The Penguin Walk at Asahiyama Zoo occurs twice daily during the Winter months. It’s a popular event. Since the entrance fee oisonly 1,000JPY (approx $7USD/€7) I can see why.
The Penguins process slowly along a route around the zoo allowing visitors to get very close to them. As you can see from my video:
The penguin walk event usually starts in December depending on snow cover and is held twice daily: at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. It is usually only held once at day at 11am in March until around mid-March when the snow melts. The penguins can only do the parade if there is snow.
Getting there: Take bus numbers 41, 42 or 47 from Asahikawa Station. The journey takes about 40 minutes and costs 700 yen (about $3.50USD). Normally, there are 2 buses per hour. To take the bus, board via the door in the middle of the bus, take a ticket from the yellow machine and pay on exit by presenting the ticket to the driver.
Alternatively, driving takes about half an hour, the taxi fare is approximately 7,000 yen (just under $50USD).
Beerlao launched in 1973 is the best selling brand in Lao PDR
Beerlao Lager is a European Pale Lager style beer brewed by Lao Brewery Co. You can’t go anywhere in Laos without seeing the Beerlao logo, because it’s effectively state owned and has a near monopoly on beer sales.
5% alcohol by volume and brewed using local rice and imported hops and barley it is a pale amber colour with a pleasant and refreshing taste. It’s well suited to the South East Asian climate.
Best drunk cold, of course.
Restaurant price for a 660ml bottle was about LAK30,000 (= approx €1.30)
The Angkor National Museum, is located on Charles de Gaulle Avenue also known as Preah Sihanouk Avenue in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The main galleries focus on the art and culture of the Khmer civilization, with collections mainly dated from the Khmer Empire‘s Angkor period circa 9th to 14th-century. So they contain examples from the earlier Hindu period as well as later Buddhist ones.
A buddha at the Angkor National Museuma delicately carved Hindu friezeSeated statue at the Angkor National MuseumScale model of Angkor WatHindu deity at the Angkor National Museum
The wikipedia page wrongly states that the museum has a strict no-photos policy. This is out of date, you may, as I did, take photos but flash photography is forbidden.
Eventually the high speed line from Taipei will terminate here and the are preparing the station for this. It looks very promising so far. I also had to include the video taken in the entrance to the metro station. Trippy stuff.
The moat around Angkor Wat seen from the southPool at Angkor Thom, Siem Reap , CambodiaA different view of the pool at Angkor Thom
These GIFs of the pools at Angkor Wat were taken using the ‘Live’ option on my iPhone. They can be saved as GIFs although this does increase the file size (about 15MB), please be patient and let them load.
Railway Stations of the World takes us to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Luang Prabang.
This station was opened in December 2021.
Luang Prabang Station, Lao PDRNoticeboard and foyer Luang Prabang Station, Lao PDRPanorama of the inside of Luang Prabang Station, Lao PDR
Rather an attractive station that is very Chinese in so many ways: the furnishings, the layout, signage and even some of the announcements (I think). However, this is crowned by a wonderful architecture complete with local motifs. It really deserves to have more trains than it currently serves, but maybe, just maybe, if the Belt and Road does expand all the way down to Singapore as planned that will happen.
山海关 or the Shan Hai Pass is one of the most important and the most easterly of the passes through the Ming Great Wall.
It is built as a square, with a perimeter of around four kilometres (2.5 mi). The walls reach a height of 14 metres (46 feet), and are seven metres (23 feet) thick – see bottom picture. The east, south and north sides are surrounded by a deep, wide moat with drawbridges over it. In the middle of the pass stands a tall bell tower.
The location where the wall meets the Bohai Sea is nicknamed the “Old Dragon’s Head” (老龙头). The pass lies nearly 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of Beijing and if I could be bothered there’s a picture in this blog of that as well, guess you’ll just have to find it yourself.
