Alaska

Thank You God, I have the opportunity to visit Alaska, The biggest State in the United States...the view is so breathtaking, wonderful, awesome....

Glacier Bay, Alaska

 

British Columbia

I don't remember where this map courtesy from. sorry

I will not talk alot about British Columbia, because I had written in my other blog with the title O, Canada, sorry it's in 'Indonesian' only.
For sure, B.C is one of the many provinces in Canada, which is it happend so close to Washington State, USA where I live in Tacoma. It's only about 3 hours driving to Canadian Border. Me, my hubby and my daughter had fun to stay in the resort in B.C called 'Harrison Hot Spring Resort & Spa'...this was our second visit there!. The idea to soak ourselves in the mineral hot spring, really what we want in our spare time. Just thinking about that already made my brain into relax mode.
So, eventhough the title of the blog is 'British Columbia' but I took some of pictures more about Harrison Hot Spring. If you curious about this location please click here, it'll bring you to their officially website.
Some things that I found in my second visit that I wasn't aware when I cam there for the 1st time was, the different between United States and Canada in my version, such as when we bought tortilla chips, the bag of the chips with English and French title and explanation, but in US mostly with English and Spanish. The traffic signs in Canada using 'Metric' version which is in 'KM (kilometer) instead of 'MILE"...and the weather man or lady on local tivi, in Canada they use 'Celcius' instead of 'Fahrenheit'..which is remind me of 'Indonesia' my origin country.
With all the differences, is always fun to spend time with family in other country, there are many things I can tell to my daughter, eventhough she's not understand yet. Anyway British Columbia is such a beautiful place. We'd love to go there again.

our hotel room in Harrison

yo won't find any of commercial board along
the road in US, now it's againts the law, but we
still can find this in Canada.

Harrison Hot Spring is only 90 minutes
from downtown Vancouver city

my daughter, try ou the phone
which I unplugged already..ha..ha

me and my daughter with
Mr. Big Bear in the lobby hotel

my daughter in family pool

The Harrison Resort infront of Lake Harrison

Hazelnut In Canada

display of hazelnut in 'Canadian Hazelnut' Agassiz

Kalo pas 'ngopi' dengan aroma 'hazelnut' kadang penasaran kayak apa sich the real hazelnut itu?..bentuknya kayak apa, pohonnya kayak apa?..maklum dech, aku khan dari Indonesia, di Indo adanya kacang biasa atau disini disebut peanut, sedangkan hazelnut bisa digolongkan keluarga 'nut' juga. Pas ada kesempatan pergi ke Propinsi British Columbia, Canada, tepatnya di daerah namanya Agassiz dan Harrison..naach nemu dech yang namanya 'hazelnut'..sayang-nya Minggu kemaren itu pas akhir Winter dan awal Spring jadi pohon hazelnut masih belum bangun dari hybernation, masih pada kering semua kayak pohon mati, jadinya aku nggak motret. Tapi lumayan puas juga, ternyata dari hazelnut ini bisa dihasilkan hazelnut butter, hazelnut soap (lagi lagi kelupaan dech motret sabun hazelnut ini..). Hazelnut butter rasanya rich banget, gurih banget dan tidak semanis peanut butter.

A hazelnut is a small brown oval or round nut about 2cm in diameter. The edible part of the nut is the seed.
WHERE ARE HAZELNUTS PRODUCED IN British Columbia?
Nut farms are located in the eastern Fraser Valley, mainly around Chilliwack and Agassiz. However, wild hazelnuts, which are much smaller than the domestic varieties, can be found growing throughout most of BC.
hazelnut adalah oval coklat kecil atau kacang bulat berdiameter sekitar 2 cm. Bagian yang dapat dimakan dari kacang adalah benih.

Perkebunan Nut ini terletak di Lembah Fraser timur, terutama di sekitar Chilliwack dan Agassiz. Namun, hazelnut liar, yang jauh lebih kecil daripada varietas dalam negeri, dapat ditemukan tumbuh di hampir seluruh B.C (British Columbia).

hazelnut shop at Harrison Hot Spring, B.C, Canada

HOW MANY HAZELNUTS DO WE PRODUCE?
Hazelnuts are the only nut crop produced commercially in BC, but other nuts like walnuts and sweet chestnuts can be grown in the milder southern parts of BC. We produce about 330,000 kg of hazelnuts annually off about 330 hectares. Production is expected to increase annually over the next decade as the newer plantings came into full production.
BERAPA BANYAK HAZELNUT YANG DIPRODUKSI?

