Travels with George and Marta – Page 51 – Journeys in the Botanical World

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

Posted on May 6, 2009 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

This is the twelfth in a series of more in-depth posts on our trip to Borneo.
February 23

Orang utan – it is Malaysian for person of the forest (orang – person; utan – derived from hutan meaning forest). It was very exciting to see an orangutan in the wild at Danum Valley but we really didn’t get a chance to see him for very long. I had debated about going to one of the rehab centers. I think the rehab centers provide a great service but I had also heard that it can be somewhat of a performance or zoo. But after reading more about the Semenggoh Wildlife Center outside of Kuching, we thought it might not be too bad. And it was not.

The Semenggoh Wildlife Center is located in the Semenggoh Nature Preserve which is about 25km from Kuching. It was originally founded as a place to care for wild animals which had been found injured or orphaned in the wild. It started in 1975 and has been a great success. Today, it is more of a place to study orangutans.

The center has two feedings daily; 9-10am and 3-3:30pm. The orangutans freely room the preserve and may come to the feeding stations if it is not wild durian season. Durians were not in season in February so there was a good chance that we would see them.

We found it the information on how to get to the center very confusing. We asked at the Kuching Visitor’s Center. They said that there was a special bus that left daily at 7:30am along the Main Bazaar. Other information we had said to take on of bus #6 and walk about 1km to the feeding area. The visitor’s center said the bus would not make it on time but we later found out that the schedule on the map was incorrect. We did talk with some other tourists who went via bus and were able to get there on time.

We looked at the visitor information on the board at the hotel and it said they could arrange a trip for us. It was only 25RM and would take us from the hotel to center and back. The bus would be much cheaper but we would have to walk. So we decided to have the hotel arrange it.

A white minivan picked us up at 8am. It made a stop at another hotel – Lodge 121 to pick up another couple. We got to the center just before 9am. There are two feeding areas; one is a platform about 1/4 mile into the forest. The other is at the center. At the center there are several ropes strong up between the trees. We first went to the main center and we saw a mother with a small baby and an adolescent. It was very weird to see the orangutan come down to the main area and walk among the tourist. They seemed to love the bananas. They took a few and left.

Next we went over to the other platform. Not much was happening. One Orangutan came down but quickly left. We were all sitting patiently but nothing. We decided to leave and went back to the main area. The mother had returned and we had more chances to see her close up. It was pretty amazing.

Overall, it was a good experience. It was crowded but not too crazy. I’d recommend it.

Here are more shots of orangutans we saw.

Close up with the tourists

Mother and child

The baby clutching tightly to mother orangutan

Teenager at play

Orangutans

A day in the tulips

Posted on May 3, 2009 by MartaDecember 27, 2014

Tulips in Skagit Valley Washington

One of the highlights of spring here in the Pacific Northwest is the daffodil and tulip blooms in Skagit Valley. Skagit Valley is a fertile delta of the Skagit River which is located about 60 miles north of Seattle. Mt Vernon is the main city in the region but there are many lovely small towns to explore. Our favorite town is La Conner. It is situated along the banks of the Swinomish Canal, it has a vibrant art community. Historic buildings line the main street – now with shops and museums. We also just discovered Edison which is north of La Conner and is a hot-bed of local artisan food. There are even wineries!

The spring has been cold and we could tell everything would be late when we made our first trip to the Skagit late in March. Usually the daffodils are in bloom by the last week of March but nothing was in bloom. It was cold and windy.

We finally got a chance to return last Monday – the last week in April. It was a gorgeous day; sunny although the clouds were obscuring the Cascade foothills. Everyone wants to go when Mt. Baker is visible for classic shots of tulips with Mt Baker in the background. It was not to be.

But the colors were gorgeous. The sun was out and color of the tulips just popped! The area has become tremendously popular when the tulips are in bloom. Fortunately they have created parking areas; unfortunately you have to pay $3-$4 for each time.

We found a lovely field in bloom that was a bit away from the main crowd. The center of the frenzy is always Roozengaarde, the headquarters of Washington Bulb Company. Washington state is one of the world’s largest producers of flower bulbs. Roozengaarde is the display gardens for the company.

The plus of paying for parking is you can walk in the bulb fields. You have ample opportunities and angles for photos. I think we spent over an hour just meandering along the path between the different colored fields.

After getting our fill of color, we headed for lunch. Our normal lunch spot, La Conner Brewery had a long wait so we went up to Anacortes instead. After lunch, we drove around the area between Edison and Samish Island. Many of the businesses were closed since it Monday but everything looked great. Along with the artisan food stops, there are great places to bird both at Padilla Bay and on the way to Samish Island. I actually went out to check for rentals since it looks like a great place for a getaway.

