The Greening of Singapore is Advancing

 Singapore, a small island city, has been working on "green" projects for decades. It is a project the government has undertaken, in part, to increase tourism and livability.

Buildings now receive tax credits for green energy and actual greenery. 

As a result of these efforts, the Oriental Pied Hornbills have been reintroduced to the city. The city initially used roosting boxes placed high up, but the construction of new buildings has created additional spaces for the species' growth. This hornbill is the only one that is endemic to the Singapore/Malay region. They had left Singapore years ago as the city encroached on their forests.

Nice to see them back and thriving. For a full article, go here. The author is Tim Plowden.

Investigating Iceland for a post

 I was investigating Iceland for a new post when I came across the coolest house I've ever seen. Love it!

You rarely see a brutalist house so damn cool!

Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park

 This will be the last San Diego post from our recent trip. One of the most beautiful parts of Balboa Park for me was the Japanese / Friendship Garden.

It is very large and uses the Japanese concept of the natural state of the geography, coupled with transformed landscapes, to provide a calming haven. This garden ratchets that idea up.

This is a 280-year-old statue. Interestingly, it was in a private garden in Missouri until it was toppled by Hurricane Katrina. Then it was donated.

"Nextdoor" has to be one of the weirdest sites on the net.

 If you somehow get on your local Next Door list, you can't get off, ever! I don't know what they do to get you on, but it works. And then, sometimes, it is hilarious.  Here is a post.

And comments were closed, which is so bad because I was dying to post this:

La Jolla

 For those of you who don't know, I attended (a year) of Grad School at UC San Diego. It was in a program called Master of Pacific International Affairs.

I studied Japanese Language and Business. It was 1989, and Japan, not China, was seen as the US's biggest competitor. My idea was to understand Japanese business and then get a job in Europe, where they also saw Japan as a competitor. I had an interview with Arthur Anderson (pre-divestment), which went well, but they told me no matter where I worked, I would be focused on the Japanese region. Which wasn't really my intention.

Instead, my manager at Xerox got me a summer position in the UK at Rank Xerox.

However, that is somewhat beside the point. Here are pictures from La Jolla and my favorite small, off-the-beaten-track beach, Windansea Beach. Compare this to Seal Cove Beach, just up the road, which everyone is familiar with and is often crowded with tourists. I lived in South La Jolla, and this was my happy place. I took Eddie, and he loved it too.    

Windansea Looking South

Same Windansea Beach looking north

La Jolla Cove / Child's Beach. Now closed because tourists screwed with the Sea Lions that come up at night. The Sea Lions are on the rocks.

Me.

A good friend sent this....

 

Balboa Park in San Diego

 Not long ago, Ed and I fled the 105+ degrees of Palm Springs for a few nights in San Diego. It made a pleasant change of about 30 degrees. For those who are unfamiliar, San Diego is one of the two most consistently temperate cities in the world, after Quito, which is situated in the mountains at the Equator.

So, 70s is pretty much guaranteed, albeit usually accompanied by morning fog. So we were thrilled. One day we went to Balboa Park. I had heard that my Grandmother, Honey, had worked at the exhibition, but it always seemed suspicious. Well, they explained it.

The 1915 Panama World Exhibition occurred when the Panama Canal first opened. It was designed to be temporary, but at least 4 buildings were kept by public demand.

Then, in 1936, a second world's fair / Pan-Pacific exhibition was held at the same park. The four buildings were rehabbed, and several new buildings were added, many of which are still standing. This was where Honey had worked.

So these are some of the buildings still in the Park.

Inside the building on the left is the History of San Diego Museum and the miniature Train thang. Behind the colonnade and a bit down the hill is a very nice restaurant, the Prado. The building on the right hosts the information / gift shop.

This was built for the 1936 fair. It is an open conservatory with Southern Californian plants. The lattice above it is thousands of feet of Redwood Planking. It was redone in 2021.

Eddie and I inside.

The "lagoon" in front of the Conservatory. The building on the left was used during World War II as a training base and later as a military hospital. The "Lagoon" was deepened for training and soldiers were taught to swim and row here!

Detail honoring Spanish explorers and Father Junipero Serra. He's a saint now.

A museum now, this was the military hospital. The building itself is from the 1915 exhibition.

These buildings marked the entrance to both the 1915 and 1936 fairs.

Nincompoops Abroad

I enjoy sharing images and updates from our recent trips, so this blog only features photos from those trips, along with some animal shots and details about rewilding. Beyond that, there is nothing else. If you see anything else, please let me know, as that means I have gone crazy again.