I’ve seen the macaques in the resort but they had yet to visit my balcony. While I was working I heard quite the commotion at the front door. They try to open doors!
I took some fruit out with me and they saw it. As tried handing s pice to thee young macaque in front of me, a large macaque ran up and took the whole container. There was a lot of them so I scattered the pieces about for the others to get.
Some went to the back balcony.
Later I saw the group walking through the resort, looking in trash receptacles…
I went on a short walk with a naturalist to view some of the wildlife.
Dusky leaf monkey. They can eat poisonous leaves as there digestion is very different from the macaque.
Bismarck palm
Colugl which is a Flying lemur. They are difficult to spot. The male is the one with brown coloured fur. I actually saw one flying but could not catch it yet on video.
I was actually glad to leave Kuala Lumpur. It’s beautiful but I have been having asthma issues with a long flight and whatever is provoking my allergies. In the mess of being a nomad teacher I have run out of my maintenance inhaler and they don’t make it anymore either. I’ve been seeing how I do without it and have used a rescue inhaler way too much. My plan is to get to Bangkok and be evaluated at the hospital there.
Langkawi is beautiful. I have a bungalow in the rainforest where I have a good place to work. I do have monkey visitors on my balcony. I started with three hours of work then went to check the pool at the resort. Beautiful.
After the first night, my asthma is much improved.
I still wake up at an ungodly hour and after 4 hours of work took a walk on the beach just after sunrise.
I went back for more work and finish uploading the screencasts I created. My break from working the next day was a short walk to the skycab to go up the mountain to the overlook of the Geo park. I did need to go for a walk and get some lunch.
There monkeys I saw along the way kept their distance until you started talking to them. I did turn off the video just as they were climbing on my backpack and pulling on my dress. They really wanted food.
I arrived on a red eye at the Pullman at 3 am. As there was no room ready I sat for 4 hours grading and doing work. I paid for the buffet breakfast and my room was ready super early after that. Lucky since official check in was some time away.
My only tour are hop on hop off which I used to sightsee until it became too hot. Touring the gardens and aviary was great but very warm out. I then retreated to do more work.
I did not do the Batu caves. A lot of people say you should but I’ve already seen karst formations in Halong Bay and Laos. The cave I saw on the Mekong was amazing and not commercial. Reviews of Batu caves depict how commercial it is. Yes there is a giant gold statue. I was fine with skipping it.
KL tower from top of the bus.This is the old train station. I love the minarettes and the style of the building.Little India.The royal palace gate.Royal palace.
I left the bus at the botanical garden stop as walking was what I needed and it was close to the aviary (I really love birds!) And the orchid garden (which is closed right now for remodeling).
The hibiscus is its national flower and many varieties here.Lipstick bamboo. This is a very expensive species Rainbow eucalyptusA landscape event was going on and there was great music!
Petronas twin towers which were built by 2 countries. The winner in completing first won another construction job.
China town
Sri Mahariamman Hindu Temple
Night tour to see the lights. Not much narration. I was too tired.
Chinese templePetronas towersBridge taken from both sidesKL towerI liked the reflection of the KL tower on this building next to its lighted sign.Palace gate.Palace.Little India
Ice cream in Chinatown. Lemongrass-ginger and plum-honey. Yummmm.
I thought I would be nervous but not after experiencing skydiving. You take off from the boat and they land you back on it. Pretty easy and peaceful.
This is the video of landing. I have yet to upload the others yet.
While parasailing
Fire walker ceremony and dinner
Showing the dress of chiefs, women, warriors, and today’s Fijian attire. We were treated to dances as well.The ceremony if walking on very hot stones. Fire walkers from a nearby village.
Mana bird
Sunset in Fiji
Just beautiful!
Vinaka, Fiji!
They have a pretty consistent message on the island. It is this:
Malamala beach club. We were on a ship past this island.
Mana sand bar
Snorkeling
Monu island
Purple starfish!
We stopped at Modriki island for lunch. This is the island that was used for the movie Castaway. We were taken in by small motor boat where a villager from a nearby island had cooked our food using traditional underground cooking.
They even had Wilson waiting for us!
We ate and then took a jungle walk and had time for snorkeling.
A bird that burrows under the ground. It comes out to feed on squid which light up in the water. They cry as they dive to the water to capture squid.
This is the other side of the island where he came ashore in the movie.
I took a short tour to see a couple of things around Nadi. Everything is so close.
View from my balcony. I appreciate sitting outside and working instead of the four walls of an apartment. The first day was all online work with a break for a swim.
First stop was Sangam temple.
150 years ago people from India were brought here as slaves. This is the biggest of 20 temples in Fiji. They continued adding their culture by building schools and businesses.
Shiva is known as the destroyer and transforms the universe. Sri Siva subrahmanya swami. One must face the horrible parts of ourselves and humanity first before transforming. This is the larger temple.
Sri Ganesh. After lord of war temple is the path to rebuild. We have demons inside. Recognizing and then to pray to heal those demons and let peace come in place of it. This is a smaller temple.
Sri mahalakshmi. The last small temple is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity.
