15yrs later and they all look the same: from left- Erin, Charlotte, Kristy, May, Linn, Jeff, Matt, Gabe, Scott and Randy! A wonderful bunch from Lake Howell High School, Winter Park, FL/USA. How could it have been 15yrs ago ???????????????
Linn posted an adorable pix of Sophie in FB a few days ago. Could not help sharing it, especially with Cheng Chee Hoew and Kah Yun Lam who thinks that Sophie looks like me… in that she and I like Chinese food. LOL
Comments except from Cheng Chee Hoew and Kah Yun Lam 🙂 🙂 🙂
Kathleen Rhodes, Raymond Chan and 24 others like this.
Amy Lam: Olai is the only one of the grandchildren who has darker hair and eyes! Yes and he looks like me… NOT 🙂
Linn Hall: It’s the big blue Chinese eyes and blonde hair.
Amy Lam: All my grandchildren are soooo adorable… life cannot be any better!
Chesper-Joghne Pang: She’s adorable!
Kristy Fessler Bowman: Is she precious or what!
Amy Lam: Appreciations to L&J, M&B for all these 6 adorable & precious grandchildren: Katy, Ellie, JohnW, Sophie, James & Olai! Yeah I remember all their names but plx do not ask me their age 🙂
Helen Yow: Amy, aren’t you fascinated by how Chinese they look!?
Amy Lam: Well, at least they all like Chinese food… LOL!
Soon Tan: O M G !! so so georgeous !!!! carmelxx
Amy Lam: Soon Tan, Tkx Carmel! So Cheng Chee Hoew & cousin Kah Yun Lam, you better gets your eyes tested… hahaha!
John Cheng: in a way, Sophie do look like you. how’s life with you and what’s your next stop? David is asking for you. He submitted his retirement. my son wedding is coming and his quarter is ready. but my mom’s condition is worrying. just hospitalized her today. take care
Amy Lam: Thank you there John Cheng. Next stop: France&Belgium 17 Aug, back to Norway 1 Sep, to Toronto/Canada 15 Sep and then SC/USA 24 Sep. Congratulations with son’s wedding. Hope that you mom’s condition will improve and we can catch up with David in Dec/SIN!
Thanita Rerkrudeekul: So cute!!!
Amy Lam: Thank you everyone especially John Cheng, but do remember to go for your eye check-up! LOL 🙂
A mother becomes a true grandmother the day she stops noticing the terrible things her children do because she is so enchanted with the wonderful things her grandchildren do – Lois Wyse
Finally some blue sky over the weekend and off for walks. Pleasantly surprise to find this museum 5mins walk from the apartment and looking forward to take Olai there when he is older. By then the museum should be done by and all the historical displaying trams renovated. He will be able to climb into them and ring the bells 🙂
On Sporveismuseet/Tram Ways Museum you can journey through 130 years with tram ways history with 35 classic trams back completely to a horse-pull tram 1875 and a Holmenkollbanens tram from 1898. Located at Gardeveien 1, a min walk from Majorstuen subway station.
There is a museum shop exhibiting old signs (including No Spitting, sounds familiar!) and here you can find cards, lapel pins, all types of books, catalogs, calendars and information booklets. The museum guard is most helpful and will answer questions, both around the exhibition and historical conditions in the city.
A well worth NOK30/S$6+ to support the tram system which is environmentally friendly using electricity and not diesel or fuel! The cheapest tram ticket here is app NOR25/S$5 now, and in the good old days the cheapest ticket was NOK 0.40/S$0.08!!
HKG is the only in the world with double-decker trams (locally known as ding-ding) and are a great inexpensive way to see the city. That is one of my favourite cities to take the tram, ie in blue sky and when not in a rush 🙂
The streetcars would get priority in the travel lanes so they’d never get caught in car traffic, as well as signal prioritization, meaning stoplights would turn green when the trams approach them. The streetcars would cut costs because they can carry three-to-six times as many people as a typical bus, and driver salaries make up much of the expense of operating the CTA – Krause/May 2012
Statens vegvesen/The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is s responsible for the planning, construction and operation of the national and county road networks, vehicle inspection and requirements, driver training and licensing. This is located in an industrial area at Risløkka trafikkstasjon, Østre Aker Vei 50 with some interesting sculptures
Thu: had to get a new driver’s licence, the old licence was supposed to be valid till 2050 is no longer so, and understandably. Certainly do not wish to drive when endangering others. Now the new rule is that when one is 75yrs, a certificate from a medical doctor will be necessary.
