In Reply...

Shin: My knee is now multi-coloured surrounded by a halo of reddish purple! And actually I wanted to marry the baby but I suppressed my paedophilic tendencies.

FM: Yeah the bike rental so ex hor! I wanted to cycle more to make good use of the 24 hour rental but my knee... :(

SC: Hehe yeah its a bad habit of mine. Sometimes I like to wander off on my own.

William: Thanks! Looking forward to more of your pictures too :)

Lucky Monkey

That's the name of the cafe I'm sitting in right now. I paid $4 for a disgusting overly sweet smoothie so I could come use the free wireless internet here. At least its fast and the connection's strong!

Ok so I shall get on with the post.

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*many pictures ahead*

Sorry I haven’t posted for so long again! I’m having problems getting internet access. I’ve just moved to a new place called the Anchor Arms cos my previous place, Anchorage Downtown Rentals, became way too expensive after their summer rates kicked in. Some pictures of where I’m staying now:




As you can see, I've unpacked quite a lot. Its definitely not as clean as the previous place cos this is a motel-ish place whereas Anchorage Downtown Rentals was actually a home and the couple who owned it were renting a floor out. Here’s a picture of their uber-cute baby:




This place is ok… I’m just lacking pots and pans so I can’t do anything with the stove and oven here.

*Tip: How to make the best out of a not-so-good/safe motel: Request to stay on the upper floors. Ground level rooms mean people can knock on your windows and doors and such, or even climb in if they are so inclined :p

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Tuesday was my day off so I went to explore the much talked about Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. Its like the most famous trail because of its easy accessibility from downtown Anchorage. It winds along Knik (pronounced kuh-nik) Arm 11 miles from downtown to Kincaid Park. I rented a bike for 24 hours for $30 and set off after a very good breakfast at Snow City Café (another famous place). There were 2 entrances to the trail, one at Elderberry Park and one at West 2nd Ave, but the bike rental guy told me the first mile between W. 2nd and Elderberry Park wasn’t nice so I skipped it and started at Elderberry. See pictures!

Started off with some nice views of the mountains. There are several tunnels along the way at the sections where the trails goes under the Alaska railroad.














After this I came to Westchester Lagoon, my first favourite spot. The lagoon is really nice and blue and placid, with the only gentle ripples coming from some solitary ducks which dove down time and again to look for fish, I presume. Perfect for the mountains-reflected-in-the-water effect. I really wonder how much those houses cost, being both beside a lagoon, and being on the coastal trail. Westchester Lagoon also marks the point where the trail branches off to the Chester Creek trail. Shall explore that next time.








Next, I passed a lot of bridges and small lakes, mud flats, river meanders and Earthquake Park. You musn’t ever step onto the mud flats, you’ll sink in and not be able to come out. If the tide rises you drown. If the coast guard needs to come save you I think you need to pay them a bomb. Apparently this happens every year so they put the charges in place.
























Point Woronzof was also a very nice picture spot. The wooden stakes made for a very nice effect when they were reflected in the water.






The entire trail was 11 or 12 miles long and Point Woronzof was 5 miles in. I was deciding whether to continue all the way to Kincaid Park (another 6 or 7 miles) and I did. The remaining part of the journey was through entire sections of forest so I couldn’t really see the coast. But I did manage to see some wildlife and plants. I also had lunch at a very nice spot with a sunflower bench. There was a bonus too! If you walked right to the edge where the bench was, you could see that there was a small creek down below that wouldn’t be visible from the bike trail. Very pretty.






















The bike ride to Kincaid Park was horrible. Uphill a lot of the way and I really mean uphill. I had to push the bike up several times. When I reached mile 9 or so of the trail, I came to a place called Kincaid Outdoor Center. I took a rest here, filled up on water and used the toilet. The toilet’s pretty interesting. It’s a normal toilet bowl looking thing, just that it isn’t connected to any sewage pipes. People just pee/poop into it and they empty the tank underneath once every 10 days. The tank thing is full of blue liquid mixed with (use your imagination) but what I can say is that it doesn’t smell as bad as you would expect :) Some kids were playing happily on the grass fields and I lay down on the grass for a while. I really miss how people used to lie all around UCSD and read a book or sleep! You don’t see that very much at all over here. Maybe its still too cold.













