Keel

Maintenance work is being done to this single-person racing sailboat in Coconut Grove. You can see by the keel that you need some water for this sail boat not to be caught stranded on a sand bar. There are many such sand bars in Biscayne Bay. Beware!

Life Is Good

This person says "life is good." It may be so if you were a lawyer specialized in home foreclosure in Miami. You'd be making lots of money, on other people's misery. On the other hand, he or she may simply be in love. So "life is good," indeed. What do you think?

Jail Bird

Life is not all Ferrari, Maserati, sail boats, wave runners ... in Miami. There are less than perfect areas too. This is one such area in the NorthWest section of Miami. You can tell this is close to a court house that houses a jail. That is where business such as this Bail Bonds can be found. This service advances the money so convicted persons can remain free while waiting for trial. The interest payment is always high. If you use this service and try to skip town, you'll be in bigger trouble than staying in jail. Don't mess with this if you want your arms and legs intact.

Nice Breeze

Just a beautiful day in Coconut Grove, overlooking Biscayne Bay. A bit hot so the Atlantic see breeze is soooo nice here.

Power Lift

Lifting and launching operation in Coconut Grove. The green dingy is the kayak that can be rented for a stroll in Biscayne Bay

On the Waterfront

This is Bear, a nice, sweet and gentleman BIG dog. He is patiently waiting for his master from one of the many piers in Coconut Grove. Actually, come to think, he's not such a gentleman because he took a chair in a building for a fire hydrant. I miss that shot! Oh, Bear!

Monty's

This is Monty's on South Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove. It's Sunday at noon but the traffic here is very light. Is that trouble brewing for this restaurant? It used to be full of people and there is no chance to find a parking spot. Ah... This economy is pinching hard. I got a few more photos inside, and it's pretty empty. In season, the stone crab here is its signature dish... Is it still the case? I wonder.

Upscale

The Village of Merrick Park has over 100 retail stores, many of them upscale brands; several dining locations, and three anchor stores: Neiman Marcus and Miami's first Nordstrom, along with Equinox Fitness Club and Spa. This view is from the end of Ponce de Leon Boulevard. Technically, this is in Coral Gables and I rarely, if ever venture into this place because it's too upscale for me. May be I'll take some "upscale" photos some day. The now quite ubiquitous "circle" you see in the traffic sign is designed and built into the roads of Miami to force motorists to slow down. I like that idea a lot.

Red-Hot Italian

This traffic scene is very often seen in the streets of Miami: Super expensive car; and the driver is on the cell phone. Here it is, guilty on both counts.

U-Bandit

And here is the University of Miami Health System "UHealth." Don't ever park in this parking garage. They will take your $20! Everywhere else in this area, the usual parking charge is $8. Where do they think we are? New York City?

Miller from UHealth

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, an academic medical center founded in 1952, serves Miami, South Florida, South America, and the Caribbean in education, research, patient care, and community service. It is seen here from the University of Miami Health System "UHealth" that took over the former Cedars of Lebanon hospital at 1321 NW 14th Street, Miami. The Metro Rail station in view is the Civic Center station.

Banyan Tree Gone

8PM on a week day. This place is quite empty. A few years ago, this entrance had a beautiful giant concrete "tree" a la Robinson Crusoe's tree house home in the tropics. But some smart alec executive decided to dismantle it. Now it looks bare. I bet you that guy is long gone. I would have fired him myself.

Cuban Fast Food

Sunset Drive runs all the way from CocoPlum East to Krome Avenue West at the edge of the Florida Everglades has a lot of eateries. Here, at the intersection with 97th Avenue, there is a high concentration of restaurants. There is a strip mall on the left where the Subway shop of my previous blog is located.

Rich and Famous 911

The building in view is the Easternmost wing of the huge Baptist Health Kendall complex on Kendall Drive on a crisp, beautiful and gorgeous Sunday with the first mild cold front of the season. The weather is almost perfect, but that doesn't prevent people to have health crisis. This helicopter just landed and delivered a sick patient on a stretcher a few minutes ago.

Taxi Driver

This taxicab driver must have worked long hours until now, and clearly is exhausted. His cab is in the parking lot of a busy grocery store and he may be waiting for the rider who could be inside getting food or supplies. The car engine is not running and it must be hot inside. We are supposed to have cooler weather tomorrow. I hope so.

Money Sink

This is Macy's in Dadeland Mall, one of several such stores in Miami. Macy's, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation's upscale retailers, with year 2008 sales of US $24.9 billion. The company operates more than 800 Macy's department stores and furniture galleries in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as 40 Bloomingdale's stores in 12 states. Macy's, Inc.'s workforce includes approximately 167,000 employees. The company also operates macys.com and bloomingdales.com. Prior to June 1, 2007, Macy's, Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores, Inc. The company's shares are traded under the symbol "M" on the New York Stock Exchange.

Your Change, Please

Cash solicitation for the Homeless. The average motorist truly does not know what to do... To give... or not to give? That's the question. A vast majority turns the other way to avoid eye contact. Life is so tough!

Traffic Blue

Early morning today, the traffic was bad. The Palmetto Expressway Northbound looks like a parking lot. There must be an accident of some sort on it. I told you, Miamians are the worst drivers I know. I'm glad I didn't learn to drive here.

