snousle

Assorted pictures from recent travel, with pithy commentary.

Bonsai tree at the Morikami. This one, unlike others, is a little bit of a fake - the piece of wood is not part of the plant. The gardens are very nice, but the spaghetti of black irrigation tubes is typical. They get it 95% right but that 5% really sticks out.

Interesting bulbophyllum (?) species at AOS garden, I had never seen in real life before:

When I was a kid, I was completely transfixed by a book with a photo of this epidendrum species. It was like seeing porn for the first time; I could hardly believe it was real. I don't recall the name but have since seen it in real life on just a couple of occasions:

Schomburgkias are very hard to photograph.

Very impressed by this succulent's flower, but my camera does not do red very well.

Heron in Morikami Gardens:

Mt. Ranier from

danthered and

bitterlawngnome's window. Wow, do they ever get a beautiful sunrise. The mountain looks huge to the eye, yet requires a lot of zoom. This is pretty much at the limit of what the iphone camera can do in terms of zoom and light, but I kind of like the effect.

Strange little cache of cigarettes in a Ft. Lauderdale park:

The ship my boss chartered for a dinner cruise with Japanese drug company execs.

A rather nice table set for dinner...

Stateroom with snoozing Japanese executive. He was a perfect manga stereotype - thick glasses, brushy moustache, slept through everything.

Unusually good bento at Cornell Cafe, at the Morikami garden:

Lobster roll, distinctive for its simplicity and high price:

Joined

danthered and

bitterlawngnome for bear coffee in Seattle at a seemingly-independent yet Starbucks-owned cafe with lots of sofas. They advertised the "worlds best sardine plate" so of course I had to try it. Chile paste and ground mustard seed were unexpected but well chosen condiments. Very pleased to see some out of the box thinking in places like this:

Helpful sign:

Here's something odd - seen from an airplane window maybe over Arizona? I believe the pattern is cut into the vegetation, but why? Never seen anything like it.