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This very nice recreational area is just outside of Baptist hospital on Kendall Drive. The local ducks hang out here at their permanent home and they are fed by the people who come here for the great outdoor air or for exercise. They feed the ducks too. There is a lot of visiting traffic so the drivers are warned to slow down and watch out for the friendly and fearless feathered creatures that live here.
Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) is a beautiful fruit grown in Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, and Israel. The fruits are born from flowers of the cactus genera, and they come in 3 colors: 2 with pink skin, having different colored flesh (one white, one red,) while another type's skin is yellow with white flesh. Dragon fruit is low in calories and offers numerous nutrients, including Vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, plus fiber and antioxidants, all good for your heart.
Here it is grown at Banjong Orchids.
If you don't pay attention, you'd miss the real name of this little cafe inside Miami's Dadeland village. You can read Sgt. Cafe, but you'd miss the word Pepper which is represented by a, what else, red hot pepper. This Sgt. Pepper's Café opened in the Fall of 2007. Located beneath the Metropolis II, Sgt. Pepper's Café is the second location to the well-known Sgt. Pepper’s Subs located in the Cutler Ridge area for over 20 years. You can get sandwich subs, salads, soups and pizza here. They have WiFi and use Boar's Head brand cuts (yummy!) in their sandwiches. I think they are also well known for their Wednesday nights' karaoke though you won't find me near it for this kind of event. But I like their cute Smart car they use to deliver food to their neighbors.
In the US, and here in Miami, we take for granted safe and convenient highways to get us to where we want to go. It is easy to forget the amount of hard labor, despite all the heavy equipment available, to transform this kind of raw material into pleasant highway systems. This new entrance and exit to the S. Dade expressway (SR 874) is an ongoing project just off Kendall drive. This is hard work under the increasing hot sun of Miami from now on.
It looks like we can finally say good bye to the cold days in Miami. It's about time. So, what's next, you ask? My Telosma cordata is taking off, after lingering around since end January. Yeah!
Everyone wants something for free. That's the reliable adage known to all capitalistic sellers of products in the US. Here in Miami, this novelty drink people is giving out free samples of their Muscle Drink. I looked it up and this is what they say:
Muscle Milk® Ready-to-Drink is a protein-enhanced functional beverage that promotes exercise recovery, lean muscle growth, and healthy, sustained energy. Protein provides your body with a sustained source of energy. It also promotes the development of lean muscle, which, along with a regular workout routine, increases endurance, fat burning and strength. So, whether you're training for a triathlon, your wedding dress, or the cover of Quads Weekly, drinking Muscle Milk can help you get it done. Look at the long line the free bait produced today.
It's lunch break for this college campus and some administrators enjoy a pleasant outdoor lunch break under the deciduous royal poinciana trees that will be in full bloom in about 3 more months. Spring is here and hots days are not far behind...
My blog of yesterday did not do justice to the "one of a kind" Jade Buddha currently being viewed in Miami, so here is a better shot for those of you who cannot be here in person.
The world's largest jade Buddha, sculpted from a single piece of gem-quality jade, was unveiled yesterday at Wat BuddhaRangsi, a Thai Buddhist Temple of Miami situated in the deep South farmland area known as Redland. For one week, the public is welcome to view and worship this religious icon free of charge.
The story of this giant Buddha dates from 2000 when a massive boulder of Jade was discovered in the arctic circle of Canada. Consisting of 18 tons of gem quality jade, it was called "the find of the millennium" and given the name "Polar Pride." Over the next five years professional carvers and artists sculpted and carved the colossal Jade boulder into a spectacular seven-foot high Buddha, including the lotus flower as the throne.
Jade stone has been considered in the orient as the "Gem of Heaven" and is believed to be a symbolic link between humanity and spirituality. A mineral associated with longevity, beauty, worth and love, Jade is believed to have great medicinal properties and is given one of the highest places among the gem stones.
Valued at US $5 million, this precious Buddha statue has been making its holy way around the world to allow people to admire and worship the rare sighting. Named the world Tour of the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, it began in 2009.
