APR 1, 16 .. APRIL FOOLS’ / ALL FOOLS’ DAY 2016

For all that you never wanted to know about April Fools’ or as it is also called All Fools’ Day just go to Wikipedia. There you will find that April Fools’ or All Fools’ Day dates back to 1392.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day

Spring is here! Long live Spring!  .. The temperatures are warming. Or so our local weather information sources have been telling us.

We have indeed enjoyed a fair number of days in the 10C / 50F temperature range. 

April Fools’ Day Joke!

Today .. April 1st .. The temperature never got above .. 0 Degrees Celsius or 32 Degrees Farheinheit ..

I about ‘froze’ when I went out about 5:30pm this evening sadly ill prepared for what happened to me! ..

And?

And it actually snowed enough so that some snow stayed on the ground overnight!

Now it is Saturday morning April 2nd the day-after our April Fools’ Day’s evening snow blizzard. Our Saturday morning has dawned chilly with the temperature a ‘brisk’ – 10C / 14F.

“Yes! I will agree with you that there is not a whole lot of snow on the ground here in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia in the following three photos. Yes! I will agree with you that -10C / 14F is not all-that-cold. BUT for April 2nd where ever you may be I ask: Do YOU have any snow on the ground? For me this qualifies last night’s experience as a legitimate .. April Fools’ Day Joke!“

In hindsight our unusual Spring day along with it being April Fools’ Day explains to me that my mind itself was also playing an April Fools’ Day joke upon me.

Did I just write that .. “My mind itself was playing an April Fools’ Day joke upon me?”

Think about THAT if you will. “Am I two entities? .. My mind and myself?” .. Eckhart Toole!

OK we are .. time-wise .. back to Friday April the 1st.

I just had .. To say the least .. A most unusual conversation in my mind this evening. I was on a bus that was so crowded that .. in spite of the fact that I had a window seat and I was intently watching where we were .. I was shocked when I went flying past my stop and ended up at the-end-of-the-line. Of course I KNEW immediately that I had by-passed my stop the instant I saw the surrounding Ulaanbaatar cityscape out of the window. I chose to just ride to the end-of-the-line and return just-to-see where the ч-40 route ended up.

Oh My Oh My ..

April Fools’ Day Joke on you Captain ..

When we got to the-end-of-the-line my ч-40 bus went out-of-service. Nothing I could say or do would convince the driver and conductor to let me ride back to another bus stop. NO! I had to de-board and then I had to stand in the dark .. In the wind .. With the snow blowing horizontally past me .. Caught in a real blizzard .. Standing out in the middle-of-nowhere let-me-tell-you for about fifteen (15) very long minutes. Luckily there were two other souls .. A young woman and a young man not a couple .. Standing around shivering with me. Misery loves company and their being there with me really helped me mentally.

Back now to the above mentioned unusual conversation. It was between myself and of-all-things my web site here!

“Dad I am feeling sad today.”  Dot.Net ..

“WHAT on earth is this? Dot.Net I had no idea whatsoever that a web site such as you have feelings!” .. “How on earth can this be?”

“Well I do have feelings Dad. It seems to me that Blogspot gets to show off all of the beautiful scenic photos and I don’t.”

“I imagine that Blogspot will point out to me that you Dot.Net published twenty six (26) Posts during the thirty one (31) days of March and Blogspot only got to publish three (3). Further more Dot.Net you have published about seventy (70) more posts than Blogspot.”

“Come on Dad. Just for today to celebrate April Fools’ Day let me show off some of the beautiful sights of Ulaanbaatar. How about it Dad?”

“Sure! Why not!”

Is THIS ..my showing you many (but not all-of-them) photos that you may have already seen on Blogspot MY April Fools’ Day Joke ON YOU! 

I myself the one who took them cannot remember all of them. As I posted them I enjoyed seeing them myself. So maybe .. Just maybe .. you will also enjoy a little ‘Blast-From-The-Recent-Past’.

And this is what started this adventure.

I was out today walking around the heart of downtown Ulaanbaatar and because of the stunning beauty that I was surrounded by I just snapped some totally random photographs. This obviously is what prompted the above conversation within my mind.

Need I say anything at all? I myself am stunned by the first three photos below that I snapped today April 1st 2016.

In the background you see Ulaanbaatar’s Blue Sky Hotel and Tower ..
It was a beautiful day ..
For April the 1st it was a cold day .. I believe that the high temperature was -2 C / 28 F.

“Oh Dad! Thank You so much Dad!” .. / signed /  .. Your Dot.Net web site ..

