1974. It was just as relaxed, but everyone seemed to have a place to go during the day. Also better housekeeping, hot water, a great cook, and in-room free wifi (at most of the other places we had to go into the lobby), At Jagabay we could take long walks on the beach, and there was a good fish restaurant a few kilometers down the road. All the hotels, including the ones not mentioned, had friendly staff who went out of their way to make us feel welcome and the meals were filling and well prepared.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishermen along the beach at Weligama</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset Weligama</td></tr>
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<b>Where we went: </b>Our tour had three major components - the cultural triangle, wildlife parks, and the beach. We have covered the cultural triangle and wildlife parks in other posts. We did not note that each site and park have hefty admissions fees for foreigners (Sri Lanka Vacation provided us a list before we left Malaysia. We paid in local currency as we traveled). We aren't "beach people,' but we thought that we should experience the beaches. While staying on a island it seems insane not to see the surrounding seas. The beach was, as expected, totally relaxing - good for walking, reading, and eating.<br />
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Mahesh, an obvious scholar in tourist complaints, made every stop included in our itinerary. One "oh we can skip this" stop was at the<a href="http://www.kosgodaseaturtle.org/"> Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project</a>. A staff member described the process from the time of obtaining the eggs ("rescued" from the beach or bought from locals) through to their release. The demise of sea turtles resonates with us. In 1974 on a single night we saw at least 40 Ridley turtles lay their eggs on a Malaysian beach, in 1984 we saw three. Now we hear that it has been years since any have shown up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking for hatched turtles<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just hatched - scheduled to be released at night (to avoid predators) </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few hatchlings get to develop their "sea legs" before release</td></tr>
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Along the way we stopped to take pictures. On the way to Galle fisherman balance on stakes to fish. I am sure that they now earn far more from tourist tip than from fish.<br />
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Unscheduled stops: We made some unscheduled stops, including the previously discussed produce market at Drambulla produce market and the New Zealand Dairy Farm. In Columbo we stopped at the <a href="http://gangaramaya.com/">Gangramaya </a>Buddhist Temple. The first statue I saw was of Ganesha. At times Hinduism and Buddhism seem blended. A pooja had performed for our car, because it was new and we were the first people using it for a tour.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ganesha at Gangramaya Temple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Buddha at the temple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Buddha<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lot of Buddhas!</td></tr>
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As we went through the temple we skirted around a wedding party. As we walked past we heard the unmistakable ringing of a Nokia phone - I guess that the bride forgot to tell the wedding party to turn off their cell phones.<br />
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<b>What would we change? </b>Hardly anything. We can highly recommend Sri Lanka Vacation Tours and the driver, Dametha. We weren't used to having the tour agent on the trip, but it was okay. It gave them a chance to share information about what to see along the way and to answer our many questions about Sri Lanka and its people. (We have been concerned about the civil war and its repercussions people were not included to talk about it.) Mahesh booked guides at the cultural sites. I am convinced that tourist agencies scoop up the best guides. The ones we had were excellent and each brought a different perspective to what he was showing up.<br />
