{Tea in Atlanta with a Blogger Friend I Admire}

FINALLY I get to post this... Meeting a very sweet and special Blogger Friend, Tamago and her husband 

Tamago writes the very humorous and fun blog: GOROGORO & NIKONIKO about her two adorable cat-boys.

Devoted Cat-Mamas together; Tamago to the right.

We enjoyed some tea and dessert at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead where we were staying for a free night, annual gift that comes with their Visa card's anniversary.

This makes Tamago my 6th Blogger Friend that I met in person.

It is always very special to do so.

Mr. D. with my Pieter, two devoted Cat-Daddies.

This was on June 28 of 2015.

Thank you sweet Tamago for this special photo of the two of us together!

As usual we did exchange some delicious cookies...

Again I'd baked some Amaretti Cookies from Almond Meal with Coconut Palm Sugar to bring with me.

Sweet Tamago and Mr. D. gifted us with some very special individually wrapped Macarons from the Mozart Bakery.

This very special Bakery also seems to have a restaurant and we for sure will check it out within a couple of months!

The thrill of tasting a Mango Macaron!

For the color I added these orange Hibiscus...

And of course served, using the Japanese lacquered tray with Kyushu teapot and Japanese teacup, in honor of Friend Tamago.

Sorry for having eaten this yummy Mango Macaron almost before taking a picture!

Mozart Bakery's Macarons are yummy and their tastes are: 

Blueberry

Chocolate

Coffee

Green Tea

Mango

Strawberry

Tiramisu

Vanilla...

Thank you so very much sweet Tamago and Mr. D.!

Wish we would live closer and do this more often.

Related links:
{Brunch in Toronto with Blogger Friends I Admire} | previous post by me
{Port Huron, MI - Meeting with Blogger Friend I Admire} | previous post by me
{Livonia, Michigan - Meeting with a Blogger Friend I Admire} | previous post by me
{Visiting Ria from IT'S ME} | previous post by me

{UPDATE...}

Guess I need two more weeks for finishing my photo albums and having them ALL digital... 
Several I already did have digital, from scanning the slides before. We often did have slides + photos, developed from special professional film rolls for that purpose.
How times have changed!
But I very much like the way it is now being archived.

Every day I manage one album... 

So by the end of April or early May I will be DONE!
Hope I'm getting out of the stupid time where photos had rounded edges, in the mid till late 80s.
Have to fill those edges in, which is time consuming!

For sure I will do the HAPPY DANCE once I'm through.

The weather is not yet such that it feels like a time waste...

There are some JOYS also in early spring.
Such as this Bletila Striata Alba Orchid that Pieter dug up from our wood garden where it almost wilted.
We have had three of them for years but the roots from those big trees compete for food and water.
They are happy inside a pot now and bloomed very early on March 20!
You can read more about it in my previous post from 2011:
{Our Bletilla Striata Alba Orchid native to Japan and China} They now are 20 years old!

On March 11, while having late afternoon tea in our living room, I heard some strange noise...
That turned out to be the gas burners from a HUGE Hot Air Balloon that landed in our back yard! 
Just beside the big pond and they barely managed to get over the huge oak tree that stands next to the pond.
Lots of spectators too in our back yard.
After having worked hard all day and taking a shower afterwards, Pieter already was in his robe and ready to retire in front of TV... Not so!
WISH we would have been on the balcony for seeing them land.
The daughter of a dear friend was inside the basket, it was one of the things still on her bucket list.
 After having received two donor lungs, and recovering well enough, she finally was able to realize this!

Here are our boys, Bandido, left who joined his brother Spooky to the right in their favorite bolstered Kitty Sill Deluxe.
Probably they can communicate as it turned out that this was on March 28 and by Friday, April 1 (no joke!) Spooky was near dead with a urinary track blockage.
It was a dreary rainy day and I spotted him, hidden in the cat house in the front porch, with big eyes looking at me.
He did not want to eat and later he'd hidden away against the wall of our front porch; in the rain... We found him and rushed him to the Animal Clinic that is only one mile away from us. She did sedate him and insert a catheter and on Monday we could pick him up.
He's now eating medicated dry food and has improved greatly.
He'd lost weight and was without energy.
So glad we found out in time!

