São Bento Railway Station (Estação de São Bento), is gorgeous with it’s azulejo tilework. It shows scenes from Portuguese history, culture, and transportation. It is still used as a transportation hub since the early 20th century.
Porto is so beautiful! After arriving, we took a boat tour along the Douro River. The history of the port dates back centuries. Its location made it a hub for trade and commerce. It’s history as a port dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when Portuguese explorers created trade routes. Of course wine, olive oil, and textiles were traded with other European ports.
Walking around porto was amazing as well. Many shops and great places to eat. Popular here is codfish. Many of the buildings have very pretty and ornate tiles on the front.
At Calem we took a tour of the winery that makes port, Porto’s and mainly the Douro valley’s specialty.
We did ride the hop on hop off bus and also rode the teleferico along one side of the river. But first a fish soup with puff pastry on the top. Octopus is also a favorite here and very well prepared.
Octopus
From the teleferico.
This bunny was created on the corner of a building from scrap parts. Happy Easter!
These are some of the other things I have been doing since arriving in Quito. School of always busy when starting in a new place: new programs to learn, procedures to follow, etc.
Several of the new teachers would go to a few music venues. This one was reggae type music with rap influence.
In my neighborhood is a great gelato place made with local fruits. Very delicious.
Another music event I attended was an afrobeats concert held at an old theater near the historical center. The headliner act is famous in Chile and the whole evening was fantastic. It was difficult to stay in our seats, everyone was dancing.
The opening band played classical jazz. They were amazing.Afrobeats.
I’ve had a few medical appointments about my knee. Walking home after one of them I spotted this place that had Bolivian empanadas
Colada morada is a warm drink made with a large quantity of ingredients including various fruits and purple corn flour. It is thick and actually quite tasty. It is seen here around various holidays including Day of the Dead. Along with a cheese empanada, it was delicious.
I have also never been to a professional soccer game. The stadium is close to school so what better way than to stay after school, grab dinner with friends, and take in a game.
At school, part of the IB program is to complete a G4 project. We took the students to the museum on the equator. It is actually along the equator as determined by GPS (I have been at the other location of where they thought it was by using maps).
Balancing an egg on a nail at the equator. Can you only do it here? Actually no. It just takes practice.A blacksmith hummingbird. It makes a heavy striking sound when it sings.
We have also hosted a BBQ at our place. So great to see people out of school.
It didn’t want to leave Flores and the Komodo Islands. I love nature and can find plenty to do in small cities. But we needed to spend a few days in Jakarta to get COVID PCR test to return to China. The hotel had a great pool and I only wanted to go a few places to tour.
The pool is in the bottom of the picture and is like an oasis here in this part of Jakarta.
We took a half day tour to see old Batavia. This was the capital of the Dutch East Indies along the northeast coat of Java. They took over surrounding kingdoms in these islands in benefit of their trade. It was a European colony for hundreds of years until invasion by Japan. Indonesia gained their independence in 1945. This statue commemorates their independence.
Old style boats that are still being used. Some are designed for cargo and use holds as well as putting cargo on the deck. Others carry passengers.
This man is taking large jugs of water to sell to people who do not have access to water. Original building for markets that is now a museum.We rode in this three wheel car called a Bajaj.This is an old draw bridge for boats to pass under. Jembotan kotan intan.
We stopped for refreshments of Indonesian herbal health drinks. The drinks are very tasty and make from fresh spices.
Kunyit asam has tumeric and tamarind.Brewed for exactly one minute.Crispy tape rolls
We visited a puppet maker to learn how he makes these thin puppets from goat skin that are so beautiful and take such time to make. He shared a short example of a puppet play that tells stories of past events in Indonesian history.
These are pictures of the shadow puppet presentation.
At first the dutch recognized the Chinese immigrants as good traders. But at one point the economy could not support more Chinese coming in. They told the Chinese they were going to be taken to an island but instead they were massacred. The red house which was a governor mansion was much later purchased by a Chinese woman and kept as a remembrance.
The end of this cannon is actually a lewd gesture in Indonesian. Much like the middle finger! Today many believe it can help with fertility to give offering and prayer here.
We also went to Chinatown.
Near the hotel was an antique market. I love to look at many of these old things in different countries.
This camera was pretty spectacular.
Random walks let us easily see different foods and people on the street.
Not sure what these are for but we had a lot of fun making many guesses as to their uses.Sunset over a golf course.
Breakfast one morning was lontong sayur. Tofu, egg, steamed rice cake, and vegetables in s spicy broth.
While at breakfast could not help but laugh at this guy out the window who danced and mimed. Of course then we gave him money.
I also ordered pete goreng which is fried stink beans. It has a slightly pungent taste but not stinky by any standards. I also ordered tempe. Ordering sambal or spicy sauce on the side makes everything tastier. I really love Asian food especially Indonesian.
For a more relaxing holiday (and to save money as travel this holiday is expensive), I visited friends, Amber and Michael, in Shunde. Our holidays don’t always coincide and I have not seen them in months. We met at brunch and then I traveled to their place in Shunde.