Okay.. enough on the area – here are the photos.

Workers in the fields picking out rogue tulips before harvesting

Getting ready to top off the blooms before harvesting

Fields of red

Ready for harvest

Fields go to infinity

A prism rainbow of tulips

The Rogue

PhotoHunt: Walking

Posted on May 2, 2009 by MartaMay 2, 2009

Walk in the Fog

This week’s Photohunt is walking. Here is a photo of G walking in the fog up on Mount Rainier last August. It is our favorite spot for a walk in the mountains. Have a great weekend everyone.

Kuching Food

Posted on April 30, 2009 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

Display at Top Spot

This is the eleventh in a series of more in-depth posts on our trip to Borneo.
February 23

Kuching has great food. It is known for several dishes such a Kuching (or Sawarak) Laksa and Kolo Mee. It also has many great hawker stalls.

We had read about the Top Spot. It is the place recommended for tourists who want fresh fish although I saw mostly locals when we went. It is located just up from the Riverfront and is on top of a 3 story concrete parking lot. I know… it sounds strange to a westerner but it is wonderful. The top is ringed by several hawker stalls. Each stall has their fresh fish and vegetables displayed similar to farmers market here in the US – neat and very artistic. Each stall is also topped with the name of their stall several in neon.

As you walk around, each vendor will try to persuade you to eat at their stall. We made the circuit and then returned to #10. The woman was very friendly and helped us to pick out fish. We wanted it with sambal but she told us that it was very different sambal from what we may have had before and served it on the side.

We also wanted to try midin – jungle fern. We asked her to prepare it spiced with belacan (shrimp paste) and chili. We also ordered some tomato mee. It is all prepared fresh but fast. They brought us our Tiger beer first and then our dishes. Yummm…

My only complaint was the napkins. The paper napkins were very small and thin. Otherwise, the everything was excellent.

We also wanted to try Laksa. Laksa is a spicy noodle soup with shrimp, chicken. bean sprouts and shredded egg. There are several different varieties in Malaysia and Kuching is known for their variety. We decided to go to Choon Hui Cafe. It was written up in our guide book and was on the Kuching segment of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. It wasn’t too far from our hotel and we got there early in the morning. Laksa is a traditional breakfast food. We also ordered a sweet coffee – coffee sweetened with condensed milk. It wasn’t that bad.

The ladies in the front of the cafe cooked up the Laksa fresh. They had a huge pot of boiling water where they cooked the noodles. Then they ladled the broth over the noodles and topped it with the meat and vegetables. It was served with limes and a scoop of sambal. Perfect for a hot muggy morning.

We also had Kolo Mee and Prawn Mee for lunch at a stall along Jalan Carpenter. Mee is more like ramen noodles and more dry. Both were very good but I didn’t get any pictures. One night we also had pizza at Bla Bla Bla which had great atmosphere and decor but was much more expensive than the seafood. Good but we preferred the seafood and noodles.

Here are some shots of two of the restaurants and the food we had.

Top Spot Restaurant – you enter up the stairs on the right – 3 floors up

Selamat Datang – Welcome!

Our favorite stall

Fish and vegetables on display – choose your dinner

We’re ready and waiting for dinner

Other diners enjoying their meals

Grilled Fish

Tomato Mee

Midin (jungle fern) with belacan and chili

Black Pepper Prawns for our second dinner

Midin again – with garlic this time

Great Neon Signs

Another great sign

Choon Hui Cafe – our stop for breakfast laksa

Preparing Laksa at Choon Hui Cafe

Our dish

G enjoying his bowl

They are everywhere! We did *not* eat at McDonalds but couldn’t resist including the welcome sign.

Dragonfruit

Posted on April 26, 2009 by MartaDecember 27, 2014

Several people commented about dragonfruit in my post on the Kuching market so I thought I’d talk a bit more about it. We’ve grown cactus so we were intrigued to find out that Dragonfruit is the fruit of a night bloom cactus of the Hylocereus species.

Night blooming cactus also brings back some fond memories from my childhood. I remember a neighbor had one on their porch. It was a big thing when it bloomed. They called us up and we went over in the late evening to see it in bloom. It also had a heavenly perfume. I never dreamt that one day I would travel the world viewing plants and eating the fruit of a related cactus. I also just came across a picture of that night.

With Mom and night blooming cactus

The epiphytic cactus is native of Mexico and Central America. They are grown in many of the tropical countries in Asia and Central America. It is also known as Pitaya and Wikipedia has a good write up of the cultivation. It seems like it might be similar to Prickly Pear cactus which I’ve seen but never eaten. I think Prickly Pears are known more for their juice than for eating as a fruit.

