Here and There Blog

The one day I don't bring my camera we have excitement! We walked out of work and into a protest on using dogs as lab animals for testing. The protest was fairly long and centered around dogs. The dogs joined in but later we saw some tired out dogs wanting a rest.   I was sort of ready to join in. This dog is looking at me as if to say "where's my burger?" I was standing in front of Carl's Jr.   I wish their protest well. I saw lots of iPhone reporters like me, a police and security escort, but no major news cameras.

Albert Park - the clock is keeping time. I was walking fast yesterday! A photo every 5 minutes.  Winter bloom  The only way to center photograph this would have been to stop traffic and run in the street.

Art and ice rink near the Civic Center downtown.  Various buildings in the city center. 2:30 and then 2:35. Was walking fast.   Sky Tower from Albert Park.

I'm back in New Zealand and spending the first day right by the airport so I can sleep and adjust before moving to the city and working. I have a garden room so it's not even the normal hotel or street view. Kind of nice for a change! On the downside, there is nothing around the hotel so I'm stuck, which probably accounts for the lower price.  Still, it's not raining right now and I have flowers outside to keep me company.

Giant aliens fighting giant robots, with people inside. When the aliens attack, humans fight back. As far as end of the world, alien attack movies go, Pacific Rim is okay. Mindless, colorful, lots of explosions, no thought process needed. You could do worse on your movie pick but also could do better. The aliens and a crazy Hannibal Chau (played by Ron Perlman) were the best things in this movie. The robot teams all looked alike. Blond hair, blue eye'd, buff guys. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was who. There was only one female lead, and then one female on TV saying nothing, and another female robot operator who might have shouted once in battle. So sad not to have strong female representation. The movie is slightly over 2 hours long and as usual, could have been 20 minutes shorter. We see an awful lot of the aliens shooting out of the water, okay, that was neat, having the Drift/Wormhole in space go through the ocean. Still we saw it frequently. Three of us went, two wi...

Home from hot and humid countries and next up, cold country. One set of clothes out and a new set in. Small bag packed for 3 night business stay starting tomorrow. The cold country gets followed up with a US work trip upon return and no time for home. Sometimes I don't know how I even do it. By this time next month I will have already gained top status of 3 of the major hotel chain programs. And that's just work related. I have 3 suitcases that I use for various trips and at any given time, two of them are packed for different trips. Right now, both are on the living room floor, and seriously need attention. Procrastination has always been my friend. I am much more motivated when panicked. That means today, Pacific Rim wins and I'm off to the movies. Tomorrow is soon enough to zip the suitcase(s) closed.

I mean this. Of all the meals I've had in Ecuador, they've been o.k. Nothing special but if the food is edible, then it works. Today we ended the week with traditional cold cerviche and the popcorn that I thought was for snacking, goes on the cerviche. Different. Lunch was seafood with coconut curry sauce. Not spicy at all even though it looks it. The sweet plantains were so good that I wanted to steal them from other's plates. I resisted.   This was a first. No bugs, nothing bad, simply a good meal. In Ecuador, it doesn't get better than that!

A few last photos from the historic district. I liked the contrast of this building through the trees. Not historic and sometimes that doesn't matter. This trip has come to an end and I'm off once again!  1596 - the founding of Monterrey as the capital of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.  

 

Neptune's Fountain is worth a look. Located in the middle of the historic walking area (Macroplaza) the sculptures have plenty of drama going on in Neptune's wake.  

Plenty of these guys are found along the historic area also. Due to the massive sun beating down on my, I curtailed my photo taking to the areas of "less sun." Ride on!

Of all the sculptures in the historic area, this is my favorite. Generals on horses, you see the world over. Greek gods, you see a lot of them too. But big, giant, stylized horses...not so much.  

Uck, it's hot! On my next trip when I'm complaining about being cold, I'll try and remember how miserable it was by 10 am in Monterrey. That hot, sun wants to do you in type of hot. Not the best time to do your mad dash through the historic district but here I was. Located along an easy stroll, the historic area has intact churches that are still used today. The bells don't sync up so you'll hear an echo on each hour and they chimes begin. Sometimes the clock towers peek out from other buildings and sometimes you can walk right into them. In the summer, I recommend starting this walk by 7 am or bring a dark umbrella and plenty of water.

Located in Mira Mesa, in the usual start-up garage industrial setting, Intergalactic Brewing Company has the space/SF theme going. Like Ballast Point with the fishing theme, this is a fast way to brand your beer. The sampler of 5 for $8 is a good value but you can buy individual samples at varying price or full pints when you find a beer you like. We were all divided on our favorite. Homer chose That's No Moon IPA as his favorite, LJ liked the Red Planet Rye and surprise to me, the Space Session was my favorite! Space Session being the lightest beer and my second favorite was the Orion Stout. The IPA's which are normally my favorite, didn't do it for me here. What is good is the selection variety. It's not a one trick pony and there were 12 selections available. When a keg goes out, the sign comes down and Black Sun IPA must have been popular because one minute it was on the board and the next it was gone. Drink fast people! There's a front entrance but it...