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Since many tourists are Westerns the food can lack spices. I learned that asking "can you make it spicy" worked well especially when we told them we were from Malaysia. We did buy tabasco sauce for those occasions where I could not get chili sauce to liven my eggs. We only had one dinner buffet - one buffet in 15 dinners is a definite positive. In India and Bhutan we had more buffets. If a restaurant serves serves tour groups our experience is that buffet food is bland and not hot enough. We prefer a la carte as much as possible. </div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-15671253619649777602013-11-11T17:18:00.000+08:002013-11-11T17:18:02.159+08:00Parks, Elephants, and Hikes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So far regarding our trip to Sri Lanka, we have discussed the amazing cultural heritage of Sri Lanka, and the delectable food to be found here. I will now look at the national parks, animals, and hiking in Sri Lanka.<br />
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Sri Lanka has at least 24 national parks, numerous botanical gardens, fascinating marine resources, beaches, and wildlife. We spent several days in and around three national parks: Minneriya National Park, Horton's Plains National Park, and Uda Walawe National Park (we were scheduled to visit Yala National Park but it was closed due to drought conditions in September 2013). We visited the Ho-o-maniya Blowhole east of Matara, and a private turtle sanctuary on the west coast.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant herd in Minneriya National Park</td></tr>
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Minneriya National Park was our first introduction to elephants in the wild. The park, in the midst of the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka, is located near Habarana. Several hundred wild elephants converge on this park near the Minneriya reservoir/lake during the dry season (August - September). The elephants travel through the wildlife corridors connecting many of the main national parks. This allows migratory elephants to live in harmony with the agricultural villages of central Sri Lanka. The elephants gather, not for the water, but for the tender new growth of grasses growing on the exposed shoreline of the reservoir as it shrinks during the dry season. Leopards and sloth bears also live in the park but we saw neither. What we did see were three major herds of elephants: one of 11 elephants along a river bank, another of 40-50 among the scrub trees set back from the lake, and another of 80 near the lakeside grasslands. A solitary male elephant could be seen roaming at a distance on a peninsula across the lake. Other male elephants were occasionally seen on the edges of the main herd, but they did not join the herd. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxjQk4jSD6Klv3mG75gJzg4YDYqShtQrclLQcw9GvhC0gZ_ctch_hATF8yJOKVyElgM9UWrqNsegx5QhcJbm4fdv1Uc316-NNB_go57qrIJWYmivXYhqA4gJlrwxlw7tIJmNXcJYuNhnZH/s1600/P1070163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxjQk4jSD6Klv3mG75gJzg4YDYqShtQrclLQcw9GvhC0gZ_ctch_hATF8yJOKVyElgM9UWrqNsegx5QhcJbm4fdv1Uc316-NNB_go57qrIJWYmivXYhqA4gJlrwxlw7tIJmNXcJYuNhnZH/s400/P1070163.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A larger herd at Minneriya National Park</td></tr>
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The main problem we observed in Minneriya park was the uncontrolled access of 4 wheel drive to the plains surrounding the lake. As Mr. Chundanu, our guide, observed, each new car track reduces the amount of land the elephants can graze on. Besides, it is unsightly. A new park superintendent had recently been appointed and was attempting to impose some order on the jeep drivers. It will be interesting to see how this works in the future.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-FLltNVIWtM3PjcAXiD5WqxJyLxwWAudzxKrjCWabDPMWGwPfaHq8kXWJ_hclRK1Nk4nKL9ZlbW98UjR3LOSPiNH1XTpnqZDIfIdsES8Me-O6mEtK1leyDt3x1Uho6CIHuQLWJgVxSiN/s1600/P1070160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-FLltNVIWtM3PjcAXiD5WqxJyLxwWAudzxKrjCWabDPMWGwPfaHq8kXWJ_hclRK1Nk4nKL9ZlbW98UjR3LOSPiNH1XTpnqZDIfIdsES8Me-O6mEtK1leyDt3x1Uho6CIHuQLWJgVxSiN/s320/P1070160.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damage created by 4-wheel drive vehicles</td></tr>
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The best part of our visit was Mr. Chundanu, He is a local villager, he was knowledgeable about bird, mammals and reptiles, and the local vegetation. He was sanguine in his comments on the role of tourism, and ecology with the national park. He said..."without the park [and tourists], the local towns simply would not exist".<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYa9AKtd492Virkmz6gPTloTqFDXDelGon-zC0VC6qr3vKM218Ozi5yeqQzguN74NcJ2IZUE2TaLYKKem8aX89Vfl_xcs6swIoMuzPI1CIw1q2uKDiU7dfN6RJcQ8HuunrREwBd66wOwVT/s1600/P1070256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYa9AKtd492Virkmz6gPTloTqFDXDelGon-zC0VC6qr3vKM218Ozi5yeqQzguN74NcJ2IZUE2TaLYKKem8aX89Vfl_xcs6swIoMuzPI1CIw1q2uKDiU7dfN6RJcQ8HuunrREwBd66wOwVT/s320/P1070256.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Elephants grazing on cut fodder at Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage<br /></td></tr>
