City Trolley

On June 17th, you saw a double deck tour bus that is part of what is called the Hop On/Hop Off bus tour in Miami. Its counter part is a Trolley that is an icon of the City Beautiful: the City of Coral Gables. Recently, the Coral Gables Trolley expanded its service into the northern part of its boundary, adding another mile and a quarter to its route. This is what the trolley looks like, very ornate! I think the choice of colors of orange and green is very appropriate. These are the colors of my beloved Miami Hurricanes, the sport mecca of the University of Miami, my Alma mater.

City of Pleasant Living

I think the owner of this car will be pretty mad when he/she sees the parking ticket placed on the car's windshield. I know, I've been there, done that! The cute little egg-shape car used by the meter maid (this guy does not look like a maid to me) has the LAZ logo to identify Laz Parking which is a local firm that contracts with the City of South Miami to issue parking tickets and operate meters. Markings on the car also says that South Miami is the "City of Pleasant Living." Not if I get a ticket form LAZ, I don't think so.

Todd Got Jipped!

Remember Todd? He says he makes the best sub on earth. Well, apparently Todd got jipped by Suntrust and he is very mad about it. To the point that he made a special sign to expound his displeasure.

According to the American urban dictionary, jipped means a person got cheated, stolen, dissed, ripped off. There are other adjectives but I am not at liberty to divulge them to you here because I want to keep my blog civil. Now, what does Todd say in his next word? Let's see: #@&*% is what he said. Me? I would have said it differently, I would have said !@#$%^&* I think that is easier to type on a QWERTY keyboard than what he said. We all know what he meant to really say there! And I would have said all that in red color using the skull and crossbones fonts!

Copperwood

You have seen this kind of tree back in April when it drizzled in Miami. Here is another gumbo-limbo on a hot and sunny day. This is Bursera simaruba, commonly known as the gumbo-limbo and Copperwood, which is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. The gumbo-limbo is amusingly referred to as the tourist tree because the tree's bark is usually red and peeling, just like the skin of the sun burnt tourists. The small fruits of this tree have single seeds that are covered with red fatty aril which has a high content of lipids. Arils are an important source of food for birds, including many winter migrants birds from North America.

Listen, you ought to know that lipids are bad for you because that is a fancy word for fats. If you visit Miami, make sure you do not eat the fruits that fall off gumbo-limbo trees, else the seeds you ingested will give you a problem of having elevated cholesterol level in your blood. I think the migrating birds need to eat lots of these fruits because they need to store energy to fly back home when spring returns.

I've Had It!

This year started slow for the mangoes, but they have such a strong finish that everyone I know is overdosed from eating too many mangoes. Look at the pile of Ok Rong on the top of this photo. You can only eat so many of them in a day! But I want to talk about another thing today: the Artocarpus heterophyllus (jackfruit.)

In a previous blog, I was asked about the meaning of the jackfruit's scientific name so here it is: "artos" means "bread," and "carpus" means "fruit." Heterophyllus means more than one form, from Greek word "heteros" meaning different. Breadfruit is a cousin of jackfruit and they both belong to the Mulberry Family (Moraceae.) This family comprises Jackfruit, Breadfruit, Osage Orange, Mulberry,
Milk Tree, Soursop, Sugar Apple & Cherimoya. The common characteristic in this family is that its members have compound or multiple fruit (syncarp.)

So the jackfruit is not just one fruit, it is many (hundreds of fruits) contained in a green to yellow-brown exterior rind. The internal structure of this fruit is remarkable. The sticky latex is abundant and stick to your knife, hands and everything else that touches it. The real edibles fruits are each enveloped in a pouch formed by very sticky string-like strands. These pouches are anchored at one end to the rind container, and at the other end, to the jackfruit's apex core. You can reach in to nudge the fruits out of their sticky cocoon and you will discover that the fruits are miraculously dry without any of the nasty stickiness on any part of them. You can eat them right off your hand. Each fruit has a large seed contained within a slippery pouch that can easily be separated from the fruits.