The fruit inside reminds me somewhat of a kiwi. It is smooth texture with small black seeds. We had two different types in Malaysia, one had white flesh speckled with black seeds and the other had a dark red fuchsia flesh. They both tasted similar. They were very sweet but I’ve read that the fruit found in the US is often bland and watery. I suspect they pick them too early to ship them to the US but they are wonderful if found in the tropical countries.

To see how to prepare it, here is a step-by-step guide.

Sunday Market in Kuching

Posted on April 25, 2009 by MartaApril 25, 2009

Vegetable seller at the Kuching Sunday Market

This is the tenth in a series of more in-depth posts on our trip to Borneo.
February 21

I love markets. We were lucky on the timing of our trip to arrive in Kuching on Saturday. We were in time for the Sunday Market.

It actually starts Saturday afternoon and goes until Sunday afternoon. We thought it would be a great way to start our visit. It was not too far of a walk from our hotel. It is located on Jalan Satok and runs for several blocks.

We started at the end with the fish sellers. The diversity of fish is astounding. I recognized a few fish such as mackerel, shrimp, squids, rays but there were many that I could not recognize. A few vendors were selling chicken and eggs and we saw one small stand off to the side selling meat. Dried fish is an important part of Malaysian diet. There were bags and bags of ikan bilis – dried anchovies. And one vendor were selling sago palm worms. We definitely did not try the worms.

From fish, we continued along and next were many vendor selling vegetables. Chilies, gingers, jungle fern, okra, shallots, lime, everything you need for stir fries including sauce. Fruit – I loved the exotic fruit. My favorite fruit was dragonfruit – the fruit of a night blooming cactus. There were also vendors selling drinks. I had a cold drink made with fresh shaved coconut and G had an iced drink made of crushed sugar cane. We also picked up several bags of cookies and loved tasting the Kek Lapis – a traditional Sarawak multi-layered pastel jewel colored cakes.

Off on the side alleys were also small little nurseries selling orchids and other tropical plants for the garden or house. There were pet supplies, rabbits, clothing, shoes.

It was a riot of color, scents and tastes. We loved it.

Fish

Fish	Fish
Cockles	Crab
Dried Fish	Ikan bilis seller
Fresh Chicken	Sago Worms
Ikan bilis seller	Ikan bilis seller

Vegetables and fruit

Chilies and Fungi	Ginger and Galangal
Midin – Jungle Fern	Bitter Melon
Chili	Vendor
Limes	Star Fruit
Longan	Jackfruit
Bananas	Snakeskin fruit
Green Starch Noodles	Dragonfruit

Shopper

Done Shopping

Time to Moto Home

PhotoHunt: Protection

Posted on April 25, 2009 by MartaApril 25, 2009

Rue Obsure at night

This week’s Photohunt is protection. Let’s look at the lovely village of Villefranche sur Mer on the French Riviera and see how it has been protected over the years.

Today, looking at the luxury villas and expensive yachts, it is difficult to realize that this region of France was always under attack and frequently changed rulers. The area was hotly disputed between the Duchy of Savoy and France. It did not become part of France until 1860.

Modern day Villefranche sur Mer started in 1295 when the Duke of Anjou who later became Count of Provence, enticed the local hilltop inhabitants to move closer to the bay to secure the harbor from pirates. The port was declared a free port giving tax and port revenue to the city. The name Villefranche sur Mer means ‘free city’.

As the city built up, the ‘Rue Obscure’ or Dark Street was built. It dates back to the XIVth century. It is located just behind the seafront buildings and runs to the ramparts above the city. The building built up and over the street and it became covered. This provided good refuge for the villagers when attacked. It was also a good place to hide goods such as wine. The inhabitants even used it as late as WWII during a parting German attack at the end of the war.

In 1543, the city was attacked and occupied which led the Duke of Savoy to create two forts, the Citadel along the water and one high on the Mont Alban above the city to protect the village. The forts were not always successful the the city exchanged hands several times.

Today, tourists roam the darkly lit Rue Obscure, the city hall (Mairie) and museums inhabit the citadel and the hilltop fortress waits to be renovated.

Rue Obsure

Villefranche sur Mer waterfront – Rue Obscure located just behind these buildings

Fort du Mont Alban above Villefranche sur Mer

The Citadel

Ancient Citadel canon to protect the bay

Bay view from the ramparts of the Citadel in Villefranche sur Mer

Lovely waterfront today.

