Misplaced Map Case

Turn Around Points

Ten years traveling and there is no cozy little kitchen waiting for us. Pulling all we own in a couple of bags, they overflow with insights and adventures. Today, I’m thinking about that upstairs apartment in Oklahoma City last summer. On the last day of our stay, we did not “head home.” We had traveled east since leaving Atlanta in February 2020. Now, we locked the door with the keypad, picked up our bags from the porch, and headed in the opposite direction. On our way west, we stopped in Seattle and then on to Bellingham.

The photos here pick up the trail in Bellingham. I capture a lot of street art and outside sculptures. I like big old trees on hiking trails and flowers planted along the streets. It looks like my best ones are the panoramas.

Starting from Bellingham

River in Whatcom Falls Park, Bellingham — A local bus ride brought us to Whatcom Falls Park on the east side of Bellingham. A nice autumn walk with rapids and cascade falls.

Train to Vancouver

Our two day stop in Vancouver includes Sun Yat-Sen Park — A two day stop in Vancouver includes Sun Yat-Sen Park. We were able to explore more as admission was waived for a winter market event.

On to Auckland and Summer

A non-stop thirteen hour flight from Vancouver brought us to Auckland. Daughter was there to meet us and help us navigate to our apartment in the Ponsonby district, a few hills over from her digs in the city center.

Looking down on the harbor bridge and marina from Ponsonby neighborhood of Auckland

Sunset at Masefield Beach Reserve a twenty minute walk from our place

Looking up the North Coast from Achilles Heel by St. Heliers Beach

Playing with the fairy houses at Onekiritea Park in Hobsonville

Turning around at Lake Taupō

The banner photo shows Lake Taupō at sunset. This crater lake in the north island is the largest in New Zealand. It was here that we changed direction, heading back north and continuing east toward Vancouver.

Craters of the Moon volcanic district where we turned around at Lake Taupo — Craters of the Moon volcanic district at Lake Taupo – our turn around point

One more panorama near Rotorua on the way back to Auckland

Heading East to Vancouver then on to Tuscon

Tucson panorama from Sonora Desert Museum

Welcoming Spring in New Orleans

New Orleans from the rainbow bridge at Crescent Park in Bywater — New Orleans and the Mississippi from the rainbow bridge at Crescent Park in Bywater

Historical Algiers Neighborhood — Historic Algiers Neighborhood

My favorite lily flowers at Sculpture Garden in City Park — My favorite lily flowers at the Sculpture Garden in City Park

Lots of memories captured

Here are three areas I would like to delve into more: 1. New Orleans festivals, 2. New Zealand’s history found in artifacts from Thrift stores, 3. More volumes of Corto Maltese in public libraries.

In New Orleans parades and festivals can happen anytime and anywhere

Do-it-yourself radio from a New Zealand Woolshed — Do-it-yourself radio from New Zealand

Corto Maltese from my favorite graphic novel drinking Mate — Corto Maltese drinking Mate – this favorite graphic novel found at Auckland Central Library

What’s Next?

And just like that we are turning around again. In a few days we abandon the Big Easy life of New Orleans for the cool spring of Seattle. I wonder if we will continue north or west? How far will it be this time? What will we find in this new neighborhood on the Northern edge of Seattle.

Breadboard on Cardboard

I completed my last post, Following the Rail Runner, in Amarillo, Texas. We left Albuquerque on July 27 by Greyhound Bus and spent 10 days in Amarillo. Then, we spent 4 days hiking around Palo Duro Canyon and environs. Another Greyhound Bus and we arrived in Oklahoma City for two weeks. As we settled in there, a microprocessor kit caught up with me. I had been looking at the 30 Days Lost in Space kit¹ as a way to play around with electronics. It comes in a compact case that I can take traveling without additional tools. Since then, I have been fiddling around with resistors, sensors, and controls mounted on a breadboard and driven by an Hero Arduino. Here is one of my first independent projects that the course encouraged.

The LED lights of this Light Meter display light intensity in the range of 1 – 7

In some respects it was just like the old days programming and trouble shooting software for the Comten processor. While I was spending an hour working on something, a pixie came in and turned all the clocks forward by 3, 4 and sometimes 5 hours. With this kit, I would try out something after dinner and suddenly it was 1 am. Once we were back in Seattle for a couple of months, I looked around for somewhere I could use pliers, wire cutters, and a soldering iron to neaten up my circuits. A tool library just two blocks away fit the bill. While I was messing around with cutting and sanding a piece of wood to mount my kit on, I discovered a few drawers of old donated electronics. I found an original Arduino Uno and an Adafruit Huzzah ESP8266 controller board. I checked out a sensor kit to play with and test. Then, I had the idea that I could use the ESP8266 as a way to connect to the Internet and a control website. This could allow sending data from Arduino Uno sensors to display on a website. Here’s a project mounted on wood which randomly turns on lights in a festive display. Selected data is uploaded to my web page.

