Newport path of Totality

The last time an eclipse went all the way through the USA, was 100 years ago. That meant that it was an opportunity of a life time, and we couldn’t miss it. We decided that the best way to see it would be by boat, so we hopped on Seaglass and headed down to Newport, Oregon.

I went with Dad and James on the boat, while Joshua and Mom went down with the car so we had it for backup in case there was marine fog, and also to pick up Granny. It took Dad and I two days to get down, but we were able to do night watches without being too exhausted in the day, so it all worked out fine.

The port of Newport was fairly big, and was completely filled up with boats who were here for the eclipse. There was a group of Sea Lions on the other side of the ??? who could be heard barking 24/7. The marina also had a RV park (completely full as well), and had showers, a general store, and a laundry facility. The marina was super windy, and because we were on the blow on side of the dock, we were tilted side ways a lot of the time.

We were in Newport, for a few days before the eclipse, so we spent that time discovering the town. The town was full of stores, mainly gift shops and candy stores, and a few clothing shops. There was also a large fish business. There was a Aquarium and a science center, which were conveniently just a  few minutes away from our boat. We had been to them both before, but were quite rushed, so we enjoyed going through them again. The Science center had a program one morning, in which we went through the Mud Flats. The mud flats was full of life, but was completely flooded over every high tide, so the life had to adapt to live above, and under water. There were lots of plants that would take the salt from the filtered water and expel them out, so they had lots of salt on them, and tasted salty (yes a few were edible!). There were lots of sea birds on the beach beyond the mud flats, and we learned about a native shrimp that was being threatened by an introduced species.

Finally on the day that the eclipse was on, we took a look at the weather. It was unfortunately very foggy, so we started preparing to leave the marina, and hope to get out of the fog before the eclipse. Just before we were about to leave, and the eclipse was about to start, the fog cleared out. We were so ____! When the eclipse started, around 9:00, we put on our eclipse glasses and looked at the sun. You could see a small dent in the sun from the moon starting to go across it. As we kept watching the moon kept going into the sun, and the temperature started to get colder. At one point, the sun looked exactly like a crescent moon. The eclipse, was about to get total, and everyone in the marina was super excited. We waited for the last of the sun to disappear. When it did, the surrounding turned dark and cold, not like at night, but more instantaneous and weird. The surroundings paled in comparison to what we saw though. The moon was completely black, and the sun corona was completely visible around it. It was bright, but not painfully so. The total eclipse lasted for 2 minutes, but it felt like seconds. When the moon left the sun, the sun made a bright spark of light at the end of it, so it looked like a diamond ring. I was really glad we came down to see the eclipse, I will never forget it.

The moon is starting to cover the sun

Merlin is wondering what is going on

The total Eclipse!

Bahia De Tortugas

Me with the Firebolt

After months of repairing Seaglass in San Diego, we were finally ready to go on the Baja Ha-Ha. The Baja Ha-Ha is an annual event in which a rally, or large group of boats, sail down the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The rally started on October 31^st, so there was a big costume party the day before we left. Most of the people their were, not surprisingly, pirates and wenches but their were also some Vikings, sea creatures, and famous characters from movies. My family, went as wizards from the wizarding world of Harry Potter. My brothers and I had all the gear of students from Hogwarts while my parents both went as regular wizards. We even had the Firebolt, the fastest broom of them all.

Our first, and my favorite, stop on the rally was Bahia De Tortugas, Spanish for the bay of turtles. The trip there had a few big waves, but overall was great downwind sailing. Our boat is so good at downwind sailing, we were one of the first boats there! In the bay, there was a town and big, sandy beaches, but, despite the name, I didn’t see any turtles. The people in the town loved baseball. They had six teams that played all around Mexico, and even had a full baseball field in their town.

Seaglass sailing

Baseball is probably my favorite sport. I played it all the time before we left on the boat and haven’t played a real game since. That is why the Baja Ha-Ha baseball game in Bahia De Tortugas was so fun for me. We played the game according to the “Baja rules”, in which the bases were closer together, and the balls were pitched underhand. The boaters and the locals lined up to bat, and each person got at least 2 hits. For the fielders, anybody who wanted to, glove or no glove, went out onto the field. At one point in the game there were 3 people on 2^nd base! During the game, I ran home once and played on second and outfield.