The Jade Buddha is now in Miami. the next stops will include Memphis, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; Worcester, Massachusetts; then on to Ontario, Canada; and back to Haymarket, Virginia, USA; and again to Canada: Edmonton, Alberta and Aldergrove, British Columbia. It will resume its USA tour in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; then to San Jose, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, California; Honolulu, Hawaii and Long Beach, California.
Starting 2011: the LA Convention Center; Santa Ana, Escondido, Ventura, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Lithonia and Garden City, Georgia; Wichita, Kansas; Chicago, Illinois; Telford, Pennsylvania. In June: Frankfurt am Main, Hannover, Berlin and Munich, Germany. In August, the people of Birmingham of the United Kingdom will get their turn... and so on...
The tour is expected to last several years before concluding on its way back to its permanent home at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia.
Today, many came here to burn incense and to say a prayer for the ones they love.
The annual Special Olympics event at Miami Dade College took place today. This event is always graced by the presence of many young volunteers mostly from local high schools who love to participate in community projects. These youngsters are sponsored by the Hialeah (a small city in the North of Miami) Police Academy. 
It's March... Not quite, it's April... so this is a few days late... But I promised that every year, you'll see this golden show in Miami. So here it is again:
The Poui is one of the very beautiful flowering trees that can be seen here as well as in Trinidad and Tobago, particularly when there are multiple trees in close proximity (in Trinidad.) It is native to Central and South America and some of the islands in the Lesser Antilles. In Trinidad, the yellow poui is also known as apamata and Gold Tree, however it has a variety of names in other parts of the world. In Mexico the tree is called amapa and in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica it is called cortez. In Ecuador the trees are known as madera negra and in Peru, tahuari. lapacho negro is the name for the tree in Paraguay and Argentina; in Surinam, it is called greenheart, pau d'arco, taheebo, ipe roxo ; in Venezuela, flor amarillo; in Colombia, guayacan polvillo. Other commercial names for poui include Brazilian walnut and ironwood. While I don't know by what common name we call this tree here in Miami, its scientific name is Tabeuia serratifolia. To be truthful, I am not sure, because this could be Tabeuia chrysantha. No matter what it really is named, it's spectacularly beautiful.
A happy charter boat captain getting ready to take tourists out for a fun filled day of deep sea fishing. I'd be happy too if I had his job.
Aspiring artistic talents in young college students are free to express themselves today using the outdoor concrete walkway as canvas. It is well planned because no rain is in the forecast.
Property values of Miami homes keep going down and it's no wonder to find homes with backyard like this one.
A walk around Miami continually reveals some sad sites that reflect the current sorry state of economy in the US. This Miami "mansion" looks sad and abandoned. No sign of life, no landscape, no souls. None that I can detect.
If you feel melancholy, visit a cemetery, bring some flowers. You can always find a spot or two to leave them.
You don't have to stray too far from residential areas in Miami to find scenery worthy of farm land. In fact, this is the backyard of a house sitting on either a half or a full acre of land in South Miami. This is through a crack of the wooden fence enclosing these beautiful animals. I am glad this owner is not harboring more exotic animals of the wild such as the pythons that are growing like weeds in the Everglades.
This month's theme is "red." It can't be any more coincidental with my pet project that I have worked on for quite a while: genetically create a red cucumber. I have succeeded, and this is its first appearance anywhere. It's extremely hard to modify the genetic traits of the natural cucumber that is green in appearance so that the mature fruit is red. Moreover, I only wanted the fruits to be red, and every thing else remain green. Today, I am in a generous mood so I am unveiling here how I did it:
First, you have to get to the very small scale of matter. And I talk about small, small, small...The closer you get to the Planck scale, the redder your cucumber will be. My "red cucumber" (TM, @) my own first ever attempted Cucurbitaceae rubella "Stultifera aprilis" (TM, @) is not as red as I would like. This is because I could not get all the way to the Planck scale, the reason being I am not very good with the tool I use, the ubiquitous "photographatus pergulae #7". So, with this tool, I manipulated the Calabi-Yau manifold and made sure its holes are odd. I can tell you this is not easy! Then the even holes will auto-vanish and the concomitant green quarks are instantaneously transmuted into their super symmetrical anti-quarks that contain all the "rubella" stochastic properties that are stable to order gamma, et voila! Instant red cucumber!