I would have wanted to continue on to Kincaid Park but here the bike trail stopped and I would have had to go on the same road as the cars and trucks. There’s supposed to be lots of moose in there but I thought I’d better head back. If I was tired now, I still had to go the same distance back so I should conserve my energy. (The road leading into Kincaid Park was uphill)

Now the bad stuff happened! I was cycling back on the bike trail when this woman came up from behind me and overtook on my left. That’s ok, but I sort of swerved to the right a little and fell off the bike trail. I toppled over and landed hard on my knee. Got jabbed hard by the bike in several areas on the legs too. And best of all, the bike got spoilt! The Alaskan mosquitoes were swarming around me. I tried to stand up and was wondering what would become of me because I was in the middle of nowhere. Amazingly, I managed to fix the bike. (People do gain amazing abilities under trying circumstances) I rode back with the injured leg and got home. By this time, my knee was very swollen and I was hobbling around. Couldn’t go to work on Wednesday too. Just hope it’ll get better quick so I can go do other stuff! Think I cycled 30 km that day, phew. This is one of those things that I can’t tell my mom or she’ll nag me to death. Wonder what will happen when I go white water rafting (and I will)…





Inadvertantly caught the back view of a muscular roller blader haha. The main focus is supposed to be the downtownbuildings in the background. Also, click on the moose signboard to see how to deal with angry moose.

Ok, I'm almost crazy from uploading so many photos. Feels so good to sit in this cafe and listen to the music. Gonna sit back and relax. Out!

Of Mosquitoes and Men

Alaskan mosquitoes are smart. Yesterday I was wearing jeans but I still got bitten all over my legs. Got bitten on my tummy too. Apparently they fly up your pant legs and under your clothes. I could feel the buggers biting me and I was scratching one new spot after another through my jeans. When I got home, there really were lots of bites! Nasty.

Also, someone just tried to pick me up! Here's the conversation:

-me walking along road-
-skater boy comes up from behind-

SB: How's it going?
Me: (feeling nice so I answered) Good.
SB: Can I meet you?
Me: No.
SB: What do you mean? I'm right here! (If you knew that then why did you have to ask?)
Me: -silence-
SB: C'mon, I'm a skater! (big deal)
Me: -silence-
SB: Don't you know how to introduce yourself to a man??
Me: -very irritated now- Don't bug me.
SB: Ok, bye!

Idiot! I was tempted to say "Solly, I no spik Engrish". I'll try that next time.

3 Days Into Work

*updated - scroll down


Hi guys, sorry there haven't been as many posts as I would have liked cos the internet here has gone wonky again! Anyway like I was saying here's a sorta typical view from within the city:



You can see the mountains from pretty much anywhere, just replace the building in the foreground with some other building and that's pretty much it.

Here's a photo my friend took for me downtown. Fortunately, I don't have a paunch as big as the bear's (yet!)



Work has been tiring... Tomorrow's my last day of training and then I'm on my own. I like my trainer a lot. Her name's Lydia and she's from Mexico. She has quite a story... Apparently she's back at work after being away cos of breast cancer and diabetes. She still needs insulin injections before meals. She also has a daughter who has passed away. I've adopted her as my mama and call her as such :)

After cleaning hotel rooms, I have to say: they're really dirty! They almost never wash the blankets. The only things that get changed are the pillowcases and the bedsheets. And sometimes they throw your bedding on the floor (cos there's no place to put the blankets and clean sheets while you're getting rid of the old ones). Of course I can't say its like that for every hotel but beware!

The other staff that I work with are pretty interesting personalities. This has really exposed me to more people that I would never have met otherwise. There's lots more to tell... I'll save it for another time! Its my turn to bathe and then I'm gonna cook my dinner~~


*new*






Here it is! "Chow mein" with chicken meatballs (courtesy of xiaoqian), chicken nuggets, baby carrots and egg. Some watermelon for afters... I'm still wondering what "chop suey" is. Does anyone know?