The Baseball Field

 At every location the Baja boaters stopped, there was a beach party. The beach party at the Bahia De Tortugas was set up on the northeast side of the bay. On the beach by the party zone there were several large sandstone cliffs, and the boaters had set up chars, tents, and a full-sized volleyball net. The locals also set up a bar and food stands. I got into volleyball about a year ago. Then, we were up at Whidbey in summer, and we played the game with our friends up there. Those first games, Josh and I were so bad; we called our team the Losers. After a while of playing though, the Losers occasionally won. We brought our A game to the Baja.

Sunset in Mexico

The beach party had several rounds of volleyball, a tug of war match, and hot dogs! I spent most of my time their playing with the various sports items that we brought and that were already there, and meeting the other kids and adults on the rally.

Thanks for reading, Jacob

Adventures in Brunei

We are now in Brunei. Brunei is home to 400,000 people, all ruled by a Sultan who has complete control over everything in the country. On our first day here we devoted our time to finding out about the city. After we got out of the boat at noon, we met Bev and Gram at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club and had some lunch. The pizza I had there was great. When we finished catching up on the latest stuff, we left and went to the city.

The major city in Brunei was tiny. There was a mall and a HSBC. The rest of the city had large buildings, and there was a stilt village. There was also a huge gold and white Mosque.

A stilt village

When we finished touring the city, we found an interesting building and decided to visit it. The building turned out to be the Royal Regalia Centre. It contained the Sultan's gifts from his coronation ceremony from around the world. There were gifts from all over Asia: Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Korea. There was also presents from places like Jordan and Zanzibar. One of my favorite gifts to look at was a picture of a Mosque made completely out of gem stones. The detail of it amazed me. Another thing I liked was a horse carved out of jade. The biggest thing in the museum was the royal carriage. It was complete with tons of weapon bearers marching beside it.

The next day we got up early so we could go to the Ulu Tamburong National Park. Once we woke up, we got ready and went to the Yacht Club. From there, we drove to the pickup point, a jetty in the city. After a while, our taxi boat came and we all got in. The trip down the river to the next point in the trip took about thirty minutes. On the way, we passed lots of jungle, but I wasn't able to see any monkeys or crocodiles. When we finished our ride, we stopped at land and took a car to the Rainforest Lodge. Once we arrived, we took a break and had some tea and snacks.

The Longboat ride

To get from the Lodge to the beginning of the trail we were going on, we had to take a longboat through the river. The trip was very fun. The river had a very strong current and some parts were rapids, so they were really wavy. The longboat kept tipping and turning and at some points in time we got sprayed by some water. When we arrived, we all got off and started the climb. We had to go up about one thousand steps, all through the burning hot sun. Fortunately we had water, or we would still be there in a little puddle on the jungle floor.

Can you see the spider?
(click the picture to zoom up)

At the top of the mountain there was the canopy bridges. These were huge towers with ladders on the inside. Platform after platform of metal all the way up and over the canopy with bridges between them. Once you got up there it was like a completely different world. The tops of the trees are very different from the bottom. I made it to the highest point and was able to see the great scenery of rolling mountains with jungle. While I was up there I saw two different types of spiders. One of them had a yellow mouth and a green head. His butt was striped black and white, and he was waggling it up and down.

After the canopy walk, we went back down the mountain and went back into our longboat. Once we were in, we set back down the river. The second time we did it was just as fun as the first. It was a new experience since we were going with the current instead of against it.

When we were about halfway down the river, we arrived at a small entrance to the jungle with water coming out of it. Our guide said it was the path to the waterfall. The path was very cool. It was a flowing river all the way, and there was rock path to walk on. The water fall we went to was about six meters tall with freezing cold water constantly pouring down. That wasn't the fun part though. The second you put your feet in the water, they would be bitten and tickled by little grey fish! The pond was full of them. The fish would find a piece of dead skin on your feet, grab it and tear it off.