Festive Lights Project with Arduino and Breadboard anchored on a block of wood cut and sanded at the Capitol Hill Tool Library.

We have moved on. From the banner you can see we are now in Bellingham, Washington. To keep my breadboard and processors from moving around, I now anchor them a bit using cardboard and tape instead of a a piece of wood.

Web page light switch activated on Arduino UNO with ESP8266 Wifi connection. Controlled by my webpage dashboard.

I even played with creating schematics. This shows the latest version of my Web Page Light Switch with a Red/Green Internet Indicator.

Originally with the 30 days Course I tried to use Linux. There were connection issues that resulted from running out of virtual disk space. When we extended our stay in Seattle, I revisited the issue. I re-installed the latest version of Lubuntu 23-10 in a VMware Macbook Virtual Machine. Apparently, I still can do this technical stuff. It just takes me even longer than when I was a programmer.

Catching up a little bit: Here are some reflections about leaving Albuquerque along with stops in Amarillo and Oklahoma City.

Iron Chef Mike Dinner — The Pewter Chef Dinner by husband of my high school classmate.²

Salad First Course — Salad Course followed by Salmon and Homemade Pasta. See Link for more.

From the Greyhound Bus Window on Route 66 — From the Greyhound Bus on Route 66

Palo Duro Gorge — Palo Duro Canyon second in size only to the Grand Canyon

Streets of OKC — Street ART corner of OKC. There’s a lot going on in Oklahoma City, Boom Town, but my photos didn’t capture it well.

The pillion rider captures the intensity of falling into the technology rabbit hole. There have been a number of “ah-hah” moments. Documenting them feels like real work.

I receive no compensation for recommending 30 Days Lost in Space. Inventr Kits has updated the course. I was happy with the original even though it felt like an old style college lecture. Speeding up the presentation on YouTube helped. It was a good refresher for my programming. It re-awakened a few tricks and introduced quite a few tools that I carried over to the Linux implementation. ↩︎
We have have crossed paths with Gloria and Mike’s world travels several times. It was great meeting up in person after so many years. ↩︎

Here’s an update showing the Inventr case and the breadboards and processors I carry. The large breadboard is about 20 cm (8 in) long . The original inventr kit case contained cable, arduino Hero, breadboard along with cables and all the sensors and lights.

Following the Rail Runner

The Rail Runner Express is the Albuquerque Commuter Train that runs from Belen in the South to Santa Fe in the north. My brother and his wife live in Santa Fe now. We used the Rail Runner twice to visit them. Additionally, Seniors ride free on Wednesdays so we took the opportunity to visit Belen.

Santa Fe

We met up at the IFAM – Internatinal Folk Art Market. It extended through the old Santa Fe Rail Yard and was a bit overwhelming. We sat down for a long lunch in a quieter spot to catch up with family before catching the train back.

A week later we spent a couple of days with my brother and wife at their place to the west of downtown Santa Fe. We went for Summer Music in the plaza and wandered the studios and galleries of Canyon road. I seem to prefer the sculpture installations to works mounted on walls in galleries.

Santa Fe Street Art — Besides galleries and sculpture, there as plenty of Street Art

Belen

Belen is the Spanish word for Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. It was founded in 1740 and has a long history as a strategic location for early settlers and railroad expansion. They have a neat little library with some interesting programs. We stopped at Pete’s Cafe for New Mexican lunch of Chilis Rellenos and Chicken Enchiladas. This family has run it for over 70 years.

By the afternoon, the Harvey House Museum had opened. It was just across the street from Pete’s. The guided tour was informative about the Harvey Girls who worked in the Harvey House chain of restaurants and hotels that served the Railroad and it’s passengers. It provides a window into train travel of a bygone era. I reflected on the travels made by my mother and grandmother between Los Angeles and Windom, Minnesota.

We had to pass on the SouthWest-Model Railroad Museum. It’s housed in an old train but closed on Wednesdays.

Rail Runner Arriving Belen — Rail Runner Arriving at the last stop of Belen

We’ve moved on, but I still have a couple more adventures to relate from Albuquerque.

An Albuquerque Adventure

We are spending a month in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s worked out to meet up with friends and family. It was an interesting adventure to discover what we can see using public transit. The city has made it easy to get around by declaring zero fares on all the buses.

Here are some places I would revisit.

ABQ BioPark: The park contains a Botanical Garden, explanations of local plants, conservatories, an interesting Aquarium with an otter pond, and an extensive model railroad. I would go back just to watch the model trains.

The Desert Conservatory comparing different deserts and conditions.