So like I was saying about interesting colleagues, this other crabby woman was telling us the story of her son. He used to be a state trooper, and once he was chasing this maniac on the roads. The maniac pushed his wife out of the car, then later shot his own 2 small kids, the state trooper and then himself. I was so appalled when I heard! Quite poor thing... I suspect she might not have been so crabby before he died. She looks like she's got a lot of "history"... and right now she's working and also taking care of her husband who is very sick. Moral of the story: appreciate your family!
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Next, this is what it looks like at 10.30 at night. This was taken a couple of days ago and the Sun is setting progressively later. Sorry, the photos look a little weird cos they're taken through the wire mesh.





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More interesting facts: Over here, the mosquito is considered the unofficial state bird. Yep, bird cos its so big!! I've had a few bites already, though none of the others girls have. I've always been a mozzie magnet since I was a kid bleah. The bites from these monsters are really red, raised and hard. And very itchy! Got a chance to see the culprit just yesterday and er, it really is very big. I'd say at least a centimeter long. Ugh.
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Today's my off day (at last!) and then on Sunday the other 3 need to go to work while I'm gonna be moving house for everyone. They couldn't let all of us go so they only let me off. The housing situation is very messy, partly cos of low summer availability and also cos Anchorage in itself isn't the safest place :p I'll be moving to a place called the Anchor Arms, which is nearer to work than my current place. The four of us are actually splitting up, 2 are gonna be staying in an inn (motel-like) while me and another girl will be staying in the AA apartment.
If I ever get to talk to any of you, I'll fill you in :)

Have things to do and places to go, so I'll stop here!

Cold~~~

Ok. Nearly froze to death last night! The heater decided not to work. But I think it was especially cold yesterday, cos the heater hasn't worked for 2 nights, and I only slept in a t shirt, long johns (bottom) and PJ pants as of 2 nights ago. But yesterday, I had to pile on the layers. Long johns (bottom), PJ pants, t shirt, long-sleeved sweater, padded jacket, scarf and gloves! And all this while I was stuffed up in the sleeping bag. [I sleep in a sleeping bag on a carpet on the floor] If I really get acclimatized to this sort of weather then I'm so dead when I get back to hot/humid Singapore.

*ah choo!*

*ah choo!*

Sigh. The other girls are debating what time to go to work now, cos the manager didn't give us any instructions whatsoever. I was trying to tell them ang mohs very relaxed one... Someone wanted to arrive at the hotel at 8! Its very unlikely that they start so early I think. And we have to time our activities cos the bus arrives once an hour. Can walk la, but its very far and I would rather not brave the elements and arrive at the hotel bushed before I even start work :p

One more thing I find puzzling... They don't seem to make any attempt to eat fruit/vegetables and yet they complain about constipation problems. Hahaha. Granted, those things are expensive but no choice. I can forgo meat but I think I'd die without fiber. I now have bananas, watermelon and baby carrots! -proud of self :p- So let's examine my nutritional intake: vitamins and fiber from the stuff above, amino acids from egg, fats (plenty available on self), carbs from cereal, minerals (from water?) Haha.

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FM: No the couple I'm staying with aren't Japanese. I was a little puzzled as to why they called it a futon as well cos I think its really a bed! Like converted from a couch kind.

ZY: Thanks soooo much for your jacket, scarf and gloves. I'd be dead without them! The weather is a little unpredictable here. You can't tell how cold/hot it is by looking at the sky. Need to literally open the door and stuff your face outside :)

Carine: Wish you were here to shop with me!

Lynn: Come and climb the mountains with me~~~

SQ: Thanks for saying hi! Hope you get to go to Hongkong :)

William: Not much chance to do any photography yet :( The city is surrounded by mountains but its hard to take a photo without including the not-so-nice foreground. And sometimes its very cloudy.

Shin: Ah... If cows go moo, then moose goes...
...
...
This is either a trick question, or I'm too stupid, so I won't answer hahaha!

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Anyway, a little moose education!

