Something new- solowheel

(the new blogspot has more features... including showing me the drafts i never published... here are four)

we've moved in and more pictures coming soon.

But in the mean time something different;

here's a new version of the segway, but like a unicycle.

Like a stripped-down Segway, Inventist's new Solowheel is geared for the mobile urbanite. The "self-balancing electric unicycle" operates through gyroscopic technology, which a 1000-watt rechargeable lithium-ion battery powers. On a full charge (which takes about 45 minutes), the Solowheel lasts two hours—but the battery actually recaptures energy when going downhill.

Weighing only 20 pounds and consisting of little more than a simple wheel with a fold-up foot platform on either side, you can easily throw it in your backpack or briefcase once you reach your destination, or carry it by its convenient handle.

Spanish Holiday snaps

Long time between posts- blogspot changed settings while i was in Spain and its taken me a while to find out the mail address i need to log in!

Ahh technology.

Spent 3 weeks working and touring Spain- was fantastic. I really enjoyed all parts, although it was less of a holiday than previously as we were trying to generate content for www.bigfoottraveller.com and www.fbt.com.sg.

And I have a new Apple rather than the old HP, so some changes since I was last on the blog.

Here are the pictures

we went to the flamenco at the opera house in Barcelona- despite the noise i managed to fall asleep- i blame jet lag! the flamenco was good.

We visited the S A Damm Brewery near Barcelona Airport

and our hotel overlooked Casa Mila, by Gaudi, and we went also to Park Guell also by Gaudi. Gaudi really made what was a typical European city into something magic.  Me at Park Guell

also went to the National Plaza de Toro... and here's me avoiding the Bulls

Then off to Toledo

I'm trying to find out where we are and where to go next, Toledo was great, different, a challenge to find parking

so i got from the bridge to here

so i was delighted when we stopped for lunch

then off south and we stopped by and looked at Don Quixotes windmills

great sky

thence to Ronda which was a great little town... and you can tell i'm happy with the food

and after Ronda we lounged in Granada for half a week spending a day at the Alhambra- just fr this the trip to Span was worthwhile

and here's me in Granada after a hard day's touring on the new apple

 go to Spain, eat tapas and REAL Sangria, enjoy jamon, find out the difference between Serrano and Iberico, eat fried anchovies and Inedit beer, admire Gaudi, and siesta.

Sounds of Silence 1

We didn't realize how noisy our apartment was, until we tried to sleep.

We are delighted to have restaurants and transport links so close- unless its 2am and the patrons from the coffeeshop are noisily waiting for the last bus, right outside out window.

Our Architects in stalled some glass shutters- see picture above-

The source of the noise is not all from the front windows- it comes from the jackroof which you can see from below

and here, while we were building the open jackroof above the central bathroom

we have picked up a small architectural fault- the sound specialist- Ned from Noisestop Systems pointed out- the noise enters from the jackroof as there are only some louvers to keep the noise out- but the open-topped bathroom acts as a drum, amplifying the sound behind us.

So we will seal the the jack roof- and finally the insulating glass has arrived, and Uncle Tan has been asked to install.  Here it is lying on the kitchen floor

its solid and the glass has a wide gap between the two layers.

So we have also to insulate the front windows similarly... so we can love the food and the transport....

without the noise from our friendly local #16 Bus!

Recycling Idea copied

I blogged about our Airline Carts that we had refurbished before- we have two old Ansett Australia carts that were a little worse for wear, that Uncle Tan our builder refurbished for us.

And now I see online a company is doing this for a living;

These airline trolleys have been refurbished by Skypak, a German company founded by Peter Jorge Fischer. The carts come in various unique designs and colors, there’s even one that’s made from 24 carat gold. It’s certainly a stylish way to store books and clothes, to CDs and dining ware. A Skypak trolley starts from EUR 1,280.

Nice, but i think i like ours better

the pre-holiday

So in September we are off for three weeks in Spain.

And so to get into the holiday mood, we had a pre holiday in Phuket. AT the Westin-Siray Bay, on the East coast of Phuket Island, was a very nice spot and a very relaxing holiday courtesy of their one-year anniversary special deals. And best be quick as the place looked a bit worse for wear after only a year.

Here are some shots from flikr of the place.

here's the view of the resort from the small beach, which was full of crabs in the evening.

and here's the view from the room

and the view of the resort form the hill side. It looks great but when the temperature is hot, humidity high, its a bugger to climb up that hill.

we even had a couple of massages to put us in the right frame of mind, the Spa area was very well laid out and while expensive was worth it.

Insadong

On the way back from Mongolia we had our typical 9 hour lay over... this time- with three colleagues- it was worthwhile taking a trip into Seoul and seeing a bit of Insadong, the old centre of Seoul, well an old centre of Seoul.

We started off at the Dumpling Koong a very famous dumpling restaurant in the middle of Insadong

The meal starts off with three kinds of kimchi: the standard cabbage, radish (gakdugi), and watery, non-spicy radish (mul kimchi).

The boiled North Korean dumplings ( mandu) are substantial pouches stuffed mostly with ground pork, tofu, and chives. Although fat and plump, they're not heavy; the skin is thin but not as thin as Chinese dumplings with just a bit of chew, and the filling is satisfyingly light.These KaeSoong dumplings were succulent and very tasty- although the dumpling was the same- whether in soup, on its own or with rice cake.

This is before we started eating, smiles played over everyone's faces once we tasted the KaeSong dumplings.

After that it was time for a walk around Insadong

I enjoyed the dragon beard candy "acts" along the main road- it appears they have all been featured doing their "show" on various Korean TV channels. It consists of many very fine strands of sugar, giving it the imagined appearance and consistency of a fine beard, like that of a dragon – hence its name. 

 I also had a very nice Mulberry smoothie to assist my complexion

And then we rejoined to have some more food- bulgogi- well sort of. We retraced our steps back to the main road and found a quaint old barbeque restaurant.

Its called the parksee Moolkoo on Jebee- i looke dit up ont he internet and its name draws inspiration from a Korean legend about a sparrow that rewards a kind farmer with magical fruit.

the leather bankette where we sat has its own small water feature.

and we had a large plate of bulgogi with chilli sauce, and

 and enormous plate of sea food with rice cakes- both were delicious

then it was time to sit in the rush hour and crawl back to Incheon Airport.

Treat in Terelj

Terelj is about a hour out of Ulaan bataar and we journey there last week to show some colleagues what the place looked like and that mongolia wasn't all boring UB.

this is typical of the countryside around terelj

 The scenery remained magnificent, even though it is getting more and more built up.

We eneded up at the 5 star Terelj resort, which was a shock- to see a place this nice inside and out in the middle of nowhere... its one and a half hours out of UB, inside the  Gorkhi-Terelj National Park.


My favourite Russian President was there

and the desserts we had to reward ourselves for the trip were also delightful.

profiteroles with real heavy fresh cream inside

and apple khuurshuur (similar to a McDonalds apple pie, or an apple cuffy puff)... the gelato was superb too