It's Been a Wet Week

Wuchuan, 2012

Bicycles aren't as popular as they once were in China. But my guess is that bicycling as a sport, or even as a prefered form of transportation, will catch on here eventually like it has in the West in recent years.  

Myself, I like riding, if the way is not overly strenuous, but I haven't really done it as often as I'd like. And you? 

Joining Weekend Reflections.

Portrait of a Tricycle Driver

"God Bless Our Trip" are the words knitted into the interior window decor.

For some context, this is his tricycle that four of us climbed into.

Dumaguete, 2011

Linking with Weekend Reflections.

U is for Urban Art

On my business trips from Asia to America, I am sometimes able to add a a few days to meet up with a friend. One such rendezvous happened in June of 2003 with my longtime friend Leesa, an urban art consultant in Vancouver. 

Leesa works with municipalities and developers to integrate commissioned art into public spaces in order to create significance for the people who use those spaces. (We are not talking graffiti.)

She wanted to check out how the Los Angeles Metro was implementing its highly praised public art program, and I was game to tag along. 

From bus stops to rail stations, streetscapes to bus interiors, construction fences to poetry, Metro’s Art Department has commissioned more than 300 artists since being established in 1989. [source]

We explored the Green Line and were delighted with the way artists had woven their stories into the environment: walls, ground, seats, stairs.

Here are just a few of the photos I got. You can read about the artists and their project descriptions on Metro's excellent website.

[photos enlarge when clicked]

Los Angeles, 2003

Do you agree with me that Metro achieved its goal?

Metro commissions artists to create engaging and thought-provoking artworks to make your journey more inviting and pleasurable. The artworks weave a multi-layered cultural tapestry that mirrors Los Angeles County’s rich contemporary and popular cultures.

[Source: LA Metro Art Guide]

Besides having quality face-to-face time, Leesa and I had a blast riding the Metro. Today you can take a free Metro Art Tour on the first Thursday and Saturday of the month. When next I return to LA, I will surely continue to explore this people-friendly transit system.

U is the letter at Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday. Go check out how others creatively play with this letter.

T is for Tricycle

An everyday form of public transportation found throughout the Philippines is the tricycle. This is typically a small 50-125CC motorcycle with a side car that works like a taxi for short distances and in areas not covered by buses or other mass transit. 

Less common these days, it seems to me, is the pedal-powered tricycle, a vinyl-covered sidecar mounted to a regular bicycle frame. Yet a few days ago I spotted these two in Malate, a touristy area near Manila Bay...
 

Manila, 2011

... and I thought they'd be fun to share for T at Alphabe-Thursday and Signs, Signs.

Moving It in Kathmandu

The City Daily Photo is a community of bloggers around the globe who post daily about their cities. Being an avid traveler, it's an idea I both admire and enjoy. They do an awesome job of describing their cities, both in words and in photos. There are too many for me to follow them all, but there are a good number of sites I visit regularly. 

It thrills me to learn about distant cities like Astoria on the west side of the USA and Ocala on the east, East Gwillimbury in Canada, Livorno in Italy, Oeiras in Portugal, Versailles in France, Sydney in Australia, Saltaire in the UK, Jerusalem Hills in Israel, Tokorozawa in Japan, and of course our Manila right here... just to mention a FEW... Every city blogger has a very unique style and their own creative way to see and present their city. It's truly fabulous. I'm hooked.

On the first of each month, the community follows a theme. Today's theme is transportation. You can see thumbnails of the participating City Daily Photo bloggers here.

Well, I hope no one minds, but I thought I'd play along today. 

I seem to be on a roll of threes. My transportation photos were taken earlier this year in Nepal, where I captured three modes of movement on the same spot.

Katmandu, 2010