It's been awhile -- I am boring!

It's been awhile since I posted and I guess it is because I am basically a pretty boring person; often choosing sedentary over activity. I have been planting and taking care of my plants though. They are on the deck and enjoy the (arguably) warmer weather here in Chicago. This year, I spent only about $100 on plants -- which is significantly less than past years.

Most of my plants came back this year -- which is great! The Clematis are blooming like crazy -- the Josephine is gorgeous, and I am seeing the Crystal Fountain for the first time this year. Seems like the Crystal Fountain will need another year to get fully established. One of the Brugmansia finally bloomed at the end of the season last year but I think it is in need of a little more time to establish itself again this year. I sort of cut the tree in half in late winter and rooted the top half again. The bottom half had root so it just put out additional branches. I am hoping that the Brugmansia will bloom mid season this year as opposed to late season like last year. From what I saw, the blooms are large and very fragrant.

The plumeria all came back this year as well. Some took a little longer than others but they are all putting out leaves now. Don't know if I am going to see bloom anytime soon but I am just glad that they are all alive. I got a Clivia from a friend last year that was a baby from his mother plant. I didn't expect much but, the little darling, is blooming right now. What I did was started watering in early Spring and used some Bloom Plus fertilizer, it didn't do anything for a while and then when the weather was warm enough (above 50 degrees), I put it outside. I kept watering but didn't really paid much attention and then the other day -- lo and behold, there was a flower scape. I have 2 other baby Clivia that I bought last year, they are getting bigger and putting out more leaves. Hurray! I started a bunch from seeds as well last year and of the lot, five survived. Will keep working on them but who knows when they will become a tree like plant!

The Goldfish plant was looking pretty sad during the winter after having lost quite a bit of leaves but it is rebounding well since it has gone back outside. New branches are coming out and it looks like it is going to be pretty full looking by mid season. Don't know if it will bloom this year but the other one is blooming so I am not complaining.

The Michelia Alba also rebounded well. I went on a three week vacation in the winter this year and when I got back, the leaves on the Michelia Alba had all dried up. I watered it on and off during the winter and in the spring it started putting out buds. Some of the buds are now branches and the tree looks a littel lop sided but who cares. As long as it is alive and happy and will, eventually, bloom for me, I am happy.

The fuchsia also came back strong this year. Hasn't started blooming yet but I am expecting it to bloom soon.

The Amaryllis Lemon Lime also bloomed in the winter and even had a seed pod even though I did not propagate it this year. One of the bulbs seems to be putting out a side-shoot as well. I stared some from seeds too and three survived. I repotted them this year into one large bowl. I noticed they are starting to have their own little bulb. How cute!

Tuber rose came back too! I think it decided to do it by itself. I had it sitting on the window sill in the kitchen and then, all of a sudden, little green shoots started coming out. I think it decided that it was warm enough to take a peek.

So, that's all of the major plants I have -- at least those that I can name and those that I can't are doing well too.

Now, a moment of silence for the casualties -- Alocasia Black Mask, Brugmansia Coral Pink, Euphorbia, Star Jasmine, and a Gardenia plant. Rest in Peace.

Chick Car?

I was in Detroit for a day for a project planning meeting and had to drive from DTW to Clinton, MI. Went to Hertz to pick up my rental car and they gave me --- wait for it --- a RED VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE CONVERTIBLE. Full leather interior and everything. It was a zippy car to drive but I just couldn't help feeling a little CHICKY! Drove for about 100 miles round trip and it used only about 7/8 of a tank of gas (about 2.5 gallon). Much as I like that, it is not a car that I would consider buying -- it was really noisy inside the car when you are driving. You have to turn the stereo way up to hear what's playing and you can't really talk on the phone either. I can't even hear the GPS' directions when I am driving so I had to keep looking at the map when I have to make quick turns in the city.

Plumeria Bit the Dust

The Scott Pratt that I successfully rooted last year bit the dust today. It fell over the railing of the deck at the end of the season last year and broke into two. The lower stub is still in the pot with roots (I think -- can't really see into the pot) and I tried to re-root the upper stub. It seemed to be doing fine for a while but then the cutting got softer and softer and browner and browner. So, I finally decide to pull it out of the dirt to see what's going on. The center core is mushy and not white and milky. I decided to cut away the brown stuff but, as I slowly move up the stem, I found that they were all brown and rotting. Sigh . . . so, into the garbage it got chucked! Let's hope the lower stump put out a branch or something. Sigh!

It's DONE!

Yea . . . it's done and it is final! Jason Castro is no more. HOORAY!!!!!! It's about time that America gets it right! COME ON . . . FINAL FOUR???? What were we thunking?