By the way, Happy April's 1st.
Jet Ski rental at Bay Side. You pay here, then you walk a few steps to the bay to enjoy the thrill of speed on tropical blue waters. Well, not quite blue in the shallow bay. It's rather greenish. I am not sure what kind of skill and insurance you need to show to rent these power boats but it's not a toy for amateurs.
This store just got a face lift, I guess to attract customers in order to stay open. It's puzzling to see how this specialized kind of business can compete with the internet where sometimes free surfing can be done in private with almost anonymity. Almost, because your IP is always tracked by who knows what. So, watch out!
I give up! Is this Calliandra, or is it Mimosa? I am sure many of you will say "Who Cares?" But I now know one more thing after many a minutes looking around...
Plants are complicate things. For this pink powder puff here, know that it comes from the Kingdom Plantae, Subkingdom Tracheobionta, Super Division Spermatophyta (what's that you say? It means they have seeds,) Division Magnoliophyta (they produce flowers,) Subclass Rosidae, Order Fabales, Family Fabaceae (they produce peas.) You are still with me?
Then come the Subfamily Mimosoideae, Tribe Ingeae.
Now come the two Genus: Calliandra and Mimosa! They are cousins! I really looked but can't find a good clue to tell them apart. I should have been a super charged bio-botanist, if there is such a species, but sadly, I am not. DNA, anyone?
These brightly colored objects could be vases, found in display at Crate and Barrel in the Falls shopping complex West of US-1. I wonder what I would use these for, hhmmm...
If it's March in Miami, this must be the annual Youth Fair. Here is an aerial look at a representative slice of this huge fair. It looks the same everywhere: food stands and rides. I had to ride the Polar Express today and it darn near killed me! Every year, I vow: Never Again, but every year I have to do it! Never again! The food almost killed me too. Too much salt and too expensive! Please don't ask about the price of parking, admission and rides.
This year's weather in Miami is colder than usual so many sensitive plants had a hard time. I am very concerned for my favorite yellow poincianas because many took a beating and some are looking seriously ill. Thankfully, it's not so bad for my Telosma cordata vine. I planned to begin getting new cutting starting March, but the growth has been seriously delayed. This is how it looks today, making not a whole lot of progress from a few months ago, back in January.
Miami technically has subtropical climate. This means if left alone, everything grows, and grows well. Here is water in a container left outside in a typical backyard. Nature has a way to build very interesting growth from almost nothing. Do you discern what we call fractal patterns in this dense population of green algae? Look closely and you shall see.
This photo taken today is in the Falls shopping center in South Miami, across from the Bath and Bodyworks store. There is hardly a dozen persons walking around at this time which is about 3 PM. Not sure how these stores can survive here.
The American Airlines arena in Miami downtown has a huge electronic billboard out front and this message gives you a prelude to things to come soon in Florida: smoking is not cool anymore. In fact, more public locations are declaring to be tobacco free where you can no longer light up for a smoke. In fact, the entire Miami Jackson hospital complex is now smoke free.
This is America. This is Miami. This is a street scene you can see in some areas. This man appears to have one leg amputated and he probably is homeless, here navigating precariously among moving cars for a rare donation of changes.
I wish I had a fish eye lense, but I don't so I only can snap a small part of this event. There is a huge rally by macho bikers here to ride for animal rights day. There are perhaps up to a hundred bikes gathering behind Betty's Best Hamburgers to be escorted by police for this joy ride today. The animals should be thrilled seeing this, but they'd better stay out of the way and only watch on the sideline.
