Travel – Page 20 – Willem's Planet

December 26, 2016March 2, 2018

Sunday/ Perth downtown

Here are some pictures from Sunday afternoon and Monday, of Perth downtown and its surrounding area.

Here’s a panoramic view of the Perth skyline from Kings Park, on the western edge of the city.

These are black ducks, in Kings Park and its botanical garden.

A protea from the small South African section in the botanical garden.

The Western Australia museum is closed for renovations, but I liked this billboard with its swimming dinosaur-lizard.

This building at 139 St Georges Terrace looks like a church, but it is a school : Old Perth Boys school, the earliest government school building in Western Australia, and established in 1852.

This bright red Alfa Romeo caught my eye, in downtown against the old buildings.

And the inevitable city tourist bus, with a kangeroo on the side with the ‘hop on, hop off’ text.

December 24, 2016December 24, 2016

Friday/ back to Perth

We drove back to Perth from Albany, with highway 30 most of the way over Kojonup and Williams. Here are some pictures from our stops on the way.

This is in Kojonup, and the mileages are in kilometers. The last two town names are from the Noongar language. The Noongar are Aboriginal people that have lived in the south-west of Western Australia for more than 45,000 years.

This is a giant replica of a loaded horse-drawn wool wagon from yesteryear. In 1908 some 10,000 sheep were shorn in the Kojonup Shire (a shire is a county). By 1969 that number had reached 1 million. Nowadays the local wool industry has become much more mechanized and specialized.

Here’s the abandoned train station building at Kojonup. It has been at least 30 years since the last train went through here.

The old main hotel in Williams is still standing. There is still a bar downstairs, but its heyday has by now been long. long gone.

December 23, 2016March 2, 2018

Friday/ the Albany from yesteryear

Here are some of the older buildings around York Street and Princess Royal Drive in old historic downtown Albany.

The Albany town hall was its first civic building. It opened in 1888.

The ‘London Hotel’ is on Princess Royal Street. It is the oldest licensed hotel in Western Australia, first built in 1856 and rebuilt after a major fire in 1909.

This train came steaming through the main station in Albany this morning. It is westbound, towards the town of Denmark.

This beautiful old gazebo overlooks the main train station.

December 22, 2016

Thursday/ Flinders peninsula

A whaling station was located at Discovery Bay on Flinders Peninsula, and was operated on and off from the early 1800s to 1978, when it was finally closed down. The two main species of whale hunted were the Southern Right Whale and the Humpback Whale.

A whaling ship is part of the historic whaling station display (the busy background interferes a little with the image of the ship).

Man! Watch out! Lots of calamities that can befall the careless explorer of the cliffs and coastline around the peninsula (check out the pictures).

We drove out to Flinders Peninsula on the King George Sound today, and stopped by a historic whaling station (now a museum), and the coastline on the oceanside of King George Sound.

This view of the Southern Ocean from the view point called ‘Blow Holes’ on peninsula. Sea caves form in the rocks, which result in blasts of water from the top of the opening. We did not see much of that today, though. Maybe the tide was low.

December 21, 2016December 21, 2016

We spent a little time at the beach at Greens Pool in the Denmark area today, before heading out east to Albany for the next few days. Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It is the oldest permanently settled town in Western Australia, since it was actually founded more than two years before Perth and Fremantle.

Kangeroos come quite close to the chalets and tents in our camping area, usually as the sun sets. These fellas are probably eastern gray kangeroos, found throughout southern and eastern Australia.

Greens Pool beach is part of William Bay National Park. It has a large natural tide pool with a sandy white beach ringed by large granite boulders that keep the surf of the Southern Ocean out.

Lichens and a hardy succulent on the granite boulders by Greens Pool.

Albany has a peninsula and two natural harbors. We are staying at Emu Point. Look for it at the top right of the picture, by Oyster Harbor.

