2/28/2007 ~ Bintan, Indonesia

On the Rio: String Cheese Incident ~ Ramble On, 11/17/2000, Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA

Congratulations! You are reading my 100th blog posting.

I spent most of my Chinese New Year holiday in Bintan, Indonesia.

Bintan is the largest of 3,200 islands in the Riau archipelago region of Indonesia. It is located about 45 km SE of Singapore, and is accessible by a 45 minute ferry ride, and is approximately 100 km from the equator.

Here are the top 10 things to do while at the Bintan Resort.

1. Walk on the beach.

2. Lay on the beach and take pictures.

3. Watch the elephant riders pass by. The elephant was fun to watch, as he kept having to move the cloth out of his eyes with his trunk. 4. Watch the birds land on the rocks. 5. Watch the tide go out, and then walk along the sea floor to see strange creatures.6. Lounge in the pool.

7. Swim over to the pool bar.

8. Take a shuttle bus to the Calypso Bar, where they make a very tasty Reggaefusion drink (don't ask me what was in it).

9. Watch the sunset.

10. Repeat for the next 4 days.

2/16/2007 ~ Happy Chinese New Year!

On the Rio: The Dead ~ Fire on the Mountain, Oakland, 12.31.2003

The Government and all the businesses close throughout China from 2/18 -2/21 to celebrate the New Lunar Calendar/Spring Festival. Mostly people return to their homes to stay with relatives. Decorations abound throughout the city, so I will post several of these, often with a traditional theme, or welcoming the year of the pig. Fireworks are a big thing, and people usually wait until New Year's Eve (Saturday) to light them off, but some of my neighbors have started early. I will be on vacation and will not post again before 2/25. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Traditional decorations at a market stall.

Themes in Yu Gardens.

Lanterns above the crowds.

Fireworks outside my window.

Happy New Year! 新年好
gōng hè xīn xǐ

2/15/2007 ~ Elephant Ride

On the Rio: English Beat ~ I Confess

After the waterfall, we went for a short hike in the national park "jungle".

Our guide peeled off stick of bark from the cinnamon tree for us to smell.

I got to swing on the tree vines.

When we re-emerged from the jungle, several monkeys hanging out at the trail entrance. There are also elephant and cobra crossing signs through the park, but we didn't see any. We did see a pair of deer across the lake, however.Lunch consisted of Tom Yum soup, egg rolls, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and peppers, rice, and cashew chicken.

And then it was time for the elephant ride!

We went through the jungle and then into a river.

Digby & Robin were behind us, and their elephant kept spraying us with water!

I chose not to be the "driver", but enjoyed the ride tremendously.

She was a very gentle, 55 year old elephant.

Before leaving the park, I had to have my foot inspected and groomed by one of the "residents". It tickled.

2/14/2007 ~ Kao Yai National Park

On the Rio: Deep Forest ~ Deep Weather

After the local market, the destination was Kao Yai National Park. And how did we get there? By ox cart. I hadn't been expecting this, and it was so fun to ride through the (now dry) rice fields and see new vegetation.

Here is our driver preparing the cart.

And here is my "group" ready to go. In the front our Digby and Robin from New Zealand and the guy in the back is Joe, a narcotics officer from Arizona currently on duty in Afghanistan training the police force.

Along the way were water buffalo...

And mango trees...and unidentified fruit trees...

and even a cashew tree.

The vegetation got more dense as we rode along.

Finally we reached our destination: Kao Yai National Park.

We walked a way to get to the Haew Suwat Waterfall, one of three waterfalls in the park.

There were lots of school children there on a field trip, swinging on the rope into the pool of water. Here is the source of the waterfall.

2/11/2007 ~ Local Thai Market

On the Rio: Susan Tedeschi ~ Just Won't Burn

Warning: Some of the following pictures might actually gross you out.

I saw so many things I had never seen before at the local market we stopped at on the way to a national park.

First, the fruit section.

Can anyone tell me the English names of these?

The red ones in the corner are not red peppers, which I first thought, but are sort of an apple/pear.

These were also at the floating market, and the guide bought us some to taste.

You eat them by ripping the top off with your fingernail and then eating the white flesh inside, but not the pit. They are delicious! We bought a whole bag for our lunch dessert. This is the inside after I opened it.

Then came the vegetable section.

The peppers and chiles are very hot.

The small round green, purple and white items are mini eggplants - as you can see are even smaller than the Japanese ones in the center. These are often used in the curry dishes.

I didn't take a picture of the pumpkins, since I believe most of you know what they look like, but thought you might be interested in knowing in Thai the word for pumpkin is "fakyu". Our guide had a blast telling us that several times.

Then came eggs. I had never seen a pink egg before. Our guide called them "dung" eggs because they are supposedly black inside. Mmmm...I didn't buy one to have a look. And what kind of "chicken" do you suppose lays these eggs?

This was followed by the flower stalls. Most of the flowers are bought to give as offerings at the buddhist temples.
Then the fun began. I advise anyone with a weak stomach to stop reading now.

Next was the fish market. Most of the fish are extremely fresh and the live ones will often jump out onto the sidewalk.

You can buy various types of fresh shrimp, or even squid.

Frogs (and not just the legs) are quite a delicacy.

If you are not into fresh fish, you can buy various kinds cooked and dried, ready on a stick.

Can you guess what's in the next picture? Sure, bean sprouts in lower left. How about behind it? That's coagulated animal blood. And the items next to them that look like cheese are actually bean curd.Still hungry? How about some beetles.

Or perhaps some rice rats. They must go great with bananas.