unicorn

With 39 cm (over 15 inches) of rain over 19 days, is it really possible that the downpours happen over just an hour or two? This forum has a lot of Thai members, so maybe their experience would be helpful. It looks as though Bangkok's rainiest month is September, with 34 cm of rain over 18 days during that month. Does the rain usually last only an hour or two in September? If so, how are the roads after the rain? That the travel website I looked at/linked above called January a "poor" month to visit Bali and Java suggests weather has a significant impact on the travel experience. The fact that the ship is a "quiet paradise" even when docked in a shitty port suggests most people do go on shore when at port. Maybe some people just go on a cruise to say they've "been there," even when they can't really experience a place. There's a travel vlogger by the name of Noel Philips who "documented" his trip to say he's been to all 50 states, showing him take a train from Washington DC to Wilmington, Delaware and back. To him, the fact that he'd passed a sliver of Maryland and Delaware meant he'd "been there." I'm not sure I'd agree he can say he's "been there." When I say I've been to all 50 states (and have visited all Canadian provincial capitals), the only one I feel I cheated on a little is Kansas, because my extent on visiting that state was a dinner I ate in Baxter Springs. OK, also my extent to visiting Kentucky was a dinner in Covington. But at least I did get a look at the place and have a meal there. He especially misses out with Wyoming and South Dakota, since there are a lot of fascinating places in those states.

I'm curious as to which cruise you were on. I've been on over a dozen with Celebrity Cruises alone (and a few others), and met quite a few fellow passengers (in the past, it used to be the case that there were fixed sittings with large tables, and one would meet more fellow guests than is now the case). Rarely did I meet people who didn't go on shore on port days. Flying half-way across the world just to get to the departure port is either very expensive or very uncomfortable/arduous. Even an economy ticket costs thousands for two people. If people just wanted to experience luxury, they could spend the thousands and stay closer to home. I suppose that there are people who take repositioning cruises which are, indeed, quite inexpensive, and have limited port stops. But even those have some ports to explore. I can understand someone going on a cruise close to home, and perhaps only interested in the cruise experience (for example, someone from the US's east coast taking a cruise from Miami, or from the west coast from Los Angeles). But does it really make sense to fly all the way to Singapore just to either stay on the ship or get soaked? Have others gone on cruises in which a majority stay on board when at port? Which cruise lines and which departure ports?

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/vivienne-hospitalised-3-times-month-30714606 "The Vivienne previously opened up about battling a severe addiction to ketamine - with doctors telling the star he was on the brink of death before he turned his life around. The Drag Race UK champion, who was born James Lee Williams, has sadly passed away aged just 32. His death was announced in a sad statement on Sunday night (January 5). It read: "It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved James Lee Williams - The Vivienne, has passed this weekend. James was an incredibly loved, warm-hearted and amazing person. "Their family are heartbroken at the loss of their son, brother and uncle. They are so proud of the wonderful things James achieved in their life and career. We will not be releasing any further details. We please ask that James's family are given the time and privacy they now need to process and grieve." The cause of death has not been made clear. Opening up about his harrowing experience, the BBC show star recounted how doctors had warned he was on the brink of death...".

I've been interested in a cruise around Indonesia, but most of the ones I see are scheduled to go during their monsoon/rainy season. This one is scheduled to hit Indonesia in early January, at the peak of the rainy season! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/8-night-bali-adventure-holiday-from-singapore-on-ovation/OV08SIN-349797265?sail-date=2025-12-28&currency=USD&country=USA#step=0 Bali gets 39 cm of rain in January, with rain being present on most days. Why would anyone spend big $$ on flights and cruises when a soggy time is almost guaranteed? This website says it's the worst time to go to most of Indonesia (including Bali and Java): https://www.selectiveasia.com/indonesia-holidays/weather I don't get it. Who would book a cruise when one is likely to get drenched? Are there people who just don't look these things up when planning an expensive vacation? Or are there people who don't care about lousy weather?