Rail Runner: We took these trains north to Santa Fe and south to Belen. Topics for future posts. We also took Rapid buses along Central Avenue and ABQ Ride buses all over.

Rail Yards Market, three blocks south of the Albuquerque Rail Runner station features many local producers every Sunday.

UNM – University of New Mexico (Being an alumni of the University of Minnesota, I kept saying U M N) a few blocks from our place was good for walks. Their Anthropology Museum exhibited many artifacts from the different native cultures in the area. I hid out in the Zimmerman Library on really hot afternoons.

RGNC: The Rio Grande Nature Center State Park connects to trails that lead up to the Montaño Trail Bridge. We took a Uber to the Park because connecting buses were cancelled. With the help of the driver, we discovered that Uber has the wrong address in their map. We are getting back into the habit of checking, rechecking, and counter checking now that we are traveling more.

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History — National Museum of Nuclear Science and History with MIG 21.

National Museum of Nuclear Science and History contains exhibits on nearly all facets of nuclear energy from scientific origins, weapons, cultural impact, and controversies. The science sets for teaching children about radiation in the 1950’s brought back memories. Outside, the grounds are covered with the weapons of war. Most of these are refurbished original equipment including a MIG 21. Besides aircraft there are rockets, anti-aircraft guns, and a nuclear submarine tower.

Route 66 - Central Avenue — Route 66 – Central Avenue Sunset during Route 66 Festival in Nob Hill

Route 66: Albuquerque is the one city not mentioned in the Nat King Cole standard, “Get you kicks on Route 66.” Nob Hill was a twenty minute walk from our place. With the street blocked for the festival, we could stroll down an original section of Route 66.

This is the intersection of Route 66 with the Pan-American Highway connecting to (sort of) Prudoe Bay of Alaska with Ushuaia in Argentina. No plaque nor signboard commemorating this.

Coming up: Journeys outside of the city, Street Art and Eats, along with other surprises.

Ketchikan – Oh Yes I Can

After staying in Seattle for six months, we began to miss Rain Forest that was so easy to access during our exile in Malaysia from 2020-2022. Luckily, a rain forest lies just a two hour flight north from Seattle. In April, we flew to Ketchikan, Alaska. We took the ferry from the Airport over to The Landing Hotel. We spent a day figuring out the buses and the old and new city of Ketchikan. Then, using local bus connections we trundled into the Tongass Forest; first up the Carlana Lake Trail and then to the Signal Creek trail. Tongass is the largest National Forest in the United States. Here are a few photos.

Ferry from Ketchikan Airport

Along Lake Carlanna — Along Carlanna Lake

The nearby town of Saxman is famous for its Totem Pole Collection

A few things I like about Seattle

We continue in Seattle. I have not posted so many adventures but we have many enjoyable experiences. Sight unseen, we chose a place to stay in the U-District. This turned out serendipitous: An active neighborhood with students going hither and thither. Convenient public transport takes us North and South, East and West to far flung neighborhoods of Ballard, Shoreline, Bothell, Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Islands of Vashon and Bainbridge, Boeing Field and SeaTac Airport. Many of these destinations are direct connections running every 15 minutes.

Here’s the list of the stuff I like. This first one is the inspiration for this post. Like many of my experiences, there is a nostalgic factor.

Red Star Tacos are offered opposite an official statue of Lenin.

Many coffee shops roast their own beans.

There's a monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade — There’s a monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Four Seasons (here are two photogenic ones)

Sometimes I can find just what I’m hankering for

Sometimes, we just admire the wonderful gardens around our neighborhood.

A short walk brings me to the Seattle Go Center. More interesting when I was younger.

Catching up #7 – Wrapping up

Time to pull this all together and move on. This last chapter has been restarted several times. We have been in Seattle now for a few months. It was fun to go back through our past year of adventures in Kuala Lumpur, Auckland, and Papeete. I struggle with finding a summary. I thought making lists of things to do, or odd things to discover, or hidden gems. In the hopes of getting this published this weekend, I will hit a topic or two in each place. I include some photos, not always my best work along with a link to Google Maps. Feel free to contact me via the comments if you have questions or would like to hear more.

Today, 2 January 2024, I added an update at the end with a better photo of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Cheers, and Happy New Year.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I generally only use shopping malls for indoor exercise when the weather is too hot or too rainy. Most shopping malls follow a worldwide pattern of creating a generic shopping experience. I look for new and unique experiences. That being said, we regularly visited the MidValley Mall complex for grocery shopping. It was a two kilometer walk with some interesting options along the Klang River or through the Kampung Abdullah Hukum village.