It is amazing to see that the individual fruits are totally immune from the surrounding sticky latex. This job is very labor intensive and I am not about to do this again anytime soon. And please do not ask me what I did with the Ok Rong. I've had it with them!

Nectar of Flowers

'Nam Doc Mai,' or "Nectar of Flowers," is among the best known dessert mangoes of Thailand, with an exceptional appearance and eating quality. In Thailand, there are many strains of this species, classified according to the use of their fruits. The fruits are long, slender and sigmoid, weighing from 12 to 16 ounces. The ripe fruits range from a greenish- to canary-yellow, sometimes with a reddish blush on the sun-exposed part. The flesh is soft and juicy, with a sweet and aromatic flavor. 'Nam Doc Mai' has no fiber, a must for top quality mangoes. In Thailand and throughout much of Asia, Nam Doc Mai is highly sought after for its quality. Its fruits are used while mature green for dipping in sauces and for making sweet preserves and pickles. When ripe, they have a smooth, silky texture and extreme sweetness and bouquet. Nam Doc Mai has found a home in the Caribbean, where it grows and fruits well. This excellent mango grows and fruits well in Miami. But not for me! I have a young tree that tries for several years but until now, could not yet bear its fruits to term. Have no fear, I have many friends who have mature trees and now you know where mine come from. In this photo, the Nam Doc Mai are still greenish. The top 6 mangoes are Zill. They used to be my top choice, but I think Nam Doc Mai displaced them from the top of my list.

If you want to be real technical about mangoes, here is an excerpt from professional tasters: "Green: A zingy citrus and lemon-blossom nose, with crisp green apple, grapefruit, and sour cherry flavors. Ripe: Graceful hints of anise and cinnamon, with loads of complex flavors of melon, peach and tangerine." Really? These tasters must have drunk some strange and exotic wine before tasting this mango. Me? I eat those with abandon and loving every bite. Don't care what they taste like, but loving them!

On July 14th and 15th, Fairchild Tropical Gardens will have a yearly mango festival. I will be there to take a few shots.

The Aphelion

July 4th is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 180 days remaining until the end of the year. The Aphelion, the location in space where the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date. Aren't we lucky our earth never strays further from our sun than its Aphelion?

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. If I were Her Majesty the Queen of England, I would feel very bad every July 4th!

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games and family reunions. July 4th is the national day of the United States and watching fireworks is very popular.

Here is my own fireworks... In Miami, all our Royal poinciana (Delonix regia) are in bloom. Spectacular!

190-SL

South Miami's Commerce Lane is really a gem where you can casually walk by and look at the automobile repair shops concentrated here. This is where you can find many cars that could qualify as "antiques." Here is a fire engine red car of the vintage 50's - 60's, a Mercedes-Benz. It has obviously been restored and I think the color is not exactly one of the original for this car. It should be more like Cherry Red. But this is good enough for me.

The Mercedes-Benz 190SL is a two-door grand touring convertible with an optional removable hardtop that was produced by Mercedes-Benz between May 1955 and February 1963. It closely resembles the same period and more expensive Mercedes-Benz 300SL. The 190SL was powered by a 1.9 liter straight-four-cylinder engine with Single OverHead Cams. It delivers 104 horse power and has a top speed of 171 km/h (106 mph.) Of course, that's nothing compared to today's technology, but if you own a car like this, it can take you back to your younger and wilder days that your money can't buy otherwise.

This car was available either as a soft-top convertible, initially priced at US$ 3,998. That's it! Where is my time machine? I want to go back!

Both the 190SL and the 300SL were replaced by the Mercedes-Benz 230SL in 1963.

Busted

I was walking on Sunset Drive (SW 72nd Street) minding my own business here this morning when I saw this high drama unfolding... This motorcycle cop was standing on the side of the street clocking passing cars... and this one got caught red handed speeding. It was really not speeding too excessively. Do you know how I know? That was because this cop jumped to the middle of the street in front of the car to stop it... and the car was able to stop and not running him over. In any case, the driver was ordered to pull over to this side street and they were having a "very nice" conversation. Let's see.. the city is broke... everyone needs money because everyone is cash-strapped... I'd venture a guess of US $125 ticket for excessive speeding. Have a nice day!