Expected to be waiting in line but was pleasantly surprised that it was done within 10mins! The young Swedish lady who took care of the application was most helpful. With the new technology, all that was needed was to take a pix in their booth and the pix will be accessible immediately for the red tapes with the signature! Impressive – and the damage NOK295/S$62. Now to wait for the new licence in the mail and that will be another story 🙂
Has been grey and wet for some days and taking pix in these lights have not been ideal. Tkx to B for driving to the NPRA. Took the T-bane/subway from Risløkka stop (where graffiti there is probably considered art!) back to town and walked to Majorstuen.
The rain stopped during the walk and even managed to take some interesting shots in spite of the grey sky! Coincidently, the battery in the camera died after Døvekirken/the church for the deaf and the sky opened up pouring cats and dogs the moment the key opened the front door!
Prayers in sign language and prayers in any language silently can never go wrong where ever you may be!!
None so deaf as those that will not hear. None so blind as those that will not see – Matthew Henry
This post will be edited and updated as interesting pix, etc crosses the path. For all tree lovers, myself included, and AT fellow-hikers especially Mike Freed/LOON, retired professor in forestry.
Will need Mike to identify some of these trees when needed. Pix taken by me except when stated downloaded or when permission is granted by others.
Singapore: Bukit Brown cemetery has one of the many magnificent trees, hopefully the highway will be constructed around them as they are part of our ancestors!!
Singapore: Marine Parade Rd (2022, sadly no longer due to MRT-constructions) PulauUbin and SIN Botanic Gardens/SBG.
29Jul2017: Trees of the Fort Tour in SIN.
CouroupitaGuianensis/CannonballTree and do not get under it, FicusBenghalensis/BanyanTree, CaesalpiniaFerrea/Leopard Tree, CeibaPentandra/KapokTree with a thorny trunk,
MelaleuCacajuputi/PaperBarkTree and the sap is non-sticky oily with no fragrance, PandanusTectorius/ScrewPine, PhaleriaClerodendron/RosyApple with lovely fragrance but poisonous, DelonixRegia/Flame-of-the-Forest if only we could plant them at Orchard Rd and get them to flower at Christmas!
31 Jan 2019: hope that the old BukitTimah Railway Station+the station master lodging (just assuming that is what it is, will edit if incorrect) will be restored to its heydays when the constructions of the MurnanePipelineProject is completed. And that the beautiful big old trees are here to stay.
23Apr2022: tkx to FrancesW for his CratevaReligiosa 加羅林魚木 from HKG. And another beautiful yellow-flame-tree/PeltophorumPterocarpum(tkx to Wendy for the name)located at junction of MarineParadeRd&MarineCres by the ongoing MRT-constructions to cheer me after 2nd-born’s visit.
2008-2018: Malaysia: Kuching, Sarawak at Jalan Reservoir, Main Bazaar, Astana
2009-13: Hong Kong & 江门Jiāngmén/China: where ancestral village and home is located
15Mar2021: appreciations to YeeSengHock for sharing his 2above pix from Scotland & China which can be found in his photo books@CC
Aug2009: Australia: KarriForest and the MargaretRiver area in WA
2012: Ireland: Co Dublin, Kerry & Meath
I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far – John Muir
17Dec2021: pix credits to Geoffrey Keating, former Irish Ambassador in SIN – this magnificent tree is located in Rathgar, Dublin/Ireland directly outside their bathroom window and it forms a thick green curtain in the summer to spare their modesty! It has a distinctive and regular pyramidal shape – almost like a child’s drawing of a tree. It is quite a popular choice for Dublin City Council as a street tree. I had originally identified this as a Tilia cordata Greenspire but it is, in fact, a Corylus colurna or Turkish hazel (and thanks to Phil Grant for helping me with the identification).
Fri30Jul2021: update for spring&summer – pix credits to Geoffrey.
29Jul2021 – tkx to PaulK for this share. CornusKousa, a flowering tree Dogwood – although the atin Cornus sounds kinder! The white flowers are actually bracts around the small flowers. The open pink and then fade to white. On the grounds of Gothic Revival, KnightshayesCt, Tiverton/UK. Built for John Heathcoat Amory, grandson of the inventor John Heathcoat who founded the lace factory of the same name that still innovates in the textile industry down in Tiverton. The house is still revealing treasures but it was the post Second World War garden that first caught the attention of the National Trust.