I would recommend the Fahrenheit88 Mall for its art emphasis and a few one-of-a-kind shops. It is also very well connected to public transport avoiding the busy traffic in the center Kuala Lumpur commercial area. There is the new MRT rail, Monorail, Free bus lines, and 1.5km covered walkway from KLCC on the LRT lightrail. They have an Art museum up on the top floor that has some really inventive ideas (see my post on Everyday Adventures) . There is Kita Coffee (Instagram: @kitacoffeemy) hiding on the ground floor. It’s the only place a Malaysia Champion Barista offers coffee with an experience and roll cakes with exciting flavors. Finally, on level 6 of the connected office tower, the PAPER + TOAST Seedspace offers hot desk space on a daily basis. It is not as busy as some, but offers some innovative ideas on the use of space. Below are some of my photos documenting several visits.

Fahrenheit 88 Gallery, Always something to see — Fahrenheit 88 Gallery, ArtisFairKL

Coffee and Interesting Macha Roll Cake presented by Malaysia Top Barista — The Kita Coffee Experience

I have to go back for one last look.

Auckland, New Zealand

New Zealand is famous for it’s natural beauty. We have traveled both islands. What was really nice about Auckland is that we could just jump on local transport and really see some impressive nature. We were particularly fond of exploring nature reserves located on the Manukau Harbor connected to the Tasman Sea and on the Hauraki Gulf connected to the Pacific Ocean.

Looking North from Mt Eden with islands in Hauraki Gulf in the distance. — North from Mt Eden, Hauraki Gulf Islands distant

Wattle Bay. One of many bays on the outskirts of Auckland — Wattle Bay. One of many bays in the south on Manukau Harbor

Oakley Creek Waterfall near Mt. Albert Unitec Campus

Orewa Beach in the North looking out toward the Pacific Ocean — Orewa Beach, Northern limit of public transport, On the Pacific Ocean

Although I did not take any photos from the Harbour Bridge, I have it on good authority that the views are spectacular.

Papeete, Tahiti (French Polynesia)

We spent ten days in Tahiti in and around the main city of Papeete. It is the iconic south Pacific island with magnificent views of the beach and ocean. Today, there is a contrast between the idyllic beachcomber life and the high cost of living. Papeete itself competes with Paris and New York City. Even the artist, Gauguin, did not find the paradise he searched for there. We spent two days just hunting street art as a way to see different perspectives. Here are four photos, two of the sea, and two of the streets. I like how these murals cover the entire wall of a building.

Looking West of Moorea Island at Pointe Hauru

As the banner above shows, the sun sets. On to more adventures in Seattle.

Update: 2024 Jan 2

Auckland Harbour Bridge from Ferry to Hobsonville Point.

Catching up #6 – Antipodes

Here is the Antipodal Map of New Zealand superimposed on the Map of Spain. The Antipode of Auckland lies about halfway between Malaga and Sevilla. Map provided by Geodatos.

Back in July 2020 when our daughter was figuring out how to extend her stay in New Zealand, we made a bus trip from Malaga to Granada ending up in Sevilla. At some point our path crossed the exact Antipode of our daughter. We only realized this last August reminiscing about our adventures during Covid-19 travel restrictions.

I have grappled with a way to document this event without much success. There are no photos of the exact moment we stood on opposite sides of the earth. In lieu of this, I am just going to post one nice photo from each of these cities: Algeciras, Malaga, Granada, Sevilla and Auckland.

Algeciras pedestrian street — A small street leading up from the port of Algeciras. The famous guitarist, Paco de Luca grew up in this area

Botanical Garden looking down the Guadalmedina river — View from the Botanical Garden at the edge of Malaga looking down the Guadalmedina river to the Port

In Granada Our Lady of the Assumption Monastery. — In Granada we found incredible ornamentation at Our Lady of the Assumption Monastery.

In Sevilla the Museum of Fine Arts was closed. Instead we admired this grand old three in the plaza. — In Sevilla the Museum of Fine Arts was closed. Instead we admired this grand old tree in the plaza at the entrance.

A quick tutorial on how to calculate the co-ordinates of the Antipode.

A click on a location in Google Maps results in a pair of numbers: the latitude and the longitude in decimal degrees (No need to bother with minutes and seconds).
Change the sign of the first number.
Ignore (for now) the sign on the second number and subtract it from 180. Add the opposite sign of the second number. That is, if Longitude is positive, the Antipode Longitude will be negative. and vice versa.
Let me know if an example is useful. I can add in the comments.

This weekend I asked ChatCPT server of openai about Antipodes. I only have a basic account so the bot only has limited access to processing power. Here’s one interchange. It understands the concept but does not calculate correctly.

me:
what are the antipodes of Auckland NZ and Seville Spain

ChatGPT: The antipodes of Auckland, New Zealand, and Seville, Spain, are two points on the Earth’s surface that are diametrically opposite to each other. In other words, if you were to draw a straight line through the center of the Earth, these two points would be on opposite ends of that line.