Coral Reef Yatch Club

Here we are, on the first night of July with almost a full moon outside, sitting here waiting for our dinner at the Coral Reef Yatch club in Coconut Grove. The choice of seating can be outside on the porch, or inside the dining room. I'd rather sit outside to enjoy a very nice sea breeze tonight, but being invited, I have to sit where the reserved table says we sit. The view you see is part of a large all concrete 100-slip marina. I stepped outside to work down the grouper meunière and walked around the slips. To my astonishment, there are power boats moored here that outclass the one you saw a few days ago by a large factor! It is obvious to conclude that the owners of the boats here like to compete for horse power, and they have money to back that up. The winner is one small outboard that sports FOUR Yamaha motors, each of which delivers 250 HP. These can probably outrun the fastest coast guard cutters. You can do all sort of good things with these capabilities, don't you think?

Land of Plentiful

This is a tiny section inside the huge Whole Foods Market you saw in my blog of yesterday. This store (as well as many other grocery stores in Miami - and in all other US large cities, I am sure) has ready to eat food that can feed an entire small army for several days. Food comes prepared (processed) and ready to be consumed in all forms, shape, colors and taste. This is the land of plentiful bordering on excess. It's Amazing! Do you think all this food is consumed every day? I can hardly imagine that is possible!

Casaideas Gone!

Touted as a sign of business recovery when Casaideas opened its first store in the US in January 2011. I was skeptical, and predicted its closing in a few months. I was off the marks. It closed its door after about 15 months, longer than I thought possible. I told you so! The business in Miami is murderous. I can't wait to see which new business will venture into this space. This is the always busy intersection of US-1 and Red Road, which is SW 57th Avenue. The white building you see on the left is home of the Whole Foods market. You have 20 seconds to cross US-1 when the "Walk" light flashes green. You think this elegant lady can make it across before her time is up?

Inflatable Automobile

This is my new car. Wanna a free joy ride in Miami's streets? Ping me! Send me a note! Write me a love letter and you may be in luck!

300 Water Horses

How do you like being stuck in traffic behind this monstrosity? I don't know what kind of boat this is but it is powered by two outboard motors that give you pause. In case you want to know, they are Yamaha F150 series motors equipped with 4 cylinder four stroke engines in jet drive or in-line modes. Each of these two delivers 150 horse power (HP) and each will set the proud owners back about US $ 12,000 (sale price, mind you.) Each weighs about 500 pounds (250 kgs) and can be controlled remotely. Only in America!

Mother of all Mowers

Look at this view. Would you like to mow this grass field by pushing a puny hand mower? I don't think so. To face this task, this mother of all lawn mowers came to the rescue. With this kind of weather we are having in Miami, this machine will get no rest.

Greenback Tree

Pachira aquatica is a tropical wetland tree of the genus Pachira, native to Central and South America where it grows in swamps. It is known by the common names Malabar chestnut, Guiana chestnut, provision tree, saba nut, Monguba (Brazil), Pumpo (Guatemala.) It is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. The tree is cultivated for its edible nuts which grow in a very large, woody pod. We are in luck to catch this tree with a single fruit today. This nut is said to taste like peanuts, and can be eaten raw or cooked or ground into a flour to make bread.

You may be surprised to learn that the juvenile form of this tree is widely sold quite expensively under the name of "Money Tree." Now that its true identity is known, I may come here often to wait for the leaves to turn into the greenbacks as its name suggests. Money does grow on tree after all. In the mean time, I am debating whether I should taste this huge nut. Never had such a big peanut before!

Staking It

I couldn't resist the temptation, climbed up a shaky ladder risking life and limb to get this jackfruit for a long overdue illustration. This fruit came from the tree I personally call my own although it grows on someone else's property. But that is another story. This fruit was logged between two large branches of the tree and I experienced a lot of grief to get it down from mid air. At 29 pounds, it was real heavy to lug around. The next step is to cut it open which looks like a formidable task. Knowing there is a lot of sticky sap lurking inside, I followed an ancestral tradition and trick to reduce the burden of dealing with the sap... staking the jackfruit and attempt to drain its yucky and sticky white latex. This was no easy task but I managed. It doesn't look pretty and if I were this jackfruit, I'd scream murder!