Vietnam to China

Talk about all day on the bus. An epiphany -- never join a tour that requires a change of hotel everynight and spend most of the time on the bus!!!! So, this is the third day of Chinese New Year. We boarded the bus after breakfast to head to Vietnam's border town. Again, everything is closed. We barely found a restaurant that is opened and while we were eating the tour guide took our passport to the immigration office for stamps and clearance. So, after lunch, we waited for the tour guide to come back and then it's on the bus again to go to the border with our already stamped passport. We waited for our "alloted" time slot to cross the border. So, you show the immigration officer your passport with the stamp and then you have to drag your luggages across this long bridge to the other side and go through the same procedure except that you have to complete the visitor card for China and then -- get this -- climb down this huge flight of steps with your luggages. Needless to say, I had to help my parents with theirs. Oh, what a workout. Then it is back on the bus for a long road trip to Nanning. Had to take a little golf cart to the bus parking lot first. Good thing they were able to put all the luggages on one golf cart. When we got to the parking lot, guess what, it is the same dingy bus that we had complained about in Vietnam. The uproar was so loud that it might have registered on the Ricter scale. Well, there was really nothing they could do because the tour company is based in Guilin and we're in some middle of no-where border town. So, we boarded the bus, complaining the whole time. Half way to Nanning the bus broke down. This did not go over well with the passenger and the men on the bus actually had to push the bus to get it started. That was the highlight of the trip. Everyone was in a foul mood by that time. When we got to Nanning, all we could say was, "I wanna see your boss".

Vietnam Day 2

So, woke up early and had to pack everything into my bag -- we're going to Ha Long Bay today. Had great expectations for breakfast -- Pho! But alas, that is not to be. Supposedly Pho is south Vietnam cuisine and so is not available (well, not exactly) in the north. The northern fare seems to be milder in taste and the broth fresher. Also, my favorite Vietnamese spring roll is also missing. Very disappointing. After breakfast it is a long bus ride to Ha Long Bay. Again, it was like a ghost town, everything was closed. Upon arrival, we checked into the hotel and went to lunch. After lunch, we did a bus tour of the city of Ha Long Bay and then went on a boat ride of the Bay. The ride itself was nice enough but again the boat is pretty dingy. The Europeans got this ride -- a nice boat came alongside ours and it was like a huge junk with private balconies and airconditioning and a smaller speed boat in tow in the back. The scenery was pretty amazing though. The ride was smooth and the limestone mountains with uniquely shaped natural formations (one that looks like a rooster, another that looks like a dog and one that looks like a chinese junk) and limestone caves to visit. There's also an abundance of fishing activities and we were able to visit a "kelong" where the fishes that are caught are housed in a floating home with nets placed in holes in the floor. Also, the abundance of fresh tropical fruits being hawked by motorized sampans was a nice touch too but soon became an annoyance. Lunch on the boat was nice and all in all a good day. The day ended with a underwater puppet show, where the puppeteers are waist high in FILTHY algea infested water and a folk dancing demonstration. The puppets are essentially controlled by bamboo poles that are submerged in the murky water. The folk dancing demonstration provided a good opportunity to appreciate different tribal costume.

Vietnam

This actually happpened in February but I am only posting it now -- yeah, yeah -- so I procrastinated. In any case, while I was in Singapore for my somewhat irregular visit, my parents and I took a trip to Vietnam and China over the Chinese New Year holiday. A word of advise, don't go to Vietnam during Chinese New Year (at least not the first few days) -- everything is CLOSED. Granted, we didn't go south, only north Vietnam, but from the looks of things, seems like it is a prevalent practice. We arrived in Hanoi in the afternoon on the first day of Chinese New Year. Immigration was really slow -- don't know if this is a phenomenon of the holiday or if it is just how things are. There were twenty four of us in the group and perhaps the smallest and dingiest bus on the lot was there to pick us up. Most of the people in the group are from Singapore and, as Singaporeans go, started complaining abuot the bus. There is a certain amount of legitimacy to the complaints -- the bus is too small -- really, it is. There is this huge bump inside the bus where the wheels are so even if they put seats there, you can't really comfortably seat a person there. The luggage compartment is too small -- come on, its a Singaporean group and this is day one -- we haven't started shopping yet! It was so small that they had to put some luggages stacked in the back seats of the bus, which is a major safety issue. If the driver should have to perform an emergency brake, the bags would have gone flying and someone would either end up with a nasty bruise to the melon or be decapticated. Anyway, bus issue aside, we went sight seeing directly from the airport. There really wasn't anything much to see -- everything was closed. The only place open was the Ho Chih Minh Memorial Square and you can't get too close to see anything and a temple. Next to the temple was a museum but that was closed to. After that, it is dinner and the hotel to sleep.