Some Totally Random Shots

Sometimes I don't have a thing to say, but there's never a week that I don't take photos. I rarely leave  the apartment without my camera, even if I'm only going a short distance because there's never a shortage of photo opportunities around here. Some you may find interesting, some maybe not so much. But occasionally when there's nothing to write about, I'll just post a few shots from the previous week. That's what I'm doing today. I'll write a little note of explanation with each one.


Ronnie took these first 3 shots. He was out exercising so he must have taken them with his phone. This van broke down on our street. A motor (scooter) delivered a new engine and these guys were getting ready to put the new motor in. Our street is extremely narrow with a constant and heavy flow of traffic, not the ideal place to have to replace a motor!

apparently he was willing to pose for Ronnie

motor delivered and ready to install

let's see, how do we go about this?

Ronnie snapped the one below too. These guys were working just off our balcony. The one in front had been welding. His head covering was a cut off jean leg and sunglasses. Whatever works.

construction workers out back

I snapped this most unusual cluster that is blooming on the vine above and on the concrete wall that surrounds our apartment complex. Actually, they call these villas, but villa sounds a little too nice for a place we've killed 16 rats since we've been here.

i have no idea...

Have you ever wondered how many coconuts you can carry on a motor? I think the answer is somewhere between 8-10. You'd be surprised at the amount and variety of things that can be hauled on these things.

how many coconuts?

Remember the luwak coffee I talked about in an earlier post? No? Ok, it's the coffee bean that is eaten by the luwak cat. The animals (ahem...) poop is then harvested, cleaned, roasted and ground to make a very expensive coffee. This is some that my friend Marcia had in a bag. I preferred to just take a quick shot through the plastic baggie.

 luwak coffee beans - not yet cleaned or roasted

The shot below is my view from the front street as I rode with Marcia to Hela's house this week. Hela is a former Muslim (now Christian) woman who wants to offer other women free English lessons in her home. Hela herself is fluent in 5 languages.

pedestrians, cars & motors on Hela's street

This is some food that Hela offered us. There were ants crawling all over it, but I politely tried some of it, knowing full well that I might regret it later. As it turned out, I didn't get sick. Hela referred to the dish on the left as "fruit salad" although for the life of me I couldn't see any fruit in it. I questioned her as to its name since I could only see vegetables in it, but she continued calling it fruit salad. The other plate had something that looked like fried pineapple but it actually had a potato-like texture inside. The green balls had a gelatinous type outside with a sweet potato/coconut mix inside. Not bad. The other items were fried tofu and fried chicken which I did not try.

our hostess' offerings

The photo below is of some eels for sale on the side of the road - not in the market like the ones I posted awhile back. Think of these as "fast food eels" since they are convenient to pick up on your way home. Our driver tells me they are "very delicious!" Um hmm.