Karakul Lake mentioned in Economist article

You may have noticed the URL to this blog is "Karakul Lake". It was mentioned in this article about tourism in Xinjiang.

My old Phaeton is for sale

The most detailed used car ad you will ever see. I am obviously biased, but I honestly believe this is the best example of the V8 in the country. The ad's meticulous write-up says it all.

Mercedes B-Class electric

All the B-Class cars in America are electric. And I see quite a few of them.

BTW, BMW does not have an ETA for when the i3s being recalled will be repaired.

Lexis LC500 One Take

Cooper in the rain

I thought we were going to get a break from the rain today so I tried to take Cooper for a hike. It rained just as we got out of the car. We didn't get far before we had to turn back.

Eating the Globe: Denmark

I got kijafa cherry crepes at a pancake chain that's not IHOP. If you know me, you know that I would never order this voluntarily. I don't like sweets; I don't like preserved fruits; I don't like crepes/pancakes/waffles.

The crepes were very eggy. Everything had a hint of bacon, like the cook used the same griddle. The cherries were okay.

I dined with S. He is selling "our" Phaeton. He's only put 1,000 miles on it last year. It's just too nice to drive. I'll post the ad when it's up.

The good thing about this meal is now I get to fill in Greenland as well as Denmark!

Countries tried so far:
Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa
Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen
Europe: Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
North America: Belize, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, USA
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Eating the Globe: Paraguay

Vori vori!

Chicken and dumplings. The dumplings were hard to make. The recipe called for "cornmeal flour" or "harina pan". I only had cornmeal and masa harina. So I used the masa harina. The dumplings ended up tasting more like a corn tortilla than a matzo ball. The dumplings also had ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Recipe here.

Here is a promotional video put out by the country's chamber of commerce.

Countries tried so far:
Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa
Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen
Europe: Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
North America: Belize, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, USA
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Robot delivery in San Francisco

What's to keep someone from just kicking it over?

US Presidents as food

Pyongyang ICBM distance

North Korea doesn't have the technology yet, but I've been curious recently about which American cities are closest to Pyongyang.

Anchorage: 3,737 miles
Honolulu: 4,600 miles
Seattle: 5,142 miles

Portland: 5,226 miles

San Francisco: 5,605 miles

Los Angeles: 5,952 miles
Washington, DC: 6,878 miles

Sleep tight!

Eating the Globe: Maldives

Three-day weekend, let's cook something time consuming, semi-complicated, and messy. This is mas riha, or fish curry. I used swordfish. The curry paste was fun to make with a blender. It turned out okay. With K being pregnant, I overcooked the fish out of an abundance of caution. I also went easy on the spices. I found it a bit bland; she still ended up with heartburn.

Here is the recipe.

I always get the Maldives and Mauritius confused. I thought for sure that the Maldives was closer to Africa. Nope. It's essentially a part of South Asia.

Countries tried so far:
Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa
Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen
Europe: Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
North America: Belize, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, USA
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Greatest Japanese car collection in the Western Hemishere

If you have to read just one car blog post this year, head on over to Jalopnik. This Duncan collection is the end all be all of Japanese car collections. 100 Figaros, 60 Beats, Delicas, Centuries, Japanese hearses, etc., etc. Be sure to watch both of the embedded videos from beginning to end.

And many of the cars are for sale.

Shock and awe in Hotan, Xinjiang

The Chinese government intimidated the Uyghurs of Hotan (population 320,000) yesterday with this huge show of force.

Here is the news video.

Kiss cam tear jerker

F Muslim and Christian fundamentalists.

Repair estimate for an Audi

H/t Slirt.

Any guesses?

$12,331.59 Canadian, or around $9,400 U.S.

Here is the thread.

CSI: Twitter

This stock photo was in a trade magazine. What is that car and in what country was this photo taken? pic.twitter.com/6UedCjuxRU

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) February 17, 2017

And within an hour, the answer was Slovenia.

@InvalidnostCCCP @TamerlaneBlog Ah nope, photographer is Slovenian.

— Antti Kautonen (@julkinen) February 17, 2017

Hong Kong rent-a-curse grandmothers

I'm slowly making my way through Lonely Planet's The World. The Hong Kong chapter mentioned these grannies.

It's called villain hitting.

Alltrack and Allroad

I am more intent than ever on getting the i3. It's a great value, it's quirky, and it's green. So I wait.

The weird thing is, I can't find anything online about a fuel line recall.

Anyway, Edvin suggested that I look into the Alltrack. They advertised the heck out of it during the Super Bowl. What do you all think?

And here is the Audi Allroad. What's with all the lifted wagons?

No i3 today

Just as my Lyft ride was about to drop me off at the dealership, I got a text from the salesman. "Did you want the Range Extender? Because they are all recalled because of fuel line issues."

Not. Meant. To. Be.

This scooter shares the same engine as the i3 Range Extender.

6 door Nissan Patrol convertible

No. Just no.

More photos here.

California drought map, 2011-2017

How one car braking causes traffic jam

Soviet Afghan war song: Drivers of Kamaz

H/t Ramon.

