Posts Tagged ‘tourist’

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San Jose Tourist

July 9, 2015

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

Almost all of our summer plans have gone wrong. The last time we were in the States we were so tired from running errands, dealing with business, and shopping, we promised ourselves that next time we would just be tourists and do touristy things. So, despite all the disruptions to our plans, I am trying to do a few of those touristy things.

Starting with the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.

quilts hanging on a wall

The above quilts are kawandi, quilts made by African Siddi women who live in India. The quilts are made with a unique style that bypasses the initial sewing of the pieces together. They are stitched together as they are attached to the backing.

Hanging art quilt made with embroidery cut from tea towels and pillow cases

Another display focused on embroidery. My favorite pieces were made from found pieces of embroidery (from tea towels and pillow cases) that are reassembled into wall hangings. The designs were very familiar, although it interesting just how many jugs of moonshine there are.

a birds nest made out of glass

There was also a display of works made with glass, some of which were based on quilt arts. I have no idea what this bird’s nest had to do with quilting, but it was beautiful.

Bedouin weavings

A display of Bedouin weavings was quite familiar, too.

San Jose Art Museum building

Next museum – San Jose Art Museum

two pictures, an antique picture of a Native American man, a recreation of the photo showing an Indian woman

My favorite display was a series of pictures in which an antique picture of a Native American is recreated by the Indian artist. The collection was called “An Indian from India.”

two photographs

Another display of interest consisted of found photographs that show young Indian girls in all cases with a bouquet of flowers to the right and a mirror to the left positioned to show the back of the girl in the photo.

displayed color photographs of Indian girls

close up of one of the photographs

The amazing thing is that there are 83 of these. The artist who created the display did not take these photographs, they found them and assembled them. So, it seems strange that they are all posed exactly the same.

entire display of 83 photos

Posted in California, museum, San Jose, travel adventures, vacation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Ukraine: Day Four

July 2, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

Soviet hammer and sickle emblem on an iron gate

Most of the museums are closed on Mondays, so we took a stroll through the historical heart of the city. Starting with a metro train ride. Then a downhill walk to the central area we had visited after dark before. Stopped into a phone store so that DaddyBird could get a local sim card. The challenge is finding a store where there is a clerk who speaks English. With that accomplished, it was time for lunch at a brew pub.

steep hillside rail car

Another metro train ride to a stop near the funicular entrance and a ride up the funicular later, we were on the top of a hill. At the top of this hill is the St. Michael Cathedral. Quite amazing and beautiful. We continued our walk to St. Andrews Church. By this time for me, the thought of climbing the steps to St. Andrews was a no brainer. I had a seat on the bottom step and people watched while DaddyBird scaled the hill and checked it out.

baroque style church on the top of a hill

We continued on down the hill gawking and taking pictures all the way. Once we reached flatland, it was time to catch a metro train back to our neighborhood and meet friends for drinks.

red velvet wall hanging with a picture of Vladimir Lenin on it

To see all the pictures and comments, click here.

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Jerash

April 13, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

Our last site to see was Jerash. It was established by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. and later expanded as a Roman city, one of the Decapolis cities.

triple arched gate

Much of the city was toppled by the earthquake in 749 A.D., but it is one of the best preserved sites.

steps and massive Corinthian pillars

The pillars of the Temple of Artemis remained standing despite the earthquake.

Roman street lined with columns

We had a guide and it was worthwhile. Sometimes the guides can get in the way of the experience (such as the one at the Citadel). This guide went slowly, told us important information without it being too much and gave us lots of time to take pictures and enjoy ourselves.

To see all the pictures, click here.

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Ajlun Castle

April 13, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

medieval castle

Our last day of site seeing in Jordan started with Ajlun Castle. It was built by a nephew of Saladin in 1184-1185 A.D. and enlarged in 1214-1215 A.D.

bearded man with 4 Nigerians

Before we even got into the castle, we encountered a bus load of Nigerians who all wanted to have their picture taken with DaddyBird. Some even decided that they needed a picture with me also.

large castle room with arched ceilings

The castle was larger than it appeared and very interesting. To see all the pictures, click here.