In general, American kids do live very well. They are well fed, well taken care of, well entertained and to a certain degree, well educated. Well, there are exceptions, but in general, they are pretty well off when compared to numerous other countries in the world. I am sure many will disagree with the statements above, but here is one support: On Biscayne boulevard, downtown Miami, outside of Bayside is this business that provides some happiness to kids, petting and feeding farm animals; and riding miniature ponies. For US $4, they are given food to feed the animals, and for $5, they get a short pony ride.
US Federal law requires that every medication must go through a series of clinical research trials before being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for consummation. In addition, approval is required by an independent Research Ethics Board. It is said that Clinical research trials are critical in the advancement of medicine and making available new and helpful medications. However, this involves a myriad of health care issues that are raging in the US and they are so complicated, no one understands them.
Talking about understanding, I can't understand this billboard because it's in Spanish! That's the price I pay to live in Miami, so I looked it up. This is near the huge Jackson medical complex in Miami (which is having huge financial problems,) advertising for a clinical trial research outfit. If you are female, and you are experiencing hot flashes while in menopause, they want you. A warning though, everything has a cost so you really need to be knowledgeable in order to navigate the health care systems in this country, especially when you need the use of medication.
I went to lunch, for this??? Guess what portion I ate: 1/10? 1/9? 1/8? 1/7? 1/6? 1/5? 1/4? 1/3? 1/2? Don't you dare say I ate the whole thing.
These two "snow bird" big guys from the cold are here getting a break from a rainy morning in Miami at this local gas station. They appear to ride their monster bikes from Quebec to sunny (not this morning though) Miami and must be very brave to have done that. The cute looking black two wheel wagon is hitched to the big black bike, a twin of the white one seen on the left.
Usually, we talk about a dozen roses, but this person sells 25 of them for US $5. I think that's a good deal because it costs you a lot more if the roses were sold from a flower shop. The job of selling flowers in traffic is pretty hazardous and I am sure they are minimum wage jobs.
Bus shelter ads throughout Miami have lines like this one saying "Your Abuela Will Pee Herself." That's something about the Second City Loco, a newly formed all-Hispanic off-shoot company of Chicago’s world-famous Second City comedy troupe. The Second City Loco is making its debut at the Carnival Studio Theater this week with "El Show Mas Funny," a collection of comedic sketches created especially for Miami audiences—in Spanglish! In the tradition of the 70s sitcom "Que Pasa U.S.A." The dialogue will move back and forth between English and Spanish, creating bilingual comedy in a hybrid language that most Miamians can understand. But that is a sidetrack from my original intention to show you this Montessori school on Sunset Drive near SW 74th Avenue.
The Montessori method is an educational approach to children based on the research and experiences of Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. It arose supposedly from the discovery of "the child's true normal nature" or self-directed learning activity. Truly, I am not sure what to make about this method, but it's here, and it tickled my curiosity.
On a day like today when Calle Ocho is blazing in sound, music and food a' plenty, I opted to show this man who is a permanent fixture at this bus bench simply because he lives here. It looks like he has accumulated more belonging since the last time he was spotted.
One week each March, Miami transforms itself into a traditional Latin street festival. Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street) becomes the scene of Carnaval as spectators gather to celebrate in the city’s largest annual party. The 2010 festival began on February 26th with the Carnaval Miami 8K run and continues through the grand finale tomorrow on Sunday March 14th with the Calle Ocho block party. The festival closes off 24 blocks of SW 8th Street to host dancing, food, drink and multiple stages of live entertainment. In 1988, this festival was the scene of a Guinness World Record, as 119,986 people joined in the world’s longest conga line! Not sure I'll have the courage to brave the crowd to shoot some pictures. May be, may be not.
It must be getting close to opening time because LuLu is getting a new face lift. I can't wait to see this new addition to the Coconut Grove scenery. Did you notice the street sign depicting SW 27th Avenue? There is what I think a real bad habit in Miami that adds new names to existing streets. This has two new names. I am not sure anybody cares at all. Not me.