King Kong Kar

Who is driving this car? King Kong? This is a Humvee car. The Hummer name was sold to US General Motors several years ago by AM General. AM General continues to make the H1 for the military while GM has taken over manufacturing of the H2, such as this car. Both of these unique vehicles are sold to the public and have become popular vehicle! However, I see them less these days in this economy.

Scrambled Cumulus

This is what happens to low altitude cumulus clouds when there is atmospheric turbulence in the area: Scrambled white puffs in the early Miami blue sky.

Tough Going

Sunday morning, as usual, a flock of men looking for work hangs around waiting for job opportunities outside the Home Depot store in South Miami. Many men, few odd jobs.

Bananas

I bet everyone on earth knows the bananas, but many of you may not know all of the following: The banana fruit grows in hanging clusters, with up to 20 fruits to a tier (called a hand), and 3–20 tiers to a bunch. The total of the hanging clusters is known as a bunch, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kg. The fruit averages 125 g, of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter content. Each individual fruit (known as a banana or 'finger') has a protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with a fleshy edible inner portion. Both skin and inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. Western cultures generally eat the inside raw and throw away the skin while some Asian cultures generally eat both the skin and inside cooked. Typically, the fruit has numerous strings (called 'phloem bundles') which run between the skin and inner part. The inner part of the common yellow dessert variety splits easily lengthwise into three strips. Bananas are a valuable source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, and potassium. In Asia, the banana leaves are used in multiple imaginative ways in local food preparation.

Making Babies

It sounds like a pet's name, but they are plants, baby plants. In Hawaiian keiki means “baby,” referring to a baby plant produced asexually (usually occurring in Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, or Vandaceous orchid species). The keiki is a clone of the mother/father plant. Although the keikis look neat, they are usually a good indication that your orchid plant is under some kind of stress... unless you are an experienced green thumb and you encourage your orchid plants to make "babies" so you can share with friends. This is my Dendrobium superbum having quadruplet, or even octuplet... The general theory for Dendrobiums is... you withhold watering to produce flowers, and you water abundantly to encourage keikis. I did neither, and left it to Mother nature. The rain did grow these keikis, but... this plant will flower again the next cycle, in April 2010. But wait a minute... it did not rain much this year, so this plant is under stress and it is fighting for survival. Neat!

Moon Shot

Here is the moon in the Miami western sky early this morning. That branch trying to catch the moon is my overgrown oak tree. I understand that tomorrow, at about 7:30AM Eastern Daylight Time, NASA's LCROSS probe and its spent Centaur rocket stage will be purposely crashed into the large crater Cabeus. I will be having a front row seat right here. All I need to figure out is where on the disk it will hit. Now you know what looking for a needle in a hay stack is like. Or... this is like looking for a specially marked grain of sand in the Sahara desert. Try to watch? Not try to watch? Nah! Can't deploy my telescope because it's in a box somewhere. But it you want to, you can try to watch this event here.

Pizza Hut

Another one of the many places you can get pizzas in Miami... I would like to try them all, but never can find the time (or the $.) Is that person smoking? How rude!

Miami's Best

The name says so, this is my very favorite place for pizza. It's on US-1, across from the University of Miami's main campus in Coral Gables. A very unpretentious place and I've never seen or heard ads about this pizza place.

Scoreboard

On a week day, you will find a deserted Dade county stadium that is the home for high schools' athletic events. This is where the local high schools play foot ball games on Friday nights. The stadium is small, but the games are always very spirited. This is inside the Tropical Park between Bird ans Miller Roads just West of the Palmetto Expressway.

Winged Beans

The Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), also known as the Goa bean (kacang botol in Malaysia) and Asparagus Pea and Winged Pea (Lotus tetragonolobus), is a tropical legume plant native to Papua New Guinea. It grows abundantly in hot, humid equatorial countries, from the Philippines and Indonesia to India, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. It does well in humid tropics with high rainfall.

This is the time that these winged beans are maturing. They are best eaten when smaller than about 1 inch. Here is one on the vine that is being invaded by countless many others that grow widely in this Miami climate (The leaves of this bean vine are on the top of the photo, lower leaves are from other vines sharing the same fence.) This bean has grown to almost full size, and it's about 6 inches now. Winged beans have parts of its plant that are all edible. The flavor of the beans has a similarity to asparagus. The large attractive flowers are often used to color rice and pastries. The young leaves can be picked and prepared as a leaf vegetable, similar to spinach. The roots can be used as a root vegetable, similar to the potato, and have a nutty flavor; they are also much richer in protein than potatoes. The dried seeds can be used as a flour and also to make a coffee-like drink. Each of these parts of the winged bean provide a source of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and other vitamins.

Mobile Art

To show you how much we Americans love our cars, here is one for your enjoyment. This car must be unique if not in the entire USA, then it must be unique here in Miami. In case you are curious to know, this is a Lexus, a rich cousin of the mere mortal Toyota. I wonder how much a paint job like this would cost, and where and how it can be done. I have lots of idea to paint my car, or may be a collation of the photos from my blog? Any donation?

Don Uruguay

I only knew about this restaurant recently, and have returned three times. The food is surprisingly good (for my taste, that is... as for you, I can't guarantee so please don't blame me if you ever want to try this out and not like it.) This is one of a chain of 4 locations in Miami and this one is on Sunset Drive and SW 107th Avenue. It operates very much like a "Mom and Pop" restaurant, and I like their food and service.

Life and Death

Half a dozen live roses to share with the departed.