On Vacation

Hello all, I am on vacation to Java until the end of the month. I will update with new photos and articles in June.

Vancouver's Spring 2011

Here are some photos of our Spring. The flowers are nice on a clear day but rain is so often and wind is strong. Right now cherry blossom is starting and the trees are pink. I planted the new kind of Tulip with the shocking colour and riffle edges. I also have new Muguet (lily of the valley). Akebia plants are all in full bloom with wisteria and bluebells coming soon. Paulownia will be late this year and I will be able to see it flower when I am back from my trip. But maybe I am going to missed my wisteria, since I think it will flower in late May. Some rarer plants I have in pot this year include: Sinofranchetia chinensis, Aristolochia gibertii, Illigera celebrica, Mucuna sempervirens, Aristolochia maxima, Rivea corymbosa, and Marah oreganus coming out from the ground very strong.
Happy Spring!

May vacation

Day 0 May 15 Sun pass midnight go to airport
Day 1 May 16 flight Vancouver YVR by Cathay Pacific 2:45 AM to Hong Kong
Day 2 May 17 Tue Arrive in HK6:55 AM, go to Ricky's house, Wanchai Kapok G/F 5 St. Francis Yard near star street (11-8)to get James Heeley perfume, then go walking 10am to noon in HK Zoological and Botanical gardens, Central, HK, then shopping at Joyce Beauty New World Tower, Central for perfume, Lane Crawford IFG Mall Mariage Freres for violet tea, late afternoon to evening buy books from Page One Time Square and General Bookstore 449 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, early supper
Day 3 May 18 Wed take 9:20 AM flight to Jakarta CGK arrive at 13:05, take taxi to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, stay there in accomodation 1 night
Day 4 May 19 Thur Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, take taxi to Bogor via Widayanto Studio to see ceramic art and have lunch, then to Bogor stay inside Kebun Raya Bogor for 5 nights, photographying and painting
Day 5 May 20 Fri Kebun Raya Bogor, morning Zoological Museum
Day 6 May 21 Sat Pasar Bogor, Kebun Raya Bogor, Kebun Raya Bogor painting, hire tour guide to search for Phytocrene macrophylla male flower, lunch at Cafe de Daunen, Botani Square get Garuda ticket (Yogyakarta to Jakarta), Gumati dinner www.cafegumati.com
Day 7 May 22 Sun Kebun Raya Bogor
Day 8 May 23 Mon Hebarium Bogoriense
Day 9 May 24 Tue Puncak Pass, Rindu Alam Restaurant, hiking at Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park then to Bandung, go to railway station to buy Lodaya ticket, stay at Amaroossa Hotel for 2 nights
Day 10 May 25 Wed learn Batik at Batik Komar, Bandung
Day 11 May 26 Thur take Lodaya train at 8am to arrive at Solo's Balapan train station around 5pm, stay at Roemahkoe Hotel in Laweyan Village for 2 nights, dinner at restaurant and watch dance performance.
Day 12 May 27 Fri explore Laweyan Batik Kampung, then Kraton Mangkunegara, Pasar Klewer for Batik fabric for bedspreads and kimono, lunch at Cafe Solo, then visit Batik DanarHadi Museum, shop at Batik Danarhadi www.houseofdanarhadi and Dancer's Requisites at Toko Bedoyo Serimpi (Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Ronggo Warsito) for costumes, masks, golden headdresses, armbands, keris, buckles for belts, Batik Semar, and Batik Keris
Day 13 May 28 Sat Train from Solo to Yogyakarta, stay in the Pheonix Hotel for 3 nights, drive to Kaliurang to visit Ullen Sentalu Museum www.ullensentalu.com and have lunch there, then walk around the cool resort town, then shop at Tjokrosuharto for dance costume, Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan in the evening
Day 14 May 29 Sun go to Sono-Budoyo Museum to see Wayang Kulit Puppets, Keraton watch Wayang Orang performance at 10 AM, shop at Jl Tirtodipuran, then walk on the streets to the batik factories and antique stores such as Batik Plentong, Batik Indah, Batik Winotosastro, Mirota Moesson, lunch at Hanoman's Forest Restaurant with classical javanese dance, wayang golek or wayang kulit and dinner at Purawisata theatre 8-9:30 pm in the amusement park to enjoy Ramayana ballet dance performance
Day 15 May 30 Mon Drive to Parangtritis Beach and then to Jatijajar Cave along the south coast
Day 16 May 31 Tue Yogyakarta flight 9:35 AM to Jakarta 10:40 AM, then 15:05 flight to HKG arrive 20:50 then at 0:30 flight to Vancouver YVR arrive 21:25
Day 17 June 1 Wed rest

Easter Chocolate

Thank you my German friend Stefan for sending me all these beautiful and delicious European Chocolate for Easter. I love the bunny, and this is the year of the Rabbit too.
After Easter, I will get ready for my trip!

Spring Flora Arrangement

I cut some spring flowers from the garden and saved them from drowning in the heavy rain. It was beautiful full sun yesterday but pouring today. The lawn is so wet and muddy, and the flower beds are not looking great. But the Spring bulbs in raised pots are fine and forming good leaves and buds or starting with seedlings that will be flowering in summer.
I made an arrangement with fragrant hyacinth, narcissus, arum's leaves and helleborus. I have a perfume that captured this scent exactly as the arrangement: Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Foliflora.

another violet scent

Finally, I settled on another violet scent: Penhaligon's Violetta. This is a sharp and strange one. It is not gentle like Bosari's Violetta de Parma, or spicy like Caron's Aimez-moi, or embracing like Serge Lutens' Bois de Violette. L'Artisan's Verte Violette is greener and Tocca's Florence is sweeter. Penhaligon's is sharp and has guts. This is the perfect image of the scent. The colour of the jus is the same strange neon blue with violet bow on the bottle. The scent called to mind a room full of old fashion English wall paper and items such as stuff animals that reminding of one's past. It is not modern at all but aged. I think it is eccentric!

new perfume again!

I went for a perfume tour again and bought a new one. This is special all the way from Paris. Bois de Violette by Serge Lutens. It is exquisitely beautiful. The violet scent is in the forest all enveloping. It is exactly like walking very slowly in a lightly shaded forest full of violet. This image called to mind when I sprayed it on my neck and wrist. It is a very warm and at the same time cold, intimate and at the same time melancholic, eternal but at the same time transcient moment in time. A scene from the movie Maurice. I remember watching this movie with all 10 of my classmates in an art cine theatre and we were engrossed in this scene.