The antipode of Auckland, New Zealand, is located in the Indian Ocean, south of Madagascar. The antipode of Seville, Spain, is located in the South Pacific Ocean, near the coast of South America, near to the border of Chile and Argentina.

It’s worth noting that the antipodes of any two points on the Earth’s surface will always be on the opposite side of the planet from each other.
ChatGPT @ https://chat.openai.com/chat on 12 Feb 2023 1730 UTC.

The banner courtesy of Great Circle Maps: http://www.gcmap.com/

Catching up #5 – Hopping to Winter

Seasons: Hot – Winter – Dry – Winter

After five years of summer and a few weeks of cooler Springs and Autumns, we jumped from hot Kuala Lumpur to wet wintry Auckland. Then, we took a short breather in drier and warmer Papeete before jumping into the Seattle winter.

Masjid Al Bukhari from footbridge to Hang Tuah Station

July and August are the dryer months of Kuala Lumpur with little variation in the high (34ºC / 93ºF) and low (23ºC / 73º) temperatures. One hot afternoon, we explored around the Hang Tuah area. From the foot bridge to the station, the afternoon sun illuminated Masjid Al Bukhari against the billowing clouds. This mosque is popular with foreign workers many who are working in construction on the many projects in the BBCC (Kuala Lumpur – Bukit Bintang City Center) district. The link opens in Google Maps

Rain on the Roof Garden of One City, Subang Jaya

Even though it was dry season, there was always a chance of a rain shower. This one was on the Roof Garden of One City Mall in Subang Jaya, a suburb west of Kuala Lumpur.

Cape Reinga - Te Kao (Maori) - NZ Northern most point — Cape Reinga – Te Kao (Maori) – NZ Northern cape

The winter in Auckland is a bit cool with the best days only reaching 20ºC (68ºF). Some days it would rain and drizzle all day staying a constant 9ºC (48ºF). We let our daughter drive us up to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of the New Zealand’s North Island. It’s a few degrees closer to the equator. We caught a sunny day and a few degrees warmer. The link opens in Google Maps.

View of Moorea Island from Croix de la Mission, Papeete, Tahiti — View from Croix de la Mission, Papeete, Tahiti

We took advantage of the dry season in Tahiti to explore some of the trails around Papeete. We hiked up the path to the lookout at Croix de la Mission and captured a nice view of Moorea Island. The link opens in Google Maps.

Looking down our street in U-District Seattle on the first snowy day. Followed by a cold spell. — A Winter Scene in our Neighborhood of U-District, Seattle

In Seattle, December brought flurries and an ice storm followed by a cold snap. Roads and sidewalks were icy and emergency services were over extended. We hunkered down and watched from our street level windows. The day after we ventured out for a walk. The white snow on the evergreen shrubs and pine trees was such a refreshing contrast.

The banner captures the winter scene at the University of Washington near the Life Sciences Building.

Catching up #4 – Where Public Transit Ends

Taking buses and trains in Kuala Lumpur, Auckland, Papeete, and Seattle

When we travel, we use public transport frequently. This limits us to some extent to the beaten path, but seems to give a deeper sense of the communities we visit.

Street Art Murals in Tampin — Backstreet Cafe Entrance on Lorong Seni, Tampin

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the KTM commuter train from KL Sentral Station travels to Pulau Sebang a few times a day. It takes about two hours and passes two states ending just over the border into Melacca. Tampin is a 10 minute walk up the street crossing into the state of Negeri Sembilan. We found this pedestrian art street with murals and coffee shops.

Sculpture in Moana Reserve in Orewa — Orewa Beach off the Hibiscus Coast Highway

In Auckland, New Zealand, we took the North Express Busline along the Hibiscus Coast Highway all the way to Orewa Beach. There is a walking path stretching all along the beach. We found this sculpture in the city park.

We stayed a night just to capture the sunrise over the Pacific.

Belvédère de Taravao mountain in distance on return from Taravao — Belvédère de Taravao on Return from Taravao

In Papeete, Tahiti we took the 30A bus along the west coast to the southern point of Taravao. Then, on the return to Papeete, we took the 30B along the east coast. Along the way I captured this photo of the Belvédère de Taravao in the distance

Pedestrian bridge reflected in the Summamish River — Bridge from Burke Gilman Trail

In Seattle, Washington we took the 372 bus through the University, then Lake City, finally alighting in the city of Bothell. At the Bothell Landing Park we got a peek at the Historical Museum and followed the Summamish River Trail. This bridge from Blyth Park connects to the Burke Gilman Trail. It continues all the way back to U-District and winds out to Ballard on the Puget Sound.

We also took a couple of Ferries. The banner photo shows our crossing from Papeete to the island of Moorea-Maiao.

Catching up #3 – Art; Is it sculpture?

