2016 Christmas Holidays in Central America (3): Granada, Nicaragua (by Derek)

Exterior of a cathedral in Granada. The cathedral contained an image of the Virgin Mary that was thrown into Lake Nicaragua to save it from pirates. Lake Nicaragua empties into the Caribbean, meaning that the image was practically lost, it was believed. It later showed up along the shores, meaning that the image returned, as if by some miracle.

Horse drawn carriage. The background is interesting, as all of the colors were painted by the individual inhabitants of the houses, due to a lack of regulation. This causes a massive color clash. It’s quite eye catching.

Various fruits. Note the size of the single papaya in relation to the other fruits.

Market in Granada. The market sold spices, fish, fruit, meat, etc. It was very packed and maze like, to the point of being almost dangerous. Our tour guide advised against entering the place alone.

The building in the foreground houses members of the clergy, especially visiting ones.

A showcase of the styles of colonial doors in Nicaragua. The museum that these doors were in also displayed other Nicaraguan traditions, such as holiday celebrations, and how Baby Jesus brings gifts to good children on Christmas, rather than Santa, as in the United States.

Statue of a man with an animal on his back, symbolizing his animal spirit. Several guapote, which are later to be fried and served. Prior to this, every bone was removed. Photo taken in a restaurant called “Las Colinas.” The guapote are from Lake Nicaragua.

After it was fried, the guapote was found to be very delicious. It had a very crunchy exterior, and a soft interior, and I savored every bite. My mother, on the other hand, said she preferred fish from Long John Silver’s.

Entrance to a tour of the islands in Lake Nicaragua. There are 365 islands in the freshwater lake. They were formed by the eruption of the volcano Mombacho hundreds of years ago. Many of them are privately owned by foreign citizens, usually wealthy, including Costa Rica’s former president. Some are owned by ordinary citizens, usually affiliated with the fishing business.

One of the islands in Lake Nicaragua.

The church mentioned earlier, from the roof of the Merced Church.

From the roof of Merced Church.

Some houses, with Mombacho in the background, covered by clouds.

 

2016 Christmas Holidays in Central America (2): Volcano Boarding in Cerro Negro, Nicaragua (by Derek)

People sliding down the slope of Cerro Negro.

Us, after sliding down the slope of Cerro Negro.

Us, walking toward Cerro Negro so we can slide down its slope.

Climbing up the side of Cerro Negro to get to the slope that we can slide down.

Me, not being ready to slide down Cerro Negro’s slope.

The slope leading to the crater to Cerro Negro, which you should not slide into.

Another photo of the slope that should not be slid down.

Me feeling a sample of dirt near the crater. It was hot, demonstrating that I should not slide down the slope of Cerro Negro that leads to the crater.

One last photo before we prepare to slide down Cerro Negro’s slope.

Preparing to slide down the slope of Cerro Negro.

Me, sliding down Cerro Negro’s slope.

The bottom of Cerro Negro’s slope, which I have finished sliding down.

2016 Christmas Holidays in Central America (4): Masaya, Nicaragua (by Derek)

Cooled down rock from many years ago.

Drawing depicting three volcanoes, none of which are the one we visited.

Smoke and fumes, coming out of the crater of Masaya. Probably not very safe to breathe.

Hot lava, from inside the crater of Masaya. Probably not safe to breathe.

A road leading out of Masaya.

Masaya Artisan Market. Various trinkets were sold here.

The drink was composed of cacao powder and corn, as well as water, I believe.

Baho. The thing at the very front is a slice of banana.

Spot the differences.

I am the person in the blue canoe. I hit two rocks upon my first time canoeing here.

Laguna de Apoyo.

Mombacho, as seen from far away.

A boy demonstrating his ability to create a clay pot.

2016 Christmas Holidays in Central America (5): Tikal Mayan Ruins (by Derek)

Mayan arch, also known as a Corbel arch. They cannot be very wide, lest they suffer structural failure.

Shrine, where rituals would be held, such as cutting oneself and bleeding on the circular section. It was a community shrine, so everyone used it.

Unexcavated pyramid, covered in vegetation.

A residential area, with an outdoor area for large gatherings.

Photo from the above mentioned area.

A temple is in the background.

The whole center of Tikal.

Two tall temples in the background, taken from the tallest temple in Tikal.

An area that has no temples, just jungle. Tikal is recognized as both a natural and cultural heritage site.

Howler monkey. They have a prehensile tail and no thumbs.

Cows.

2016 Christmas Holidays in Central America (7): Doka Coffee Estate, Costa Rica (by Derek)

Coffee plant, with berries. Approximately one in twenty berries is has only one large seed, as opposed to two smaller seeds. These are known as peaberries. They are usually sweeter.