2012Norway: OSL, Frognerbadet, Ole Vigs gt, Jacob Aalls gt, the only tree (birch) seen from the window where I sleep with a Buddy Car parked there for a few hours, an ideal car for cities! It is a nice surprise to see how these trees (excluding the one in Frognerbadet!) can grow in the middle of this concrete blocks and hard pavements!
Have been blessed with the above trees crossing my path
USA: South Carolina: Sweetgum trees in the fall in SC (Liquidamber Styraciflua). Flows off the tongue when you say it like sugarcane molasses – LOON
AngelOak is a Southern live oak (QuercusVirginiana) located in AngelOakPark on Johns Island near Charleston, SC. AngelOak is estimated to be 500yrs old. It stands 66.5′(20m) tall, measures 28′(8.5m) in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200sq’ (1,600sq m).
USA: Honolulu, HI – Eucalyptus on the left and a Banyan Tree or ‘Strangler Fig’ on the right. Banyan trees can start as a small plant in the crotch of another tree and grow down to the ground with its twisted roots as you see in this photo. Eventually it can outgrow and completely surround the host tree, in effect it will strangle its own host – LOON
Mar2019: MonkeyPod & BayanTree@Hilo, Big Island/Hawai’i, HI/USA. Monkey Pod trees. Some near my house were planted by Mark Twain in the 1800s – LOON 13 Jul
The amazing yellow flowering tree is a Saraca asoca tree, also know as Sorrowless tree. It is believed ShakyamuniBuddha was born under an ashoka tree in LumbiniGarden. In Hinduism the ashoka is considered a sacred tree@Kaneohe, cousin Wilki’s garden; RainbowEucalyptus@DolePlantation & BayanTree@AlaMoana RegionalPark. HNL, HI.
Fri9Sep2022: spanning 1.94acres and rising more than 60ft in the air, Lahaina’s famed banyan tree is a quarter of a mile in circumference and possesses 16trunks, making it the largest banyan tree not only in HI but also in the USA (and one of the most massive in the world).
Some of these trees below are on my bucket list to see.
24 Oct 2015: AfricanBaobab – pix downloaded. Baobab is the common name of a genus of trees (Adansonia). There are eight species. Six species live in the drier parts of Madagascar, one in mainland Africa, and one in Australia. The national tree of Madagascar. Known as the tree of life, with good reason. It can provide shelter, clothing, food, and water for the animal and human inhabitants of the African ‘savannah’ regions. The cork-like bark and huge stem are fire resistant and are used for making cloth and rope. The leaves are used as condiments and medicines. The fruit, called ‘monkey bread’, is edible, and full of vitamin C.
8Nov2016 – pix downloaded. The soils of Borneo are notoriously poor in nutrients, even among rainforests. Plants have many adaptations to cope with this, but paramount to many strategies is having a shallow root system that collects the nutrients as soon as they are freed from the decaying leaf litter. Roots also don’t need to be deep as moisture is almost never in short supply. Because of this, many large rainforest trees utilize the addition of buttress roots to keep them stable. Some research also indicates that these buttresses may also help the trees to competitively exclude nearby neighbors. I couldn’t resist photographing this stunning specimen in the swampy forests of Mulu National Park in northern Sarawak. Nikon D810 | 17-35mm f/2.8 with polarizer | ISO 200 | Aperture f/11
9Jun2017: pix downloaded. AncientBristleconePineForest is home to the oldest trees in the world, BristleconePines. Some of these living trees exceed 4000 years of age and exhibit spectacular growth forms of twisted and beautifully colored wood. The visitor center at SchulmanGrove, CA is open in summer.
Pix downloaded. TuleTree, or El-Árbol0del-Tule, is a Montezuma cypress tree on the grounds of a church in Santa María del Tule in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It measures ~119ft,60m around but is ~116ft,42m high. It’s believed that the tree is ~2,000yrs. Local legend holds that the tree was planted 1,400 years ago by a priest of the Aztec storm god. According to National Geographic, it is the inspiration for an annual festival in Oaxaca – the tree with the largest trunk diameter in the world.