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The next elephant related park, was the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage located in a small town about 40 km east of Kandy. This park is designed for the casual tourist. People come to the town three times a day for the elephant feeding sessions. The main attraction is the ability to get up close and touch elephants. With visitors in a amphitheater, baby elephants are brought in and attached to concrete pillars. With assistance of handlers, visitors who have paid the supplemental feeding fee, are handed bottles of a milk formula which the baby elephants almost inhale in 15 to 20 seconds and consume a liter of milk.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEW17kvORwgStwHuQ_mZTGK1RmPWX_zowo7r9LFron-B_x2Niza9_cvXHJVQA5dNvaMkS7wbh1avba2v_s3Z8eKo4FqNW1p0OP6igs9I1lo6sqatHajqbHfb3OoS5kbzncAYLsiau1mzY-/s1600/P1070269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEW17kvORwgStwHuQ_mZTGK1RmPWX_zowo7r9LFron-B_x2Niza9_cvXHJVQA5dNvaMkS7wbh1avba2v_s3Z8eKo4FqNW1p0OP6igs9I1lo6sqatHajqbHfb3OoS5kbzncAYLsiau1mzY-/s320/P1070269.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doug feeding the baby elephant a bottle of milk</td></tr>
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After the elephant feeding it was time for feeding the visitors. We all trouped down through town restaurants on the river bank. While our food was being prepared, I noticed local shop keepers closing gates to protect their shops. Shortly 30 or so elephants came down the narrow street and entered the river to bath. Several mahouts went swimming with the elephants, mainly to keep them from crossing the river and roaming uncontrolled.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSdRAIQeRBI-VatqThSYrv5gf8G-BURp4O2QrzL-ujHAEwUrv35wpkPDCRJLFZjBGfI4GrJeAK4VGY-l10ycotumk1_1h8z1rB5wpjExUeT3q0u62gmlII47DPw7pIlFIRgVkWKBAHHI0/s1600/P1070274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSdRAIQeRBI-VatqThSYrv5gf8G-BURp4O2QrzL-ujHAEwUrv35wpkPDCRJLFZjBGfI4GrJeAK4VGY-l10ycotumk1_1h8z1rB5wpjExUeT3q0u62gmlII47DPw7pIlFIRgVkWKBAHHI0/s320/P1070274.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our driver Damith and his son@ the elephant orphanage</td></tr>
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Our final elephant experience was to be at Yala National Park on the southern coast of Sri Lanks. Our guide had told us the park was closed due to an ongoing drought. We suggested going to the Uda Walawe National Park, located about 1.5 hours from Yala. It was open, and guides were available. Upon arrival, before entering the park, you have to negotiate a deal with a driver, about 6K Sri Lanka rupee. After boarding the vehicle, you enter the park and go to park hq where a guide is assigned. The park is crisscrossed with jeep trails. The park is dry almost semi arid. Almost immediately we began to see wildlife, water buffalo, cattle, and elephants. The guide pointed out iguana-like reptiles clinging to the side of trees, and various birds. While there are many 4-wheel drive vehicles in the park, you really don't notice them until you get to the lakes and watering holes. At the watering holes we saw small herds of elephants, larger herds of mixed domestic/wild water buffalo, wading birds, raptors, cattle egret, and crocodiles. After parking near the lake we sat and watched. Slowly we began to see the crocodiles (3-4 meters in length), sunning on the banks with their mouths wide open (to keep cool). The longer we sat and watched, the more crocodiles we saw. Two eyes peering out on the surface of the water was the clue that danger lurked below the surface. All in all we saw 15 to 20 crocodiles, most lurking in the water waiting for a meal to swim by.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SuYNLy4AHThoCx5w1hye_R-cyW27JTBrs1gLhIWEc5rkE95wxDHwkTDoItNC6KOdTvM-XoQ77uJ5SPoPgP9QYea4bBVt_8YLDUyxvrKDX6dgXPIkdIghq1cj2jZTbQLkBQqKOJM9EXF-/s1600/P1070470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SuYNLy4AHThoCx5w1hye_R-cyW27JTBrs1gLhIWEc5rkE95wxDHwkTDoItNC6KOdTvM-XoQ77uJ5SPoPgP9QYea4bBVt_8YLDUyxvrKDX6dgXPIkdIghq1cj2jZTbQLkBQqKOJM9EXF-/s320/P1070470.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and baby at Uda Walawe</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crocodiles can be found on dry land</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water Buffalo (domestic variety) in the park<br />