Some netizen combines four landmarks, office building of People Daily, office building of CCTV, Nest the National Stadium and Shanghai Convention Center in one picture:

Another Chinese building, the office building of People Daily newspaper:

Well, that much I knew, but is there some other way to trigger the view count? If someone links the photo to another site or to social media, will that trigger the count? It just seems that the number of views on those strings seems unusually large, and I'm trying to figure out why. Why would there be over 1000 views in the favorite building string? Are people viewing the string repeatedly? About what is the daily viewership of this forum? I mean, those are interesting photos, but the viewership seems out of proportion.

I'm somewhat surprised by how many views my recent "favorite building" and Bourbon Street strings have received. Is the string getting credit for people linking any photos to another site?

For the female side of things, Qatar has the Al-Janoub Stadium:

Heavens! You might offend Vinapu! 😄

Barcelona has its Torre Glòries:

It looks as though London's mayor stopped the planned building of The Tulip, which was to look like a giant dildo...

London was supposed to have its own penis building, The Spire, but it looks as if the erection isn't finished... 😉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spire_London https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/this-new-london-skyscraper-is-being-slammed-for-looking-very-rude-from-above-33090503.html "The Spire is set to be erected in London and people have said it looks a lot like a giant phallic structure."

Guangxi New Media Center...

As an update, I passed by the "Christmas lights house" the other day while walking my dog, and I heard that neighbor doing noisy work in his garage, which I hadn't heard him do in a long time. I wonder if the lunch party neighbor took the bad advice, and complained about the lights. This might have been payback. The noisy garage work was what led the party neighbor to sue the Christmas lights neighbor (unsuccessfully). He'd probably be more likely to get his neighbor to cooperate by being nice.

Yes, Bourbon Street is like that during Mardi Gras. Not always that dirty, though. It is the most hopping street for bars and rowdiness, though.

Well, I suspect he hit a garbage can or two as he plowed down that street. And it was a rowdy, crowded street.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove his Ford pickup into a New Year's Day crowd on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15. At least there won't be a need for a trial.

What are SGT and GB? Are you saying this site will be down multiple times in January?

I don't think the neighbor is seething by my lack of support. I was just surprised by the apparent lack of common sense, to a small extent from my husband, and to a larger extent from his other friend. Wouldn't it be obvious that complaining to the neighbors could make matters worse? I thank those responding for the support. I thought maybe I was missing something. They were just regular Christmas lights (and they're down now--or at least not lit up).

I had lunch with one of my neighbors the other week, along with my husband and a few of the neighbor's friends. This (elderly) neighbor can be rather cranky, and doesn't get along with one of his next-door neighbors. He's actually sued them, and lost, over issues such as noisy parties (the city of Los Angeles does have laws prohibiting parties after 10 PM, and I haven't seen them having noisy parties after 10 PM, but he says they used to have them). After the lunch, he took my husband, one of his friends, and myself to his yard, and pointed out some trees in his neighbors' yard which were decorated with Christmas lights. These lights were visible from his yard, but not from his house and certainly not from his bedroom. He told us that the lights were "driving [him] crazy" and he asked us for our opinions. I told him that they wouldn't bother me, and that it would probably be best to ignore them to the best of his ability. I suggested that bringing this up with the neighbors might make matters worse. To my (silent) horror, one of his friends agreed that the lights were annoying, and my husband just said "I don't know, maybe." He clearly would have no legal standing in asking the neighbors to turn off their Christmas lights, and even bringing it up would be likely to do more harm than good, especially given their history of animosity. I asked my husband why he gave his answer, and he said he was trying to be supportive (he didn't think the lights were annoying to him). It seems that goading this neighbor on could create significant trouble for him. What would you have said? Have you ever given people advice which probably wasn't productive, just to appear supportive?

Except that none of the replies discusses the original posting, which was uninteresting. You have every right to post what you wish. Some would prefer that your posts had more broad appeal. I only looked because I saw the large number of replies and views, so I was curious as to where the interest lay. Ironically, the string is interesting, but not because of the OP.