On The Road

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Balloon Juicers who are on the road, travelling, etc. and wish to share notes, links, pictures, stories, etc. from their escapades. As the US mainland begins the end of the Earth day as we measure it, many of us rise to read about our friends and their transient locales.

So, please, speak up and share some of your adventures, observations, and sights as you explore, no matter where you are. By concentrating travel updates here, it’s easier for all to keep up-to-date on the adventures of our fellow Commentariat. And it makes finding some travel tips or ideas from 6 months ago so much easier to find…

Have at ’em, and have a safe day of travels!

 

Should you have any pictures (tasteful, relevant, etc….) you can email them to [email protected] or just use this nifty link to start an email: Start an Email to send a Picture to Post on Balloon Juice

 

Happy Friday all – today is Asia day!

 

First up from Peale:

Where it was taken: Greenhills Pearl Market, Manila Philippines
When: May 3, 2017
I’ve been meaning to post more photos from the trip to the Philippines. The picture is of one of  about 100 or so pearl stalls within the
Greenhills Shopping Center. Greenhills is a discount mall, but someone had the idea of placing the largest pearl wholesale/retail market in the country, and possibly the world therein. I read somewhere that 60% of the worlds pearls pass through the market. It makes sense for it to be in Manila as that location would be a good gathering point for Tahitian, Indonesian, Filipino, and Australian saltwater pearls and freshwater pearls from Japan and China. I had about a dozen specific orders from colleagues and family members for earrings and necklaces to fill and spent the afternoon browsing and haggling and wondering if maybe I should just quit my job and shop for jewelry full time.

 

My kind of shop. I’ve bought pearls in Hong Kong and Singapore, and my mother also in Thailand and Taiwan. Like Himalayan cats, pearls are a deep family love.

 

Next up from PsiFighter37

Where it was taken: Shanghai skyline at night
When: 5/25/2017

 

Wow. Like the view of Hong Kong Harbor or Singapore or any number of other vibrant Asian, Middle Eastern, European, Canadian, or South American cities, it looks new, modern, futuristic. I remember reading the great Belle Waring’s comments a few years ago on bringing her children to the US to visit family and them remarking how old and worn down things looked. And that was NYC as I recall, not Eerie, PA.

It is true – the US used to be the future, but looking around the world, we have failed to re-invest and rebuild in so many places. A wise friend shared with me “go to Alaska and you’ll see the future America. Signs in many languages, many colors of people are normal, and things are new and look modern.” He’s never seen these gleaming new and reborn cities, but he’s quite aware how aged our buildings and infrastructure are. I expect some areas will look new and modern, and so many others will be neglected, eventually to fade like the old Mail Pouch ads painted on sun-warped barns.

 

Have a great weekend all, there will be a slew of pictures Monday, hopefully a relevant post or two over the weekend. The test site took most of my Balloon Juice time, but that was a one-time investment of time and attention. Next week, things get back to normal, even better!

 

Don’t forget the 12:30 Eastern guest post on Oceanography today, it will be interesting and you’ll learn stuff. And even be able to ask questions! This is the first in a series of guest posts by Experts in Our Midst.