After the refreshing trip to the waterfall, we went back into the longboat and traveled to the Rainforest Lodge. On the way, I saw a monitor lizard and a small water lizard. When we arrived at the rain forest lodge, there was lunch waiting for us. I had lots of rice with beef curry and vegetables. After our stomachs were full, we took a car back to the taxi boat drop off and waited for the taxi boat. Unfortunately, there was a small thunderstorm and the boats were all delayed. Because of this we were waiting for an hour before we set off, back to the boat.

 Thanks for Reading, Jacob

Miri Crocodile Farm

MIRI CROCODILE FARM

We are spending our Easter in Miri, Sarawak. For the holiday, we went on a Easter hunt, and found thirty eggs hidden throughout the boat. After that, we had lunch, and quickly decapitated a large chocolate bunny. Just as we were starting to eat the bunny's body, Dad and Mom said we we were going to the Miri crocodile farm.

Miri's roads are covered in sea horses. There are big metallic ones, groups of colorful ones, and small ones in the bushes by gas stations. The roads also have huge roundabouts with stuff all over them. After we drove for forty minutes over Miri's spread out city, we made it to the crocodile farm, barely. All there was to notify us of its presence was a small sign on a turn with two crocodiles and an arrow on it.

Crocodiles

The Miri crocodile farm bred crocodiles so they could sell their products. This included crocodile skin belts, rugs, hats, and crocodile teeth. They also sold crocodile meat, but we didn't go to the restaurant that prepared it. After we browsed through the products we went to see the biggest crocodile pen. There was more then fifty adult salt water crocodiles there, and we walked over their habitat in a raised wooden walkway. The crocodiles' habitat was made up of mud,with a few pools of water and one huge lake. The crocodiles each had their own part of it, the smaller ones shared spaces and wouldn't go into the larger croc space. The crocodiles we saw were surprisingly active. They were crawling around and sloshing in the mud. The ones in the water were coming out and going in, and blowing bubbles when they went under. They were like this because it was almost time for them to be fed.

Yummy, bird sandwich

I see you

The feeding went quick. A guy started throwing dead chickens over the fence and all the crocs jumped around and caught them. In a few large splashes the feeding was over. After watching the feeding, we left the walkway, and moved on. The next spot we visited had lots of animals to take pictures with. I took a picture with a big snake. It was very heavy and smooth, but some of its scales were falling off and they felt dry, like a dead leaf. Also in the area there was an owl in a birdcage, and wherever I went around it, it would look there. It even looked at me right behind it without moving its body.

What are you looking at?

The rest of the crocodile farm mainly consisted of crocodiles in different groups, and a few different types of animals. My favorite animal to watch was the bear and leopard cats. The bear cats, big black lumbering beasts, were stomping around their cage, while the leopard cats were sleeping. Another cool thing I did was watch the eagles. They would look around at the other birds, then lift their wings and launch themselves at them, only to find themselves stopped by a cage. While we were there, the Philippine eagle got feed some fish. After we finished looking at the animals, it was getting late so we started to leave. On the way we fed the goats. A baby goat even came out and let me pet it while I fed it.  

Thanks For Reading, Jacob

Kuching land of cats

MUZIUM sign

The entrance to the cat museum

Kuching Land of Cats

Friday, 3/27/15

The Kuching Cat Museum was very fun. Once we arrived in the parking lot under the huge building the cat museum was located in, we started seeing signs that said MUZIUM and showed a picture of a cat. We started following the signs and, we got to the entrance of the museum, a huge cat face. After the huge cat ate us (or, After we entered the museum) we saw cat stuff everywhere. Although the entrance fee was free, taking in cameras wasn’t. We had to pay some Ringgit for each of our devices before we could do anything. Once the person stamped our devices, we went into the first exhibit. It was displaying some cat related comics, like Garfield, and news articles about cats. Here, they had the of the story Puss in boots by Ruth Ainsworth. Here is my version of the story.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far, away, there lived a miller who had three sons. When he died, he left his mill to his eldest son, his ass (the donkey kind) to his middle son, and to his youngest son, a cat. Of course the youngest son was like “What! My brother gets an ass, and I get a cat!” and “how the heck am I supposed to survive with this worthless cat!” After this the cat spoke, “Do not despair master,” the master was quite stunned, so he didn’t interrupt the cat. “Give me a pair of boots and a sack, and all will be well.” The master was quite surprised, so he made the cat a pair of boots, and gave him a sack. After the cat got his desired items, he ran off, cleaned himself, and caught some rabbits. With the rabbits he set off to the king, and gave the rabbits to him. He then said, “Here is a present from my master”, the cat thought for a while, “the Marquis of Carabas”. The king was gone, for he had already brought the rabbits to the cook. When he returned he said, “Please, Thank your master for me”. The cat left and returned the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, and, well, you get the point.