We watched movies, walked around a local village and found great food to eat.
Okay, these are rats. We didn’t eat them but this is some of the original Cantonese food in the area.
I then went to panyu to participate in a bike tour. We started at the Shawan ancient village and visited a local artisan who carves wood.
The side of the house has oysters embedded in the concrete to help with cooling and to deter insects.
From there, we ride on Phoenix bikes reminiscent of old Chinese bikes (but safer). We traveled to Baomo gardens, approximately 16 km.
Another short ride and we ended at an old sugar processing plant that now has art installations and some artists in residence.
A great mini vacation with friends and fresh air visiting ancient towns.
I did make it to Macau if even for two days. After crossing the border it was nice to see Portuguese. We are in a different country.
We checked into the Venetian. Such a beautiful hotel…..
A few dishes were recommended and one of these was crab porridge.
We ate in taipa and after dinner walked back to the hotel through some beautiful streets.
A view from the 32nd floor.
The next morning we took a cab to the old city to the Ruins of St. Paul, an old church. The front and the crypts are all that remain.
The streets are cobblestone and the buildings in colors and style of small European villages. We found a great little restaurant with amazing food.
We walked along the streets looking in some stores. It reminds me of Hong Kong and the international beauty products you can buy. I was able to find brown mascara which I cannot find on the mainland.
We looked inside this old church.
We were also able to see a race with servers from the various hotels as they raced through the street.
Sights along the way to the MGM Grand to grab a shuttle back to the Venetian.
We headed back to Taipa for dinner. Noodles with crab and salted egg yolk fried prawns.
Portuguese egg tarts are another food to eat here. They are amazing especially when just out of the oven!
Walking after a great dinner.
From there we went to the Parisian to see the Eiffel tower.
A quick trip but happy to actually finally make it here. Avoiding the holiday rush was the goal.
This is a classic recipe you will love and can make with a variety of mushrooms. Here I show with two different mushrooms.
Trim the bottom of the cabbage by cutting off the bottom part of the white stems. Also trim the bottom of the mushrooms.
Heat up 1 TBS oil in a skillet or wok. Fry 3 cloves of garlic until light brown. Add about 3 to 4 cups of Napa cabbage and 4 – 8 ounces of mushroom and stir fry for about a minute. It may be a few minutes if you are using a skillet. Add 1 tsp of oyster sauce and combine well. You can add some water if needed at this point. You want the cabbage to have crunch, so don’t overcook the cabbage.
Here is actually the favorite mushroom I use in the dish!
We had a slower morning to relax a little and then assembled to go to Qingcheng mountain which has many Taoist temples. It is one of the four Taoist mountains in China and considered the birthplace of taoism. We visited the front mountain which contained the cultural and historical relics.
This is a shrine for prayers for a good harvest for local villagers.
These lions represent obtaining wealth (mouth open) and keeping that wealth ( mouth closed).
We took a cable car up to bypass much of the steepest parts. The gentleman here did not seem happy we were there and covered his mouth. Our tour guide seated next to him told him he should be wearing a mask which was required in the first place.
As we started climbing the stairs to the top, we passed through several temples.
Of course there are other ways to get up the stairs if you are willing to pay.
On each side of the Temple are other places to pray for something specific. In this one, the right side is for health. The left side is for fertility.
These are female monks or as we would know them as nuns.
At the next temple, there was a cute kitten that wanted some attention. It was so cute and playful I stopped to play on the way down too.
The Taoist monk at the Temple.
I’m folklore, the dragon had 9 children but they are a combination of dragon and turtle. It symbolizes strength and easy pace.
We stopped to enjoy the view from the top and cool off in the nice breezes.
We followed a different path down. Besides the temples, all other structures blend into nature.
From here, we learned our flight was cancelled and we had to book an earlier flight making the next day’s itinerary difficult to complete. We also need to get a COVID test to fly. So we headed to another panda base where testing was nearby and hoped we would see pandas. Of course they were all sleeping inside as it was very hot out. We were supposed to do this the next morning when it was cooler, but the change in flight changed those plans.
These are barely one year old. There were no births this year at the pandas base.
We went to the hotel to clean up then ride a bike 2 km to Jingli street. This is a pedestrian street similar to what we went to in the other town. It is a good place to people watch and eat street food. As it turned out, it was a great place for us to be watched. Many people took videos and our pictures which were slightly annoying.
We did not make it very far before we decided we should have a beer as we walked a lot today in hot conditions. Actually, who needs a reason? We also ate sticks with thin sliced veggies and dunked in a spicy sauce. Potato, lotus root, bitter melon…. We also stopped to try other food but I chose stinky tofu. It is fermented but does not taste as some people think. It was pretty spicy.
There was entertainment on the center stage.
There were places to buy and hang prayers for yourself or loved ones.
I have been wanting to try ear picking and they were set up everywhere along this street. They clean your ears and it feels so good as often the inner part of my ear is itchy. They do this thing with a tuning fork kind of device and it feels like the inside of your canal is being tumbled. Not sure how to describe it. In the end I didn’t feel a lot different but over the next few hours my ears felt less clogged.