So what do you do with all this stress?
Rewarding ourself with a delicious five course dinner at the authentic Italian Restaurant of Ristorante da Maria at Dublin Farm "Come Home To The Country" 
Also my webmaster let me know that he will get out of this business so I had to secure all of my text before it will be taken down.
Too much on my plate but this will pass!
Wishing you a lovely upcoming weekend and thanks for your visits.

{206 Countries Visited - Welcome The Gambia}

Already on March 9, the 206th Country Visited my humble blog - Welcome The Gambia!

Republic of The Gambia

The Gambia is a tiny country in western Africa.

Wishing you all a great week and I'm still very, very busy.

Related link:
{205 Countries Visited - Welcome Mayotte & Message to Incognito Relatives} | previous post by me

              

{Part XVI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Taipei, Taiwan}

By motorcoach the team did travel from Taichung to Taipei, late evening.
Checking in to their hotel Asiaworld Plaza Hotel now Sunworld Dynasty.

The People to People Citizen Ambassador Program team stayed at the Asiaworld Plaza Hotel Taipei

The Asiaworld Plaza Hotel by night, both images are from a post card.

Asiaworld  Plaza had 27 fine restaurants...

Asiaworld Plaza Hotel changed names into Holiday Inn Asia World and is now Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei.

Funny how they wrote 100 Tun Hwa North Road on the post cards and here it is 100 Dun Hua North Road, Taipei...

On Wednesday, April 8 of 1987, the team did visit the National Palace Museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Chinese art treasures of China's nearly 5,000 year history.

Pieter's ticket to the NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Bone and Ivory carvings...

Gates of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan

The brochure that Pieter got is in German but the above link will give you also information.
The day got rounded off with a great dinner at the Landmark Taipei Fortuna Hotel
Sadly, that hotel is also closed down...

The menu card with gold bow...

TAIPEI FORTUNA HOTEL - FORTUNA GRILL - APRIL 8, 1987
MENU
PATE MAISON - CAULIFLOWER CREAM SOUP - SALAD OF THE SEASON - FILET OF SOLE MEUNIERE - BEEF BUTCHER STYLE ROULADE - CHOCOLATE MOUSSE 'SUCHARD' - COFFEE or TEA

While I was shopping with my sister-in-law and afterward having dinner with Pieter's brother and sister-in-law, my Mom had a phone call from Pieter, letting her know that he would arrive a day early from Taiwan!

Indeed, on Thursday, April 9, at the National Taiwan University with Dr. Chen Sun, Pieter did have a luncheon...
Pieter presented again one of his copies of Modern Mushroom Growing.
That was also the day that Pieter flew from Taipei to Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
We got briefly reunited and Pieter started on Monday a tour with his Campbell colleagues, visiting England, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria...

We flew back home to Atlanta, USA, with Mom & Dad in tow for their very first flight and visit with us the coming 4 weeks.

I did fly back to The Netherlands with Mom & Dad and did consulting work in Germany for 2 weeks before returning to the USA.
Pieter meanwhile was in Australia and in Christchurch, New Zealand for Campbell.

A total of 9 weeks on the go... and very much being apart from each other!

*

In March, the following year, Pieter received this letter from one of the participants in this People to People Citizen Ambassador Program, from Judge Robert A. Shoff:

'Dear Pieter,
I was very happy to hear from you, your letter brought fond memories of my trip to china. I found you not only the friendliest person, but the most interesting person in the group, maybe the most interesting person I have ever met. You brightened my trip, and made it worth while. My home life hasn't changed, my relationship with my friend has, I am more content with the way things are.'

Such lines are very valuable!

Related links:
{Part XV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Taichung, Taiwan} | previous post by me
{Part XIV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Encore Garden in Taichung, Taiwan} | previous post by me
{Part XIII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Hong Kong} | previous post by me
{Part XII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - By Train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong} | previous post by me
{Part XI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Impressions of Fuzhou, China} | previous post by me
{Part X of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Ming Tombs near Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part IX of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Jinshanling Great Wall of China} | previous post by me
{Part VIII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Countryside North of Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part VII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Lama Temple in Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part VI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China} | previous post by me 

{Part V of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Forbidden City in Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part IV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - City Views of Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part III of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Arrival in Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{Part XV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Taichung, Taiwan}

On Monday, April 6 of 1987, the team went to Nantou County...