Demonstration on how coffee cherries are sorted based on quality. A large tank is filled with water. High quality berries are denser and sink. Lower quality ones float.

Fermenting the beans.

Unroasted “golden”beans in bags.

Demonstration of beans being raked and sun dried. This only happens to high quality beans. Lower quality beans are machine dried.

The types of beans and roasts are shown.

Where one can buy coffee, as much as they want to pay.

I did not like the coffee.

Flowers.

Closeup of the coffee plant, showing some unripened fruits. The berries must be picked by hand, due to the presence of these.

Green butterfly.

Flower with blue butterfly.

2016 Christmas Holidays in Central America (6): San Salvador, El Salvador (by Derek)

Iglesia Rosario, San Salvador

Composed mostly of concrete and recycled materials.

Fireworks in the Downtown area of San Salvador

Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Exterior of the San Salvador Cathedral. There were other designs on it, but they have been removed by workers by order of the Archbishop of San Salvador. This was done without consulting the artist or the national government.

San Salvador Cathedral, interior.

The paintings depict Oscar Romero, who preached against poverty, social injustice, and torture, among many other human rights violations. Upon his death, he was proclaimed a martyr and later beatified.

Romero’s tomb. The four women represent the four books of the Gospel. The staff represents his priestly status.The roses represent his devotion to the Virgin Mary. The bushel represents his commitment to the poor. The dot at the center represents the location where he was shot, the center of the chest.

A mural located within the airport depicting the various actions taken by Romero during his life.

San Salvador cityscape, take from a cafe in the mountains.

Man making pupusas for a restaurant. In this restaurant, we consumed the dish with filling such as loroco, pork and beans, chicken, as well as drinks made of corn, milk, and other ingredients.

2015/12 Travelogue Southeast Asia by Derek

Pura Taman Saraswati, Ubud, Bali

Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Bali

Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali

I did not have any food on my person. This monkey probably thought I did, as it promptly rushed towards and jumped on top of me, proceeding to rifle through my pockets. I ended up having to wash myself for a very long time to remove the smell.

Offerings to the gods at temple

Offerings are a morning ritual for the population of Bali, hoping for luck and fortune.

Bathing at Temple Tirta Empul, Bali

Tirta Empul is connected to a spring of holy water, which the nearby Hindu population uses for ritual purification. The water is dispensed through a series of spouts. Each spout is meant to purify one of a particular sin or ailment. There is a specific set of movements one goes through, washing the hand, then hair, then head of the person. As our guide explained, some of the fountains are not meant for living practitioners of the faith, as shown by him pointing at a tourist and telling us about how they were going to have nightmares because they washed themselves in the wrong spout.

Cat-poo-cino

Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, or, as our tour guide referred to it as, “Cat-poo-cino” is a type of coffee where the beans are fed to civets, picked out of their feces, then cleaned and roasted. In the particular plantation we visited, the coffee was composed out of Arabica beans, and was dark roasted in a large pan. Civet coffee is one of the most expensive types of coffee in the world. The sample given to us during our tour is shown in the above picture. The cup was half full of crushed beans. It did not taste any different than normal coffee, for me. As it turn out, the majority of people have a very negative opinion of civet coffee, claiming that it tastes quite bad. In the plantation, we also learned about the concept of “male” and “female” coffee. “Male” coffee means that the fruit containing the bean only contains one bean, as opposed to “female” coffee, which contains two.

Temple Tirta Empul, Bali

One of the dry sections of the temple.

Mt Batur Bali

This is where we learned that our tour guide never eats lunch. Never. Aside from that, we got a great view of an active volcano.

Penglipuran Village, Bali

The village was very fascinating,

Buddha Tooth Temple, Singapore

Location of one of the teeth the Buddha, and home of 100 statues of him.

Orchard Road, Singapore

Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

A photo of the “Cloud Mountain,” one of the many attractions in the Gardens by the Bay, the main tourist destination in Singapore, aside from the Hawker Centers. The Cloud Forest is heavily climate controlled, in order to replicate the mostly conditions in actual cloud forests. It, along with the Flower Dome, is intended to be a showcase of sustainable building technologies.

Marina Bay, Singapore

Boats in the water, boats on the roof.

Hawker Center, Singapore

The Hawker Centers were designed with cleanliness in mind, being an alternative to the unclean roadside street food carts that one can see in most other cities. This is not surprising, considering the fact that Singapore, in pursuit of cleanliness, banned the importation of chewing gum, and levied $700 fines for those who spit it onto the streets.

Independence Square, Kuala Lumpur

The square was once used as a cricket field until 1987, 30 years after the Malaysian Flag was raised there for the first time, and the Union Flag lowered. We also visited the National Mosque of Malaysia, where we had to wear purple robes while we wandered about looking at the architecture and the floor tiling. and the Islamic Museum, where we saw fine examples of Muslim art, such as a very large tapestry. We also saw scale replicas of other mosques around the world, such as the Great Mosque of Mecca, which contains the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam.