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Petra Cats

April 9, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

You knew it would happen, right? A post about stray cats during our vacation is traditional.

orange tabby laying on top of a garbage can

We saw this tom three times on our trips up and down the siq (canyon). He clearly has a territory that is his niche. There is a patch of bamboo and a large crack going away from the path area, so there is probably a whole ecosystem that provides for his needs.

Since we were walking out on the second day, we could stop to have a little chat with him.

bearded man petting cat

He was very sweet and very clean (except for his dusty paws). It would appear that he has a pretty cushy life just sitting around, licking himself, and watching the tourists go by.

man petting orange tabby

The cats in this region aren’t Arabian Maus, like our own Oliver and Bert. These cats have shorter legs, shorter spines, and rounder faces. They are very nicely proportioned, medium sized cats.

cat on man's shoulders

He even made himself right at home on DaddyBird’s shoulders.

We tore ourselves away and went further up the trail. This little female came running with her tail in the air when she saw us.

orange tabby with tail in the air

She also was happy to get some attention.

man petting orange tabby

Until the dog came…

cat at the base of a tree

And she had to take defensive measures.

cat in the tree, dog at the base of the tree

All the stray cats we’ve encountered in town have been very skittish and defensive. It was nice to encounter these two, who have it pretty good and can afford to be friendly.

If you would like to see all the pictures from our second day at Petra (222 of them) click here.

Posted in animals, cats, Jordan, travel adventures | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Petra!

April 8, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

first view of the Treasury of Petra from the siq

Our first day at Petra started at 8 am. We met our guide, Abdullah Al Nawafleh, bought some hats to shield us from the sun, and headed in. To ease the experience we hired a horse drawn carriage. Abdulla negotiated it so that he could drive us in and another driver would come to pick us up at the other end around 2 pm.

The horse drawn carriage is a rough, rough ride. We were bounced down the path. Luckily, Abdullah stopped occasionally to explain the features along the way giving us a bit of a break. The path in is all downhill. We felt sorry for the poor horse who slipped occasionally on the rocks.

We had a marvelous time. The tour was informative and enjoyable. We had a few hours on our own, mostly spent in the Roman part of town. We started to climb to the Monastery, but I was not up to it. We came upon a trinket stall along the way and the Bedouin woman invited us to stop and rest on her bench. I took her up on the offer. She also offered us tea. We accepted not realizing that she would have to start a fire and make the tea for us. A couple of tourist police on their way up and a German couple on their way down joined us. It was quite pleasant. We bought a necklace from our host. She was very gracious.

Then we headed back to our rendezvous point for our carriage ride back to town. It was a bumpy ride back and a bit worse because there were no stops to alleviate the experience.

You can see all of the 390 pictures here.

Day two, we go in slow on foot.

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Dinner Adventure

April 6, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

It began with a walk in the neighborhood of our hotel looking for a restaurant. We soon discovered there was little to choose from. DaddyBird flagged down a taxi and asked if he could take us to Al Quds Restaurant (purported to be the best place to get Mansaf – the national dish). The taxi driver wasn’t sure, but it was agreed that he would take us downtown. This led to a fairly long drive. The meter said 27 at the beginning of our ride. We are used to cheap taxi rides where petrol is cheap, so I began to worry as I saw the meter going up and up. I only had 140 dinars because we haven’t changed all of our cash, yet. When the meter hit 130 I was envisioning us being stranded downtown with no money to get back to the hotel. We arrived downtown and found the Al Quds Restaurant very easily. The restaurant appears to have two names – Al Quds and Jerusalem Restaurant.

