serene’s posterous

Photo taken by Eu-Jin.  I was descending towards Kalalau beach.

We went to Kauai back in May this year, specifically to do this hike along Na Pali Coast to Kalalau beach (which can only be accessed by land using this trail).  The trail is 22 miles round trip, with an elevation change of 4,500 feet, because we had to traverse through several valleys.  I am not a big fan of camping, and would much rather do a long dayhike with a small pack than lug along full backpacking gear to camp overnight.  We were fortunate that the trail conditions were good, so we didn't have much trouble other than dealing with the heat and humidity (and the problem of my drained headlamp batteries).  The views along the second half of the hike were spectacular.  There were also lots of native flora and fauna to admire.  I almost wished we had a little bit more time enjoy the beach and the waterfall at the end of the beach, but we could only hang out for less than a hour before we had to head back.

Reading this article from the New York Times made me think about the various random stuff I have bought on our travels.  Eu-Jin frequently complains about my shopping habits.  I usually can't resist getting more tchotchkes hawked by the vendors in the various places we have visited.  It is fortunate that we try to travel light, and therefore everything usually must fit into our carry-on baggage.  I am also quite cheap, so at least I don't waste all that much money. 

I think the one souvenir item that I have used the most over the years is my favorite baby alpaca woolley hat from our first trip to Peru in 2004.  It cost about 3 bucks from a store right by the main square in Cuzco, and it has kept me warm over many vacations and camping trips.  The photo (taken by Eu-Jin) from several years ago shows me wearing that hat at the summit register of Mount Whitney.

We have a "travel shelf" too, filled with figurines (eg. llamas made from salt, wood, stone, and wool) and other random stuff (windchime, glass snail etc.) that were bought or picked up over the years or were given to us from our friends' travels.  And we have a small box filled with various sling bags (I can't seem to resist getting more bags), scarves, coin purses (a particular favorite of Eu-Jin's), woolley hats.  We have also bought food items, such as biscuits (lots of interesting varieties in the grocery stores), teas (anis tea!) and candy, but those have long since been consumed.

Photo taken by Eu-Jin

Saw this article in WSJ today.  When Eu-Jin and I were in Turkey in January this year, we spent many hours in the archaeological museum in Istanbul.  A lot of the time was spent peering at the Alexander Sarcophagus, walking around it and observing details that weren't apparent on the first look.  It was probably one of the most beautiful classical antiquity I have ever seen.

While the burial chamber depicts Alexander the Great, the sarcophagus was probably carved for Abdalonymos, one of Sidon's kings.
 

Loved the movie.  I don't think I can add much to what other people have said about the movie.  Danny Boyd did a great job directing.  You simply get immersed in the sights and sounds of India.  Frieda Pinto was luminous.  The child actors were amazing.  And the trains!

I went to India over 15 years ago on a school trip.  And even back then, when I was a silly teenager, I was equally amazed by the magnificence of the monuments and horrified by the slums, and the constant badgering by the touts, beggars and children.  I certainly remember the photographers at Taj Mahal offering to take a photo of you touching the tip of the monument.

I would imagine that India would have changed a lot over the years - more high-rises and perhaps a bigger middle class, but the poverty is still there.  Maybe Eu-Jin and I will travel there someday.

At Aphrodisias, Turkey.

The first photo was taken in the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), while the other 2 are taken in Rüstem Pasha Mosque (Rüstem Pasa Camii) in Istanbul.  I love how the chandeliers come down from the high domes, gently lighting the enormous space while light also comes in through the windows in the dome.

     

Interesting documentary about the Huber brothers, Thomas and Alexander, and their attempts to break the speed climbing record of El Capitan in Yosemite.  There's some emo stuff about their sibling rivalry - Thomas's envy of the media interest on the arguably more good-looking and better climber, Alexander.  It also shows a little of their expedition to Patagonia to climb the Torre Traverse (I think?).  Dean Porter and Chongo were also interviewed, but weirdly, they weren't identified in the movie other than during the credits.  I wished also that they gave more background on the Huber brothers - what do they do outside of climbing?

I don't really know that much about climbing, but I have to admit I was most excited about seeing Patagonia.  The short bits in the movie of the little town of El Chaltén brought back good memories from our hiking vacation there several years ago.

I wasn't the only person taking a photo of Eu-Jin lying on the ground in his attempts to get a better photo of the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey.

It was probably not a wise decision to eat a baked potato (Kumpir) and drink pomegranate juice when I was feeling ill from possible food poisoning.  But I was greedy, and didn't want to pass up the chance to eat Kumpir, which is a Turkish fast food, on the last night we were in Turkey.  This was somewhere in Sultanahmet, in a cafe selling Kumpir, lots of baked goods, and juices.

Eu-Jin thought the potato looks nasty, probably because I picked the red cabbage to be stuffed into the potato.  The preparation is fast, the guy gets a potato fresh from the oven, and mashes it up with butter and what looks like cheese.  I got to pick what to stuff the potato with, and the sauces.  Other than the red cabbage, I think I picked olives, corn, peas, carrots and some kind of red sauce and chili.  It was very tasty, but I really should have stuck to plain bread on the account of my bad stomach.

I usually prefer drinking tea over coffee.  I liked the tea served in pretty little tulip shaped cups in Turkey so I drank a lot of tea.  It was just great to have something warm after walking around in the cold, and it was relatively healthy because I don't usually add sugar to my tea.  Although I don't know if I would be able to taste the difference, turkish tea or çay is prepared in a special way.  The tea is prepared using 2 stacked kettles, the bottom kettle steaming the loose tea leaves in hot water in the top kettle.  You end up with very strong tea, that can be diluted by adding appropriate amounts of water.  According to my Turkish friend, tea prepared this way doesn't have the bitterness of directly boiling the tea.  We even saw electric versions these kettles!  And the tea was cheap.  We paid half a Turkish lira for a glass on the Bosphorus ferry.

Turkish coffee (Türk kahvesi) is just way too strong for me.  The second photo was taken when we took a short break in a coffeeshop in the middle of the Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) in Istanbul.  You get a tiny cup of coffee, with grounds at the bottom of the cup, so you have to carefully sip the top, making sure you don't drink the grounds too.  This was our only experience trying Turkish coffee, because after that we chose to drink tea every time.