Before I close out this blog... let me wow you with these tidbits:

The sap of jackfruit contains:
water,
sugars ( total 7,7-23,6% )
fruit acids ( 0,1-0,33%; citric acid, when ripe, malic acid, when unripe ),
kalium,
calcium,
carotinoids,
23 different volatile compounds ( flavour )
and some more stuffs.

Its edible pulp (I'll get to them in a few days) when ripe contains an amazing assortment of stuffs as well:
Moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, ash, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, vit A, thiamine, niacin and ascorbic acid.

Is that all? I bet you there are many more substance in there that we don't know about.

The Chinese consider jackfruit pulp and seeds tonic, cooling and nutritious, and to be "useful in overcoming the influence of alcohol on the system." The seed starch is given to relieve biliousness and the roasted seeds are regarded as aphrodisiac. When I was kid, I ate tons of roasted jackfruit seeds. It never crossed my mind then to give the seeds to the many girls I was in love with. You are so dumb when you are young... This of course does not imply in any way, shape and form that I am smarter now that I am older... The ash of jackfruit leaves, burned with corn and coconut shells, is used alone or mixed with coconut oil to heal ulcers. The dried latex yields artostenone, convertible to artosterone, a compound with marked androgenic action. Mixed with vinegar, the latex promotes healing of abscesses, snakebite and glandular swellings. The root is a remedy for skin diseases and asthma. An extract of the root is taken in cases of fever and diarrhea. The bark is made into poultices. Heated leaves are placed on wounds. The wood has a sedative property; its pith is said to produce abortion. Really!

Bahamas Fish Market

This is the second time I come to this seafood restaurant to buy fish for my meals. It is in the heart of little Havana, on Calle Ocho which is Miami's SW 8th street, at 72nd avenue. The only problem I have here is that I need to use sign to communicate because the language of choice here is Cuba's Spanish. This is primarily a seafood restaurant, very popular because it is always crowded. I am still not sure if their fresh fish are really fresh, fresh, fresh. I'll find out tonight. The legend says you can tell by looking at the fish's eyes... but I can't bear myself to look at them there eyes! I think I got myself a couple of red snappers.Yummy!

Iridescent Seduction

Did you know that the famous peacock eyes in their tails are iridescent? Now you do! Iridescence is an optical phenomenon of surfaces in which hue changes in correspondence with the angle from which a surface is viewed. It is the property of certain surfaces that appear to change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is commonly seen in things such as soap bubbles, butterfly wings, clouds, and sea shells. Female Golden Stag Beetles have highly iridescent shells... and so do peacocks' tails. As with many birds, vibrant plumage colors of the peacock eyes are not primarily pigments, but optical interference Bragg reflections. Such interference-based structural color is important for the peacock's iridescent hues that change and shimmer with viewing angle, because unlike pigments, interference effects depend on light angle. When the peacocks dance, the peahens are speechless from the kaledoiscope show they see and instantly fall in love. It's a done deal! Here is one peacock feather that does change colors depending on how I look at it. I assure you that I did not pluck this out of any male bird's tail. This was a lost and found item and I found it. Instead of reading the tea leaves, I read this once in a while like today, when it rains outside. I see....

Pace Car

The Indianapolis 500 auto race has used a pace car every year since 1911. The use of pacing car is a concept of a "rolling start" so racing cars have the time to parade around the track, warming up the engines and tires to prepare for the gruesome tough drive. At the conclusion of the pace laps, at a prescribed speed, the pace car would pull off the track, allowing a thundering "flying" start. Because the real pace cars are quite valuable and not easily available, this car must be a replica. In 1998, the official pace car was a Chevrolet Corvette C5, driven by Rufus "Parnelli" Jones, famous race car driver and winner of the 1963 Indianapolis 500. It looks almost like the real thing here. Very nice indeed.