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A note: at different parks different rules apply to remuneration of the drivers. At Minneriya National Park, you hire the vehicle directly from the driver and it appears he is the owner. At Uda Walawe the 4-wheel drive vehicles are owned by a concessionaire and the fee is not negotiable. At the end of the trip you must tip the driver as he is not paid by the owner of the vehicles. In both parks a tip to the guide is appropriate. They are the ones who can see the animals you have no hope of seeing on your own.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young solitary male</td></tr>
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The final park we visited was Horton's Plains and a visit to World's End. Horton's Plains is located 30 km from Nuwara Eliya. If you are an early riser you can visit for sunrise, but we chose to leave our hotel at 6:30 am for the hour drive. Once we arrived (it was crisp in a humid climate at 2000 meters elevation) we stopped at a rustic shop for a spot of tea and local breads. Once fortified we walked to the entrance to the hike. Much to our surprise, our plastic water bottles were confiscated... to prevent liter.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scenery at Horton's Plain</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horton's Plains</td></tr>
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We walked across rolling hills along bubbling brooks (filled with trout brought by the English). The trails are suffering from overuse and are being severely eroded by water and foot traffic. On the advice of our guide and driver we chose to go to the waterfall first (the mists rise later in the morning to allow us to see the views at Worlds End).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCdzrG326Fg3s-j7ponlmLfJ41PX9GZFsAjqo56pbnIy-EVfulsU2Lrmb6ar6GqkXjD3CWT26jgy0Duq_Dv6DbgmqKPPsVpxN2ucXg1JiyObo6tLrMUMnMiYd-qETC6K16hk4iMWEuLGz/s1600/P1070351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCdzrG326Fg3s-j7ponlmLfJ41PX9GZFsAjqo56pbnIy-EVfulsU2Lrmb6ar6GqkXjD3CWT26jgy0Duq_Dv6DbgmqKPPsVpxN2ucXg1JiyObo6tLrMUMnMiYd-qETC6K16hk4iMWEuLGz/s320/P1070351.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz with our driver Damith and guide Manesh<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
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It was a steep unsteady climb down to the viewing point for the waterfall. Initially I was not going to walk down, but it was well worth it. The climb back up seemed much shorter than the descent. Afterwards we continued our walk across semi-arid terrain for several km. Finally we crossed over to the view point at World's End. It was an escarpment with 880 meter drop off. On a clear day, according to the signboard, you can see the Indian Ocean.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNyzKaZwH2TyGOxqEo40emItkpDu-u0BPbHr916U2c6bP_I6wtntzkmxYaGnjn8Fx6e_yMTQ5HMbHICNdNINZ1j0r7XLaYDubyUcpV-kXc2L3Q4r7Z25gLPpuoJ_Pb9B8AXcS5zgfUkJWM/s1600/P1070356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNyzKaZwH2TyGOxqEo40emItkpDu-u0BPbHr916U2c6bP_I6wtntzkmxYaGnjn8Fx6e_yMTQ5HMbHICNdNINZ1j0r7XLaYDubyUcpV-kXc2L3Q4r7Z25gLPpuoJ_Pb9B8AXcS5zgfUkJWM/s320/P1070356.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from Land's End</td></tr>
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Walking back to the park entrance, we passed through a tropical cloud forest. In the morning, the mist and fog rise from the plains below and are caught in the trees along the ridge. The trees capture the mist, and the cloud leave their moisture behind. Wild orchids abound as do many bird species.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLd-JHDIdpYWD91UhMsC_zZLy7TAl4SDqLa_mBZ9IRh2L1Gj2sjrOOk5BOckh5w-ltSXNM9o5krWLjiLVeDnKyw6mUMG6xz8DWZ_9cxWya3-ewVc5OnAmKWs7KJMvVaTP8Ao0wLr_Ddsq/s1600/P1070363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLd-JHDIdpYWD91UhMsC_zZLy7TAl4SDqLa_mBZ9IRh2L1Gj2sjrOOk5BOckh5w-ltSXNM9o5krWLjiLVeDnKyw6mUMG6xz8DWZ_9cxWya3-ewVc5OnAmKWs7KJMvVaTP8Ao0wLr_Ddsq/s320/P1070363.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An interesting fungus growing on a tree.</td></tr>
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bogordoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792393055519702004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978305467380852700.post-34808651595241928052013-10-31T01:29:00.000+08:002013-10-31T01:29:31.474+08:00Heading toward Yala <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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An alternate title "A full day from Nuwara Eliya to Nanu Oya to Ella to Yala"<br />