Pix downloaded – BoabTree – Derby,Australia: The squat, bulbous boab has provided water, food, medicine, shelter, even burial crypts for Aboriginals, some of whom regard the tree as sacred. This boab in W Australia is known as the Derby prison tree—erroneously, according to U of Tasmania historian Kristyn Harman and U of Adelaide architectural anthropologist ElizabethGrant. Though the tree was reputed to be a holding cell or staging area for Aboriginal prisoners en route to Derby, Harman and Grant debunk the story as ‘a deliberate move to present it as a dark tourism site displaying colonial triumphs over Aboriginal people.’
7Jun2021: tkx for the below PrisonBoabTree to Garry who is driving around the OutBack in Australia and now in Wyndham, the northernmost town in the Kimberley region of W-Australia, located on the GreatNorthernHighway, 2,210k NE of Perth.
PrisonBoabTree – this huge hollow boab, still alive, was used to imprison Aboriginal men being brought from Derby to Wyndham to face court. 20 men could be crammed inside the tree for the night and any more were chained by neck and leg to the outside of the tree – GarryRogers
Pix downloaded, MangoTree – Naunde, Mozambique, provides more than just shade from the sub-Saharan sun. Like other so-called palaver trees, it’s a traditional setting for storytelling, ceremonies, and regulating village life. ‘A place to meet and talk, to seek compromise and settle disputes, to bridge differences and foster unity,’ wrote Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, from Ghana, in his memoir. ‘If you have a problem and can’t find a solution, you meet again tomorrow and you keep talking.’
2Jul2018: pix downloaded from National Geographic Feb 2017.
5Jan2019: pix downloaded. It’s only one of seven olive trees in the Mediterranean, which are believed to be over 2,000 years old. Although its exact age cannot be verified, scientists from the University of Crete have estimated it to be 4,000 years old. 11Dec 2019: Thinking Olive Tree in Ginosa/Puglia, Italy – both pix downloaded
28Apr2019: pix downloaded – this bridge near RiwaiVillage, India, was formed by training tree roots to knit together. Living tree bridges in India stand strong for hundreds of years. The entwined roots of Indian rubber trees form bridges that grow more durable with time.
30Dec2019: pix downloaded – GreatBanyanTree (pix downloaded) can be found growing in a botanical garden near Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, occupies the better part of 5acres and is more than 250yrs with branches over the AcharyaJagadishChandraBose BotanicalGarden — about the size of a Manhattan city block.
3Jan2020: pix downloaded – located in the small town of Belzoni, SkyLake WMA is an incredible natural wonder. The 3,500-acre area is home to some of the oldest and biggest bald cypress trees on Earth.
14Nov2020: pix downloaded – tallest tree in Wales had been damaged by a storm and was supposed to be cut down, but a better solution was found. Natural Resource Wales, which was in charge of the site, ordered artist Simon O’Rourke to cut down the tree. He thought of a giant hand, which symbolizes the giants, and the tree’s last attempt to reach the sky. O’Rourke needed to add two pieces for the thumb and pinky as the tree wasn’t large enough to form all the entire hand.
Once completed, the sculpture was coated with tung oil, a natural vegetable oil safe for the closeness of the riverways. It’s height: 50 feet (15 metres):
13Mar2021: pix downloaded – when a librarian in Idaho had to remove a dying 110-year-old tree from her property, she instead transformed the stump into a LittleFreeLibrary. https://mymodernmet.com/little-free-library-tree-stump/
15Dec2021 – pix downloaded – WhistlerTree, largest cork oak in the world. Comment from PaulK – This is one side effect of encouraging the drinking of wine. Sustainable harvesting of cork in Portugal, for example, gives a reason for maintaining a very rich semi-natural habitat. High natural history value (and carbon capture) together with economic value. This is how we should be living (and drinking wine!) and tkx for his interesting comment&share – https://www.apcor.pt/en/montado/forest/
22Dec2021: decades ago, the bottom of the thinner tree was damaged and then later cut off. While the damaged tree struggled to survive, the bigger tree began to nurture it.
Tkx to Carolyn Weatherson for this share and do really wonder if this is for real or photoshop and if real where this tree can be found? Real or not, it is nice to encourage what is constructive, good&positive.
Nurturing a feeling makes it proliferate. Choose wisely. Joy, kindness, love, & caring will illuminate your life ― Amy Leigh Mercree
29Jun2022: tkx to PaulC for his share of this beautiful Bougainvillea from Belém, Lisbon/Portugal that is tempting me to enjoy a cuppa at this cafe.