Not A Pine

There is some kind of weather disturbance and it is raining out there in Miami. I hate this weather! And they forecast this entire week is going to be wet! Good for the mosquitoes! So... let's talk about something tropical, like a screwpine. Native to Madagascar, the common screwpine (Pandanus utilis) is, despite its name, a tropical tree and not a pine. It grows well in Miami. P. utilis is dioecious, meaning male and female trees are distinct. The male plants produce fragrant colorful flowers in long spikes, and the female plants bear fruits like the one in this photo. The fruits resemble pineapples or ovesized pine cones changing from green to yellow/orange when ripe. They form a starchy food and can be eaten after cooked. In coastal areas, screwpine is used for erosion control due to its numerous aerial roots that it grows for support instead of growing a large trunk. In areas like Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius, the leaves are used to make ropes, baskets, mats, hats, place mats, nets, thatched roofs for homes and even paper. The waxy covering over the leaves makes them especially attractive for baskets and roofs with their natural water-resistant surface. Water-resistant... that's what I need for this week!

102

Yes, the title says it all: 102 Ok Rong mangoes in this pile. That's what I had to pick up today from a day's dropping of my Ok Rong mango tree which is a well sought after mango from Thailand. After the chore of today... picking them up, gathering them here and washing them, I am exhausted. Now I duly appreciate the hard work of migrant workers who labor hard under the sun to pick our vegetable and fruits. Because of the wind, the Ok Rong drop everyday in this number... These are very small mangoes but they are so sweet and their texture is smooth like velvet that melts in your mouth. Come and get it!

Lá Lót... Really?

Errata: This is quite embarrasing! In this quite chaotic world of flora in Miami, mistakes are easily made... In this blog, I have erroneously talked about two different plants as if they were one and the same. This note is to correct that oversight: The "Killer Vine" I refer to below stands as it was discussed, and that is NO Piper lolot (lá lót.) In fact, that invasive vine has been correctly identified as Dioscorea bulbifera (air potato) by a viewer. The photo in this blog has both species in it: the leaves of Piper lolot (lá lót) and the larger and climbing higher leaves are that of the D. bulbifera. Now you have that corrected. Sorry about the confusion. The invasive D. bulbifera is certainly undesirable. Unless I can be certain it is not poisonous, I will refrain to use it as wrapping for my beef to grill on my barbie. Back in August of last year, I talked about a killer vine that was trying to take over my yard. Little did I know that that was a well known and very well sought after important ingredient to southeast Asian dishes. In Viet-Nam, it is called lá lót. La Lot (Piper lolot,) is a perennial belonging to the plant family Piperaceae which includes other crops such as kava or ‘awa (P. methysticum), betle pepper (P. betle), and black pepper (P. nigrum). P. lolot is often used to flavor meat in southeast Asian dishes. This vine is propagated vegetatively, usually by cuttings. In Hawaii, P. lolot is sometimes grown under partial shade such as under saran shade fab:ric. But... here in my backyard, it is as invasive as can be and it does not need any help to propagate on its own. Last year, I had to rescue my Ylang Ylang tree from being taken over by cutting away a huge section of this vine that was climbing wild and high. Now it's back with a vengeance. Look how big their leaves are when they succeed climbing higher up. Although the entire plant is edible, the leaves are used to wrap beef into a roll in a special way beef is prepared in Vietnamese cuisine. When exposed to fire, they release a special aroma that is unique and delightful. I think I can retire by just harvesting these leaves and sell them by the kilos.

In Her Majesty's Service

No, you are not in London. You may be seeing double as in "double deck" red bus, but this scene is in downtown Coral Gables, the City Beautiful, within the entrails of the city of Miami. We are not shy to flagrantly copy nice things that we see. Cheerio!

Mossy Mossy

Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly the Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) or Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the southeastern United States. You are seeing here very nice and elegantly hanging moss on a magnificient live oak in the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami.