Batu Cave, Kuala Lumpur

See that statue? That’s the tallest statue in Malaysia, and the second tallest statue depicting a Hindu deity on Earth. The caves themselves have a large population of monkeys, who tend to gorge themselves on any dropped scraps of food nearby.

2015/11-12 Travelogue London and Sydney by Derek

Roman bath in Bath, yes, that’s the reason why the city is called Bath

We spent a long time in Bath, doing things other than seeing ancient Roman structures. My father and mother tried a small amount of mulled cider. I did not, due to its alcoholic content.

Royal Crescent, Bath, England

Stonehenge, England. Notice how the foreground is similar to the above picture- green grass, cloudy sky.

.

British national dish: Tiki Masala. It is one of the most popular dishes in the UK, leading to its classification as the national dish.

Beefeater at Tower of London. Beefeaters were intially supposed to safeguard the prisoners and Crown Jewels in the Tower, but there are no prisoners in the Tower and the Crown Jewels are for the public to view, so they are, in practice, tour guides. However, all Beefeaters are former members of the Armed Forces in the Commonwealth realms. The Beefeater that gave us a tour of the Tower was a very energetic and commanding man, and a magnificent guide.

Fish and chips. This probably had a better chance at being nominated the national dish than chicken tikka masala.

From the gallery of St Paul’s Cathedral

The cathederal was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, who designed other churches in Britain. Many festivals and funerals have been held there, such as the funeral of Winston Churchill and that of Margaret Thatcher, as well as the jubilees of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.

Rosetta Stone at British Museum. The item was crucial to the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Similar stone tablets include the Behistun Inscription(vital for the deciphering of cuneiform, and the Maya codices(used to translate the Maya language).

 Tower Bridge, London

That bridge had a lot of peanut vendors. At least two.

Bondi Beach, Sydney

I think this is as good a time as any to note the searing temperatures in Australia. That being said, there was plenty of air conditioning in the buildings.

Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge

When I looked at it for the first time, I immediately thought that that its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site was well deserved

The green drink is made of kale

The yellow drink is made of mango

The red drink is made of beets

I liked the mango drink, but the beet drink tasted like dirt, and the kale drink tasted like lawn clippings.

A photo taken inside a Ferris wheel inside Darling Harbor.

Aside from this, I legitimately spent two minutes inside a maze for small children because I had nothing better to do.

Actually, I could have watched Star Wars, Episode VII, but I somehow decided that spending money to wander a simple maze was a thousand times better.

2015/8 Travelogue Moscow and Saint Petersberg by Derek

  The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, Saint Petersburg 08/15

The church was built on the site of Emperor Alexander II’s fatal wound. It was intially going to be a memorial for his
 The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg 08/15

 Lenin Plaza, Saint Petersburg 08/15

I had a relatively unpleasant time in outdoor areas, due to my repeated refusal to wear a coat or jacket while in Russia.

 Mariinsky Theater, Saint Petersburg 08/15

We watched the Nutcracker, made by a famous Russian musician.

 Red Square, Moscow 08/15

 Peterhof, Saint Petersburg 08/15

  Gorky Park, Moscow 08/15

The park is named after Maxim Gorky, a Russian writer who was exiled from Russia and the Soviet Union for much of his life. He was invited back into Russia by Joseph Stalin.

 Kremlin from Moscow River 08/15

2012 Summer Eastern/Northern Europe Trip Captioned by Derek (2)

Tallinn, Estonia

RAISE YOUR HAND!Warm scarf hat, very itchySEE ME STOW AWAY!

Helsinki, Finland

NAKED FIGHTERS!WHITE CHURCHIE!THE AWKWARD MISFIT IS THE STATUE BECAUSE HE ISN’T A PERSON!RAUTATIEASEMA JARNVAGSSTATION? WHATS THAT?!This has PIPED up my curiosity!ANTIQUES ON THE TABLE!FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!

Stockholm, Sweden

2 GLASSED PEOPLE!IT LOOKS LIKE A TON OF STICKS OF PENCIL LEAD!BUTTER ROOM! OR IS IT A CHEESE ROOM!?12? WHAT 12?Do you like cheese??THIS IS EMBARRASSING TO THE ONE ON THE LEFT!JUMPING OFF THE WATER!NARROW ROAD! HOPE I DON’T GET SQASHED!!NOBEL FLOOR!FRUITY!LOTS OF BLUE!SEA HERE, SEA THERE!HI MR HEADLESS!ANOTHER GLASSED DUO!METAL THINGAMAJIGOK, THAT’S JUST WEIRD!WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NOT LISTENING TO THOSE HEADPHONES!?