17Jan2024: The tallest bamboo in the world is the tropical Burma native Dendrocalamus giganteus, which can reach 100+feet. One clump in India reached a height of 42meters.
Thu29Feb2024: on this last Feb2024 and a Leap Year, imagine standing in the middle of these jungles&woods – for me it would be as the saying goes, Heaven is a place on earth.
Tue28May2024: opening the front door to start my morning walk with trees – neighbours Magnolia with its beautiful blooms, trees are amazing even when sculptured!
In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful – Alice Walker
Sun16Feb2025: The Majesty Oak, also known as the Fredville Oak, is the largest maiden (i.e. non-pollarded) oak in Britain, if not Europe. It is located in Fredville Park, Kent, in Nonington, UK
20May2025: pink trumpet (lapacho) tree glowing in sunlight in the Pantanal, in Mato Grosso, Brazil/SouthAmerica.
Sat5Jul2025: crossing overhead bridge on StillRd– one of the most iconic trees in our city, the RainTree/Samaneasaman can be identified by its distinct umbrella-shaped and wide spreading crown, which creates a great tunnel effect when planted in rows along our streets. Its compound leaves fold up at night or during rainy days when the sky is overcast.
Tue22Jul2025: one of my favourite Heritage Trees@SingaporeBontanicGardens/SBG. Images and pix do not do justice to this spectacular Heritage Tree – Ceiba Pentandra/Kapok or SilkCotton, you need to be there to see it.
Sun: Frognerbadet=the Frogner Baths, located adjacent to Frognerparken opened in 1956 and doubles as a public bath and swimming pool and a professional swimming venue. It is usually crowded in the weekends when the weather permits. The pools are built in a way that one can view the upper pool thru’ glass windows (ariel pool pix downloaded). Also, the festival Norwegian Wood is hosted within its premises.
1967 was the last visit to this public swimming pool. The B/W pix are in SIN and would be interesting to see the changes after 45yrs! Entry charges have certainly changed, costing NOK83/S$17 per entry today and there is water slide which was not there in 1967 (SIN it cost .50c per entry for seniors!!). Did not swim but the guard kindly allowed FOC entry when going down memory lane was the explanation 🙂
Næringslivets hus/NHO=The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise is Norway’s major organisation for employers and the leading business lobby. This interesting building with a stone door was completed in 1960. Their mission is to create and sustain conditions that secure the competitiveness and profitability of business and industry and thereby maintain the basis for a good standard of living, sound economic growth and sustainable development.
Thu & Fri: visit from Berit and John.
Random pix in the area including street music and a beggar! At least the street music people are trying even when their performances are not for all ears!!
I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve –Xavier Cugat
Now comes the boring but important as this has to do with budget and expenses (downloaded pix on R column). Have often been asked how it is that one can travel in this life’s journey and the way to do so is to go by budget airlines with only a backpack not more than 10kg as hand-baggage. KK mentioned that I had a monotonous wardrobe when traveling and I asked if he is willing to pay for my first-class air tickets and carry the extra baggage?? 🙂
Complains about unsuitable times, baggage allowances, etc etc with budget airlines are quite valid. For this life’s journey, the most important is that the mode of transport from A to anywhere has to be affordable and if that is what one can afford, then go with the flow. Whining with buts and ifs will not get anywhere except frustrations or perhaps the urge to travel is not within… 🙂 🙂
Am aware that without family and friends’ kind hospitality, would not have been able to travel this way the past 10yrs. Most grateful and blessed to have them. Will have only manage one trip per year if hotels are in the picture.
The recent Ireland trip:
Bus from OSL-RYG (Moss, app 1hr S of OSL)-OSL: NOK310/S$65
Ryanair from RYG-DUB-RYG: NOK331/S$68
Transfer from DUB airport: EUR10/S$16
Train from DUB-Castleisland-DUB: EUR55/S$86
TOTAL: S$235
Of course that is not including food and other misc expenses which would usually total to app 5 times more but still worth it to be able to spend time with family and friends who one can only catch up with once in a while. The previous trip in Ireland was 2004, at Brother Joseph McNally’s (1923-2002) Inauguration of Counsellor II, a bronze sculpture erected by the people of SIN in his memory.