My Love

I can't tell where the time went, but I am very much behind to get things I need to do done! I really need to catch up with my blog. I do have photos, the problem is to get them here! So here is a restart... This is my love, a white lotus. Alas! This is still very elusive to call my own because I am having a tough time to grow my own lotus. So close yet so far!

OMG

I can't believe I did this! I went (with friends) to this Peruvian restaurant. A first for me. It is just North of Miami International Airport, on 36th Street NW, East of the Palmetto Expressway. I think it was the El Huarike Peruano restaurant. If you read my blog, you knew I do not like sushi but I obliged and went ahead with (OMG, I can't believe this...) CEVICHE! Now, what's that, you asked? Ceviche, also spelled cebiche, or seviche, is a seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of the Americas, especially Central and South America, and the Philippines. The dish is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chili peppers. Additional seasonings such as onion, salt, coriander/cilantro, and pepper may also be added. Ceviche is usually accompanied by side dishes that complement its flavors such as sweet potato, lettuce, corn, or avocado. As the dish is not cooked with heat, it must be prepared fresh to minimize the risk of food poisoning. Now you are telling me! This is what I had: quite raw fish, sweet potato, giant bloated corn and roast corn, raw onions... The entire thing swims in a bath of mainly lime juice. I probably won't do this again, and in all fairness, the fish tasted like lobster, but it's not lobster, it's raw fish! Yuk!

Edible Jackfruit

The jackfruit tree you saw before is doing well this year and its fruits are ready to be harvested. That I did do and two of the ones most easily accessible (they lay on the ground) were taken from the tree. Ouch! The heavy sap oozed out in protest but that's quite OK. I learned that regular cooking oil easily cleans off the mess. This photo shows you what the edible part of a jackfruit is like. This fruit requires an acquired taste but it is well liked. I only ate a few bites. The rest was promptly gulped down by some friends visiting from afar where they crave the jackfruits that cannot be grown where they live. They loved what they ate!

Artocarpus heterophyllus

The last day of May leads to the first day of the hurricane season which is tomorrow, and the jack fruits are getting big... actually, enormous is a more accurate word for this year. Hopefully they will stay in good shape until they are ripe. Wish me luck...

Mangifera indica

The mango is native to the Indian subcontinent from where it spread all over the world. It is one of the most cultivated fruits of the tropical world and it is definitely my kind of fruit. This is the beginning of my yearly mango feast... and I am making rounds to survey the bounty. The usual problem is that the majority of the mango trees is unidentified and it is very difficult to put a name to the fruit with any certainty. But they are all good to me. I ate one from this tree today but can't guess its name. It's delicious.

Soursop

To my surprise, this tree now bears two fruits. In my blog on November 11 of last year, I thought the flowers would soon turn into fruits, but it has taken that long. The fruits from this guanabana tree (Annona muricata) are called soursop due to their slightly acidic taste when ripe. This fruit tastes best when its flesh is sweetened with condensed milk or made into a chilled sorbet.

Dinner Key Marina

Dinner Key is a marina complex in Coconut Grove along the shore of Biscayne Bay. This was originally an island, but it was connected to the mainland in 1914 by filling in the open ocean water space. The name "dinner key" says that the island was a popular place to stop for dinner while traveling by boat between the mouth of the Miami River and Snapper Creek which is south of Miami. You can see in this photo a rare rusty boat among luxurious yachts across the marina. This looks like a shrimping boat... The fresh shrimp that live here are quite delicious, if you can catch them, that is. You can come here in the afternoon to buy fish... but hush... that's illegal for boat captains to sell their fish from this marina!

UFO

Look what I saw in this parking lot: a strange vehicle that could be from another world! This may be an UFO (unidentified flying object) disguised as an automobile that I wouldn't be surprised. I saw the owner/driver who gave me a big and proud smile when he walked away from this car. All I see is the name Chevrolet in the open engine hatch. There is no other markings of any sort other than that on the entire car's body. This man must either be a very powerful man or insane because he drives around in this car without any license plate or identification marks. I would like to see the face of the police officer when he encounters this car during his patrol around the neighborhood.