A happy husband Pieter as they got to see by far the best about Mushroom Growing from the entire trip so far!
This is at a big mushroom farm near Taichung in Nantou County.
They got to see the cultivation of Lentinus Edodes or Shiitake on Monday April 6, arranged by Dr. J.T. Peng of the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute.
But I will not bore you with all of the mushroom slides...

Beautiful landscaping around the mushroom houses.

Knowing husband Pieter well enough, he always loves to climb up the hill, for getting an over-view photo!
It also shows the mountains in the distance.

Climbing up even higher.

Beautiful landscaping - worthwhile for anyone NOT interested in the cultivation of exotic mushrooms.

This grower even had his own Bonsai display outside.
Look at these beauties!

Even inside his office one could admire such beautiful Bonsai like this Azalea shrub.

Different angle taken...

Funny entrance in the form of two mushrooms!
The team's bus is parked here...
The day ended with dinner at a Shanghai-style restaurant, featuring prawn, eel and duck dishes.

One side of the insulated growing houses, by letting green vines creep over them!
 Grown here are Flammulina velutipes (Enokitake)
This grower was one that has been a student at Pieter's Practical Training College for Mushroom Growing, in Horst, The Netherlands.
Here he is standing on the other side of buildings, seen in the previous photo above...

Some of the growers...
Both smoking a cigarette!
The person on the right is again wearing such sleeves as seen previously in China.

This is what they are growing inside!
Here you see the fructification of the Flammulina velutipes (Enokitake) and especially my Japanese readers will recognize them.
They are now also being grown in the western world as more and more exotics are on the market.
Enokitake does have lots of health benefits!
When both, Pieter and I, did attend the First International Congress on Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products from 23-26 August 1993, in Hong Kong, it mainly was about those exotics.
Enokitake is grown on a sterilized medium, mainly saw dust.

Near one of the growing rooms Pieter spotted a field with pineapple!

Pieter also did notice the next generation of Taiwanese mushroom growers...

Mechanical harvesting of tea leaves in the Nantou County area near Taichung.
The only land locked county within Taiwan.

Yes, United States is ~ 273 times bigger than Taiwan.
This is being shown on top of my state Georgia, USA...

Husband Pieter did spend 3 nights at Hotel National Taichung Kang Rd. Taichung, Taiwan
Just click the above link. 
From the address on the above post card, only the address seems to have changed a bit...
Now it is No.57, Guanqian Road, West Dist., Taichung City 403, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

From Jin-Torng Peng, Ph.D Pieter did receive his copy of the 'stolen' Chinese version of his book about Modern Mushroom Growing! 

This is the back of Jin-Torng Peng's business card in Chinese...
Pieter received the book at the College of Agriculture, National Chung Hsing University on Monday, April 6.
Dr. Jin-Torng Peng wrote an interesting article: Overview and prospects of edible and medicinal mushrooms: production, consumption and marketing in Taiwan - just click the link.

This was an interesting part of the trip and Pieter enjoyed it thoroughly!
The discussion at the National Chung Hsing University, arranged by Dr. Y. H. Han was also very good.

After Tuesday, April 7th visit to the Enokitake Mushroom farm, the team had a late-evening transfer to Taipei via motorcoach - after dinner!

Will continue with Taipei, Taiwan...

Related links:
{Part XIV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Encore Garden in Taichung, Taiwan} | previous post by me
{Part XIII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Hong Kong} | previous post by me
{Part XII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - By Train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong} | previous post by me
{Part XI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Impressions of Fuzhou, China} | previous post by me
{Part X of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Ming Tombs near Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part IX of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Jinshanling Great Wall of China} | previous post by me
{Part VIII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Countryside North of Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part VII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Lama Temple in Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part VI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China} | previous post by me 

{Part V of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Forbidden City in Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part IV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - City Views of Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part III of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Arrival in Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me