104 year old German ship used in Africa

This is incredibly inefficient. Due to a lack of infrastructure, the MV Liemba travels up and down Lake Tanganyika with cargo and passengers. Here is a story about it.

Australia gets its first aboriginal minister

Race is a complicated thing.

When I saw a photo of Ken Wyatt, I thought: He doesn't "look" like an aborigine. Wikipedia says his ancestors are aborigine, European, and Indian. Are there many mixed race aborigines in Australia? Do many "pass" as whites?

This is an issue in the United States, where Senator Elizabeth Warren, who may be 1/32 Native American, was mocked by Trump and others for claiming Indian heritage.

Female Chinese bodyguards

Recently, a Chinese billionaire holidaying in Hong Kong was kidnapped by Chinese agents and was disappeared. They say he was known to have a team of female bodyguards.

Here is a video of female and male bodyguards in training. I can't tell if it's effective or if they're just getting dirty. It's also weird to see Israeli flags on their t-shirts. Don't forget to turn on the Closed Captioning.

Abe-Trump handshake

Check out Abe's reaction at the end. Guys, this is the President of the United States of America!

Trump and Japanese PM Shinzō Abe’s EPIC handshake. pic.twitter.com/NdFY2qFhqr

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 10, 2017

We're in a robot news piece

I'm in the blue jacket at 0:52. We were on our way to Laguna Beach.

This Japanese robot just scored one of its first jobs in the U.S., selling beer https://t.co/RYeIpCRvxb pic.twitter.com/82QCihVPLs

— Bloomberg (@business) February 10, 2017

Location of Yosemite view

Remember this?

It's here!

How they filmed Star Wars intro in 1979

Soviet bus stops

H/t @Slirt.

A German photographer documented 500 bus stops all over the former USSR. And they're wonderful.

Nick (Kyrgyzstan/Russia), Tarlan (Azerbaijan), and Sanchez (Kazakhstan): Are there still any near where you live?

Article here.

Book here. I just ordered it!

Heart disease death rate

Lots of fatty foods in the South. Lots of exercise freaks in Colorado.

I wasted a day on an i3

Are you ready for a frustrating story?

I was finally ready to lease a new BMW i3 today.

I wanted a rare i3. I wanted the Range Extender scooter engine. I wanted full leather (Tera package). I wanted navigation. And it couldn't be white. There was only one car that fit this description in the entire Bay Area. (Actually, this car has the basic Business navigation, which comes with a smaller screen and the navigation only shows arrows. The better Professional navigation has a bigger screen and has a 3D map. I knew I couldn't have the perfect i3, so I settled for the smaller and more basic nav screen.)

Back to the story. My dream i3 was at Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara, 55 miles away. The following BMW dealers are closer to me:

• Concord (13 miles)
• Berkeley (15 miles)
• San Francisco (21 miles)
• Pleasanton (27 miles)
• San Rafael (29 miles)
• Fremont (42 miles)

Obviously, I really wanted this particular i3. After all, I took a bus, BART, and Lyft to get to the dealership. It took two hours in the rain. My socks were wet. I might get pneumonia. 

I had my checkbook, credit score print-out, and insurance policy number. I was ready.

But before I left home, I called the dealership and confirmed the car was there. Yes, it was. Here is the internet ad, showing that it's a new 2017 model.

After two hours, I arrived. The car was not at the dealership. It's in the body shop because of a minor dent that happened on the lot. There was no apology. Not even a hint of it. I was pissed and left.

On the way home, the salesman emailed me. The car was actually a demonstrator used for the Extended Test Drive program. It was involved in a four-car collision.

I am exhausted and really hope I don't get sick from being in wet socks/shoes all day.

I think it's time to revisit the J100 Land Cruiser.

It won't stop raining

I have never experienced so much rain in California. From January 1, 2017, to 5pm today (just 5-1/2 weeks), it has rained 27.01" (686 mm). That is incredible.

For comparison:
Entire 2016: 10.44"
2015: 5.86"
2014: 19.63"
2013: 4.90"
2012: 22.92"
2011: 15.88"
2010: 22.84"
2009: 14.65"
2008: 12.83"
2007: 12.52"

I can't finish 6 books

Ack. The pile keeps getting higher.

The Daily Show: An Oral History: I got this for Christmas. It's an insider's look at the evolution of Stewart's show. I'm about 20% done.

Where the Suckers Moon: Someone on this blog recommended it. It's about the advertising campaign of the Subaru SVX. It's 496 pages long and the print is tiny!

Coup D'Etat: A Practical Handbook: I bought this after the Turkish coup attempt. Remember that? It was originally published in 1968 so it's a bit dated.

Lonely Planet: The World: Easy to read but every country has two to eight pages of coverage. There are a lot of countries. I'm up to the C-countries.

Around the World In 50 Years: I bought this over the weekend, hoping it would inspire me to write more.

The Fruit Palace: This has been sitting on my nightstand the longest. It's a 1980s tale of a guy looking for a story about Pablo Escobar. The first half was entertaining. The second half is a snoozefest.