On one particularly sunny day the cat went to his master and told him to do exactly as he said. Meanwhile, the king was enjoying the sunny day by riding around in his carriage. On the way past the lake he saw a man flailing in the water yelling for help. “That man is drowning!” cried the King, “somebody do something!” The carriage driver threw him a rope and the king threw him one of his towels. “What happened to you?” The king said. At that moment the cat jumped in and said “My master, the Marquis of Carabas was attacked by a thief. The thief stole his clothes and pushed him in the water.” The king brought the pair through the town to his palace. On the way he commented on how beautiful the cornfield was and everything else and asked who owned it. Everyone else said “the Marquis of Carabas,” for the cat had come in earlier and threatened to turn them into mincemeat if they didn’t. When they reached the palace the king really thought that the miller’s youngest son was a rich and powerful fellow. The cat was glad. There was only one thing left for him to do.

Miles away there lived an ogre called Shrek (just kidding) in a large castle. The cat went to the castle to slay the ogre. When he arrived the ogre confronted him. The cat said, “ I’ve heard that you have the ability to change form.” The ogre replied “yep,” and he turned into a huge lion. The cat stepped back in caution and replied, “Can you turn into a small creature?” The ogre transformed into a mouse and the cat ate him up in one gulp. After the ogre was slain, the miller’s youngest son moved in to the castle with the cat and they were happy.

Tsuda's cats

A stuffed cat

After finishing all the stories, I went to a section that had mounted specimens of cats. They all looked especially scruffy, and some were missing their eyes. Cool, but creepy. What was really amazing was that they had a bay cat. Bay cats are only found in Borneo rain forests and are the rarest cat in the world. Here, in the museum, they had the only mounted specimen on earth. After spending a while looking at the mounted cat species, we all got hungry, and decided to go get some food and finish the museum later. We went to the Kafeteria, a restaurant right next to the cat museum. There, we all ate chicken fried rice. After eating the food, we headed back to the museum and went to the second part. This area mainly consisted of of cats in arts, merchandise, and in other cultures. My favorite part in this section was looking at Satoru Tsuda's artwork. Satoru Tsuda was a Japanese man who thought that trained cats would be a good idea. He started asking people for help and they gave him their unwanted pets. He then trained the cats to stand on their hind legs, do poses, and wear special clothes made for them. The cats passed as rock stars, doctors, maids, and police. With his great success, Satoru Tsuda and his cats lived in fame and fortune.

Saturday 3/28/15

Today, we went to the Sarawak museum. There are two Sarawak museums here in Kuching, and we went to the old one. On our way to the Sarawak museum, we passed the new Sarawak museum, the natural museum, and the art museum. The Sarawak museum's first floor was made up my of tons of stuffed animal specimens collected by the famous collector, Wallace. The cool thing about the stuffed animals was how they were arranged. They weren't just put in line, they were put in their own little habitats. Some of the stuffed animals were eating, some were flying, and most of them were doing some type of behavior. One of my favorite exhibits was the one with the kingfishers and owls. This one had trees and logs over a lake, with dragonflies and other bugs flying all over the place, trying to escape the hungry beaks of the bright and colorful kingfishers.

The headhunters are going to get me!

After we finished looking through the first floor, we headed up the stairs up to the next floor. In this floor, we saw the culture of Malay people. My favorite part about this place was going inside a replica of a headhunter's longhouse. It was complete with a kitchen, sleeping room, and real human skulls over a fire place for good luck (insert evil laugh here). 