The meter showed 190 which turned out to be 1.90 much to my relief. So our ride only cost 2 dinar ($2.68).

downtown Amman at night

This was the restaurant we were hoping to find. No fancy ambiance.

man in a wood panelled restaurant

English menu:

menu

We ordered mansaf, motabal, mango juice, and lemon juice. This meal cost 13.30 dinar ($9.30).

dishes of rice, meat, bread, moutabel, mango juice, lemon juice

Here is a close up of the mansaf. It was quite tasty.

rice, meat, almonds

After walking around a little bit in the downtown area where most of the businesses were closed for the evening, we flagged down a taxi. We are staying in a small, little known hotel, so the driver didn’t know where it was. DaddyBird only had a general idea where it was. So, the driver called someone to ask for directions. Those directions led to a completely different hotel. We drove around the general area for a bit. The driver stopped at a grocery store to ask the locals if they knew where it was. They did not. We knew we were close because we were seeing familiar things. I had taken the photo below soon after leaving the hotel, so I showed it to the driver. It did not help him. We stopped again on a backstreet and the driver asked some locals about the hotel and then about the street in the photo. It turns out that the street is known by another name. They told him where the street was. As soon as we reached it, we recognized where we were and found the hotel. This time the taxi ride cost 3.33 dinar ($4.70).

street sign

It was a pleasant evening with good food and a bit of drama for excitement.

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Singapore: Day 10

July 3, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

tourist site seeing bus

We opted for an uncharacteristically touristy activity – riding the site seeing bus. Let’s face it, we’re getting old and walking everywhere in humid heat is a bit exhausting. This way, we got to sit in air conditioning, see the sights, and learn some details from the canned tour commentary that we wouldn’t have known otherwise.

colorfully painted two story buildings

We started on the Heritage route which took us through Little India, Chinatown, and other older parts of the city.

colorfully painted high rise apartment buildings

There is a lot of high density housing here. At least they try to make it attractive.

food stalls selling various foods

We hopped off at Suntec City Mall for lunch.

a large omelette and plate of rice, duck and pork

DaddyBird had the “white carrot cake” which is a big, spicy omelette with white radish and shrimp in it. I had char siew and roast duck.

cup of bright green juice

In the absence of lime juice, I tried the delicious celery juice.

bright yellow boat

Our ticket also included rides on water taxis, so we took another ride on the river on one of these.

three story shopping mall

We got off at the Marina Bay Sands complex. The complex includes hotel, shopping mall, conference center, casino, and probably more.

indoor canal with gondola boats

There is even a canal with boat rides.

lily pond water feature in front of the museum building

We were headed to the Art and Science Museum for the Harry Potter Exhibition. No photography was allowed, so you will have to imagine what we saw. I stood three feet from Snape’s costume, unfortunately Alan Rickman was not in it. It was a well designed exhibit, although it was aimed at a younger demographic than DaddyBird and I. The Sorting Hat sorted us – I am Ravenclaw and DaddyBird is Griffyndor.

potato skins appetizer with cheese, bacon bits, and dip

By the time we finished the sun was down and we were exhausted from a long day of tourism, so it was off to Brewerkz again for dinner. Above is potato skins appetizer with cheese, bacon bits and dip.

burger and onion rings

DaddyBird opted for the Cowboy Burger – bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce. I had the Bangers and Mash. I am certain that the sausages were good, but they were overshadowed by the cheesy mash potatoes and sauerkraut. I very nearly asked for additional sauerkraut. Yummy!

mash potatoes, two sausages, sauerkraut

Below is the sign that is posted in the area where the brewery vats are visible. We found it amusing.

warning sign showing one figure aiming a gun at another figure running away

I think they mean business.

Posted in food, malls, signs, Singapore, travel adventures | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Dubai Tourist for a Day

March 26, 2012

Posted by Kanga.

