So, I spent a lot of money to get a Kanilea Tenor Ukulele. It’s made of koa. I’ve been talking about it with the maker for some time now and it’s finally here. All the way from Hawaii.
Kanilea K1-T Premium
Our last day in Sulawesi found me starting it off with another pisang goreng and then heading off toward Bitung.
Here is the map of our route.
Jengji Market - those piles of shredded vegetables are bamboo shoot (white)
In the early part of the day, we headed to the Jengji Market and finally found the Manado coffee beans that I’ve been searching for.
There is one thing worth mentioning here in Manado, and it’s the goreng pisang, or as the locals say it, pisang goreng.
I like the way they cut the banana and fan it out. The ratio of crust to banana is that much better. I can imagine a very ripened and sweet banana cooked this way. Crust and sweet. Heaven.
Pisang Goreng and noodle-filled Tauhu.
Today gave us clear bright blue skies, heat and humidity.
Yesterday, when we visited the Hill of Prayer, when it rained, the mist rose up the mountains and it got so cold, it felt like we were in some other country in winter.
We basically covered the same area. Today, I have a more accurate map.
Not your ordinary Coke Lite.
We went further than yesterday and visited Lake Linow, the traditional houses of Minahasa, looked into some Japanese caves, snacked on local pau at Kawang Koan, visited the Hill of Mercy which is set up to represent all 5 religious groups, etc etc.
Yes, I’ve not even finished updating my travel logs on the USA and I’m now here in Manado, a city in the northern finger of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
12th & 13th August.
We left Albuquerque and headed back to Colorado. The high road into Taos was lush and green, the road out back turned dry and harsh.
There was little in between. No towns, no gas stations. Just a long straight road through red dirt. Well, there was a small casino along the way. Sticking out in the middle of nowhere. What dusty traveller would wander in there?
11th August.
Boy, it’s tiring playing catch up with blog posts. Especially on a trip so long.
Santa Fe is like Taos on steroids. If Taos grew up, it would want to be Santa Fe. It’s bigger, more touristy with proportionately more art galleries. Up the number of tourists and cars, and you have one rather overcrowded Taos. That, to me is Santa Fe.
Continue reading ‘New Mexico: Taos to Santa Fe to Albuquerque’
Back to current day for a bit.
I called Starhub. Because lately I’ve been getting a lot of these bill overdue notices, when I’ve sent in all the reply stubs with required credit card information.
Being a hubber, as they like to refer to customers who use their TV, mobile and fixed line services, I wanted to start on a clean slate.
I called their customer service line and told them I wanted to pay for everything.
But I could not.
10th August.
Our journey to Taos was extended for over an hour as we were diverted from the main highway from what appeared to be a bad car crash.
9th August.
Garden of the Gods was pretty neat. These massive and yet marvelously thin rock that jut out in the middle of nowhere, pushed up by tectonic action and then weathered down.
Here’s a panorama shot from the visitor centre.
Continue reading ‘Colorado Springs: Garden of the Gods, Pike’s Peak and Manitou Springs’