Orangutan Mother and her baby 

The next day after the Sarawak museum we woke up early and headed off to the Semenggoh Nature Reserve. After we finally got there, we went into the entrance and instantly saw an orangutan. It was a young boy, and it posed for us while we took pictures. When we finished taking pictures, we headed on to the next area. In this area, we were lucky enough to see a mother orangutan with her baby. The mother was teaching her baby different climbing techniques. She would put the baby on her stomach move to a spot, do a pose, and let the baby out to copy her. It was very cute. After the mother orangutan finished teaching her baby super yoga moves, we moved on and did the bamboo trail. In this trail we saw, lots of bamboo, cool flowers, orchids, and pitcher plants. We also noticed a huge trail of thousands of ants moving along like a really, really busy highway.

Once we finished, we headed to the long houses. Unfortunately, the bridge there was under construction, and as we were trying to find our way there, we got lost. When we parked and started eating, a very nice person came up to us and invited us to his sons 1st birthday party. We came and met his family. He was a retired army sergeant major with a wife and five children. We all talked and ate some special sticky rice. I had a good time.

Sunday, 3/29/15

Today we went to the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV). The village is dedicated to teaching you about the 7 different ethnic groups in Malaysia, one long house for each. When we arrived, it was already 2:30, and there was a show that would be starting at 4:00. Because of this, we only got to visit two longhouses: the Bidayuh, and the Iban. Before we could visit the longhouses though, we had to eat, so we went to a restaurant. At the restaurant we all ate rice with food cooked inside bamboo. After our stomachs were full we went to the Bidayuh longhouse. Bidayuh longhouses are built in steep lime stone mountains. They are built there to avoid maraudin enemies, and to have a supply of freshwater. The one we visited was huge. It's inside had two floors. The top one was where people relaxed, and the bottom one was were they worked. Right next to the Bidayuh longhouse was a Bidayuh watchtower. It was a small and rounded. Inside was skulls smoking over a fire, and a man who was playing his musical instruments. He was very good at it and he even played a song on a flute for us. After the Bidayuh buildings, we headed of to find another longhouse. The next one we ran into was the Iban longhouse. Iban longhouses were built near fertile land next to water. Once the land was exhausted, usually in about 15-20 years, they would take their belongings, leave their house, and find new, fertile, land. The inside of the longhouse we saw was full of masks and artwork, there was also a lady weaving clothes.

Bidayuh Longhouse on the left, Bidayuh watchtower to the right

The Tolak Bala dance

After the Iban longhouse it was getting late, so we had to go to the show. The show was full of all the different tribes dances. They were all, fun and colorful, but my favorites were the Kanjet Ngeleput, and the Langgi Julang. The Kanjet Ngeleput showed a Orang Ulu warrior stalking his prey (balloons) and ladies with flowers running around him. When the hunter found his prey he loaded his long blowdart and Pop, Pop. The Langgi Julang had Bidayuh men run around with poles hitting the ground with them in rhythm to the music. They then did tricks with their poles. My favorite one was when the men held one pole, and one of the men climbed to the top and spun around.

Thanks for reading, Jacob

A Trip to Cambodia

A Trip to Cambodia

Before you read this blog… (look below)

(Please take your shoes off)

Cambodia, home to fourteen million people. With a diverse culture, I was very lucky to be able to visit the country. The airplane we flew on started from Phuket, stopped in Bangkok, and ended in Siem Reap. Siem Reap in Khmer, the Cambodian language, means Thai defeat. There are about three hundred and ninety nine temples in Siem Reap, and one million people.

We are staying in Borei Angkor, a four star hotel. The Hotel has several restaurants, one pool, and a spa. The room I am in has three beds, one bathroom and a TV. It has been so long since I could watch Cartoon Network in English.