I’m on two weeks vacation now, but we are staying local. We needed to go into Dubai to do some bank business at our original brach, which only took a few minutes, so we had the rest of the day to be tourists.

inner court of a fort, fishing boat

So, we went to the Dubai Museum, which is in Bur Dubai, the oldest part of town. It is housed in Al Fahidi Fort. Admission is 3 AED ($0.81).

taxodermied camel & manikin

The museum also has an underground section. It is very well designed, providing a recreation of a market and city streets. There are also pearl diving, boat building and fishing displays. The problem is that the museum was set up in one shot and is not being updated or developed. (At the very least, they should dust the stuffed animals.)

figure showing how pearl divers collected oysters

We headed over to the Dubai Creek where we met this lovely stray cat. She enjoyed some getting some attention.

calico/tabby stray cat

We took an abra across the Creek to the Deira side. The price is still 1 AED each ($0.27) There was a parade of tourist buses unloading travelers transferring to the abras.

dock for small taxi boats

Then we took a walk down the creekside where boats load cargo. We did this same walk about three and a half years ago. There was significantly less cargo, but that may or may not be a sign of anything.

freight boats along the dockside and cargo to be loaded

We road back across the Creek on another abra.

abra dock

We ate dinner at Bayt Al Wakeel restaurant which has a wooden deck that hangs out over the Creek. It is a nice view, but I cannot recommend the restaurant. The service was not particularly good. The bread was not freshly baked. The meat (both chicken and lamb) was tough. And, worst of all, they chased away the stray cat.

view of the creek after dark

All in all, it was a pleasant day.

To see all pictures from the day – click here.

Posted in cats, Dubai, Dubai Creek, museum | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

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I’m Not a Tourist Here

June 4, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

So, we have completed a marathon travel experience to reach North Carolina for our daughter’s one and only high school graduation.

It began like this…

[Dubai] At about 11 pm we dragged our suitcases out to the curb to begin the process of flagging down a taxi. DaddyBird remembers suddenly that he forgot the money that others have given him to buy a few things (iTunes cards and barbecue sauce), so he runs back to the apartment and I am left standing on the curb with three large suitcases and two smaller bags looking for a taxi.

A taxi pulls over almost immediately. The driver gets out and comes over to me. He begins telling me that it is a busy night. It is difficult to get into and out of the airport. I have a lot of bags. And then a sentence that I think was supposed to be along the lines of what was I willing to pay for this service, but ended with something along the lines of  “how much give to you?” I needed to stall anyway, until DaddyBird had time to return. So, I made this guy repeat his request several times, saying that I didn’t understand what he was asking, which technically is the truth since his grammar was all backwards. He gave up just as DaddyBird appeared around the corner, got in his taxi and went away.

We got in another taxi soon thereafter. There was no discussion. The driver helped get the bags into the car quickly and away we went. He got us to the airport quickly. We paid the fare and tipped him well. That is how it should be.

The first driver must have seen a white woman standing near a hotel with a ridiculous amount of luggage and thought “here’s a tourist I can scam.” Sorry buddy, I’m not a tourist here anymore. I know I don’t have to haggle for a taxi ride.

As for the rest of the trip, our first flight via British Airways to Heathrow Airport was a little taste of hell. There were no vents above the seats to blow cool air and it was horribly hot the entire flight. We desperately needed to sleep, but could not. Second leg of the flight from London to Raleigh/Durham North Carolina was better temperature-wise, but sleeping was not easy or very satisfactory due to the discomfort of economy class seats. This flight was operated by American Airlines and I will say that the food was good.

We changed our currency and ended up with quite a wad of bills because about half of what she gave us was in $5 bills. Thankfully, she didn’t resort to giving it to us in ones.

Anyway, we landed safely, although exhausted and a bit smelly. We checked into the hotel and went immediately to sleep.  It’s about 3 am local time now, so I should try to get a little more sleep and try to adjust to the new time zone. Jet lag is a cruel mistress.

Posted in Dubai, taxis, travel adventures, USA | Tagged , , | 5 Comments »

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