Subheading: Kuala Lumpur – Auckland – Seattle

I don’t have much consistency in my taste for modern art. It seems I like the experimental works that capture an interesting idea. Here are three.

I found this one at the Ur-Mu gallery in Kuala Lumpur. The same materials that natural history museums use to represent replicas of fossils were used here to create a replica fossil of the mythological Makara beast. (There might be a cultural joke here: The night market vendors in KL were famous for offering “copy” watches that looked just like expensive Rolexes, 😁) The link opens the gallery website.

These were found at the Auckland Art Gallery. Of these containers, my favorite is the enamel jug on the right by Argentine-New Zealand Artist, Tom Kreisler. The link opens the gallery website. We stayed in Mt Eden district of Auckland from Mid August to Mid September.

Note: as a teaser for the next post, the Paul Gauguin Museum is permanently closed.

MAGMA SLIT - Donna Huanca — MAGMA SLIT by Donna Huanca

The Henry Art Gallery commissioned this work by Bolivian – American Artist Donna Huanca. It consists of wall panels and a central platform divided by screens providing a venue for the artist and performers to continue creating the work.

The banner photo shows dynamic video art displayed in the U-District Subway Link Station.

Catching up #2 – Malaysia to Seattle

Our home base in Seattle is the U-District. Very convenient for the Link Light Rail and Bus network. It is also very interesting just to walk down to Lake Union or Lake Washington or stroll to a nearby neighborhood. I don’t post many pictures of myself but these were fun for the pillion rider.

There’s a troll under a Fremont Bridge. Tourists must take care. The link opens in Google Maps

Art installation of the Motorcycle Wall of Death

There’s the Wall of Death under the University Bridge. Until it was fenced in, it was a favorite among skate boarders. The link opens to the Wikipedia article. I like the font which is actually the shadows of the letters created by cutting holes in the metal.

Entering the den of proprietary sofware, Microsoft Cafe

Over at the University of Washington Campus, I’m heading into the den of proprietary software, the anathema of open source and linux aficionados.

Back in July 2022, I tried to help pull some weeds by some street art in Bentong city. We enjoyed our stay nearby at That Nice Place in Selesa Hill Homes. The link opens in their facebook page. Bookings can be made through booking.com or airbnb.

The banner photo shows the highlands in the Pahang State of Malaysia seen from near where we stayed. Hope you find these posts fun.

Catching up #1: Malaysia to Seattle

It has been too long since I posted on WordPress. Part of this was frustration with the editing process of the latest version of WordPress. Another part was frustration with the direction of my writing. To capture some of the past adventures, I am going to post photos with commentary from our current stay in Seattle with some of the photos of our journey to Seattle.

Last weekend we walked up from the University of Washington Arboretum to Foster Island on Lake Washington. This foto from Marsh island captures the network of wooden bridges leading back to the Montlake district. The link opens to Google Maps.

Back in June 2022, we spent a Saturday afternoon exploring PJ New Town in Petaling Jaya, just a short Light Rail ride from KL, Kuala Lumpur Sentral.

Here’s an example of the street art found on the PJ Art Lane. The beauty here is there is no pungent smell from this Durian stand. We had the street to ourselves as there were still Covid restrictions in place. The link opens to Google Maps.

So here I begin again. The banner is a photo of Lake Washington looking east in the afternoon. It appears a double click on the photos shows a full screen view. Waiting to see if I am happy with this simpler photo and description format.

Everyday Adventures: Sidewalks and Galleries

With the loosening of Covid-19 restrictions, we have traveled around the city much more. To keep safe, we look for uncrowded city streets and empty indoor venues. Museums are not popular currently, so it has been a dream to view the exhibits at our leisure, talk to the guards. We have better luck on weekdays keeping social distance, especially in popular museums. Galleries are generally good any time. [As always with the new WordPress, right click the images to view the larger version]

The GMBB is a mall with event and art exhibit spaces, a creative community mall as their website says. This artist, Phillip Wong, creates sculptures from everyday materials.

Artwork based on culinary experiences SE Asia

In a similar way the Intermark Mall exhibited new fashions using recycled textiles.

The Fahrenheit88 Mall in Tourist/Shopping district has a marvelous gallery on the top level with interesting displays. A bus ride took us to the Kedai KL Mall near the University. It features boutiques featuring local entrepreneurs.

As I write this entry at the GMBB, local illustrators invited me for a little bit of Hari Raya treats celebrating end of Ramadan Fasting.

They have an exhibit here until the end of May and Congress coming in September.

Back on the street, there is new art popping up all over the place.

The sardine curry puff must be delicious

An Indian Temple tucked underneath a major shopping complex

The REXKL is a repurposed cinema as a bookstore with art gallery, restaurants, and music venue.