December 20, 2016December 20, 2016

Tuesday/ the drive to Denmark

We got a late start out to the drive down from Perth airport to Denmark on Monday afternoon, and took a wrong turn on the way there, to boot. (Yes,I should have turned on the Google Map navigation, but I wanted to save some data and the cellular signal is very weak in some remote areas). But we did eventually make it in to Denmark at 9 pm.

The drive from Perth to Denmark was as follows : Perth-Armadale-Williams-Arthur River-Kojonup-Mt Barker-Denmark.

This beautiful Memorial Hall building in Kojonup shows the typical architecture of buildings found in the small towns on the way to Denmark.

A very cool surfer Santa Claus, in front of a store in Denmark.

The Ocean Beach estuary at Denmark. The ocean on this part of the Australian coast is called the Southern Ocean.

December 18, 2016December 18, 2016

Monday/ arrival in Perth

We flew dye south for 7 hours from Hong Kong to get to Perth. Here we are about 3 hours away.

We arrived at Perth International Airport at 6.20 am local time, by which time the sun had been up for more than an hour already. I have to wait for my friend Marlien from South Africa, arriving around noon, and then we will drive down to the coast to Denmark* to join my brother and his family there.

*Denmark, Western Australia.

This artwork in the Perth airport arrivals hall is by Penelope Forlano. It is titled ‘From the Skies’ (2015). It symbolizes Munday Swamp, part of the Perth airport site, one of the most significant archaeological sites in South Western Australia, and dating Aboriginal occupation locally for at least 38,000 years. It was traditionally a site for turtle fishing and an Aboriginal meeting place by the Whadjuk people.

December 18, 2016December 18, 2016

Sunday night/ stop in Hong Kong

Here are some pictures from Hong Kong airport.
The flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong was 5 hours. I am on the way to Perth shortly.

We’re still on the ground at Tokyo’s Narita airport, but not for much longer. Here is the in-flight camera showing the ground crew removing the stopping blocks from the aircraft wheels.

Arriving at the gate at Hong Kong International airport with its wavy roofline. These are all Cathay Pacific birds, same as the one I am in.

Inside the terminal at Hong Kong International airport. The display of giant polished spheres are by fashion house Dior.

I love the dragon boat with the M&M characters in. The red one and yellow one in front are the cutest with their *nón lá* (conical Vietnamese style hats). Of all the varieties, the almond M&Ms are still the best.

December 17, 2016March 2, 2018

Sunday/ Shinjuku

I made a run out to Shinjuku station on Saturday night, if only to test my mega-train station navigation chops (Shinjuku is by far the world’s largest and busiest train station).

Later on Sunday I have to head out to Narita airport for my flight to Perth, with a stop in Hong Kong.

This is the Isetan department store near Shinjuku station, in a beautiful historic building. Life is a Gift .. smart marketing? wise outlook on life? Probably both.

This giant crab on a building near Shinjuku station has animated arms, and is about 20 feet across. I assume it advertises seafood at a restaurant inside.

More upscale shopping in Shinjuku san-chome (Shinjuku Block no 3). Maybe the rainbow colors are purely incidental, or maybe not : the gay night life district is just next door in Shinjuku ni-chome (Shinjuku Block no 2).

There is still construction going on in the streets around Shinjuku station (there was last year). As far as I remember that skylight pyramid is new.

This is Sunday morning, on the Yamanote line from Japan Railways company. I’m at Shimbashi station, going to Tokyo station. Check out the old controls on the pillar on the left.

December 17, 2016March 2, 2018

Saturday/ Ginza and Akihabara

Here are pictures from the time I spent in the Ginza district and in Akihabara. I spent way too much time in the Yodobashi electronics store – some of it drooling over a beautiful $430 Seiko titanium watch (no! go and think about it first is what I told myself).

A Nissan concept self-driving car in a display on a street corner in Ginza.

This giant ‘polar bear’ with two cubs is in the Wako department store. There is a button in the window that passers-by can push to ring the golden bell (up and to the left of the little guy checking out the bear). And then the bear stirs lazily and opens her eyes, and go back to sleep.