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We stayed in Nuwara Eliya for 2 days - it was a jumping off point for Horton's Plain and the train to Ella. We enjoyed exploring small towns and were pleased at the opportunity to walk around Nuwra Eliya. The town was somewhat scruffy, but it had a memorable traffic circle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SJzRBjRTBwE/UnAabmFbHxI/AAAAAAAAFBw/fCNrK6NOl-Y/s1600/P1070371_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SJzRBjRTBwE/UnAabmFbHxI/AAAAAAAAFBw/fCNrK6NOl-Y/s320/P1070371_edited-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roundabout sponsored by Asian Paints <br />
(but I doubt that they got naming privileges)</td></tr>
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After we left Horton's Plain MIn Nuwara Eliya Mahesh, our tour agent, asked if we wanted to see a dairy farm. Of course, we did. We stopped at Ambewela Farm, but it was closed for a holiday. We were more successful at the nearby New Zealand Farm. The scene was bucolic - rolling hills with gazing cattle - but inside it was all business. The farm did not give guided tours and the signage was minimal. Our driver chatted with a worker who told us a little about the operation.<br />
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The first stop was the milking barn. Cows were in stalls eating hay. They were lined up, moved to another stall, their udders were washed, and they were hooked to a milking machine. When they were finished they went back to eating hay. Just beyond the milking room was a small laboratory, but we could not tell what its purpose was or what it was doing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cows lined up in the milking barn<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
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The farm consisted of rows of sheds with separate sheds for recently born calves, calves being weaned, and heifers. In each shed the calves or cows were in stalls either lapping up formula or eating hay. Another shed had three enormous bulls who provide semen to impregnate the cows. As far as we could tell they did not spend time outside their stalls Male calves are sold shortly after they are weaned, although the male off spring of a very productive cow may be kept to later serve as a stud. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oXoWgU9QBtw/Um_uye9HWEI/AAAAAAAAFBk/YTamzmEHwGs/s1600/P1070365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oXoWgU9QBtw/Um_uye9HWEI/AAAAAAAAFBk/YTamzmEHwGs/s320/P1070365.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cows eating. So when do they get to taste fresh, green grass?</td></tr>
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The farm also raised rabbits and goats that were sold, primarily for meat. The farm produced edam cheese. Several weeks earlier in KL we had spoken with a member of the Jain community. He said that while Jains drank milk, milk-drinking was being discouraged because it was cruel. What we saw wasn't physically cruel, but we felt sympathy for animals who had such a confined and bleak life.<br />
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The road from Nuwara Eliya to the train station at Nanu Oya. We were scheduled to leave at 9:30, but Mahesh and Damith, our driver, assured us that Sri Lankan trains are notoriously late. Our two car, all 3rd class train arrived at 11:30. The limited snack bar had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_(food)">vada</a> and roti. Sri Lanka's roti are oat cakes eaten with sambal - it is very filling. The "Foreigners wash room" had a small waiting room, filled with European back packers, and "Western" style toilet. Earlier in our trip we saw wash rooms labelled "wet" and "dry." According to an Indian friend Asians prefer wet wash rooms. I asked Mahesh - he found my question odd and expressed no opinion.<br />
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The train had two passenger cars; they filled up quickly with tea workers and 6 foreigners (including us). Throughout the trip as we traveled at the edge of cliffs the Italian tourists hung out the open door for "thrilling" pictures. Here are some of our photos from the trip.<span id="goog_959172914"></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boy on the train</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our train heading into a tunnel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seen from the train</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view from the train<br />
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After arriving in Ella we drove to Ravana Falls with our final stop at a hotel in Yala.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Ella<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View on the drive to Yala</td></tr>
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