Outside of Chengdu, is the ancient town of Dujiangyan. It is also home to one of the three panda bases here.
It was only a one hour drive outside of Chengdu and our tour guide, Sophia talked with us about trip we planned and even prepared a panda quiz to learn about pandas.
Pandas eat all of those things thought at the pandas base they do not give them meat.They actually poop 20 kg per day.
It is the only scientific research institution in China that focuses on preventing and controlling panda disease and rescuing pandas from the wild. The black and white giant pandas have plenty of space for sleeping, chewing bamboo, climbing trees and wrestling with each other.
Our activities were to act as the caretakers to clean up the old bamboo and scoop poop to prepare the area for the morning food of bamboo.
Removing the old bamboo.Yes, that is panda poop.
We then broke up the long sticks of bamboo and placed the sticks and fronds of bamboo leaves for them.
The panda was in the inner enclosure at the time. They let her out for breakfast and we then cleaned the inside. In the end we also cleaned the bamboo prep area in the courtyard.
We were told by Sophia if we were not lazy in our duties we would have more opportunities to feed the pandas. We took a break and walked around to look at all the pandas and other animals in the park. Our park guide was named Jake and he answered our questions and talked about the different pandas. I took a lot of pictures but here are a few.
They also had red pandas and brown bears. The brown bears were rescued from a situation where they had been purchased but not taken care of.
Then it was time to feed the pandas a snack. They get a mid morning snack of apples, carrots, and panda cake made of rice and corn flour. This panda is Yoyo. She is very calm but we are still not to touch them. She loves carrots. Standing over a panda is threatening to them which is why we crouch down. It is also why in a panda enclosure their platform is higher than the people watching them.
We then took a break and walked around some more, then ate lunch in their canteen. They had great fish, noodles with a spicy Sichuan sauce, and bamboo shoots which I love. We were ahead of schedule as we are not lazy.
After lunch we watched a video explaining how the research centers learned about panda breeding and giving birth and their attempts to rewild pandas who demonstrated being able to live in naturally habitats.
We then made panda cake. The dough is shaped tightly to air dry for three hours. I made a heart, a mouse (it didn’t look like it) and a panda head.
We then we’re able to feed Yoyo her second snack. Today dignitaries were there so we waited until they were gone to give the snack. While we waited, we watched the young male have a snack of sugarcane.
Feeding Yoyo a second snack.
At the end we received a certificate of completion, some postcards, and a bag. We get to keep the shirt.
Afterwards we went to the irrigation canal which helped to stop flooding in the area and a build up of silt and sand that would destroy the town. This was created in the Qing dynasty and still used today. It is a marvel of engineering and physics.
Unfortunately, our health code had not updated to show test results to go in which is just as well as we were tired and have had little downtime in the last week. We headed to check into the hotel and rest before going to the pedestrian streets to look around. It is along one of the canals of the irrigation system.
The Dujiangyan Irrigation System is a clever utilization of the natural conditions. Built at the site where the Minjiang River’s trunk stream in the upper reaches flows out of the mountains and joins the Chengdu Plain, the System is able to control hundreds of canals with just one diversion passage.
There were some pretty cool shops and street food and restaurants. We are in Sichuan, so the food even at mild is pretty spicy.
We were exhausted so went back to the hotel early to get a good night of sleep. Our code finally updated. This is good as seeing anything else and getting on an airplane depended upon the results being there. We actually tested a second time in case results from the airport did not show. At every airport here you test for free and now most provinces require 2 tests in 3 days and they must be 24 hours apart. If you don’t, they turn your code yellow until you do. That means you cannot go anywhere.
These cucumbers are really amazing and there are a few ways to make them.
The ingredients
This recipe vinaigrette uses soy sauce/vinegar instead. Use the cucumbers that you like but ideally the seeds should be small. There are many options here to change based on your taste. It is my favorite way to eat cucumbers in China.
1 or 2 cucumbers
2-3 garlic cloves
Pinch of sugar to taste
Salt to taste
1 Tbs. Sesame oil
1 Tbs soy sauce (this is optional as it makes the salad darker. A light soy sauce would be better here)
1 tsp black vinegar (this is optional but this vinegar has a nice flavor though it makes the dish even darker. You can eliminate or use other vinegar that you like such as apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp or more chili oil to taste (this can also be optional or you can use chili flakes here instead which is what I usually prefer)
Wash the cucumber. If skins are tough, they can be peeled. Cut in half lengthwise and put the cut side down. Cut into chunks.
Using the side of the blade of a knife, smash the cucumber pieces. This will smash much of the seeds out and split the pieces even further. Remove the loose seeds.
Add the rest of the ingredients in a bowl to mix. Pour over the cucumbers and serve as a dude dish or pair with rice. This looks not as beautiful as I have made in the past. I used a darker soy sauce and also the chili oil. The result is a darker sauce. I have made it before without the dark vinegar and using chili flakes and it is good as well.