The sculpture measuring 2.9m is situated on the grounds of the National Museum of Ireland-Country Life in Co Mayo, Ireland is a tribute to all the Irish De La Salle Brothers who by their life work in SIN have helped to transform SIN from a 3rd World to a 1st World country.
I know that the arts are an expression of spiritual values – Brother Joseph McNally
Sun: breakfast at Caffery’s (1640) in Batterstown, Co Meath where Mick and the boys gather! The old section has much history and personality.
100,000 thanks to Ann & Mick for their warm hospitality and great to catch up with Ivan & Karl too. Glad to meet Trish and the twins, also Jack with a wooden heart 🙂
The drive from Kilcloon to Port Reachrann/Portrane=landing place of Reachrainn took app 40mins, appreciations to Ann. Poor Stephen was in a job accident, lost his 5 toes but still in good spirits. Have not seen him since 1974. Today he lives in Portrane with wife Trisha. Local and only pub here, The Brook is where the movie Jerry Maguire*** (Tom Cruise) was filmed.
The Fingal Dublin region is renowned for its old world charm and rich heritage. Deriving its name from the Gaelic words Fine Gall=land of the fair-haired stranger in reference to the Vikings who settled in the area from the 8th Century onwards.
Martello towers are small defensive forts built during the 19th century from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. 40ft/12m high (with two floors), their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. Bro Les wants to buy a Martello to renovate for a holiday home!
In the distance is Lamby Island (must be the Viking influence!), a privately owned island. With a name like Lamby where Lamby=Lam town in Norwegian, it would be good to own a Martello with Lamby in the background 🙂 🙂
St Ita’s Hospital is an impressive collection of Victorian red brick buildings which dominate the peninsula. St Catherine’s Church and Bobs Castle are the ruins on Burrow Rd where Stephen & Trisha live. 3 above pix credit goes to Stephen.
Tóg go bog é, my favourite Irish phrase!
Yeah… more or less up to date with the Irish’s journey postings 🙂 🙂 🙂
How about a little piece of integrity in this world that is so full of greed and a lack of honorability that I don’t know what to tell my son! Except, ‘Here. Have a look at a guy who isn’t yelling ‘Show me the money’… – 1996 movie Jerry Maguire
Mon: Alexandra School & College Earlsfort Terrace (1765) where a naive young boarder age 15yrs was first exposed to the world! Alex celebrated her 200yrs in 1965 with a formal dress dance at the Shelborne Hotel, a 5* and historical hotel (1824) then and now! Unfortunately no pix from those days but the memories are quite in tact. Today Alex has moved to Milltown and it is now the Conrad Hotel with University College Dublin/UCD still standing majestically opposite.
16 Waterloo Rd, where siblings and cousins of the LAM family could be found from the late 1950s-1970s! Was also staying there at short periods from 1966. Directly across the road was WahYan House/for HKG students, conveniently located to watch TV! Here everything looks the same, it was like stepping back into adolescence 🙂
Grand Canal: lived in the short yellow building on Grand Parade for a some months. The tiny shop (with the candy-stripped shades) in the middle of Leeson St still exists where I bought my bar of chocolate. After a few too many drinks! driving over this slight hump over the canal was like riding a roller-coaster 🙂 🙂
Courtney and Mitchell House: lived in DUB’s first modern apartment blocks on Appian Way from 1969-1974. Today there are fences build around these 2 well-kept blocks and still looking very much the same!
Was a frequent visitor there!! Appreciations to May LAM-YUNG who married cousin Lock. She was and still is a wonderful chef. Stillorgan Rd used to be a 2-lanes road and today it is a 6-lanes highway leading to N1. Was unable to even find the sign for the road name!!
Ospidéal an Rotunda/Rotunda Hospital (1745), Parnell Street, where Linn was born. This bundle of joy arrived 18 Mar 1974 0400hrs. Was praying hard to not get caught in the St Patrick’s Day Parade in O’ Connell St 🙂 🙂 🙂
What a wonderful way to end the day, a 4hrs lunch at The Church**** with John, Stephen & Trisha. Another good memory to add. This most interesting church and it was a functioning St Mary’s Church until 1964. Arthur Guinness, Founder of Guinness Brewery was married here in 1761. Highly recommend anyone to visit this location between the junctions of Mary & Jervis St.
Thanks John for introducing this excellent location and appreciations to Stephen for the drive down memory lane!