Coconut Grove

It is a fabulous day in Miami today. No rain! This is a view of the Sonesta Bayfront hotel in Coconut Grove, early in the morning... quite early, about 8AM. There is a large number of people out in the streets for exercise, jogging, walking and bicycle riding. This view is seen from the Peacock park next to the convention center at Biscayne bay's edge. You can see that Miami's royal poinciana trees are announcing the arrival of summer with their annual display of flowers. Do you know that we are only 5 days from the official hurricanes season? OMG!

America

If you have wondered what happened to my blog... I've kind of being caught between a rock and a hard place so things have been backed up... and the daily rain and thunderstorms have not helped much. But have no fear, things will find a way to even out their wrinkles, which includes this blog. Life goes on and I had to be in the Baptist hospital in Kendall Drive late tonight. This is one of their many, many bathrooms for the visitors to their emergency center. This is in such stark contrast to the other places that I have visited overseas in other countries. So clean, so free and so plentiful. That is one of the many perks that one can have to live and sometimes suffer in many other ways life in the US of America.

Rainy Days

Miami has been under a daily dose of rain on and off non stop. But the sky clears up quite quickly and the blue sky returns to cheer you up momentarily, like today. Aren't those coconut trees magnificent? I found one nut that fell to the ground and would really like to get all the ones that are way up there. But alas, I can't climb that high! I wonder what Darwin would have said about why these trees grow so tall? My guess is that the nuts are safe to mature and ensure their lineage to last for generations. If they are not so tall, guys like me will cannibalize all their fruits of labor. Good for the Cocos nucifera.

May Magnolia

I can set my clock to this tree. Every year in May, this tree shows off its beautiful sparkling unblemished snow white flowers. This year, the entire tree has only one flower. Beauty is rare indeed!

Cemetery

Next to US Memorial day which is celebrated on the last Monday of the month of May, Mother's day, observed on the second Sunday of May is the busiest day for cemeteries. It's the US Mother's day today. Many major street intersections of Miami have flower vendors and Caballero Rivero Woodlawn cemetery at SW 117th Avenue and 116th Street is experiencing a traffic jam. Fresh cut flowers are everywhere for the remembrance of the women who found their last resting places here. Do you know that Père Lachaise in the 20th arrondissement of the city of Paris, France, is reputed to be the world's most visited cemetery? That place attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. When was the last time you have been inside a cemetery? It's an experience not to miss in life.

Call The Cops

It's Saturday on busy streets of Miami and what do you expect? Crazy guys like this one in his convertible hot rod. This guy was so far the worst that roams Miami's crazy street scenes that I've seen. Within minutes, he weaved through the four lanes of US-1, changing his cell phone from left to right to left to right hands while waving/shaking his other hand frantically. He must be either very mad or excited or both. You can bet I stayed as far away from him as possible. In this pose, he has the phone on his right hand across his face. Do you see his left hand? What is holding his steering wheel? Call the cops! Call highway patrol!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Tonight, I came to a Patriotic program performed by the third and fourth graders of the Florida Christian School in South Miami. The kids are 9 - 10 year old and they gave a flawless performance tonight that lasted a little bit over an hour. It is impressive to see how poised kids of this age can be. The musical numbers traced the history of America through the US civil war. They aced the obligatory performance of "Yankee Doodle Dandy." These kids do have talent. There was a bit of overdoing in the program with a sermon-like speech by the master of ceremony, but you should expect that from the name of the school. Time well spent and I came to watch 9 year-old Gabo perform. His speech was a perfect A+.

Limited/Express's Gone

Dadeland Mall of South Miami is being renovated by addition of a two-story building to house new restaurants overlooking Kendall Drive here. The new lower level will house retailers. The largest Limited/Express store which occupied this space is now gone and the new development will begin operation in the spring of 2013. It is amazing to see large and expensive buildings go up and then mercilessly demolished only a couple of years later. The US of America is truly a society of quick changes and throw aways without much of a second thought.

Look at this man, typical of Miami's drivers. His car is in the parking lot and he is blocking traffic so others (with their phones also glued to their ears) curse when they drive around him. This man is in total bliss. Get me my shot gun!