Moose Classification (If you're not Lynn Koh please ignore this :D )
Phylum: CHORDATA
Class: MAMMALIA
Order: ARTIODACTYLA
Family: CERVIDAE
Subfamily: ODOCOILEINAE
Species: ALCES ALCES

And for normal folk:
* Moose are found all over the Northern Hemisphere; their range essentially coincides with that of the coniferous forests of northern Asia, Europe, and North America.
* Moose may grow to be 7 feet tall and 1500 pounds!
* They like to eat trees and shrubs, usually maple and aspen and are considered herbivores
* Moose lose their antlers in the Spring, and breed in the Fall
* The word "moose" itself is derived from the Natik word "moos," itself supposedly derived from the Proto-Algonquian mooswa, meaning "the animal that strips bark off of trees."
* Moose have a life expectancy of 8-25 years

Moose

I forgot! You can really find moose in parking lots. Found this one chomping on some plants while we were walking home from the Asian supermarket. A bit surreal :p

Anchorage

Ted Stevens International Airport. Alaska has the greatest number of pilots and light aircraft in the United States. Six times as many pilots per capita and 12 times as many airplanes per capita as compared to the rest of the states. Interestingly, that means that the international airport is very small compared to the domestic airport. Opposite of what we'd expect! The international airport is kinda old and small but the domestic one has a new shiny white exterior. Hm. And the immigration officer asked me whether I worked for a dentist. I was puzzled and thought it was my dazzling smile that won him over until he pointed to my t-shirt... OH :D

Someone from the hotel picked us up and brought us to our house. I was kinda worried cos I did the housing arrangements and was afraid that the others would kill me if the place was bad. Fortunately, it turned out to be a very cosy blue cottage-like house, and the owner has 2 Alaskan malamutes (!!!) and another very nice dog. Her baby Miko is also very cute! Huge blue eyes. The place is great... fully furnished and all. Linens, tv, phone, wireless, dishes, stove blah blah blah. Don't feel like going out heh. Forcing myself to stay awake till its time to sleep here. But the long periods of daylight aren't going to help with my sleep cycle. The Sun sets at 10.30pm and rises around 4am. The days will get progressively longer too. So I have to tell myself to go back to sleep. That's crazy!

Here are some pictures of where I'm staying:


My room, with all the chargers plugged in - shows how settled in I am :)


Living room with satellite TV and a 2-person futon

Spotless toilet with a bathtub, linens and a toiletries closet.

We haven't done much since we arrived... The first day was spent getting Social Security done. I needed to get a replacement card cos I never did receive mine since last year. The next day, I brought the girls to Wells Fargo to set up their bank accounts. My experience with Wells Fargo in Cali was good and it was good here too! So that was done. After that we went to the 5th Ave Mall to shop. Tee hee hee. Nordstrom, JC Penney, Gap, American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie. I foresee that I'll be spending some time there, especially since its really near to my workplace. I bought 2 pairs of Levi's Jeans and a top! Whoopee~~


Abercrombie mua ha ha. Just like last year when I first got to San Diego, I was really excited about being in a real store but I bet I won't buy anything again cos I'm too poor (stingy). But I know some friends back in Singapore who would be drooling with envy. The kind that spends all their money on Abercrombie then complains about being poor! Tsk.

The bad: Lots of homeless around here. I think we're not staying in a very good part of town and people come out to drink at night. Even in the day there are bunches of dubious looking people who come talk to you (not ordinary friendly folk). And since almost everyone who has a normal job would have a car here, our having to take the bus just increases our chances of run-ins with these people! But its ok... We try to ignore it haha. I suggested going to the thrift store beside our house (see below) to buy some grubby clothes so we can blend in. Another thing, food here is madly expensive! Everything, but especially fresh produce and meat. Sob. Seems like its back to the cereal/yoghurt/milk diet for me. Even bananas and apples are expensive here :( And everything seems to be produced in California. Gah.




Just now we went to buy groceries again. And something really nice happened! This guy at the grocery store Carrs came out and gave my friends and I free slices of watermelon to eat! My friends were very grateful cos it was the first time they had fruit since we arrived (read: bowel problems hehehe). He kept asking if we wanted more, then proceeded to dish out some strawberries with almonds from the salad bar. Goodness gracious. His name's Rolando. I must think of a way to thank him.

I'm so happy cos the internet's working and I don't have to steal wireless anymore! And I also bought a calling card so I can call home. Yay~~~