Hazelnut adalah satu satunya tanaman kacang yang dihasilkan secara komersial di BC, tetapi kacang-kacangan lain seperti kenari dan chestnut manis dapat tumbuh di bagian selatan BC. Kami memproduksi sekitar 330.000 kg per tahun hazelnut dari sekitar 330 hektar. Produksi diperkirakan akan meningkat setiap tahunnya selama dekade berikutnya karena tanaman baru.

..A Little Bit of Mexico



map courtesy by lonelyplanet



the hotel room is not that 'fancy' just decend

a view infront of Hotel Faro, Mazatlan
when I was there in March, 2007

My Trip To Baduy

Lovingly posted by Rania Moda, mom to two boys, Dian and Alvin.
Sudah lama aku memendam keinginanku untuk mengunjungi Kampung Baduy. Suku Baduy adalah suatu komunitas penduduk yang tinggal di pedalaman Banten yang masih mempertahankan adat istiadatnya sejak ratusan tahun yang lalu. Mereka hidup hanya bergantung kepada Alam sepenuhnya, tidak menggunakan alat alat modern untuk mempermudah kehidupan. Pucuk dicinta ulam tiba....di Milis tiba tiba ada anggota yang nulis capernya (Catatan Perjalanan) ke Baduy. Langsung deh...japri ke penulis....n nanya....kapan nih ke Baduy lagi...aku gabung yaa......(sok akrab....padahal belum kenal...hehehehehe). Singkat cerita....akhirnya tiba juga saatnya kita pergi ke Baduy, ada sekitar 20 anggota yang mempunyai minat yang sama berjibaku trekking ke Baduy...uniknya...diantara kami belum pernah ada yang ketemu sebelumnya...bener-bener baru pertama kali kopdar.....(gaya anak muda sekarang...kenal cuma di milis....hebatnya internet yaa..!).
I've been wanting to visit a Baduy (Bedouin) village. Baduy tribe is a community of people living in rural Banten still maintain the customs and traditions since hundreds of years ago. They live depends only on the fully Nature, do not use modern equipments to simplify life. My dream looked like would come true when I saw someone at the Mailing List members who wrote a journey to the Baduy. I right away wrote  to author .... asking .... when is the next trip to Baduy again..? ... I'd like to join......( tried to talk as a close friend, infact I don't know anything about this person ... hehehehehe). Long story short .... the time was finally arrived. We went to the Baduy Village, there were about 20 members who have similar interests roll up the sleeves did  trek to Baduy... uniquely ... among us have never met anyone previously ... it's really cyber friends-meeting-in person .....( it's  the young style now in the 21st century known only in the mailing list, I think internet is great).

Chao Tom - The Art of Vietnamese Culinary

Ini photo 'menggiurkan' masakan Vietnam bernama Chao Tom, yang bahan utamanya kepiting dan udang cacah, dibumbui bawang dan merica kemudian di lilitkan di batang kecil tebu..(waduuh jadi inget sate buntel nich..!) kemudian digoreng sampai matang, disajikan dengan kacang tanah sangrai, rasanya gurih dan manis, ini menurut penuturan Ms. Rania Moda yang pertengahan Oktober kemarin berkunjung ke Saigon, Vietnam.
Photo diatas adalah salah satu menu yang disajikan di restaurant 'Quan 94',..dien tien Hoang Q1, Saigon.

These fragrant grilled savory-sweet morsels are a classic Vietnamese appetizer/party food. Perfect for noshing with friends along with a cold beer or dry white wine, well for Indonesian, maybe with warm tea. For Chao Tom, a garlicky shrimp or combination with crab paste is wrapped around a stick of sugarcane, briefly steamed to set the paste and shape, and then grilled to finish. Pieces of the shrimp are typically wrapped in lettuce with herbs and dipped in some nuoc cham dipping sauce. The delicate flavors of Chao Tom  are a wonderful mouthful. And, the sugarcane stick functions both as a great skewer that doesn’t easily burn up and after the shrimp has been removed from the sugarcane, you can chew on the sugarcane for a chase of refreshing sweet sugarcane juice. How cool is that?

Chao tom is a central Vietnamese specialty (there are many kinds of chao from that region but this one is most popular in Vietnam) and you may have encountered it on restaurant menus. .

