Slice of Vietnam

Meet this cheerful soul, spinning in circles in his small, colorful round boat, waving his rudder like it's a magic wand! 🎉✨ His laughter echoes over the water, a reminder that happiness isn’t about the size of your boat, but the size of your smile. 😊 #boat, #swirl, #rudder, #wand, #Vietnam, #tourism, #travel, #laughter, #happiness, #fun, #color, Water, #caps,

Nature’s Grandeur Meets Human Marvels

Montmorency Falls, Quebec – where the powerful cascade of water from 272 feet above merges with the bustling energy of modern life. From the sky, the aerial view captures it all: 🌊 Majestic falls carving their way through the landscape, 🚗 A freeway alive with the rhythm of fast-moving cars, 🌉 And a stunning bridge that seems to connect not just two sides, but past and present. This place isn’t just a destination—it’s a masterpiece of contrasts. Beauty, power, and motion all wrapped into one breathtaking scene.

A floating oasis, offering a unique perspective of the city's majestic skyscrapers.

Cathedral rock in Sedona, AZ

• Beautiful, peaceful and serene place. 
• Sunrise looks very beautiful from Cathedral rock.

Hike:

• You can take the steep climb or easy hike. The views, flowers are spectacular.
• Well marked trails.
• Carry water as this area is quite dry.
  Wear lots of lip protection.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Town Square at Ljubljana

Square at Ljubljana

Square at Ljubljana

Clock in Ljubljana Castle

Ljubljana Castle

Water is considered holy for the Slovenians . They do not waste water

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Lake Bled

Slope

Water is considered holy for the Slovenians . They do not waster water 

Swimming pool overlooking the Pacific ocean

Swimming pool overlooking the Pacific ocean

Swimming pool in Montage, Laguna beach in California which overlooks the Pacific ocean.

Coffee maker: Cuisinart Model DGB-1

Coffee maker: Cuisinart Model DGB-1

Single cup grind and brew coffeemaker

On father's day, my daughter gifted me a cuisinart coffee maker. She told me "I have bought it from Costco, so if you don't like it, you know where to return ". I said "Understood, dear".
I am used to making pour over coffee. I grind the coffee beans, boil the water in a kettle and pour boiling water over the ground beans. 

So I tried my new father's day gift and I observed the following: 
1) Water temperature 140° degrees Fahrenheit, that's a good temperature to extract coffee from the beans. 
(However, I would have preferred water temperature to be around 190° degrees Fahrenheit).

2) The coffee beans are ground and via centrifugal force they are sprayed into the coffee filter through a small rectangular chamber.

3) Hot water enters through a hole and wet most of the beans, unlike some espresso machines which wet only part of the beans. Whereby the wet part is over extracted and the other part of coffee beans are not extracted at all. This way  cuisinart coffee maker requires less coffee beans. 

But here's the problem:
• Whenever you make coffee, some coffee gets clogged in the rectangular chamber. 

Bean chamber clean

So this is what happens: 
• 1st cup of coffee, "aah, highway to heaven "
• 2nd cup of coffee "this is great coffee, thanks to my daughter "
• 3rd cup, suddenly the coffee becomes milder. 
• By the 5th cup, its like I am drinking  only hot water . Where did all the coffee disappear ? it made all the sound of grinding coffee!

• To solve the mystery, I began operation beanstar and I opened the chambers and discovered that the rectangular chamber was completely clogged and so no coffee powder was passing through. 

Bean chamber clogged

• So I cleaned the rectangular chamber, the grinder etc. Now I do this after every 5 cups of coffee. If i forget, then I end up drinking hot water.

Waterman Phileas blue fountain pen

Waterman Phileas marble blue fountain pen