Happy New Year From The Northwest

Hope it's not that late, to say Happy New Year, May God always bless us with healthiness, happiness, abundant of joys....

Fire works at the Space Needle

landmark of Seattle, Washington State

Two anchors from Local Channel of Seattle

were covering the New Year's Eve Fire Works

New Year's Eve Mass at

Holy Cross Catholic Church

Tacoma, Washington State

Autumn-2011

Autumn is back, musim gugur datang lagi nich, seneng liat pohon pohon, terutama pohon maple, yang daun daun-nya berubah warna, dari hijau, jadi kuning, ada yang merah, ada yang kecoklatan dan oranye....
Love the color of maple leaves...

Northwest Trek, Washington

This is like 'Safari' where you see the wild animals through the Tram,....located just 45 minutes to the East  from Tacoma. It's not like in Africa of course, because all the wild animals are original from here based on the weather where they live.

The Tram depart every one hour from the

Tram station inside the Park

The road on the way to the NorthwestTrek

Wildlife Park

Buying ticket in here and Souvenir Shop

my daughter infront of 'brown bear'..

Summer Solstice

Tanggal 22 Juni kemaren resmi dimulai-nya Summer atau Musim Panas di negara negara Northern Hemisphere (benua Amerika bagian Utara dan Eropa), di Amerika Serikat sendiri temperature mulai menghangat bahkan ketika masih Spring (musim Semi) terutama di states bagian Selatan. Dampak dari Summer ini sudah terjadi antara laen kebakaran hebat di Arizona.
The summer solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the sun, at its maximum tilt of 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like Midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs. Except in the polar regions (where daylight is continuous for many months), the day on which the summer solstice occurs is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight. The summer solstice occurs in June in the Northern Hemisphere north of the Tropic of Cancer (23°26'N) and in December in the Southern Hemisphere south of the Tropic of Capricorn (23°26'S). The Sun reaches its highest position in the sky on the day of the summer solstice. However, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, the highest sun position does not occur at the summer solstice, since the sun reaches the zenith here and it does so at different times of the year depending on the latitude of the observer.[1] Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs some time between December 21 and December 22 each year in the Southern Hemisphere, and between June 20 and June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere.[2] (Wilkipedia)

Late Blooming

Because of the 'weird' weather, the rhododendron is late to bloom, I remember I had a picture being in the Rhodi Garden in May 2008, and it's warm and all the flowers bloom nicely, these pictures taken on June 3rd and even some still in buds form.....

Tornado

So sad with the news lately about the tornado blast in Midwest of USA,...hope it will over soon...

photo courtesy of 'todayshow' NBC

Chambers Bay Golf Course

Chambers Bay Golf Course

in University Place, Pierce County, Washington

will be the place for 2015 US Open

Ground Zero

kerumunan orang di Broadway New York

berusaha melihat Presiden Obama

The crowd ghater on Brodway to catch a glimpse

of Obama

(photo courtesy of Detroit Free Press)

Berita akhir akhir ini di TV sungguh berwarna warni, setelah serangan tornado di negara-negara bagian di Midwest, dilanjut semaraknya perkawinan agung Kerajaan Inggris, setelah itu tiba tiba berita tentang Osama Bin Laden yang tau tau udah dikubur di dasar laut. Banyak orang seperti dibangunkan lagi dari kenangan buruk serangan di gedung kembar World Trade Center hampir sepuluh tahun yang lalu (9 September 2001).

Siapapun yang melakukan kejahatan apakah itu disebut teroris atau bukan, semoga yang masih hidup disadarkan olehNya, ...hiduplah dengan damai..!...

The news recently on TV were colorful, after the tornado blast in midwest then the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and suddenly we're surprised by the death of Osama Bin Laden. And suddenly people awake again and remember those who died in 9/11 attack. Hope there will be no such horrific attack again and may all 'bad' people in this world realize that there plenty 'nice' things to do other than 'killing' three thousands people.

February Wonderland

It had snow on Thursday, Feb 23rd and 24th in Western Washington where I live,  and until this Saturday, snow still on the ground because of the temperature stick on 31F (..0 C )...brrr...
Not that a good news for commuters, especially when the next day, snow became 'icy road' but defenetely good news for kids...making snowman just made them happy and sliding for the big kids even happier.

somone's car covered by snow

Super Bowl - Demam Super Bowl Di Amerika

The Vince Lombardy Trophy
is awarded to the Super Bowl winner
photo courtesy of Wilkipedia.

Hari Minggu ini tanggal 6 Februari 2011, adalah Final pertandingan football (American Football) di Amerika Serikat, yang (akan) berlangsung di Dallas, negara bagian Texas. Mungkin American football ya terkenalnya cuma di Amerika..?..karena di seluruh dunia ini keliatannya yang lebih 'mendunia' ya soccer atau sepakbola. Sebutan untuk Final pertandingan ini adalah 'Super Bowl',..dulu waktu pertama tama jadi imigran disini, aku ya ngga mudeng, lama lama ya terbiasa kalo sudah mulai musim gugur, babak penyisihan awal antar team, tiap hari Sabtu atau Minggu jadi demam football, tahun ini Super Bowl sudah berlangsung ke 45 kali-nya, yang biasanya ditulis pake huruf romawi : XLV...(dulu waktu SD dapet pelajaran angka romawi gini paling sebel..!),..kenapa harus ditulis pake angka romawi..?, katanya sich untuk mengidentifikasi tiap 'game'..(nach..tetep ngga mudeng khan?..)
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15, 1967, following the regular season played in 1966, while Super Bowl XLV will be played on February 6, 2011, to determine the champion of the 2010 regular season.(Wilkipedia).