In the day, the pillion rider watched movies seated where there are now books

The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia was really interesting. There were only two or three others the day we visited so the galleries were wide open for photos. Really clear explanation and displays on Arabic writing.

In contrast to the Islamic Museum, an early mansion houses the Wei-Ling gallery. Very lively art works along with Exhibit catalogs dating back twenty years.

We’ve been to the Ilham Gallery a couple of times. It’s a smaller space in an office buiding. The lighting and area provide a good space to present works with local appeal.

Three paintings by Klang artist, Kok Yew Puah

Everyday Adventures: The Parks

Even though we are still stuck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we keep looking for new places to go. That is the beauty of this city. There is always something. Beyond that, I have been stuck in WordPress trying to figure out their new block formats. It seems I am better at configuring Open VPN in Puppy Linux than I am at getting my blog to look right.

I have reset my WordPress theme in hopes of improving the response time when I create a new post. Nope, that’s not where the problem is. Also, tried accessing via Microsoft’s Edge browser under Ubuntu Mate Linux. Nope that didn’t change the editing slowness, either. In fairness, I use WordPress for free and they do provide a lot of information and tutorials on how to get the best experience.

Oh well. Rather than one huge post here, I’m settling for several posts with a few photos describing our different adventures. Accept my apologies in advance if the photos load slow. I’m still working on this. It seems right clicking on a photo to open in a new tab works well if you wish to see the larger version. Of course, it is framed with WordPress advertising. 😀 😉

Parks and hiking trails are still a favorite. They are outside and easy social distancing. During weekdays with few visitors, face masks are optional except at the entry and exit

One day we hiked the Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve. We reached it from the Kwasa Sentral MRT station by taking a Grab share taxi. The walk to the lookout at the Three Princesses Peak (Denai Tiga Puteri Peak) qualified for our weekly strenuous exercise.

On a Sunday, we had an enjoyable outing that was not too busy at Taman Tasik Permaisuri (Empress Lake Park in Bandar Tun Razak). One section near the lake has terraces of unique plants such as these orchids.

On the north side we explored Sentul Park. There are lakes, trails, a Performing Arts Centre, a barbecue and a coffee roaster. I’m checking out the cement living room.

Joining a Happy Birthday chorus earned us a piece of cake

Sometimes we just settle for an urban park. This is the Raintree Plaza. It is a walk from the construction at the new TRX tower to Jalan Imbi in the direction of Fahrenheit88 shopping mall.

Sometimes we just count the monitor lizards on the River of Life.

Or observe the jungle reclaim the construction cranes.

Here’s an update. On May 2 from the Bukit Jalil Recreational Park. We were caught in a downpour first in a Japanese garden, then in a Chinese garden (where I snapped this photo looking from the Malay house).

The Japanese Garden (the shelter roof leaked).

My Favorite Number

6,469,693,230

Many of my posts are about travel. As we won’t be visiting new countries for a while, I have been playing around with more technical and computer related stuff. This time however it’s just to tell you something I find interesting. As I write now, this could be titled: My Favourite Number: 6.469.693.230 .

This number is the product of all the prime numbers less than 30.

Specifically, 2 x 3 x 5 x 7 x 11 x 13 x 17 x 19 x 23 x 29

I calculate this in my head. You can too. Here’s my secret recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Algebraic Formula:

(a – b) x (a + b) = a² – b²

2 Squares: 18² = 324 and 26² = 676

Process:

Step 1. Multiply 2 by 5 = 10 and set aside.

Step 2. Multiply 7 by 11 by 13 and be surprised at the result of 1001. Set aside.

Step 3. Multiply 23 by 29 observing that 23 is (26 -3) and 29 is (26 + 3). (26-3) x (26+3) = 26² – 3² or 676 – 9 = 667. Multiply 3 x 667 and be surprised at the result of 2001. Set aside.

Step 4. Multiply the remaining two primes, 17 and 19, by observing that 17 is (18-1) and 19 is (18+1). (18-1) x (18+1) = 18² – 1² or 324 -1 = 323. Set aside.

Now the we start combining the different steps previously set aside.

First, combine Step 2 with Step 3. Multiply 1001 by 2001. The result is 2003001

Next, combine Step 4. Multiply 2003001 by 323 noting that 2 x 323 = 646, 3 x323 = 969. The result is 646969323.

Finally, combine in Step 1. Pop 646969323 in the oven for 10 minutes and out comes: 6,469,693,230.

When I have trouble getting back to sleep in the middle of the night, one solution is to do tables of squares. 1 x 1 = 1, 2 x 2 = 4, 3 x 3 = 9, 4 x 4 = 16. It turns out the table can be built with just addition.

Here’s the formula:

n² + n + (n+1) = (n + 1)²

It means: the current square plus current number plus next number is the next number squared.