Kuching

Posted on April 19, 2009 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

Kuching Riverside Esplanade

This is the ninth in a series of more in-depth posts on our trip to Borneo.
February 21

Kuching – Cat City – that is the nick name of the city. I read that Kuching means cat in Malay. It is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sawarak, largest city on Borneo and the fourth largest city in Malaysia. We were staying in the city center and it did not feel like the 4th largest city.

Our home for the next few days was the Singgahsana Lodge. It is a very clean and a very well run hostel. We have a single bedroom. The lodge is located just steps from the waterfront and not more than a block from the more upscale Hilton which was our second choice. Our room was on the bottom floor. It doesn’t have any windows except for the small windows on the loft above the hall way. We have our own bathroom and it is clean. I am not crazy about having a cement floor in the room but it has air conditioning and is just over 100rm (~33USD) so we are not complaining. We are trying to balance our expenses by taking this hostel after staying at the luxury lodge in Danum Valley.

Singgahsana Lodge

There is something about the city that I really like. It was not destroyed during WWII unlike KK which was heavily bombed. It has a colonial feel to the central business district – a little bit old a little bit modern. We both love the river esplanade. Everyone is very friendly. I also love the diversity of cultures; Muslim, Chinese and Hindu. I feel at home.

Old Courthouse building

Open Air Market area looking towards Kuching Mosque

We started off late since our morning flight was canceled. We didn’t arrive until 1PM. The airport is very efficient and we easily found the taxi window, paid and and are on our way into town. It was 23RM as expected. We whip by the suburbs and soon (15 minutes) we are in the center of Kuching. We check in, drop our bags and head for the tourist office which was about to close at 3PM. We wanted to know how to get to the Orchid and Pitcher plant garden in Padawan and also how to get to Semenggoh Wildlife Center so we can see more Orangutans. We went next door to the National Park office to pay for our room at Bako but they are close to closing and asked us to come back the next day. We headed out and started to explore the city. Our goal – the Sunday Market which starts on Saturday afternoon.

Here are some scenes of Kuching.

Chinese Temples and Streets

Tua Pek Kong Temple

Detail on outside wall

Harmony Arch on Carpenter Road

Detail on Arch

Hong San Si Temple

Padungan Street

Covered walkway on Padungan Street

Chinese cemetery

Muslim

Kuching Mosque

School Girls

Indian

Hindu Temple

India Street

Views Around the City

Chin Lian Long Bus Station – one of two stations in Kuching

View to Astana from Esplanade

Dewan Undangan Negeri – New state parliment building to open Summer 2009

Sunset on the River

Cats – lots of cat status around the city

PhotoHunt: Purple

Posted on April 18, 2009 by MartaOctober 14, 2014

Phlox hoodii – Central Washington wildflower

Today is Saturday and that means it is Photohunt time. This week’s theme is purple. This week we have been watching the weather and checking the reports of the wildflower blooms in Central Washington.

Central Washington, from along the eastern slopes of the Cascades through the steppe foothills and into the desert basalt cliffs magically erupts into bloom from around mid-April to the end of May. We will watch the trail reports on Northwest Hiker forum to see what is in bloom and then head east to hunt for flowers. Some of our favorite places are on the country roads outside of Ellensburg; Whiskey Dick, Vantages, Reeser Canyon.

The colors are quite diverse but there is many little flower gems in purple. Here is a sample.

Showy Phlox on the slopes above Vantage.

Wooly pod Locoweed (Astragalus purshii)

Purple lupine

Penstemon fruticosus

Widow’s Grass – Olsynium douglasii

Tri-color viola – Viola trinervata

Cherry Blossom Time in Seattle

Posted on April 13, 2009 by MartaDecember 27, 2014

The city seems to be exploding in blossoms. The weather has been cool and overcast. I look out my bedroom window and I see pink cotton candy puffs of flowering plum blooms over the neighborhood roofs. Pink flowering plums must have been the rage in the ’60s when our suburb was built. Everywhere I look it is pink.

But my favorite spring blooming tree is the Yoshino cherry. These are the classic cherry blossoms celebrated in the other Washington – Washington DC. They are currently in full bloom in the Quad on the University of Washington campus. I did not know that they had been transplanted to the Quad when Evergreen Point Bridge was built. I found this information on the One A Day – Mostly Seattle daily photo blog. I took a walk today around the campus and enjoyed the lovely blooms.

There are a few others in the University of Washington Arboretum but many of the trees are old and they do not bloom as strongly. But there were many other spring blooms to enjoy – magnolias, rhododendrons, daffodils.

Now – if the sun would just come out!

Yoshino Cherries Blooming at the University of Washington Quad

Spring Blossoms at the UW Arboretum