Many of the streets in Ginza were closed for traffic, to allow shoppers to wander around in the streets. Several light displays of giant flowers add some festivity.

Here’s the Sony building in the Ginza district. Look for a sleek all-electric BMW i8 at the bottom of the picture in black and white.

This is the Ginza station on the Hibya line. I’m getting ready to go to Akihabara.

This is a new sign, evidently warning of the dangers of texting or browsing while walking around on the platform at the same time. Yes – it can be very dangerous.

The Yodobashi electronics and appliance emporium is as popular as ever, and I spent a lot of time there. That’s the iPhone 7 that is featured on its billboards.

There are many, many sets of make believe characters in the toy department : the Sylvanian rabbit family, Lego friends. monsters and warriors, and then there are the ‘pose skeletons’. (A little weird, not?).

Another somewhat jarring concept: anime characters dressed up in Christmas gear, for a show called ‘Precious Christmas’.

December 16, 2016December 18, 2016

Friday night/ arrived in Tokyo

We had a late start, one hour delay out of Seattle, but made it in to Tokyo 9 hrs 20 mins later, just as the sun was setting in the Far East at 4.30 pm. Everything went well, but it took time to get through passport control and customs, and then another hour on the Narita Express to get to the city. It was three hours later when I checked into the hotel here in the Ginza district.

Here’s a view of the Boeing 787 engine on the All Nippon Airways plane. That’s the Sea of Okhotsk below, to the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Here’s our plane parked at the gate at Narita International airport near Tokyo. I took the Narita Express train into Tokyo Station in the city.

December 14, 2016

Wednesday/ my bags are packed

I completed my work on the project today, filed my time sheets and expense reports, sent a last few e-mails, and set up my out-of-office messages on my e-mail. ‘Away from work for an extended time, and not checking e-mail’. My bags are packed, my devices are charged, and my check-in with All Nippon Airways for the flight to Tokyo at mid-day tomorrow, is complete.

It’s nice to arrive with some paper money for the country that one travels to! These are all from my previous visits, so hey, I will be able to use it. Those 10,000 Japanese Yen notes are big – each worth US$85. The Australian $50 is about US$37, and the Hong Kong $100 only about US$13. The SUICA card is for the metro trains in Japan, and the Octopus card for Hong Kong.

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016

Tuesday/ two stops and 10,343 miles

Here’s a map that I generated with Great Circle Mapper for my upcoming trip to Perth, Australia, with stops in Tokyo and in Hong Kong. The route looks a lot different than one plotted on a flat, projected map of Earth’s surface !

Our departure direction from Seattle to Tokyo will be NW, even though Tokyo is at a lower latitude than Seattle. From Tokyo it is SW on to Hong Kong, and from there Perth is due South.

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016

Monday/ travel information off-line

The Google calendar app on my phone looks gorgeous with the pictures and little maps that it puts on the calendar. (It draws the information from e-mail confirmations from the airline or the hotel).

I put all my apps in one folder. The iBooks folder is for a few off-line maps of the Tokyo subway that I could only get in .pdf format. All my other documents and maps are in a photo album titled Dec 2016.

I’m still getting better at using my iPhone for preparing for upcoming trips. (Later this week I will travel to Perth, Australia for Christmas, with a stop in Tokyo on the way there).

I’m also trying to rely less on getting a local cell phone signal, to pull up the information that I need. So I have made sure I see my flights and hotel stays in airplane mode on my Google calendar, and made a calendar-view paper print-out to boot. I have also put the apps I will use in one place, and even created flight reservation and hotel details as ‘pictures’, and put those in an off-line photo album folder.

December 8, 2016

Thursday/ rain and snow

It was raining all day yesterday, and today in San Francisco. Our flight out was a little late, since Portland and Seattle is getting an inch or two of snow. It was still dry when I arrived at Seattle-Tacoma airport, but almost as soon as I stepped into the house, the snowflakes started to drift down.