Afterwards was a quick visit to look at souvenirs and visit a farmers market.
Next was the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. Raymond Burr of Ironside fame grew orchids here and named the garden. His residence is now the Orchid hotel.
Red Palm or lipstick palm.
Hanging orchid.
Dancing lady orchid
Butterfly orchid. purple
Other orchids
Lady fingertip bromeliads
Ornamental ginger. Red plume.
Sleeping giant mountain
Spider orchid
Pandana. Used to make mats and hats.
Fish pond
This is a Fijian greeting meaning hello.
A lookout at the sleeping giant mountain
A drink of tropical fresh juice of papaya, coconut, and other fruits and we were of to the last stop.
Tifajek mud pool. Villages are composed of relatives of a family. They will work together for common food and money. This village suits on a thermal area with a natural hot spring and mud bath.
First a thin layer of mud and let it dry. Then removing the mud in the first pool followed by a dip in the hot spring.
Back to work for the afternoon and evening. Later on, I moved my workspace to outside. Doing work outside at dusk…. A little entertainment for a quick break…
I rented a car to see the sites along the surf coast outside of Melbourne and took my friend Beth with me. It was a long trip but very beautiful. Not much content but beautiful pictures. The end of the road was at the airport to leave Australia.
The arch
London bridge
The portion missing used to be a bridge but water percolating through dissolved the minerals.
Agenda: Elton John concert, free street tour, online work…
I landed in Melbourne but spent my first day getting ahead online. That has been my strategy. Work like a demon to plan further out before doing anything else, build quizzes, look at the resources I had already had in place for the rest of the school year and adjust… I also created screencasts of a simulation I wanted them to use but they may have trouble opening in China.
I’ll start with Elton John. It’s the reason I flew here as I saw I could see one of his shows before I move on to another area. Earlier in the day I stumbled on this street art from his last world tour.
The concert
Amazing. 3 hours with no other band and no intermission. I am so glad I went. All my favourite songs!
My favourite is Philadelphia freedom. It brings back good feelings.
Free tour of Melbourne
The first person to establish a settlement was named Batman. He was the only one in Australia who made a treaty with the aborigines. But the settlement was not sanctioned by England. He called it Batmania and looked like a shanty town. It was later renamed after the prime minister of England. And then there was the gold rush.
The design of the city was based on neoclassical architecture. This is the Treasury building.
The Parliament building was the first capital for the 1st 30 years in Australia. Now it is Canberra as Sydney and Melbourne fought for the right to be the capital.
Windsor hotel
House of Pisco which is a Peruvian cafe and bar.
ACDC lane features grafitti art as the murals have bands represented such as Rage against the machine, Beatles… Though the grafitti is illegal it keeps it off the main streets and some are even commissioned by businesses.
Donald trump as Donald duck.
Lanes like these kept the rubbish and deliveries and human waste off the main streets. The city’s nickname was Smellbourne.
This purple rat stencil is from Banksy.
The glass room.
St. Paul’s cathedral.
Flinders Street station
This Lisa King art is in Centre Place where restaurants are.
The Block Arcade. This is what the inside of buildings back then used to look like.
Inside, the Tea House is exactly the same since late 1800s. The treats look yummy and they serve high tea. This building is in the Milanese style. Its purpose was a place to meet people you want to date. They would walk past each other. Men line on one side and women on the other. They then walk past each other and if you liked summertime you talked. If you weren’t the best prospect you would leave and walk around the block to go through again! Block arcade!
The royal arcade was the first arcade with shops. 1870.
Bourke street. This shopping area had a saying that caught my eye.
This used to be the post office. When posts came in they would run a flag up the pole to let people know. It is a very large building that wraps around the block.
This Chinatown is the oldest continuous one in the Western world since Gold Rush. It is also the oldest immigrant group here. Some came from CA after that gold rush.
This restaurant is called Section 8. It has an Orphans Christmas Day for those people whose family is on the other side of the world. It is found on Tattersalls lane.
State library of Victoria which is a library, gallery, and museum. This is also a place for protest action. Today was Climate change protest.
RMIR architect university. This is a sustainable building and interesting architecture.
Front gatehouse of the Melbourne jail. 1840. All prisoners kept together in one big pen whether female, male or child. Many died of violence and disease.
1880, Ned Kelly and gang became an infamous prisoner. He was a Bush ranger, then a term for criminals on the run. He was a poor Irishman and the oldest of 8. He started with Petty crime and then a policeman was shot in the arm when confronted him. He then became roadside robbers with 3 others. They made iron suits of armour from stolen plows. He was liked by people even though he never gave money directly. He would burn all the loan receipts in the banks. No evidence left of what people owed. Farmers helped them then!
The telegraph invention could tell police where they would go and they caught up with the gang. The gang took the town hostage and there was a gun battle. Many died. He got away but ambushed the police. They noticed his armour did not protect his legs and he was shot in the knees.
Ned Kelly to hang in Melbourne. Took him to the pub to hide in case of jail break.
Why this story? He was taken to Captain Melville’s hotel when they feared people would try to break him out of the jail. It is the oldest pub. Ned’s last words: Such is life! His quote.