“That’s it Dot.Net? You are happy and satisfied with me putting up only the above three photos Dot.Net?”

“I am Dad!”

“Well Dot.Net you are really going to get your wish here. Dot.Net we are going to take-it-to-the-limit. The Blue Sky Hotel and Tower is easily my most important building in all of Ulaanbaatar. Plain and simple I really love and enjoy being inside of it and around it.”

The following photos I have uploaded from my camera’s memory chip dating back to July / August / September 2015.

Looking East ..Looking West ..

For me the Blue Sky Hotel and Tower is like an alluring vixen. I can’t get enough of it either visually or physically sitting in its lobby or eating a sandwich in its snack bar.

The Blue Sky Hotel and Tower is a safe haven for me downtown.
The below photo looks-back at the main entrance from the far corner of the lobby shown above.

Two additional photos of the main lobby. It is so nice to come in and just sit and relax when I have been out-running.
I also enjoy going into the snack bar and enjoying a sandwich.

I like to sit by the windows and enjoy the view across to Chinggis Khaan Square and Peace Avenue.

The food in the snack bar and lounge is tasty and reasonably priced. The below sandwich cost 7,500 ₮ / US $ 3.68 not bad for a first class hotel.

I write a lot of post cards in the rear lobby of the hotel.

The ‘necessary room’ is immaculate .. absolutely positively spotless ..

Let’s all go back outside.

Let’s now cross Peace Avenue and take a look at Chinggis Khaan Square located directly across the street from the Blue Sky Hotel and Tower.

The first series of photos below all face due North. Chinggis Khaan Square is the very heart of downtown Ulaanbaatar.

In the below photo we have crossed Peace Avenue (see above). Peace Avenue is the main East – West corridor in Ulaanbaatar.

Chinggis Khaan Square really is beautiful.

We will walk directly straight ahead (due North) in the below photos. The below monument honors General Sukhbaatar. For many years Chinggis Khaan Square was called Sukhbaatar Square!Below are close-up photos of the monument.

Below looking to the South is a diagonal view of the monument to General Sukhbaatar.

In the below photos we have walked past the above monument and are facing North ..

Chinggis Khaan ..

His two horsemen ..

Now we have turned around 180-Degrees and are looking due South from whence we just came.

Below I am going to show you a few photos of the Ulaanbaatar Opera House. Not that I am-into-Opera. No! It happens that the Opera House is where I go to meet members of the fellowship who will then drive me to meetings that I could not possibly find on-my-own. So the Opera House is special to me and it is also beautiful.

The Opera House is across the street on the East side of Chinggis Khaan Square.

The below series of photos really locate the Opera House with reference to Chinggis Khaan Square.

Peace Avenue is directly in front of us in the first two photos below. I snapped the below photos and several of the above photos today.

I stand on the curb between the two lions above and wait for my ride to a meeting.

Beauty is in the eyes-of-the-beholder. I find my Post Office corner building beautiful. Chinggis Khann Square is off to the right.

How about the beauty of the Zaisan Memorial commemorating the cooperation between Mongolia and Russia to defeat the Japanese Kwantung Army at Khalhkin Gol on the Mongolian border in 1939 at the outbreak of WWII. I wasn’t there in 1939 but I get goose-bumps when I visit the Zaisan Memorial.

The below mural speaks-for-itself.

“I beg your pardon! I never promised you a rose garden!”  There is no free lunch here. You pay-your-dues to walk up to The Zaisan!

And?

The View? IF you don’t have a heart attack and die-on-the-way up ..

Is worth the climb!

This may seem a tad ‘mundane’ to some of you but because it is an important building to me I like the Mongolian Airlines Building and find it quite attractive.

I also find that The Immigration Office is quite stunning.

“Mongolia Immigration! I Thank You for allowing me the great pleasure of visiting your amazing country.”

Well? There are so many more photos but ..

That-is-that says Baba Kaps and Dot.Net.

“Are you happy Dot.Net?” ..

“Oh Dad I am numb with happiness and with joy for allowing me .. This one time .. To show all of our followers the beauty that abounds here in Ulaanbaatar.”

/signing off/ .. Dot.Net ..

“Dad how do I press Publish on myself?”

In an ocean, ‘way out yonder
(As all sapient people know),
Is the land of Wonder-Wander,
Whither children love to go;
It’s their playing, romping, swinging,
That give great joy to me
While the Dinkey-Bird goes singing
In the amfalula tree!

• ← MAR 31, 16 .. ALL GOOD .. ALL FUN
• APR 6, 16 .. THE BLUE SKY HOTEL AND TOWER .. COFFEE SHOP →