The next day after we arrived, we decided to take a tour, and see some of the temples here in Cambodia. After a a short drive with our guide, Piture, we arrived at the point where you get your tickets for admission to the temples. After we bought four tickets (James didn't need one), we headed to the first temple. On the way we talked to our guide, and learned that Cambodia's government is a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

Bayon Temple

Naga

Singah

Dvelepoula (left), Absara (right)

The first temple that we visited was named Bayon. Bayon was built as a Buddhist temple, but was changed to a Hindu temple when the king at that time tried to change the country's religion to Hinduism. Now the temple serves as a Hindu and Buddhist temple, and a historical landmark. The temple had many singhas and nagas (lions and snakes) guarding it. There was also many dvelapoulas, to guard the doors, and Apsaras (celestial dancers) to keep the dvelapoulas company. In and on the temple, there were carvings. Carvings of the battles between the Khmer and the Chan, carvings of the way of life in Cambodia, carvings of hunting, fishing, eating, royalty and poor, the carvings were everywhere. Also in the temple were the faces of Buddha. Back when the temple was built, eight hundred years ago, there was more then two hundred of them, but now there is only about one hundred and forty eight.

Ta Phrom

After visiting Bayon we headed to the next temple, Ta Phrom. Ta Phrom, a Hindu temple, was built as a Buddhist temple by Jayafarman the seventh for his family. Since then, the temple has been overgrown by many plants and trees. The temple is famous for its showing in the film Tomb Raider. The temple is full of jungle sounds and has a greenish color from all of the moss and lichen growing on it. There are many tree roots growing around the temple and they sometimes made funny shapes or interesting designs around the temple. One of my favorite places in the temple is a room where you could beat your chest and it would echo around the room. The funny thing is that no other sound would echo in the room.

We were all getting a bit tired after visiting the two temples so we decided to eat some food or, as the Khmer say it, ngam bpai. Khmer food is not spicy, but is still tasty. After a lunch of Rice and curry we headed to the next temple.

Angkor Watt

Raining Outside

Angkor Watt, or City Temple, was built nine hundred years ago as a Hindu temple by King Suryavarman II. Later it was changed to a Buddhist temple. Angkor Watt is surrounded by a man made moat and a large naga. There is also over two thousand apsaras in Angkor watt. There are lot of carvings inside Angkor Watt, but most of them were about religious beliefs. There is scenes of heaven and hell, the churning of the sea, and more. Also in Angkor Watt, there
are many pools for people (from the past) to
swim into in the morning and pray to the sun god. One of the really cool things I got to do in Angkor Watt was to climb to the highest point on the temple and see the beautiful view.

The reclining Buddha

The next day of our adventure was very fun. We had decided to go to the mountains and see the reclining Buddha and the waterfall near it. After a hour and a half, we arrived at our destination, the reclining Buddha. This reclining Buddha was built over five hundred years ago. To make it easier for people to get to it, workers made a stairway up to the Buddha. Also, beneath the Buddha, is the the Buddha's footprint. People believed that if they put money on the Buddha's footprint they could make a wish.

The next thing that we visited was the waterfall. The waterfall was huge and was the most powerful waterfall I've ever visited. Fortunately we had brought our swimsuits so we were able to swim. The waterfall was so powerful, so that when you went really close to it, it would push you back. It was very hard to get under the waterfall and when you did, the waterfall would blind you with its spray, and crush you with its water. It was great!!!

Another thing we did that day was visit the land mine museum. I learned a lot about the problem of land mines in Cambodia, and in 53 other countries.

On the third day of our trip we had a break from all the traveling, so we only did one thing: a helicopter ride over Seam Reap. The helicopter we rode in had a capacity of six people and was red. Our helicopter also had several windows. The flight was amazing. It felt smooth, not anything like a plane. We were able to see several temples from up in the air, and they all looked like miniature models. Angkor watt from above was amazing. I was able to see where I had been on it. We also got to see the floating village from above.

Floating village

Mangrove Forest

The last day of our adventure was on a Sunday. We were able to go see the floating village on boat. We took a small boat on the way there and through the main part of the village. I could almost imagine living there, fishing all day, to come back and swim, eating fish and rice. The people of the village would fish, using nets or fish traps with two entrances, designed to let fish in, but not out. After fishing, the people would bring back their catch, and make it into fish paste to eat. While I was there, I was toured around the village in a local paddle boat. We went through the mangrove forests, and through the center of the village.

Thanks for Reading, Jacob

These are the carvings in Bayon Temple.
Playing Chess (top left)
Chan fighting Khmer (top middle)
Underwater (top right)
Training (left)
Building Bayon Temple (right)