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Monday/ arrival in Houston

I am staying downtown in Houston and still need to go out and take more pictures of the steel and glass architecture.

This is the view toward the east from my hotel room on the 19th floor in the Hyatt downtown with the setting sun's reflection.
Don't look down if you are afraid of heights! The windows from the inside elevators in the Hyatt's enormous 30 story tall inside lobby provides a spectacular view. I am on my way down to get a beer and a bite to eat right there in the lobby bar.
Arrival at Houston Intercontinental airport late Sunday afternoon.
Not all buildings downtown are perfectly square. I did not write down the names of these two office towers.

 

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Sunday/ to Houston

I’m on the way to Houston for the week for work.   What used to be a Continental flight is now United Airlines and there is no spare seat on the flight : that’s the way we fly these days, it seems.   (And no, I’m not sitting up front in the big seats, but I did get an exit row seat, so I have a little extra leg room).

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Saturday/ the Gourmet Noodle Bowl

Is it OK to put gourmet* together with ‘noodle bowl’ and call your Asian restaurant the Gourmet Noodle Bowl? .. given that gourmet is (from Wikipedia) a cultural ideal associated with  haute cuisine, which is characterized by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses?   No matter, they serve up great Chinese, Taiwanese and Indonese food there, and we ended the meal with ice cream servings of mango, green tea and durian flavors.  There is a picture of durian – the king of fruit – on my post of Tue Mar 27.

The Gourmet Noodle Bowl is at 707 8th Ave South in Seattle's International District. (The restaurant entrance is on the left of the picture).
The Happy Times Bistro is across the street. A bistro is a small restaurant (orginally from Paris, France) serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting.
Here is the durian ice cream .. a nice way to get acquainted with the taste of durian, since it's sweeter and you do not have to deal with the very unusual smelliness of the fruit !

 

 

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Thursday/ vindaloo

My dinner was vindaloo, basmati rice and pita bread last night at The Elysian Pub here in Seattle. Vindaloo is an Indian curry dish popular in the region of Goa but also in many other parts of India. Goa is India’s smallest state by area and is south of Mumbai on the west coast.

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Wednesday/ the state capitol in Olympia

I drove down to our state’s capital city Olympia at the southernmost end of Puget Sound today to meet a colleague from work for dinner, about an hour’s drive.  On the way I stopped by the capitol building.   The Olympia waterfront and downtown are are both a stone’s throw from the capitol building.

Olympia is about an hour's drive south of Seattle on I-5 (but it can be much more if you drive during rush hour).
The main entrance to the Washington State capitol building in Olympia. Olympia became the capital city of the then-Washington Territory in 1853, but this building was completed only around 1923.
A view from the back of the dome of the capitol building in Olympia.
Another view from the back. The dome is atop the Legislative building, so that's where the State house and State senate representatives meet.
Here is the inside of the main atrium beneath the dome. There is a giant bronze seal in the middle on the floor.
Detail of the bronze seal on the floor.
This bust of George Washington is upstairs overlooking the floor. (Scout's honor : it was not me that rubbed his nose. Apparently visitors just can NOT resist touching it!).
I love the giant suspended light fixture in the center of the dome.
This is a waterfront scene nearby. The water is Puget Sound, a large inland body of water connected to the Pacific ocean.
Japanese style 'gazebo' nearby.
This is downtown Olympia. I first read 'grosvenor hotel' .. then saw no, it is the governor hotel.
This fairy tale brick-building with twin turrets is actually the OLD capitol building, across from the Governor Hotel in downtown.

 

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Monday/ Titanic 100 years on

The RMS Titanic sank on Apr 15, 1912 on her maiden voyage. These commemorative pictures were in the South China Morning Post’s weekend edition at Hong Kong airport.

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Sunday/ shopping BIG

I don’t have a membership card for Seattle’s Costco store*, but I have friends that do, and I went with them to the store today.  The store is no-frills and looks like a warehouse inside.

*A warehouse ‘club’ retail store selling a wide variety of merchandise, but only in large, wholesale quantities.

We were intrigued by this Coleman solar power generator kit. Should I have bought it, now that we finally are getting some sunlight in Seattle?
And here is a 190 lumen lantern to scare the hyenas away from the campfire that's dying. I recall a long time ago that Coleman sold a '1,000 candlelight' flash light. That is about equal to 79 lumens.
Nothing is more American than apple pie! (well, maybe Coca-Cola. And I have a picture of that as well).
These boneless legs of lamb are from Australia. (There are actually Costco stores in Australia as well - in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne).
This bag with 3 pounds of peeled California-grown garlic should last a while!
The smallest offering of eggs : a box with 18 Extra Large ones.
And here's the Coca-Cola, in packs of 32 cans.

 

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Saturday/ in Seattle

It’s still Saturday and I have arrived in a sunny and clear Seattle – same as Hong Kong was when we left it.  It was the usual 3 1/2 hrs to Seoul with a connection time of an hour before we did the 9 hour trek east to the West coast of the USA.  There was a diagram of the trajectory of the North Korean rocket in the Korean newspaper.

This is Gate 19 at Hong Kong airport with a long walkway out to the Asiana plane.
This picture from the Korea Joongang dialy newspaper shows the trajectory of the North Korean rocket launched on Friday.
Our flight path from Seoul to Seattle went over Tokyo.