November is a great time to visit Taipei. ‘Goldilocks’ weather (not too hot, not too cold) and there is much to be seen in the Zhongzheng and Shilin districts such as the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial 中正紀念堂圖書室, Liberty Square 自由廣場, the Dazhong Gate 中正紀念堂大忠門, DongMen 東門 Market and the National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院 where you can see the treasures that the KMT stole rescued from mainland China in 1949.
Another one of those movies that Apple’s built in software for Photos creates for you. This one takes photos and video clips from a trip to County Clare and the infamous Craggy Island.
A Fairy SongWilliam Shakespeare
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire!
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green;
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours;
In those freckles live their savours;
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Sunset over the Chao Phraya River, Bang Sue, Bangkok
The Chao Phraya is Thailand’s major river flowing 372 km from the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers through Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand.
In Bangkok the Chap Phraya is a transport artery for a network of river buses, cross-river ferries, and water taxis. The river buses are cheap and are an excellent way for tourists to see Bangkok.
According to wikiyoyage the prices currently are around 30 Baht (roughly one US Dollar) and there are a confusingly large number of different boat lines:
The MV Plassey started its life as HMS Juliet, a naval trawler in the Royal Navy built at the beginning of WWII. during the war she took part in Operation Torch in 1942 and in the Mediterranean theatre. After the war she was converted into a merchant ship and sold to the British merchant service as the Peterjon. Later, in 1951 she was acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company and her name changed yet again to the MV Plassey (sometimes written as Plassy).
She operated around the coast of Ireland until 1960 when she was caught in a severe storm and ran aground on Finnis Rock, Inisheer, Aran Islands whilst carrying whiskey, stained glass and yarn. Luckily, the entire crew was saved. Two weeks later, a second storm washed her off the rock and drove her up the beach.
The Plassey is probably most famous for appearing in the opening credits of the TV comedy Father Ted.
The Photos app that comes bundled with MacOs periodically produces slideshows. Normally, these are themed around places or dates. One caught my eye though – it was called ‘Golden Hour’ and included photos I’d taken from many places. Usually, photos taken around sunset are better because the quality of light is better.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to export it so it could be edited. I had to re-create it manually using iMovie. This is the result I call it Global Golden Hour: Sunsets around the world.
The soundtrack is “In Memory of a Free Festival Part 2” by David Bowie which I thought was appropriate. All rights remain with the original artist blah, blah blah, no profit is being made, blah blah, fair use, blah blah.
The extinct volcanoes of Pingdingshan, Xilin Gol, Nei Menggu
平顶山, 锡林郭勒盟，内蒙古
Pingdingshan in Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia has a very distinctive landscape. There are many extinct volcanoes from a time when this was the sea floor. This photo was taken in early October and the lush green grasslands had already faded to their winter brown. Even so you can see a flock of sheep in the foreground.
The interactive map is a new feature which I’ll maybe use again now that I know how to do it.
The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare attrac up to 1.5 million tourists a year.
Rising to a height of 214 meters they stretch for 14 kilometres. They are made up of sandstone and shale formin distinctive layers as can be seen in the photo.
In Xanadu……did Kubla KhanA stately Pleasure-dome decree:Where Alph the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.So twice five miles of fertile groundWith walls and towers were girdled round;And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.It was a miracle of rare device,
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round; And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover! And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, A mighty fountain momently was forced: Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail: And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever It flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean; And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war! The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight ’twould win me, That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Inisheer Island (Inis Oirr), Aran Islands, Co. GalwayMore about the wreck of The Plassey: https://www.doolin2aranferries.com/blog/plassey-famous-shipwreck-inis-oirr/The islands supports arctic, Mediterranean and alpine plants side-by-side, due to the unusual environment. Like the Burren, the Aran islands are renowned for their remarkable assemblage of plants and animals. The grikes (crevices) provide moist shelter, thus supporting a wide range of plants including dwarf shrubs.
“Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
“My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern, being always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore, in observing the manners and dispositions of the people, ”
― Jonathan Swift