Poinciana Breaking Out

Summer is not too far away for Miami, and it is already getting very hot. The rains of the past few days have spawned many mosquitoes. They are not too bad yet, but there is no doubt it will get worse. The royal poincianas are preparing to put out the seasonal display as you can see it in this magnificent old tree. A summertime prelude.

White Spyder

Here is William again showing off! You were introduced to William before. That was then, this is now. Now he is showing off the Audi R8 V10 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro, Audi’s mid-engine supercar with a fabric roof. Talking about a guy with a passion with cars and can afford them! In this car, the drive goes to all four wheels and Audi will debit your bank account £111,995 for the manual or £117,700 for the R-tronic automated manual. This car looks kind of ugly, if you asked me. Hhmmm... UK's 120K pounds! How many is that in US $? Too many!

UnLucky

I needed some exotic spices so I had to venture to this exotic place named Lucky. It is a Chinese grocery store on Bird Road and SW 84th Avenue. I hate to go to these places because I can never find what I want, and I can't ask because I can't speak the kind of language they speak here! And even if I can speak the right language, I don't know the name of the thing I need. So lost and so frustrated! So I gave up on my search for the unknown and unspeakable spices. Guess where I ended up getting food! To add insult to injury, I thought I know how to write the word "Lucky" in Chinese. When outside looking at the store front, I can't find the word "Lucky" I know here. What's wrong with me, I wonder!

Epinephelus Dinner

Tired of fast food on weekends so I went to the Captain Tavern fish market today for a new taste. I found it in these strange looking fish that I never tried before. That is what I was looking for so Epinephelus drummondhayi it is for dinner tonight. Commonly called the calico grouper, kitty mitchell and speckled hind, these fish are the strawberry groupers. Their natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, coral reefs and they are found in Bermuda and the US ocean waters. The name speckled hind speaks well of the spots that cover their reddish-brown entire bodies. Still fresh in my mind about what I said in my blog yesterday, may be I shouldn't have had these for dinner, but I did. They really do not taste like grouper, but rather like snapper. I would classify them as fat snappers. I think these fish may be on the endangered species list, and do hope that they are legal. Too late!

Deadly

Look at this very attractive cone of this Cycas micronesica. This is the time of cone production for this species of cycad which is found in Micronesia , the Marianas Group and the western Caroline Islands. As it is often the case, many things that look and feel beautiful can be deadly, and this can be deadly. The seeds of this cone are commonly thought, through a neurotoxin contained within them, to be linked with the human degenerative Lytico-Bodig disease, which is similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.) Cycad seeds are a big part of the Chamorro lifestyle. The seeds from this species were ground to make a flour called "fadang", and the flour was then used to make tortillas and dumplings. Knowing the seeds are very toxic, the flour was cleaned several times before preparation for food. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of these islands also ate bats that, unbeknownst to them, fed on these seeds and the toxins were accumulated in the fat tissue with increased potency! Once the research came out, the practice of eating these seeds ceased in Guam in the 1960s! I am not sure whether eating bats continued The moral of this? Don't eat things that look pretty or don't eat things that eat things that look pretty! .

Babies

Do you sometimes wonder why Miami has so many royal poinciana trees? That is because they propagate so easily naturally. Their long seed pods disperse seeds all around and after the first rains (and we had lots of rain lately) the seeds germinate like this. Left untouched, these baby trees grow up very fast to become mature trees in just a few short years. The royal poincianas are just beginning to flower and o do I love it!

You have seen this tree before here. It's the really tropical Spindle palm (Hyophorbe verschaffeltii) that can't stand cold weather... just like me... I show you this tree again so you can see that it is used for the commemoration of a departed person. It is a practice often seen in parks and arboretum. When I die, please don't do that because when the tree dies, which it will, I would have to die a second time. Not a good deal!

Finally!

Finally the rain stopped and the sky is getting a bit bluer.. Look at the grass, these are happy fellows for having received copious amount of rain water for a week.