Example from above. 16 + 4 + 5 = 25 (that is 5²). 25 + 5 + 6 = 36. And so on. I seldom made it beyond 23. Knowing the squares of 1 to 25 has the additional benefit of knowing the last two digits of every squared number in the universe. Gosh, I’m already sleepy.

Caught by Nostalgia

A lot of emails come through the various mailboxes I monitor. Today, one came through from Citybike Wien with a newsletter announcing their Advent Calendar. The charming graphic reminded me of wonderful days we spent in November 2015 wandering around Vienna. We were there for about a week and luckily had a chance to visit the Christmas market on the first weekend it was open.

“The snow flutters down quietly…” and other Christmas carols will soon be on the radio again, proclaiming:**“Welcome to the pre-Christmas season!** “.

I get this newsletter because I rented through their bike sharing program while we were there. In the past, I have thought about unsubscribing but it was cumbersome getting through their website. All is well. Instead I am going to register with the Citybike Uphill team so I can enjoy the rest of the Advent calendar graphics from Hannah at hana.rts.

Update. After some more fooling around on the Citybike website, I found out I already have an account. After choosing my handle of “Capo in B,” a simple click has registered me with the uphill team. It might be a little difficult for me to manage this challenge as we are still stuck in Malaysia. But it is diverting to see that I still have € 1 in my account.

I don’t have strong memories of holidays growing up in a small town of Windom, Minnesota. Looking back through our albums, a lot of memories come flooding in around the experiences with our daughter growing up in Minnesota, Frankfurt, and then some side trips to Ecuador and Vancouver and Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur. Here’s one photo that captures this feeling for me today.

Must be Istambul but maybe Constantinople

In case you are curious about Austrian Christmas Songs, the one quoted is here on youtube. Perhaps, I will return to this post if I am able to unlock any of the doors on the Advent Calendar. All the best to you wherever you are, whatever you celebrate, and more importantly enjoy all the memories of the seasons. Cheers.

Yay, The Botanical Garden is open.

Even though Kuala Lumpur is in Covid Recovery Phase 1, authorities have relaxed some of the lockdown restrictions. Some parks in your neighborhood can now be visited. The Perdana Botanical Garden is just a 2 km walk away so it qualifies as a local venue. Two days ago, only one gate was open on the far side from us making it a bit of a chore to enter. Today, we discovered the tunnel shortcut has been re-opened. Better than that, the upgrade of the path around the lake has completed and parts of the bamboo play area are open. (Note on the website link above: The website does not have any updates on the changes for the Covid Lockdown. Current signs posted state opening hours from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM.)

Bamboo Play Area taken from the New Walking Path

Other activities of our life in exile include astronomical observations from our balcony.

A Stonehenge Moment: Marking the last day (July 28) we can see sunset on the horizon.

The weather is a little cooler with regular rain showers. In the evenings, we sometimes see heat lightning from storms 20-30 km away. It’s just luck to catch the flashes with my simple iphone camera. In the hour before dawn (around 6 AM), seeing lightning from storms in the west over the Strait of Melacca reassures me. There’s something nostalgic about it.

Movement Control in Kuala Lumpur

As the Malaysian government try to get some control on the Covid-19 pandemic situation with an alphabet of plans and procedures, we only adventure out to buy groceries once a week. We walk 1.5 km to 2 km to one of the shopping centers. All shops are closed except those deemed essential. Lately our preferred route is along a six lane highway. It is noisy but the walkway is well maintained. Another plus is that hardly anyone else takes this route. Occasionally, with a small detour, we can find a fruit stand with Durian. If you stay in SE Asia, you either love or hate this fruit. The smell is so strong we find a motorcycle rest stop to sit and eat the fruit before returning home.

Trees blooming along the pathway by the motorway.

Dad Jokes

The pillion rider asked me what I wanted for Father’s Day. How about some Dad jokes.

It is coming up on two years since we last played parents hanging out with our daughter and cooking her favorite foods. We are in Malaysia; she is in New Zealand. Our paths diverged at Nadi Airport, Fiji. Since she is not here to be embarrassed, I’ll publish ten bad jokes for everyone to groan.

Here’s a new word just for today: Plagiarism. (I copied it)
I find moon rocks are more delicious. They are a little meateor.
I get suspicious of trees on sunny days. They seem a little shady.
Bikes fall over because they are twoo tired.
When Math Acorns grow up they exclaim, “Gee, Ah’m a tree.” (They probably have square roots.)
I was an ugly child. When I was born, the doctor looked at me and slapped my mother.
Time flies like a arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
My yearly income is six figures. I’m not saying where the decimal point is.
It’s apparent that this bad joke has become a dad joke.
Do you speak Esperanto? “Yes, like a native.”