Our Seattle-bound Alaska Airlines jet had just pulled up to the gate at San Francisco airport. In the background a big Emirates Airbus A-380 is just taxiing out to the runway.

Here’s the snow in my street, starting to stick on the streets, the cars and the lawns.

December 5, 2016December 5, 2016

Monday/ to San Francisco, one more time

There was no sign of snow as I left my house this morning at 5 am, but then as we boarded the plane at Seattle-Tacoma airport a few snowflakes mixed in with the light rain, came down. The pilot said he could still get us out there without needing to call for a de-icing of the wings of the plane. I work in the city office for my final week on the project (yay!), and is cold here in San Francisco as well.

img_8811-sm — The Salesforce Tower on Mission St still needs a lot of work! .. but getting there, I suppose.

img_8813-sm — There was a terrible tragedy in Oakland across the Bay over the weekend : a fire raged through a converted warehouse with apartments and and an entertainment area, and more than 30 people perished in the blaze.

img_8820-sm — Here’s the scene at the bottom of Powell Street where it meets market. The cable cars are still running, there are still plenty of tourists on the streets – and homeless people as well, some wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016

Monday/ to the East Bay

Two more trips to the Bay Area remain for me, one this week and one next. My Uber driver to Seattle airport this morning was a Leonard Cohen look-alike, fedora hat and all. ‘Sit back and relax and I will talk to you at the airport’, he said. He even had Android phone and iPhone charge cable hookups available for his passengers: a nice touch. Seattle airport was busy, with lots of Thanksgiving weekend passengers heading back home.

img_8703-sm — Here’s our pushback from the gate at Seattle-Tacoma airport. It is 6.50 am and the sky is just starting to light up.

img_8711-sm — San Francisco airport; I am on the elevated shuttle train (Air Train) making my way to the car rental center. It was nice to see the beautiful blues in the California sky after the rainy weekend we had in Seattle. That’s an Air India jet between the two United Airlines jets.

November 20, 2016November 21, 2016

Sunday/ turn OFF that phone .. grr

It happened again on the flight tonight: the airplane door closes, and phones and electronic devices are to be turned off, or at least switched to airplane mode. But NO: my seat neighbor blithely continues to text away (the one last week scrolled up and down through Facebook, or Twitter. Really? You cannot just let it go for an hour or two?). Finally, as we started to taxi, and passenger 9B was still at it, I could not hold it in anymore. ‘Shouldn’t your phone be turned off?’, I said. ‘Yes’ came the reply (no apology or explanation), and finally she turned it off.

img_8633-sm — We’re at gate N16 at Seattle-Tacoma airport, ready for getting pushed back from the gate. The Alaska Airlines plane at gate N1 is about to get luggage loaded into its belly.

November 14, 2016

Sunday/ an early start

Our project’s final testing sessions (with the business users), were scheduled to start early Monday morning. It’s a choreographed affair, and part sales talk (this is what is great about your new solution) and part technical talk (this is what you need to test and try to break). So I took a Sunday night flight out, picked up a rental car at SFO and drove out to the east side of the Bay. My regular hotel in Walnut Creek was sold out, and so I had to use Google Maps to find my hotel in Pleasanton (which reminds me of the fictitious 1950s town called Pleasantville from the 1998 move with the same name).

img_8607-sm — Here’s another Alaska Airlines engine photo. The white line in the water is the Bay Bridge. The city of San Francisco and the Embarcadero is in the foreground (to the left of the bridge) and that is the ‘stepsister’ city of Oakland and its port lit up in bright orange across the water.

November 11, 2016

Friday/ San Francisco’s MoMA

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art reopened in May of this year after a major three-year-long expansion project. And so when I miraculously found a two-hour break in my workday meeting schedule on Monday, I walked down to 3rd Avenue and Mission, and took a quick romp through the museum. 1 ½ hrs of time is not nearly enough for seven floors of art – but there is only so much one can take in at any one time, then one has to call it a visit and come back later (which does not apply only to museums, right?).