This high rise building at the heart of Miami's little Havana is an Emporis building, numbered 156565. It is technically in West Little Havana, at the intersection of SW 27th avenue and Calle Ochos (SW 8th street.) This building was sold for about US $26M in 2007. Some tenants include Miami Dade College and the US Department of Children and Families that manages the local Medicaid system. It was fully occupied back in 2008, but now I wonder if it has lots of unoccupied office space like many other office buildings in Miami.
I first thought this was a shooting scene for some commercial advertising, but it was not. These are University of Miami's seniors, whose campus is nearby this Red Bird Allen's drugstore, hard at work for a movie making project for their school degree. I did not ask, but they are perhaps preparing for graduation sometime this year. You probably remember in an older blog of mine that said this place has great milk shakes. That's why I am here again.
In this typical small business in little Havana (meaning SW 8th street,) you can see a typical business operating in a mean and lean way. Usually, you see no glitz and glamour, but the business is carried out quickly and efficiently. Sometimes, it is done with cash, but your credit cards are welcome. These expensive looking tires are being mounted on high performance alloy wheels and they need a special tire mounting machine as it is being used here. This is the Balado National Tires store near SW 67th avenue.
This is the very attractive entrance to the South Miami hospital, now a part of Baptist Health. You can see beyond the entrance the recently erected Medical Arts building also part of Baptist Health. To the right is SW 62nd avenue on which you can see at a stone throw the very small pinkish Larkin Community 122 bed hospital. I wonder how long this small hospital is expected to stay independent in this tough economy. Its ownership has changed five times over recent time.
It's a cold day today in a quite cool few weeks. Let's take a break from the driving, the building and the stores. The backyard has less blooms than usual at this time because of the lingering cold weather, but this hibiscus is not shy to show its beauty. A march hibiscus.
This is the weekend and these deep see fishing boats are ready to set sail perhaps as far as to the Gulf Stream taking tourists out for a fishing day they won't soon forget. The captains return in the afternoon and sell the fish for extra income. This is one way you can find "can't be any more" fresh fish in Miami. Come here to Bayside at about 4 or 5 PM when they return. These fish swam in the Gulf Stream this morning.
Miami is subtropical so we need to have subtropical and tropical drinks in the streets. Here is one place you can get exotic drinks. The coconuts on the counter are too small and picked too young. These merchants go around town to pick the coconuts and sell them at a handsome profit. I can tell you that is not easy to get the coconuts from their trees. Did you ever try to climb coconut trees? I did and now would rather pay to have these drinks. The sugar canes are inside that plastic bag. Oh so good! The pineapple too! We have more: papaya, sugar apple, guava, mango, litchee, longan... Yum!
Here is a look at some power toys of the super rich and perhaps also powerful residents of Miami. Their multimillion yacht are docked here at the dock seen from Bayside. You can see from this view the Port boulevard leading to the cruise ships, the tall tail of one of these ships can be seen on the right.
The Port of Miami is among America’s busiest ports and recognized throughout the world with the distinction of being the Cruise Capital of the World and the Cargo Gateway of the Americas.
The Port contributes over $17 billion annually to the South Florida economy and helps provide direct and indirect employment for over 176,000 jobs. This marker on Biscayne boulevard just North of Bayfront Park at the heart of downtown Miami is at the entrance to the vast highway bridge leading to the port.
This is the focal center of Bayside, downtown Miami, heavily frequented by tourists. Live bands perform free of charge at the covered stage on the left and the boat tours are always bustling with activities to the right area of this photo. The main boat tour takes tourists to circle the rich and famous people's homes on various exclusive islands close by.
At the end of a rainbow, you'll find a pot of gold. So, when I see this rare occurence of a rainbow here, I hurried to get the pot of gold before others beat me to it. After a long walk, I gave up. But, all jokes aside, do you know the real shape of a rainbow? It is not an arc of circle at all. Rainbows are true circles when they are seen from space. Here on earth, the horizon makes them look like arc of circles. So... if you do hope to find the pot of gold, good luck because there are no ends on a circle. In this photo, you would have thought the pot of gold is just behind this Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant at Bayside. You can find excellent shrimps inside if you are tired looking for the gold. I found the shrimps.