Central Vietnam or Central (Vietnamese: Miền Trung), formerly also known as Trung phần by Republic of Vietnam, Trung kỳ and Annam under French Indochina) is one of the three regions of Vietnam (Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam). Highlands or Tây Nguyên are often included in the Central. Sometimes the Central and the Highlands are collectively referred to as Central-Highlands. Name of Trung Bộ was used by the king Bảo Đại when he established administrative level higher than the province in 1945, instead of the Trung Kỳ which recalled the French occupation. This name was officially used by government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and is popularly used today.
Salah satu kota terkenal di Central Vietnam adalah Da Nang..(kalo ini sich kayak temen jaman SMA namanya Danang..he..he..)
(Source: VietWorldKitchen, Wilkipedia and the lovely Ms. Rania Moda, mom of two teenage boys from Java, Indonesia)

Ekspedisi Lewis dan Clark

Bagi yang tidak lahir dan besar di Amerika Serikat mungkin tidak begitu kenal siapa Lewis dan Clark, termasuk aku dech, bahkan waktu suatu hari suamiku berbincang dengan ibunya soal Lewis dan Clark ini, tak pikir mereka membicarakan Lois Lane dan Clark Kent dari cerita 'Superman'..ha..ha.., dasar kuping ini ikut ikutan 'culture shock'.
Waktu berkesempatan berkunjung ke Seaside, Oregon, akhir September lalu, barulah aku mengamati patung Lewis dan Clark yang ada di bundaran salah satu sudut kota Seaside yang menghadap ke Samudera Pasifik, diantara hotel hotel berbintang yang bertebaran di sekitar pantai.Patung ini disebut juga 'Turn arround of Lewsi & Clark',..yang artinya mobil yang melewati patung tersebut musti membelok dan melingkari patung tersebut.
Patung tersebut dibangun di Seaside, karena kedua orang tersebut pernah sampai di tepi Samudera Pasifik, tepatnya bermuara-nya sungai Columbia, yang termasuk salah satu sungai besar di Amerika Serikat, dan di masa lalu bersama dengan sungai besar Missouri diselidiki oleh Lewis dan Clark apakah bisa berpontensi menjadi lalu lintas sungai dari Timur ke Barat di bagian Utara Amerika Serikat. Tujuan lain dari ekspedisi ini juga untuk mengetahui sumber sumber alam di daerah Pacific Northwest. Bagi yang belum tau yang disebut dengan Pacific Northwest sekarang ini adalah antara lain negara bagian Washington yang terletak di ujung barat-utara dari Amerika Serikat berbatasan dengan negara Canada dibagian utara, juga negara bagian Oregon, Idaho dan sebagian Montana.

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.

O, Canada

<> Huntingdon,US Canadian Border Welcome Sign British Columbia         Custom and Immigration Sign Bulan September, 2009 kemaren, aku and my family berkesempatan mengunjungi Propinsi British Columbia, Canada. Seperti di Indonesia, Canada menganut sistem Propinsi. British Columbia atau lebih terkenal dengan singkatan B.C adalah propinsi yang terletak paling barat dari wilayah Canada, berbatasan dengan Lautan Pasific di sebelah Barat, dengan State of Alaska (Amerika Serikat) di sebelah Barat Laut, di sebelah Utara berbatasan dengan Yukon dan Northwest territories, sebelah timur berbatasan dengan propinsi Alberta, dan sebelah Selatan dengan Washington State, Idaho State dan sebagian kecil Montana State (AS). Jumlah Propinsi di Canada ada sepuluh dan tiga teritori, beda propinsi dan teritori adalah jika propinsi menginduk langsung dengan Constitution of Act 1867, sedangkan Teritori menginduk pada Pemerintah Federal (ngga akan membahas soal ini dech, soalnya juga ga begitu mudeng!!)

Pantai Pacitan

Story by Riski
Written by Loyalia
Pantai Pacitan terletak di Jawa Timur, Indonesia. Kira kira dapat ditempuh 4 jam dari SOLO, Central Java Indonesia dengan mengendarai mobil/bus.

Pada waktu off duty kita bersama sama dengan beberapa teman pergi holiday ke pantai Pacitan. Melewati beberapa kota kecil termasuk melewati Wonogiri dengan jalan yang berliku dan mendaki akhirnya kita sampai ke pantai Pacitan. Woow..perjalanan yang melelahkan ..but amazing adventure..kita bisa lihat gunung kapur, Bendungan Air Gajah Mungkur dan hutan jati (tau nggak kayu jati di Indonesia paling mahal lho, soalnya anti rayap dan anti keropos, serat kayunya juga cantik).