 

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Saturday/ at Chek Lap Kok Airport, Hong Kong

My Google Latitude position on the way to Lantau island, bottom left. I have just crossed the mainland border by foot. It took a little time today since I was not the only 'Foreigner' in my line (meaning the 'Foreigner' lines that are usually wide open were open to mainlanders as well).
This is on the Shenzhen side of the Hong Kong-mainland border.

I am at Hong Kong International Airport, bags checked and all.  I am always a little stunned when I am done packing to see how much stuff can be squished into a suitcase.  (Many years ago when I used to pack the family car’s trunk for a road trip with everyone’s stuff and food, I had the same experience).   I am stopping over in Seoul, and then on to Seattle for an arrival in the middle of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

From Wikipedia : Bird's eye view of Chek Lap Kok Airport (local name for Hong Kong International airport). The old airport that was surrounded by high-rise buildings with one runway jutting into Victoria Harbor was Kai Tak Airport, and closed in July 1998.
Colorful mural made by local school kids, celebrating the new airport's 10th birthday in 2008.

 

 

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Friday/ all packed up and checked in

I have packed my two bags and checked in on-line with Asiana Airlines. (And hey, nice to know the airspace is now clear of North Korean rockets.  The rocket was launched this at 7.39am this morning but broke apart before leaving the atmosphere).  I don’t have a scale to weigh my bags but I think I’m under the 70 lb mark.

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Thursday/ eat them up

Our project is rapidly nearing its end.  I am leaving on Saturday, so I have to start packing up – and clear out the little food items I have squirreled away in the hotel room.  These cute little cans of peas and mushrooms are from Japan and came complete with pull-top lids.

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Wednesday/ early morning Da Peng town plaza

Here is an 8 am in the morning glimpse of the Da Peng town plaza as we drive by in the bus on the way to work.  The pedestrian is listening to his music and the Tai Chi exercise group is at it in the background.  I no longer read e-mails or news articles on my phone or iPad on the bus but just take the time to relax or even take a little nap if I can.

 

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Monday/ watching North Korea

The picture is from NHK TV, showing a news conference at the site of the scheduled rocket launch from North Korea.  Japan prime minister Noda has given permission for the Defence Ministry to shoot down the rocket with Patriot interceptor missiles if it strays over Japan airspace.   (The missiles are parked in the grounds of the Defence Ministry in the heart of Tokyo : two giant green batteries surrounded by a stunning white blaze of blooming cherry trees).  And on state TV in North Korea it was announced ‘Whoever intercepts the satellite or collects its debris will face resolute and merciless punishment by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’.   I am keeping track of the events since I am scheduled to stop over in Seoul on the way to Seattle this weekend !

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Sunday/ still for sale

The sign is new – but the ’80 Step Sea House’ apartment building across from our hotel is not.  (50 sq m is small – only 538 sq ft.  140 sq m is about 1,500 sq ft). Construction of the complex was completed a long time ago, more than a year.  Some units might have been sold, but not a single person has moved in yet.  Singapore-based investment guru Jim Rogers for one, says the property bubble in China is ‘over’, and that there will be no hard landing for the economy.  If that is true, that is good news for everyone.

There is a new sign on the 80 Step Sea House apartment complex across the street from the hotel in Dameisha. The panels are solar water heaters but they are not yet connected. There are no residents in the building yet.

 

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Saturday/ supporting the new sites

The project team is going out to the new sites to provide support for the new users in the system.  The map shows two of the three sites where the new system has started up : Taishan and Yangjiang.  I stay put in Dameisha to provide support from a central place (at the offices at Daya Bay).

Some of my colleagues will travel to Taishan this weekend via taxi to Shekou port on the west side of Shenzhen, then take a ferry across the Pearl River Delta to Zhuhai, and then it's another drive on to Taishan. The power station is on the coast, a fair distance from the city of Taishan.

 

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Friday/ Cherry Blossoms

The official 2012 poster for the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC by artist Peter Max. (Is that Uncle Sam on his way to the Capitol?).

It’s the centennial of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC.  And the blossoms (called sakura) are out in Japan as well.  Cherry blossom forecasts are available on-line for both places so that visitors can time it just right.

Check out Google’s ‘Street View guide to Japan: Cherry Blossom Season Edition’ with 360° views at the most popular sites there.

Here is the link  http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/landing/japanview/#cherryblossoms

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Thursday/ the road less costly?

This is from a recent Wall Street Journal : a guy that takes his folding bicycle with on international trips to save his company money on taxi fare.  And he refuses to fly business class on 16-hr flights to India, he says.  ‘I would never dream of spending an extra thousand dollars to stay in a hotel room that’s slightly more comfortable than the bed I get in a $100 hotel room. Why would I do that with an airline seat?’.

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Wednesday/ Tomb Sweeping Day

A little shrine on the sidewalk near the hotel in Sheung Wan area in Hong Kong.

Wednesday was Tomb Sweeping Day.  I found the colorful little shrine on the sidewalk in Hong Kong near the hotel (those are incense sticks in the tray). Some enterprising individuals have started to offer tomb sweeping as a service, but it is not without controversy.  Can one really outsource the activities that go with remembering someone very personal and close?  (No – the point that the cartoon from the South China Morning Post is also making).

Cartoon from the Wednesday edition of the South China Morning Post addressing the use of tomb sweeping services instead of doing it oneself.