But if at church they would give some ale. And a pleasant fire our souls to regale. We’d sing and we’d pray all the live long day, Nor ever once from the church to stray – William Blake
To those who are celebrating, enjoy and stay safe!
Wed: thank you to Stephen & Trisha for their kind hospitality and it is great to finally catch up after nearly 40yrs! Good to meet their daughter Samantha and grandson Stephen.
Dep DUB 0700hrs in rain and arrived OSL on schedule in lovely summer weather after 2hrs on Ryanair. Took about 1min and got this cheerful recognition smile from Olai. He will be 10months tomorrow and a joy to be with. The last 2 days in Ireland was a journey to face issues which have finally come to a closure!
Back tracking the Ireland trip…
Tue: wet and grey. Lunched at Waterside House Hotel Cafe & Bristol**in Domhnach Bat/Donabate=fort of the ferry, a small suburban coastal town app 20km NE of DUB. Stephen & Trisha got married at the St Patrick’s RC Church here. Was hoping to do the cliff walk but unfortunately the winds and rains picked up when we got to the coast.
Newbridge House(1736) located on 145hectare park & the ruins of Lanestown Castle.
Loreto Convent in Baile Brigín/Balbriggan (1909). Downloaded from:
Drove down another memory lane, Loreto Convent in Balbriggan, 32km N of DUB where my teaching days in 1972-73 took place. The memory was not coherent and the new red-brick buildings did not help. Eventually found the main gate and there was a slight opening in the memory 🙂
More memory lanes on this trip to be posted and editing to some of the Ireland trip postings. It has been a wonderful trip but need to rest and get the thoughts together to close this chapter 🙂 🙂
Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt that thematic closure is never attainable – Gene Wolfe
Fri: interesting historical tour and lunched (delicious soup) at Castletown House***Celbridge Co Kildare. This Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, forms the centrepiece of a 550-acre/2.2 km2 estate. Sold to developers in 1965, the estate is now divided between State and private ownership.
Baois Uí Chongaile/Conolly’s Folly, a.k.a. The Obelisk or originally The Conolly Folly, is an obelisk structure located near Celbridge and Maynooth within Castletown Estate (containing Castletown House), which contains two follies, both commissioned by Katherine Conolly, the philanthropic widow of Speaker William Conolly to provide employment for hundreds of the poor of Celbridge when the famine of 1740-41 was at its worst.
The Obelisk was built in 1740 after a particularly severe winter. As a folly, it could be seen from the back of Castletown some 2.5mi/4 km away.
Following two centuries of internationally renowned scholarly activity on the Maynooth campus the National University of Ireland,/NUI, Maynooth was established under the 1997 Universities Act as an autonomous member of the federal structure known as the National University of Ireland.
With an amazing chapel and Garden of Eden, this would be the place to tempt me to be a student again 🙂
Sat: Cill Chluain/Kilcloon=Church of the meadow. There is a post office, parish church, a national school, a school for autistic children and a branch of the Irish Credit Union in the back-country roads here.
Mick & Ann’s Inis Fennel is one of the houses in Brownstown parish. More parishes within the Kilcloon bigger area and all the parishes make up of app 600+houses.
Interesting gravestones and chasing the moon on this windy chilly night. The patron of the parish church is Oliver Plunkett, bishop and martyr, and was the first church dedicated to his memory.
A sculpture of Oliver Plunkett is featured in the Kilcloon Millennium Garden.
Amy Lam: Olai is the only one of the grandchildren who has darker hair and eyes! Yes and he looks like me… NOT 🙂
Thanita Rerkrudeekul: So cute!!!
This post will be edited and updated as interesting pix, etc crosses the path. For all tree lovers, myself included, and AT fellow-hikers especially Mike Freed/LOON, retired professor in forestry.
14Nov2020: pix downloaded – tallest tree in Wales had been damaged by a storm and was supposed to be cut down, but a better solution was found. Natural Resource Wales, which was in charge of the site, ordered artist Simon O’Rourke to cut down the tree. He thought of a giant hand, which symbolizes the giants, and the tree’s last attempt to reach the sky. O’Rourke needed to add two pieces for the thumb and pinky as the tree wasn’t large enough to form all the entire hand.
22Dec2021: decades ago, the bottom of the thinner tree was damaged and then later cut off. While the damaged tree struggled to survive, the bigger tree began to nurture it.