Snow Storm - Badai Salju di Pantai Timur Amerika Serikat



Snow in Washington D.C
photo courtesy the washington post.

 The East coast has been blasted with a lot of snow storms since the blizzard hit on December 26. This harsh winter will probably go down as one of the coldest and snowiest for the history books. Some people love the snow and others are sick of winter already. And it looks like a snowy weekend is ahead for the North East too.(Saturday January 29th, 2011)
Badai Salju di Pantai Timur Amerika belum berakhir, dimulai sejak tanggal 26 Desember kemaren. Musim Dingin di Pantai Timur kali ini mungkin menjadi yang terdingin dan snowiest dalam sejarah.
Get Ready for More Snow on East Coast
Another storm is approaching the East coast, notes the Huffington Post. Get ready to get the snow shovel out again. Will this just be a regular snow storm or will it be thunder snow like many areas experienced in the last storm? It is a bit eerie when it is snowing heavily and then thunder and lightning start too.
Di Pantai Barat, Amerika Serikat, terutama di Northwest tempat aku tinggal, lumayan 'hangat', paling hujan rintik rintik yang malah membuat temperature jadi lebih hangat, sekitar 50 F (10 C) sehari hari, pagi hari sekitar 37-39F (sekitar 2-3 C)..tidak ada salju sama sekali akhir akhir ini.
Tiap pagi kalo 'sempat' nonton tipi nich!..eeh sambil 'nyeruput'  my hazelnut coffee..berita pertama selalu 'snow storm' ini, di beberapa negara bagian di Pantai Timur seperti Washington D.C, New York, New Jersey dan Massachusset, sudah banyak menghabiskan biaya dari budget yang dicadangkan untuk 'membersihkan' salju terutama di jalan jalan utama.

Snow In Las Vegas



photo courtesy of Las Vegas Sun


Cuaca di Amerika benar benar aneh akhir akhir ini, salju turun di area yang jelas jelas tidak mempunyai 4 musim, seperti Los Angeles, California dan Las Vegas, Nevada. Di daerah negara bagian Nevada terutama adalah daerah 'gurun pasir'..yang temperaturnya selalu hangat.
Salju tipis turun di 'Las Vegas Valley' sejak hari minggu sore (tanggal 2 Januari) mulai jam 7 malam hingga Senin pagi
A white blanket of snow coated portions of the Las Vegas Valley this Monday morning (January 3rd), it caused headaches for some motorists in the western valley during their morning commutes.

McCarran International Airport reported light snow this morning with temperatures in the mid-30s and 0.01 inch of precipitation. No flight delays were reported as a result of the weather.

Di McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas dilaporkan salju tipis yang turun dan temperature sekitar 35F (sekitar 2 C).
(source:Las Vegas Sun)

Malam Tahun Baru - New Year's Eve

kembang api di Manado, Sulawesi Utara
Fireworks in Manado, North Sulawesi,Indonesia
Photo Courtesy of Kompas.com

Pagi ini sangat sangat dingin 19F( sekitar -7C) dan menjelang siang naik jadi 27F (-2C),..udara bener bener 'frosty air'...salju tipis yang turun kemaren belum meleleh semua, saking dingin-nya temperature, tapi matahari bersinar cerah ceria bahkan sangat silau. Hari terakhir di tahun 2010, meskipun waktu nulis ini, banyak bagian laen di dunia sudah berpesta kembang api, semua sudah 'say' Happy New Year, sedang waktu aku nulis ini baru jam 1:25 siang tgl 31,...emang tinggal di bagian Pantai Barat Amerika, membuat kita jadi yang terakhir memasuki Tahun Baru. Banyak 'status' di Facebook yang udah 'meriah' menulis Happy New Year...dan semua harapan yang kita harapkan tentunya.

Winter Solstice

banjir di Silverado Canyon,
Orange County, California
photo courtesy MSNBC

Tanggal 21 December kemaren, tepat dimulainya 'Winter Season' di 'Northern Hemisphere'..negara negara di Amerika Serikat, Canada dan Eropa yang mengalami mulainya musim dingin bersamaan. Winter Solstice ini terjadi ketika 'Bumi' berada pada garis paling jauh dari Matahari, sehingga 'siang hari' menjadi lebih pendek dari malam hari.
Di Amerika Serikat, Winter kali ini, bahkan sebelum Winter resmi dimulai, ditandai dengan salju lebat di beberapa negara bagian di Pantai Timur (East Coast),..sedangkan di West Coast terutama di California bagian selatan, hujan deras tanpa henti menyebabkan banjir dan tanah longsor atau lebih tepat lumpur longsor, akibat tanah yang bercampur hujan.

 The winter solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. Though the winter solstice lasts only a moment in time, the term is also a turning point to midwinter or the first day of winter to refer to the day on which it occurs. More evident to those in high latitudes, this occurs on the shortest day and longest night, when the sun's daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest.
(Source:Wilkipedia)

Grand Coulee Dam

End of August 2010, I had a chance to visit Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State,...seeing the big Dam is always exciting for me, because I've ever had a chance to work in Power Plant Project, in Kedung Ombo Dam, Central Java, Indonesia during 1991-1993 which was built by Indonesian-France joint company. The France companies were Cegelec and Alstom Neyrpic, I heard they're famous contractors in France. Sometimes it's hard to believe that man and the technology were able to build the huge Dam, especially for me who doesn't have engineer or science background school, it's always thrill to see the big building and I felt like I am a 'liliput' entering the giant land.

Grand Coulee Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the largest electric power-producing facility[4] and the largest concrete structure in the United States.[5] It is the fifth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, as of the year 2008.